How is begun your adventure with Amiga?

[that_punk_guy]

Hey everyone,

Well for me, I think something bizzare happened to me in the early 1990s, kind of a biological clock thing. The two coolest things of the early nineties were the Amiga and (the best band ever) Nirvana. They both made some kind of impression on me that I wouldn't fully realise until 1998, when I got 'Nevermind' second hand, and sold my bike for an old 1.3 A500.

As far as I knew at this point, no-one cared about the Amiga. Then I happened across a newsagents which stocked CU Amiga (remember when they used to do that? Now it's even hard to find Mac magazines), it was the issue with the first Doom port on the coverdisks.

I bought it despite the fact that my A500 couldn't possibly run Doom and I was amazed by what I saw - Amigas in towers, with nice big hard disk drives,  the big-box Amigas (I had no idea they existed!).

Well I bought an old temperamental GVP HD8+ from some lovable psycho down the road who happened to have one in the loft, but eventually my dad bought me my A1200  from an old friend in Scarborough (who interestingly enough also liked Nirvana... oooh it's spooookeeeeee *cough*), for which I bought a 750MB HDD, Power Typhoon (right after they changed the specs and made it crap  :-( ), nabbed a spare 8mb simm from work and.....

uh, that's it. My Amiga is sadly tucked away in the dresser drawer (try fitting a PC in there :-)) 'cause this PC takes up all the deskspace. It was a simple matter of economics - and so I have to put up with Wintel until I can afford to invest in something PPC based :-)

I'm actually pretty fond of my PC. I think it's the brilliantly designed case more than the OS somehow though, since I keep running back to UAE now and then with my tail between my legs. But how I hark after those days of Hi-Res Interlace  :-D

[downix]

I am about to trump most of you:

When did I start on computers?  it was 1979, and my uncle had just bought the brand-new TI-99/A.  I was 3-4 years old, and my Uncle thought it would be neat to freak out my grandparents by teaching me how to program the TI/99-A to say "Hello" all over the screen.  I remembered how, and eventually taught myself how to program that thing quite well before I entered kindergarden.  

Then my grandfather bought the always-fun C64.  I loved that computer.  (Still have it *and* the TI)

Then he bought his first PC, an XT.  From there on, i was an Intel man... 8088 to 386 to 486DX2-50....

Then came the remiere of Star Trek: generations.  I'd taken the opportunity of it's opening to see Interview with the Vampire, but friends of mine were in Generations.  After the movie got out, the parking lot was a mess, so we'd hung out in the back of my truck chatting up a storm.  Discussing how to summon demontic entities, that kind of thing.  At one point I mentioned my brand-new computer I'd bought a month before, a Compaq Presario w/ a 486DX2-50.  He went "you think that's hot?  I gotta machine that will blow you away."  So the bet was on.  He took me to his house, and showed me his...

Amiga 1500

In short order, I was blown away.  While my 486DX2-50 was capable of only 16-color in full Windows 3.1 GUI, this thing was doing 32.  When I got 256-color under DOS, this was getting 12-bit HAM6 mode displays.  The mouse didn't hang, and the games were fun.  I was won over....

Of course this was just before Commodore went under.

I couldn't find an Amiga for sale anywhere, so the "wow" faded in memory until '97, when a guy mentioned having an A1000 for $30.  I jumped on it.

I still run that lovable machine.

[ottomobiehl]

Hello Zorro,

My first computer was a TRS-80 CoCo with 16k ram back in '83.  I learned basic on this.  A friend of my brothers had a C=64 and I fell in love with it.

In '85 when I got my first job I bought a C=64 and proceeded to collect tonnes of games for it.  One fateful day I was at a software store and I saw an A1000 with Defender of the Crown running on it.  I was hooked and immediatly bought one just for that game.  

In the early '90s I upgraded to an A500 and got such games as Monkey Island, Loom, Kings Quest 5, and Eye of the Beholder.

After Commodores bankruptcy I slipped away from the Amiga community until the Gateway aquisition of Amiga and since then I have followed along with great hope and interest.

It is one of my dreams that people will one day wake up and find out that Microsoft was really not that good and the Amiga is better and make the switch. :-D

[Siggy]

@ Downix - trump not lest ye be trumped :-)

1977 - Ohio Scientific Superboard II (Challenger 1P series) -- massive 4k of memory.  A 'Father and Son' project when I was 10.  I pretty much inherited it after we built it, as my Father was a great hobbyist with electronics - he was no programmer.

