Path: rcfnews.cs.umass.edu!barrett From: metin@stepout.tynet.sub.org (Metin Savignano) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews Subject: REVIEW: Vector Connection board, version 2.7 Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.hardware Date: 9 Jul 1995 22:08:25 GMT Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett Lines: 197 Sender: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu (comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator) Distribution: world Message-ID: <3tpk0p$m3l@kernighan.cs.umass.edu> Reply-To: metin@stepout.tynet.sub.org (Metin Savignano) NNTP-Posting-Host: dino.cs.umass.edu Keywords: hardware, serial, parallel, Zorro II, commercial Originator: barrett@dino.cs.umass.edu PRODUCT NAME Vector Connection board, version 2.7 BRIEF DESCRIPTION A multi-I/O, Zorro-II board for Amiga 2000/3000/4000. It features up to 2 parallel and up to 4 serial ports at speeds up to 115200 baud. AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION Name: HK-Computer GmbH Address: Hoeninger Weg 220 D 50969 Koeln Germany Telephone: +49-221-369062 FAX: +49-221-369065 BBS: +49-221-369024 LIST PRICE DM 299,-. Approximately $215 (US). SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS HARDWARE A Zorro-II compatible slot is required for the board. I recommend at least an 68020 for higher serial speeds. SOFTWARE The older software will run under AmigaDOS 1.3. However, the latest software version requires at least AmigaDOS 2.0. COPY PROTECTION None. (Unless you refer to the board itself as a dongle. ;-)) MACHINE USED FOR TESTING Amiga 2000 Rev. 4.4 and Rev. 6.2. A2630 25 MHz accelerator w/ 4MB RAM. DKB-2632 w/ 8 MB. Masoboshi MC702 SCSI host adapter. Picasso-II RTG graphics board. AmigaDOS 2.1 and 3.1. INSTALLATION Of course, the board has to be plugged into any free Zorro slot. The back cover of the board has two serial ports. Two additional slot covers, each with a serial and a parallel port can be installed if more ports are required. Their cables will then have to be plugged onto the board. Software installation is done by the standard Installer (new version), or a custom installer (old 1.3 compatible version). I found installation to be easy in the 2.0 version, but erroneous in the 1.3 compatible version. A manual correction was required! REVIEW Due to the quite different concepts in the old 1.3 compatible software version and the newer one which requires AmigaDOS 2.0, I will describe them separately. The old software requires some changes in your user-startup file. Most utilities are CLI based programs. Only the preferences editor is GUI based. The installation was incomplete when I did it (approximately 2 years ago). The software is stable. The latest software gets installed very nicely. There is no more need to know and use CLI utilities. The software fits perfectly in the OS. Earlier versions of the new software were buggy, but the last version I have tested (2.2) did not produce any problems any more. Of those two serial ports on the slot cover at the back of the card, one is standard 25-pin, and all additional ones are small 9-pin ports. No adapters are supplied with the card. After installing the software, your application programs can use the new ports by using the new devices and units. The standard serial and/or parallel port can also be redirected to the Vector board, so even software that was not designed to use custom devices can now use the ports of the board. The current version of the Vector Connections allows for up to 115200 baud on each port. Each two ports share one serial driver and one 4-byte FIFO buffer. As a result, the baud rates have some restrictions. According to the manual, two ports using the same driver cannot be used at 115200 and 76800 at the same time. They can, however, be used at the same speed without problems. I myself found that they _would_ work at 115200 and 76800 at the same time, but not at 115200 and 57600. I used up to three serial ports for about two years, and I never had any problems that were due to the board. I had tried a parallel port once, and it worked, but I did not use it regularly. DOCUMENTATION The board comes with a printed manual. It contains all you need to know to install and operate the board, and I suppose that it is understandable for beginners and experts alike. Since I bought my board in Germany, I got a German manual. I do not know if an English version is available. LIKES I like the easy way to get four additional serial high speed ports. I like the new software, too. DISLIKES AND SUGGESTIONS I do not like the fact that they do not include adapters for the small 9-pin ports. They should be included. A 16-byte FIFO buffer would be very nice, and after all, this is the reason why, after having used the board for two years, I sold it and bought myself a GVP I/O Extender. COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS I had used a A2232 serial card before. Even though the Vector Connection does not provide seven additional ports, like the A2232 does, I would always prefer a board that allows up to 115200 baud on four ports. If you want to use V.34 modems, you have no choice anyway. I am currently using a GVP I/O Extender. I decided to get one because I hoped that the 16-byte FIFO buffer would leave more CPU available during downloads. Even though it really does, the difference is smaller than I had thought. IMHO, you get more for your money if you buy a Vector Connection, as one GVP I/O Extender will give you only two additional serial ports. BUGS I didn't find any. VENDOR SUPPORT I did not have any problems with my installation, so I did not contact the vendor directly. I called the BBS once, asking for help, but never got an answer. Fortunately, I was able to solve the problem on my own. The new software, however, is freely distributable, which IMO is a good product support. WARRANTY In Germany, there is a minimum warranty of six months required by the law. HK-Computer does not extend this warranty. CONCLUSIONS I found the Vector Connection to be a good product, sold at a fair price. I would recommend it if I was asked by a friend. I rate this product 4 stars out of 5. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Copyright 1995 Metin Savignano. This review is freely distributable, but not for profit. Metin Savignano UUCP: metin@stepout.tynet.sub.org Fido: Metin Savignano @ 2:246/2248 --- 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 Anonymous ftp site: math.uh.edu, in /pub/Amiga/comp.sys.amiga.reviews