Amiga Sidecar (was Re: Computer auction in Vancouver BC)

[Jules Richardson]

Ethan Dicks wrote:
> Very nice.  I have a couple of 8-bit and 16-bit Bridgecards, but never
> ran across a Sidecar (and couldn't afford one when they were new, but
> didn't really need one then, anyway).

Interesting! I've got a Torch Graduate, which is an almost identical concept 
to attach to an Acorn/BBC micro - keyboard and display is through the host 
BBC, whilst the Graduate contains the PC CPU, ISA bus, and local floppy 
controller/drives.

So, were there "external box" PC-a-likes for other vintage systems? I know 
there were some internal boards for various machines...

> I heard that by the A2000-A2286 era, one of the reasons Commodore kept
> making Bridgecards was for those customers whose employers had a
> strict "must run MS-DOS" rule for IT Purchasing.  I do remember seeing
> forms in the mid-1980s with a checkbox that indicated if the machine
> being ordered was "IBM Compatible" - with the implication that you had
> better be prepared to explain yourself (or be rejected) if you didn't
> check the box.

I kind of fell foul of that in speccing out an Amiga-based system for a school 
art department once; it ticked all the right boxes in terms of capabilities 
and "doing the job", but it wasn't a PC or a Mac and made the school's IT 
person too nervous :-)  Unfortunately I never thought of seeing if I could get 
any kind of PC board thrown into the mix!

cheers

Jules