Path: menudo.uh.edu!usenet From: prail@folos.org (Ady Prail) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews Subject: REVIEW: Kickstart 1.3 ROM Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.hardware Date: 1 Apr 1993 05:16:04 GMT Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett Lines: 119 Sender: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu (comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator) Distribution: world Message-ID: <1pdtqk$25c@menudo.uh.edu> Reply-To: amiga-reviews@math.uh.ecu NNTP-Posting-Host: karazm.math.uh.edu Keywords: hardware, ROM, Kickstart, moose drool, commercial PRODUCT NAME Kickstart 1.3 ROM chip BRIEF DESCRIPTION This is a Kickstart ROM chip, version 1.3. AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION Name: Commodore Business Machines Address: 1200 Wilson Drive West Checkers, PA 19380 E-mail: igould@cbmvax.commodore.com LIST PRICE You can buy them nowadays for about $10 (US). COPY PROTECTION None, but if you try sticking the ROM chip into your floppy drive, you'll be sorry. MACHINE USED FOR TESTING Amiga 4000T with 50MHz 68040, 128 MB Fast RAM, 8 MB Chip RAM, 34-inch Magnavox multisync monitor, four 1.2-gigabyte Wren hard drives, Exabyte tape backup, dual CD-ROM drive, Sunrize AD516 16-bit sampling card, GVP IVS-24, HAM-E, DCTV, CDTV, TV, OpalVision, G-Lock genlock, Video Toaster, Video Blender, Video Refrigerator/Freezer, AmigaBASIC. REVIEW I'd been reading for years on USENET about Kickstart 1.3 ROM chips, so I finally decided to get one myself and try it out! My dealer wanted $25 for it, which is more than I can afford on my meager salary, so I managed to talk him down to $10. Whew! Full of excitement, I rushed home to play with my new toy!! I ripped open the packaging, [MODERATOR'S NOTE: Please note that opening the packaging of some Amiga products will void the warranty. If you are not sure what to do, read the warranty card which is included inside the packaging. - Dan] opened the static-protective bag, and took a close look at the chip. As expected, it looks just like a rectangular thingy with little legs sticking out of the bottom. Sorta like a huge bug. I've heard some people say that Kickstart 1.3 was a huge bug, but that's another story. Strangely, the thing came with absolutely no instructions for its use. What was I supposed to do? I tried plugging it into the parallel port, but that just produced a big cloud of smoke from inside the tower case. Well, no matter. I've got Gold Service. Still puzzled, I tried sticking the little chip legs into my forehead. With a little patience and a large hammer, I eventually got the pesky little chip to stay in place. Success!! Then I lay back in my chair and waited for something to happen. [MODERATOR'S NOSE: comp.sys.amiga.reviews does not encourage the use of 1.3 ROM chips in this manner. Proceed at your own risk! - c.s.a.r. Legal Dept.] For a time, there was no effect, and I began to wonder if my purchase had been a mistake. But then... I heard something! Nine quick little musical notes which sounded tantalizingly familiar.... Wagner, perhaps? My face suddenly began to heat up. I rushed to the mirror, only to see that my eyes had turned a dark grey!! I watched in stark amazement as the color shifted to light gray, and then white. Words began to flash past my eyes. I heard a mysterious voice shout, "Amiga: Born A Champion!" Panicking now, I clamped my hands down over my eyes and ears. BAD mistake!! This evidently caused a reboot and the whole thing happened AGAIN. Oh, my aching head! I grabbed the ROM chip and pulled as hard as I could, ripping the little legs out of my flesh and scattering tiny pieces of skull on the carpet. Suddenly, quiet. I breathed a sigh of relief. Totally intense, man! LIKES AND DISLIKES My favorite part is definitely the little legs. They are so cute! My only dislike is that there should be a warning on the packaging stating that installing the chip in your forehead is a bad idea. COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS It doesn't word-process as well as Final Copy II. But it is physically much smaller than a Video Toaster. CONCLUSIONS The Kickstart 1.3 ROM is a unique product; there's nothing else on the market exactly like it. I highly recommend it as a mind-expanding experience. Alternatively, you can use it for practical jokes by leaving it on fat people's chairs with the sharp little legs sticking upward. Ady Prail, prail@folos.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