25 Apr
2016
25 Apr
'16
8:42 a.m.
On Sat, 23 Apr 2016, Chris Hanson wrote:
I want to use the systems as a whole enough not to
just live in emulation,
but I only have a limited amount of time to spend with them, so replacing
just a few subsystems in ways that make the use of the overall systems
smoother seems like a reasonable compromise.
I completely agree with you and the rest of your post. It sounds like you
and I have a very similar attitude and use-case for our retro-hardware.
I don't mind putting 3rd party extras on my older systems. As an example,
I use several Acard 50-pin SCSI2 narrow adapter that can hold 2.5" SATA
drives on older systems. The bandwidth of the SSDs I put in these
adapters far outstrips the capabilities of my old SGI & Amiga systems.
The thing is the latency is _so_ much lower, and that *does* translate to
improved performance on the old hardware. It makes using the machines
much more enjoyable.
Plus, I remember a tradition of modifying and extending hardware in the
80's and 90's that's mostly been lost in the era of cheap disposable PCs.
I'm okay with hot-rodding machines, even 20-30 years later when it doesn't
make much difference. Why not use an emulator? Well where is the fun in
that if I can't touch the metal ?
I guess it's a bit like old cars. Lots of people hate the idea of someone
putting non-original parts onto classic cars. Others will go nuts and
butcher them into franken-rods with a mix. To each his own. I might be
laughed at for wanting a Fiero-Ferrari, but hey it's all in good fun.
-Swift