(1) — a.. - Commodore Is Awesome

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One of the biggest concerns of a non-standard chipset and its affect
on compatibility regards access to the Amigo bfitter. However, thanks
to some clever coding, a direct and transparent replacement has been
mode via the Retina's on-board bktter.
The Retina was, in fact the first card in the collection to go 'Draco
direct' - pumping through 35Mb per second, making it one of the
fastest graphics cards around - and one of the only ones which can
run Workbench in full 24-bit, 64K or 256 colours in a variety of
resolutions ranging from 320 x 240 up to 1600 x 992.
The Retina's natural affinity with Workbench emulation combined
with the ever-growing range of software which supports RTC boards is
a key factor in the development of the Draco. Light Wove, ADPro,
ImogeFX, Wordworth, and PageStream all support RTGs, and the list
just keeps growing. As a consequence, even without the Custom
Chipset, the Draco remains compatible with the majority of Amiga
applications.
HAT HAPPENED TO...
During our original Draco preview a whole host of new add-ons got a
mention, namely a Draco friendly TVPaint, a Draco direct VIM, a planned
Dec Alpha co-processor, and a new 64-bit Retina.
The good news regarding TVPaint is the release of version 3.6 which, at
long last, doesn't require a dangle, and therefore will work perfectly with
the Dram The Draco Direct VLM is now complete and its associated software
is in beta, so the all new VLM, with a full 02 quality digital data bus
and the ability to mix projects with different data rates will be available
mid April and will debut at NAB_ The same applies to the Dec Alpha coprocessor
which, like the Draco direct VIM, will launch at the NAB and
promises to deliver real•time DVEs and much more besides._
The rumoured 64-bit replacement of the Retina looks likely to be
appearing with the others at NAB and promises full on-screen video preview
as well as generating a genlockable output. MacroSystem are also
working on a minor revision to the Draco Motherboard which will allow a
plug-in 133 MHz PC to become part of the Draco repertoire. Assuming
you add a Mac via ShapeShifter, that makes three machines in a single
box._
• iiuiiriiirrriiiirriiinrrnnuirrr
n Tito boa ting he a rt of the M a c° - rho big chip
*wowed by a tarp is a Wa lk& 6 8 0 6 0
AMIGA COMPUTING
AAARCII 1996
It's not often a milestone
appears on the scene,
something which simply
redefines your thinking
regarding what's possible
with a particular platform
[ monitor j
• • RAM or
H
VGA 31 knz 4- above
i
PRODUCT - DETAILS
r
Product
e
Draco
Supplier s MacroSystem Germany
Price £ 2 7 5 0 (Approx) -
with 060, 4Mb video, 4Mb
Ease of use
Implementation
Value For Money
Overall
Donor
line
REQUIREMENTS
RED B L A C K
system RAM, quad-speed CD-ROM
E3670 (Approx) - with all of the
above plus Toccata and VLab Motion
040 version also available - ask distributor
for further details
Hard drives sold separately
Contacts U K distribution phone
Whiteknight Technologies on:
01920 822321
US distribution phone Draco Systems
Inc_ on: 303 499 1975
SCORES
90%
90%
100%
100%
UR SURVEY
SAID
Add up ... the system performance and price
tag and the Droco is bound to attract many
a serious Amiga fan, with the basic
machine retailing cheaper than the almost
mythical Amigo 40001 running an identical
50MHz 060 accelerator.
Impressive figures for a fully-featured
digital video box with full off-line editing,
CD quality audio, broadcast quality digital
video effects, 24-bit graphics, and much
more besides. Look for opposition with this
kind of spec at a similar price point and you
simply won't find any.
The only other question, especially in
relation to newcomers, IS ease of use and
system stability. As mentioned earlier,
MacroSystems' software is synonymous
with endless requesters and user-definable
options, but having said that ease of use is
improving all the time And after a day or
two with the manual, most people would
find the Draw second nature - especially if
they'd used Amigos in the past
. On the system side, there's virtually no
iga, so there's nothing to complain
on that *we,
there's a slight chink in the dragon's
: or it's . probably , _ on the display coal
Ide t, As the old guard may recall, the
re Retina was originally launched as a twin
nc monitor system - at least durong the set-up
e of certain applications wet] Retina screens.
bNeedless
to say, the Draco doesn't have an
e
Amigo
t
RGB monitor port and therefore, on
occasion, setOng-up new or RTG unfriendly
wsoftware
can be a tricky business.
e Leaving this minor point aside perhaps
e the most important point scorer for the
n Droco is the excellent stability of the system.
t in the Amiga days, VLM and Toccata com-
hbos
were a quirky combination, but the
e
Draco is a much more solid proposition
Dwhich
will run all day long without incident
r
aps the strongest selling point of a
apeel
However, before you rush hot-foot to the
cend
bank, it's worth bearing in mind that
o fo although the Droco looks every inch like a
ar
high-end Amiga, it isnt In fact to pigeon
nm
hole the Droco as just another Amiga
d
would do it a disservice. The Draco is, in
e
t
fact, a fully fledged machine in its own
d i
right Of course if you're looking for o high
ha
spec machine that can take over the reins
epof
rageing
Amiga kit it's still a valid choice.
oHowever, f the Draco is primarily a dedicated
eDV
engine capable of Broadcast quality
s work
s iIn
short if you're not planning to use the
machine in its intended environment you'll
o
n
be wasting an awful lot of its potential.
Although a rather bred excuse, it's impossi-
able l to appreciate this machine unless you
s see , it for yourself Believe me, if my lottery
t balls dropped next Saturday a DRICO would
h definitely be one of the first things on the
a shopping lost
t
d
o