Path: menudo.uh.edu!usenet From: morton@wam.umd.edu (Rob Morton) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews Subject: REVIEW: Super Card Ami II Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.hardware Date: 21 Apr 1993 15:31:50 GMT Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett Lines: 208 Sender: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu (comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator) Distribution: world Message-ID: <1r3pd6$r46@menudo.uh.edu> Reply-To: morton@wam.umd.edu (Rob Morton) NNTP-Posting-Host: karazm.math.uh.edu Keywords: hardware, copy protection, copier, commercial PRODUCT NAME Super Card Ami II BRIEF DESCRIPTION Super Card Ami II is a hardware/software disk copier that claims to be able to copy any normal-density disk. AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION Name: Jim Drew Address: Utilities Unlimited, Incorporated 1641 McCulloch Blvd. Suite #25124 Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403 Telephone: (602) 680-9004 FAX: (602) 680-9006 E-mail: Jim_Drew@cryo.rain.com LIST PRICE When I bought it it cost $99. I believe it is now selling for $45. SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS HARDWARE You do need 2 disk drives. There are two different models: one for Amigas with 2 internal drives, and one for Amigas with 1 internal and 1 external drive. SOFTWARE None. COPY PROTECTION None. The program can be installed on a hard drive by copying one file. MACHINE USED FOR TESTING A2000, 1 Meg Chip RAM, 2 Meg Fast RAM, AmigaDOS 1.3, 2 internal drives, 1 external drive, 100 Megs of hard drive space. REVIEW Originally I had the version for the external drive, but later I switched to the internal version. The only real difference is that the external unit is much easier to install. The external unit just plugs into the external disk drive port, and you are ready to go. The internal requires that you take the cover off of the computer, remove the disk drive cord, and plug the unit into the disk drive. You must also remove the entire disk drive chassis so that you can connect a clip to a chip on the motherboard. I had no problems with any of these steps. There is a large amount of disassembling of the computer, and the power supply chassis has to be removed. I am not a technical wizard, but I am also not afraid to take things apart. [MODERATOR'S NOTE: If you are not comfortable installing hardware in your Amiga, then you should have the work done by an authorized Amiga service center. Opening your Amiga yourself may void your warranty, and a careless installation may even damage the machine. - Dan] The software loads very quickly from the disk, but I still put it on my hard drive. It remains there now, and it has never caused an unexpected problem with my system, that wasn't expected. (See the comments below.) I got Super Card Ami II to make backup copies of some of those games that are cool to play for a while, but have so much copy protection that a backup disk is impossible to make. Psygnosis games spring to mind, because I lost Menace for a while which was my favorite game. Anyway, I was able to copy the software that I had never been able to copy before. I had to do some trial and error for copying some games. I even had to call Utilities Unlimited to get help with one game. I later was able to get it copied. The coping is rather slow, but it does work. Also, once I got the second generation of the software, I never had a problem with it. PROGRAMS SUCCESSFULLY COPIED I usually used the best copier for the task. Raw Copy would copy and remove protections, so it got used for manual-based games the most. Nib got used for most of the first round of copying, and then any long tracks I did individually with Super Card Ami II. If that didn't work, then I just used Super Card Ami. (See my reviews of the other 2 copiers mentioned.) Awesome Batman Blood Money Death Sword Dragon's Lair 2 (I think Time Warp) Dragons Lair Emerald Mine Eye of Horus Fire Power 4th and Inches Gauntlet 2 Grand Prix Circuit Heimdall Leander Lemmings Menace Populous PowerMonger Rampage Shadow of the Beast I-III Speedball Super Off Road Sword of Sodan TV Sports Football The 64 Emulator ...and probably 20-30 others, but I can't remember the names of them all. (I have done much copying for friends so they can have backups of their software.) DOCUMENTATION Well the documentation that came with the external unit was on the disk, and was more complete then most users would ever need. It describes the various copy-protection schemes, how the hardware works, and how to use it. The internal unit also came with some photocopies stapled together that explained proper installation. This was well documented, and I believe almost anyone could do this project if they don't panic. LIKES AND DISLIKES Likes: It works. With this type of product, if it works it's great, and if not then it is useless. Dislikes: It uses a custom (non-standard) user interface. There is nothing about the GUI that makes it even remotely interesting to look at, but it is functional. It doesn't allow multitasking; so during the slow copying process, you are stuck with looking at an ugly screen. It doesn't always copy programs onto low density disks. It likes high density disks much better. The external unit stuck out about 2" and it made it hard to push the computer back far enough. When you exit the program it will not let you access the disk drives anymore. You can access a hard drive though. Suggestions for the program: please use the Commodore standards for the GUI, and make the program multitask. VENDOR SUPPORT I did have to call Jim Drew a couple of times to get things to work at first. After I got the internal version and the newer software, I never had to call again. I think there may have been a few small problems with the original software not being as responsive. The second version seems to need only one try to get software copied. The conversation with Jim was rather strange: I remember getting off the phone and feeling helped but almost insulted by his attitude. Everything worked after the calls, so I guess it all went well. The only other time I have tried to talk to Mr. Drew was when I decided to write this review. I asked if there was a more up-to-date piece of software. I never did get a response, so I can't tell you if any of my suggestions have been implemented. I understand he is probably a little busy with EMPLANT [another U.U. product], but still he should support previous customers. WARRANTY Unknown. CONCLUSIONS This product does what it claims to do, and does it quite well. I would recommend it for the people that still buy copy-protected software. If I had to give it a rating I would say 4 out of 5. It needs a user interface to be a 5. --- 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