Best ST model for a newbie into demos AND serious stuff

[marcfrick2112]

So OK, I followed some links on AtariAge, and found some ST demos, .. I'm pretty sure that I need an ST now... The music especially blew me away...

 Now before I ask this, let me say up front, I have Googled best Atari ST Everything, but I am hoping to get input from Real ST owners, about what they actually USE daily. Confession: I am an Amiga nut (turned slightly Atari ST nut)

 

 'Must Have programs'? (Heck, even general utilities and such, TOS switch etc.)

 

One thing in particular, are there any music programs on the ST For Beginners? (I took piano lessons when I was younger, total FAIL!)

 

Are there any Good 3d graphics/animation programs for the ST? (Lightwave 3D on Amiga spoiled me!?!)

 

Any programs to convert 2d/3D graphics files from Amiga to Atari ST?

 

Can ST's be networked? What program (s) support networks?

 

What is the maximum RAM that can be added to (any model of) an ST, including the Falcon?

 

Anything else I need to know before I take the plunge....

 

And CURSE you Atari! Another system I am obsessed with!

Edited May 2, 2020 by marcfrick2112
Added a question

[spacecadet]

I can't answer most of your specific questions, but I used the ST extensively when it was on the market and then later had my own up until pretty recently.

 

The thing about ST's is that some of the things it sounds like you want to do are going to be pretty expensive. ST's get rarer and pricier as you get higher in specs and release date.

 

It sounds like you'd at least want some kind of STE, which had enhanced graphics and sound. Those can be a little hard to find, especially American ones. And you're probably looking at around $300 or more for a stock one (and that'd be a 520STE, not a 1040 or 4160). Falcons are really pretty rare and carry a premium price.

 

As for the maximum RAM, 14MB is the highest you can go on any model (there is a 14MB board for Falcons and TT's, and a 16MB board for ST's, but only 14MB is usable). Some early 520's can only be expanded to 1MB; other models may only go to 4MB. There are a lot of models and revisions of the ST so I can't tell you exactly what can take a certain amount of RAM. I know my 520ST could only be upgraded to 1MB.

[ParanoidLittleMan]

I don't think that there were STs which support only 1 MB RAM max. I had 520 STM, with TOS 1.00, so early release, and I expanded it without problem to 2.5 MB, in 1989 - when RAM prices went lower.

To be more precise:  ST, STE, Mega ST, Mega STE support max 4 MB RAM. It is possible to expand to more, up to 14 MB, but it needs extra board with logic.

Falcon supports up to 14 MB without extra logic, but since it is 32-bit CPU it's possible to expand to much more with special expansions. Only that there is no SW what really can benefit.

 

What is must have is very subjective. For instance I don't like Xcontrol and like - they just eat too much RAM for very simple things.  TOS switch is actually HW - switching ROM sections with diverse TOS versions, and yes, that's very useful by me.

There are so called TOS loaders, RAM TOS - which can run diverse TOS versions in RAM. But that's never 100 % compatible with TOS in ROM .

 

Only good animation, 3D I know is Cyber Paint .

ST can be networked. Without extra HW with: serial port, MIDI or parallel port. All it is slow and outdated.  What is good for today is NetUsBee (cartridge adapter), it has LAN.

Lot of programs support MIDI connection, mostly games. There are programs for data, file transfer with PCs - like PARCP - connecting with parallel ports, and it has newer version, with USB for PC. There are even some Internet browsers, but I really would not go that way - today Internet pages are really way too complex for some computer with max 4 MB RAM, 16 colors, low res.

Today probably most useful thing is to get rid of floppy drives and disks - there are diverse solutions for that. Like mass storage (hard disk like Flash card based adapters). HW floppy emulators. Virtual Floppy.

[marcfrick2112]

Thanks for the info.