Path: menudo.uh.edu!usenet From: Gene_Ruebsamen@republik.fidonet.org (Gene Ruebsamen) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews Subject: REVIEW: Commodore CD32 Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.hardware Date: 1 Jan 1994 19:03:51 GMT Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett Lines: 143 Sender: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu (comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator) Distribution: world Message-ID: <2g4hen$ggm@menudo.uh.edu> Reply-To: Gene_Ruebsamen@republik.fidonet.org (Gene Ruebsamen) NNTP-Posting-Host: karazm.math.uh.edu Keywords: hardware, system, CD32, CD-ROM, Amiga, CD, commercial PRODUCT NAME Amiga CD32 BRIEF DESCRIPTION 32-bit CD console, with AGA Graphics Chipset and an expansion port to allow for optional 3rd party devices such as MPEG modules, etc. COMPANY INFORMATION Name: Commodore Business Machines Address: 1200 Wilson Drive West Chester, PA 19380 USA Telephone: (800) 66-AMIGA [USA; varies for other countries] LIST PRICE $450 (US), I believe. I paid $399 (US) from Software Hut, and I got Pinball Fantasies and Sleepwalker with the system. SPECIAL HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS Television or monitor that is able to accept RF, Composite, or S-Video input. INSTALLATION Installation was quick and painless. The manual describes the process in detail. REVIEW The CD32 is a console machine with a top loading CD drive. It is 32-bit machine with the complete AGA chipset and a double speed CD-ROM drive. There is also another chip called "Aikiko" which allows for instantaneous hardware Chunky-to-Planar conversion. This chip should allow game manufactures more ease in porting games from other systems that use a Chunky pixel display. [MODERATOR'S NOTE: For non-technical readers, this hardware "chunky to planar" conversion means faster graphics. - Dan] Loading a CD is easy: just pull up the lid, place the CD into the drive, and close the lid. The CD32 will automatically sense that a new CD has been placed into the drive and will act accordingly. If a CDTV or CD32 disc is placed into the drive, the CD32 will start loading the program. I have noticed that with the double speed CD drive, games load very quickly. If a standard audio CD is placed into the drive, a screen displaying a futuristic CD player will appear, with several controls for playing the audio CD. Some of the controls include Shuffle, Repeat, Fast Forward and Rewind, several different time displays, and a Sample mode which allows you to audition the first ten seconds of each track in order. The controller that comes with the CD32 is very ergonomic and sleek, and I like the way it looks. It has 11 buttons: 4 for movement, 4 large buttons on the right, 2 buttons on the top, and a play button in the middle. The layout is similar to that of a Super Nintendo controller; however, the CD32's appearance is much better I think. The graphics of this machine are excellent. There are three different video outputs on the CD32: RF, Composite, and S-Video. Of the three, the manual recommends using S-Video or composite for a higher quality picture. I have mine hooked up to a big screen television through the composite input. The video output seems much better than that of an A520. Even when using the machine without a CD, the graphics are top notch. When the CD32 is started without a CD in the drive, an animation is displayed of a CD flying through space with 256-colour cycling and orchestra music. Even the option screens and the CD player screen are professionally drawn and take advantage of the 256 colours AGA supports. There are two option screens that are accessible from the CD32 logo screen. There is a language selection screen which lets you choose your default language for games. There are about 36 different languages. The other screen is the memory management screen. This screen allows you to lock your high scores list or saved games into non-volatile RAM. There are 100 memory units that can be used; and when they are all used, if a game or program attempts to access the memory, it will delete the oldest data stored in memory unless it is locked. Playing Audio CD's is simple. Just load the Audio CD into the drive and select which tracks to play, or select one of the many other options. The graphics for this screen are great: with the 256 colors and color cycling, it looks very futuristic. DOCUMENTATION The CD32 comes with a short manual that describes the installation process, special features (such as playing audio CD's and accessing the special screens), the loading of CD's, etc. The getting started guide is quick and to the point, and serves as excellent reference. LIKES & DISLIKES So far, I have yet to find anything that I dislike about the CD32. BUGS None found. CONCLUSION I feel the CD32 is an excellent product. Even though it hasn't been released in the US yet, it will be the console with the best price/performance ratio when it is released. I give the CD32 nine stars out of ten. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Copyright 1993 Gene Ruebsamen. All rights reserved. --------------------------------------------------------------- Gene Ruebsamen | Amiga 3000/25 | Supra 14.4 Fax Electrical & Computer Enginnering | Canon BJ-200 California Polytechnic, Pomona | | Soon: A4000/40 uucp: | AGA CD-ROM Gene_Ruebsamen@republik.fidonet.org | --------------------------------------------------------------- --- Daniel Barrett, Moderator, comp.sys.amiga.reviews Send reviews to: amiga-reviews-submissions@math.uh.edu Request information: amiga-reviews-requests@math.uh.edu Moderator mail: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu Anonymous ftp site: math.uh.edu, in /pub/Amiga/comp.sys.amiga.reviews