When my Mother had a windfall in the early 80's (she won a fair bit on Lotto -- not by todays standards but enough for her to retire) She bought me a Vic20.

I later saved and bought a C64 - I upgraded this with old PET IEEEE devices to run a BBS in the mid 80's

In 85 I saw the display of the A1000 at the Australian PC Show and immediately ordered one.  From there, 89 I bought a 2000 - which I kept (and upgraded) till 97 when I moved to the U.S.

My work keeps me slaved to the PC atm - but luckily I have a 2000 with toaster that helps me get some of my work done -- a clunker box runs UAE on Linux and Amithlon when I need a 'quick fix'

Unfortunately as switching equipment comes down in price, it's getting harder and harder to justify keeping the 2000 in good repair -- eventually it will go out to pasture.
Barring the emergence of a toaster like video product for switching, or something that can compete with Premier/Vegas Video/Avid DV Xpress -- I currently don't have any plans to migrate to the PPC platform.

Siggy.

My experience with the Amiga started when Commodore bought Amiga Corp, and I was shipped out to Los Gatos to work on the operating system.

Seems like that was a long, long time ago :-)


andy

[KingTutt]

andyf wrote:
My experience with the Amiga started when Commodore bought Amiga Corp, and I was shipped out to Los Gatos to work on the operating system.

Seems like that was a long, long time ago :-)


andy

You lucky bastard! You must of worked with the man himself, Jay Miner. Man! that must of been a blast. The whole Lorraine prototype thing. Flying by the seat of your pants to get this legendary system in before the 1984 launch deadline.

Dude I would have given anything for that. Too bad I was probably only 7 at the time. My first look at Amiga was in 87, and seeing Marble Madness and Bobble Bubble really rocked my world. Never had I seen anything like that. And having only seen Atari 2600s and the occasional c64, you can imagine my enthusiasm.

Anyway my experience with Amigas were always positive. Best years of my life. I can confidently say that no other system will ever have the same effect on me, and captivate me for over a decade.

[yssing]

Well I started back in 92 or was it 93.. can't remember.
Anyway I started of with a plain a500, then later upgraded to 512 extra fastram.
Then a few years later I borrowed an A1200, and then I got an 1230, and a HD :-) yeah...
I bought an A4000, upgraded it to PPC w. 060 and Cybervision PPC.
Any sold it, I needed money.
Now I only own 2 a1200, one with 1230 and one with 1260, I use those mostly for testing the SW I develop on UAE.

I hope to buy an A1, so my amiga dream can live on.

Atm. all I really do on UAE and my amigas is developing SW for Flying Paper.

Me ? Well, somewhere around 1989 when I was at secondary school I met a person with an Amiga 500. I got to try it and instantly fell for its charms. I bought my very first own Amiga (a second-hand A500) with the gift money when I graduated in (IIRC) spring 1989. Later I part-exchanged it with an Amiga 500+ and hard disk and again later I bought a brand-new A1200 (an AT-model). Currently I am running A1200T with Mediator, Voodoo3 and B1260 (64 MB fast). So that's about 14 years with Amiga for me...

J.

[PPC]

Had a C64 and a friend just had bought an A500, i was stunned,amazed.... i knew i just had to get one!
so finally in 1991 i bought my A500+512K mem expansion+20 MB(!) HDD,external FDD and a sampler.

Worked with that system until 1998 and only then i bought my first A1200 wich I Ugraded over the years with a blizz PPC,128 MB ram,Bvision,Zorro IV busboard,mediator ZIV,x-surf,buddha ide,35GB HD space,VarIO,cd writer,17" IBM monitor,M1538s.
All put together nicely in an elbox power tower.

And last year i bought an A4000 with a CSPPC+128 MB ram, mediator PCI,voodoo 3 3000,Tv card,7200 RPM scsi 3 UW 18GB HD in an elbox mirage pro tower.

And now it is time for a next gen Amiga® hope i can buy one soon :-D

[Zorro]

by Spidey on 2003/4/10 13:00:27

(from Mexico? )

No... from Amiga classic slot  :-)

... and from Italy.


 

What's your story after your Amiga500?

After the A500,
i owned A500+, A1200+Blizzard 1220 and then an A4000...

Now i have an A600 and an A500 in my house for nostalgical immersion and I will have an AmigaOne with OS4, I think... or a Peggy/Mos, at least.

-

[TurboLaban]

My first Amiga was a plain A1200. I bought this because some of my friends owned A500s and A1200s, and I really liked those computers. After a while I decided to put a Harddrive into it, and later A Blizzard1230 with 8MB RAM.
Later I bought a tower for this setup.
And of course, I added a BlizzardPPC and a BVision gfx card when they became available :-)

Currently I own an A4000 with CSPPC and CVPPC. This is put into a modded PC tower, and is in use every day !

