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PCI Express dilema
Hi –
So what happens for the next few months. The Kona HDe is “about” to come out,
but what about people than want a Kona 2e, an ATTO UL5D (which is going to be shown in 2 weeks), SATA cards that work in the Express buss, Firewire 400 and 800 cards that work with PCIe (becuase you have your I/O in the Firewire 400 port). Will there be a new Apple FC card AVAILABLE THE DAY THE new G5’s come out? How do you specify new systems that need to be delivered to customers NOW – not 3 months from now when things settle down? If there is not an inventory of exsiting G5’s (the old type), and companies like AJA and ATTO and everyone else get stuck with hundreds or thousands of “old” boards – what happens ?Bob Zelin
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9 Replies
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[Bob Zelin] “How do you specify new systems that need to be delivered to customers NOW”
Offer them a $50 starbucks card and have them call you back in 4 weeks 🙂 Just kidding Bob. I’m one of those that almost pulled the trigger a few weeks ago to ad a Kona2 to my set up. Sure glad I waited.
There is going to be a transition period where old and new will blend (keeping with the java theme). For those on the fence a few weeks more will not matter. Remeber it took AJA till November last year to release the Kona2 after showing it at NAB. It will probably be a few months more till the new stuff actually gets out to the public. But all of this is speculation, as I’m not sitting in AJA’s shoes.
As you can see PCIE Firewire cards are coming out:
https://www.computervideogear.com/digital_video_capture_card/siig-pcie-firewire-card.htmhttps://www.aaxeon.com/products/Productdetail.aspx?cate=8&modelno=FWB3414
I think it will be an interesting couple of weeks, then we will be able to make some choices. I know this does not help you as a system intergrator, but time will pass and you will be setting up PCIe left and right.
Andy
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Hopefully, AJA will offer an exchange program like they did with the Kona HD buyers so that they could at least sell their current inventory then offer the new card when they have been tested thoroughly enough to release.
You have my sympathy, Bob, from your position as a VAR. But if I was one of your customers, I would hesitate to get involved with such a significantly new attribute like the PCIe to place such a weight on it. I would say that clients would be less impressed by ‘the latest gear’ compared to having to make excuses because it has bugs or unexpected limitations.
I would rather hear from you that the package you are selling me WILL work perfectly NOW, but that if I can wait another 6 months, a new system will have been out for a while and will have been shaken down enough to feel confident about it. IMO, people who chase the latest gear end up with the most frustration. I believe in letting the customer chose their own poison.
steve covello
double wide post -
Hi Steve –
I don’t sell anything – but as a systems integrator, it’s tough to recommend in good faith that someone should search around for an “old G5” when there will be no computer next year to plug the old card into.The problem here is that it APPEARS that Apple is control of this situation. It may be tough to get a “tried and true” system 2 months from now, if Apple no longer sells the “old” G5’s, but the new cards are not available yet.
This, of course, makes the AJA I/O box even more attractive. Platform independent.
Bob Zelin
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No hunting for PCI-X systems is necessary…
Apple still sells the PCI-X G5 and it is now $2,799.00
The link is at the top right of the new G5 page at the Apple Store. Need PCI-X?
Fred
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Unfortunately the reality is that the entire Mac and PC platfrom situation will be unstable and unpredictable for the next 2 to 3 years. Apple will go through several iterations on the way to an Intel workstation. Windows moves to Vista and eventually a new file structure coupled with dual-core chips and other architectural changes. Starts to make Quantel and Autodesk look pretty good, doesn’t it? 😉
Sincerely,
OliverOliver Peters
Post-Production & Interactive Media
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
[Oliver Peters] “Starts to make Quantel and Autodesk look pretty good, doesn’t it? ;-)”
If you have a turnover of big budget commercials it does!
Steve Connor
Cardinal HDPlease fill in your profile – it helps US to help YOU!
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[Oliver Peters] “Unfortunately the reality is that the entire Mac and PC platfrom situation will be unstable and unpredictable for the next 2 to 3 years”
Exactly what I was thinking. While the new Macs look impressive, and PCIe is the future, Apple still has an Intel transition to go through. If I remember the press release, the first machines will be out by the end of this year, and by ’06 more Macs will follow. I just bought the Kona LH a few weeks ago. It’s still the best $1500 I spent. New Mac, New Cards, Kona LHe, etc… would have been 10X more than I planned on spending anyway– coming from a Cinewave.
I would wait if I had the choice now. You will be further pissed off when Mac intros more machines during Christmas…which WE ALL KNOW is the norm for Apple.
Ron
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[Ron] “If I remember the press release, the first machines will be out by the end of this year, and by ’06 more Macs will follow. I”
Well, I think that what they were talking about was consumer machines: PowerBooks, iMacs, etc. Realistically it will probably be late ’06 or even ’07 before you see a suitable workstation replacement. If you buy a computer now, buy for what you need today and stretch a bit to get some more life. If you get 3 years of life out of the system these days, you will be lucky.
Sincerely,
OliverOliver Peters
Post-Production & Interactive Media
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
We have a IO here so while not necessarily in the same boat I feel your pain…we’re in a holding pattern waiting of PCIe scsi controllers. We have a Huge Sys Media Vault so add into the equation. I think we lucked out by being govt it takes ages to approve money so while waiting to get the older gen G% the new ones came out. I’m crossing my fingers on the Quad because for us….that will def. last through the transition plus a bit I think.
It seems like a good time to get either really. It is just a real crappy time with hardware. Makes me shudder to remember the Media 100 switchover to OSX.
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