MGR, vidpal, etc.

[Brent Burton]

Now the replacement wind.o thread of messages is starting to mention mgr.
I noticed one post concerning a reluctance to hack on the hardware.

Well.....

For any users out there who have been contemplating the Vidpal modification
to run MGR or just allow graphic access, I'd like to make a few points.

  I have built several circuit kits in the past (some worked, some didn't,
some were fixable...) and the vidpal is one of the easiest to build.  I
received my kit this week (Tuesday, I think) and just over 1 - 1/2 hours
later, I had the vidpal built and installed with no problems.  Brian Botton
supplies good instructions and the hardest part of the modification is
making sure you are very careful with the 68010 reinstallation onto the
motherboard.  I had the machine back up and running in about two hours.

MGR is very nice; unfortunately there is not a lot of software available
that capitalizes on it.

The vidpal emulator, while a good previewer for MGR, is just too slow because
of the nature of its method.  If you have been using the vpe and are happy
with access to video ram, you'll definitely want the vidpal - text in the
mgr windows will actually scroll at a bearable rate.

Anyway, I just wanted to make a few comments in favor of vidpal/mgr.  It
really is not that hard.
Brent Burton
  n138ct at tamuts.tamu.edu