I also have a nice tower sitting under my desk just waiting for the AmigaONE-XE motherboard to arrive...

[Zorro]

Dragster wrote:

Hi Zorro, if (you're from Mexico) then write (Hey compadre!!!) hehe.. I'm from Mexico

Sorry, I'm from Italy but... who cares... : Hey compadre !!!   :-)

And we share also the same flag color ! :-D

Bye,

[legion]

I got my Vic-20 at K-mart when I was 8 (1983).  I still have the thing, and it works.  I cost me $97 US, which I earned by doing chores and such for my grandmother.  My cousin had a C64, but he didn't have many games for it, so I preferred my VIC because I had the modem, the tape drive and lots of games.  Actually, I was just on the damn thing a few weeks ago playing "Omega Race"  :-D

That was the last computer I owned for quite some time.  I bought a A1200 in 93 (love that old bugger) but I spent most of my money on a 486 PC for college.  

Having both computers is what turned me.  I can't stand windows anymore.  If the A1 and OS4 sees the light of day, I'll never own a MS OS ever again.  I coughed up the $100 US for Xandros linux and no longer need MS OS's.  I know linux is supposed to be free but.. hell.  I'll gladly pay for a product that replaces MS OS's and can run Office (need it for work).  

As soon as OS4 ships, its off to buy an A1 and a mouse/keyboard/monitor switch, so I can switch between the 2 machines.  Go Hyperion!   ;-)

1983 - Vic 20
1985 - C64
1987 - Amiga 500
1991 - Amiga 3000
2000 - Amiga 1200

I remember waiting in my front yard in 1987, looking down the street for that brown UPS truck to pull up and deliver my brand spanking new Amiga 500. I had received a small sum of money from my uncle, and I had a choice of taking a trip to Europe with one of my High School classes or buying the Amiga. I choose the Amiga...
I still remember staying up until 3:00 in the morning playing Dungeon Master. After playing it for 8 hours strait, those "Couatl" snake thingies really started to freak me out with the noises they made!
I know make my living selling PC's (www.tdscomputer.com), but I have at least 3 complete Amiga's in my shop right now, and 3 more at home. I really don't have time to use them much, but I will always have a soft spot for those great machines...
Doug

[Zorro]

TDS_Computer wrote:
1983 - Vic 20
1985 - C64
1987 - Amiga 500
1991 - Amiga 3000
2000 - Amiga 1200

I remember waiting in my front yard in 1987, looking down the street for that brown UPS truck to pull up and deliver my brand spanking new Amiga 500. I had received a small sum of money from my uncle, and I had a choice of taking a trip to Europe with one of my High School classes or buying the Amiga. I choose the Amiga...

Great choice... :-D

Ok ! Time for a little update...  ;-)

0 - Reel video game (pong like games :-P)
1 - Mattel Intellivision
2 - Vic 20
3 - Commodore 128
4 - Amiga 500 :pint:
5 - Amiga 500+ with 512k expansion :pint:
6 - Sega Genesis/Megadrive
7 - PC Engine
8 - Atari Lynx
9 - Amiga 1200/Phase 5 Blizzard 1220 :pint:
10 - Nintendo Super Nes
11 - Nintendo Gameboy
12 -  Sony PSX
13 - Amiga 4000 :pint:
14 - Sega Dreamcast

Later recoveries : Atari VCS, Amiga 600 :pint: , Nes

Wish list:

1 - Amiga One / OS4 :pint:
2 - Pegasos / MOS ? :pint:
3 - Nintendo Gamecube
4 - Nintendo Gameboy Advance SP
5 - Sony PS2 ?

 :-D  :-D  :-D  8-)
  :oops:

[chipper701]

Wow! This brings back memories. I had read about the Amiga in Electronic Games ( I loved that mag, but my mom threw them all out  :-(  ) So I called around and found out were the closest dealer was. It was in a little town called Cocoa. I road my 10 speed bike 68 miles to see it. It was in the back of a book store. Commodore sure didnt know what they had. It was an Amiga 1000 and I saw the demo disk with pics of Marble Madness and it had this little mouse and talked about multi-tasking. No computer has ever captivated me like that. I knew I had to have 1. Because of financial situations I didnt get mine till 3 years later, but I will never forget the 1st time I saw it. The 4 1/2 hours bike ride was worth it.