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Author Topic: Back on the Amiga scene  (Read 2080 times)

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Offline 3vilcTopic starter

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Back on the Amiga scene
« on: June 05, 2005, 09:38:27 AM »
Hi all,

After deciding I really wanted to get back into the Amiga scene,  I went in search of a 2nd hand system at a reasonable price.. the collectable nature has seen the prices sour right up.. I just couldnt find anything particularly useful after looking at online auctions for weeks, so I settled on a CDTV with the idea of finding all the parts to make it into an A500.  I then placed an ad in the local trade and exchange magazine wanting amiga hardware, and got a phone call from someone who said her husband had heaps of stuff and wanted to get rid of it as it was taking up heaps of room in storage.  I went to have a look, not having too higher hopes, and to my suprise it turned out to be a complete A1200 system with accessories and mostly in original boxes, I offered all the cash I had in my wallet which was probably less than half what the stuff would be worth, but the guy was just happy to see it going somewhere it would be used.
So I now have an A1200 running an 030 @ 30mhz, 8meg fast ram + the 2mb chip ram, SurfSquirrel with a SCSI cdrom and an old modem, 2 now spare hdds (put a spare 1.6gig out of my old laptop in), a philips monitor and heaps of other stuff.  And still got that CDTV sitting in the spare room :)
Unfortunately it only has 3.0 ROMs but trying to find a pair of 3.1s so I can install OS3.9 then I'll be happy

Just thought I would introduce myself and i'm sure ill have many questions to follow :)

Clive
 

Offline Tripitaka

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Re: Back on the Amiga scene
« Reply #1 on: June 05, 2005, 10:17:28 AM »
Good to see I am not the only one returning to the Amiga after an extended break. A big hello to you. 3.1 ROMS are still available. Try Amigakit £22 seems like a good price.  :-D

Thanks to ALX for that link. :lol:

If you feel the urge to expand your system then it is worth a look at Elbox ,the Dragon 1200 should be in production by the end of the month and it sure has me excited.  :-o

Bye for now and enjoy your Amiga.

Neeeed mooore cooffeee....
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Offline Amigamia

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Re: Back on the Amiga scene
« Reply #2 on: June 05, 2005, 02:40:41 PM »
Welcome back to the Amiga world!! I was an amiga fan as well and took a long break from it. I used to own and Amiga 500 with a 512MB expansion card and a 14.4Kbps supra modem and I used PC Task to run MS DOS and Borland Turbo Pascal 3 to compile my programs. What I could do with an Amiga 500 then, no other PCs could. I sold all due to a move but I have always watched the amiga community from the back stage. Always wanted an amiga 1200 and I finally got one from eBay after 10-15 years. As matter in fact this is my first post on this site but I have been reading the posts here for a very long time. Played with all the known amiga emulators but nothing is close to the real experience.

Now I plan on expanding my A1200 with 3.1 Roms and have been looking at this: Mr Computer Hardware

Does anyone know how they are and if they are good for expanding an A1200??
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Offline Tripitaka

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Re: Back on the Amiga scene
« Reply #3 on: June 05, 2005, 04:12:19 PM »
I've never heard of them. Looks well stocked, I'll be interested to see if they are any good too.
I have an A1200 in an eyetech tower, the way things look at the momment I favour the Dragon 1200 with Shark PPC for A1200 expansion.
I have also found that the 3.1 ROMS with OS 3.9 are available from Power Computing at only £45 if purchased together. :-D
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Offline Karlos

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Re: Back on the Amiga scene
« Reply #4 on: June 05, 2005, 04:14:28 PM »
Quote

Amigamia wrote:

I used to own and Amiga 500 with a 512MB expansion card and...


Pricey, was it? :lol:
int p; // A
 

Offline SamuraiCrow

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Re: Back on the Amiga scene
« Reply #5 on: June 05, 2005, 09:17:45 PM »
@Tripitaka

Shark PPC is not released yet due to AmigaOS 4 being only in prerelease state.  It is therefore widely considered to be vaporware.  Another accelerator known as ACK (which is also not released yet) is stated to come out with the prerelease of AmigaOS 4 when (and if) it comes out.

To make a long story short:  If you want to plug a PowerPC accelerator into your A1200 you're either going to have to buy a used Blizzard PPC or wait a while for one of the above listed accelerator cards to be released.
 

Offline SamuraiCrow

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Re: Back on the Amiga scene
« Reply #6 on: June 05, 2005, 09:23:30 PM »
@Amigamia

Those cases at Mr. Hardware are PC cases.  The new AmigaOne models XE and SE fit into PC cases unmodified.  To fit an A1200 into a PC case requires the case to be modified.

Mr. Hardware is a decent Amiga distributer here in the U.S. but so is Software Hut even if they are a bit pricey.  Since Amigas aren't made in the U.S. anymore we are at the mercy of the exchange rate of the dollar.
 

Offline Tripitaka

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Re: Back on the Amiga scene
« Reply #7 on: June 06, 2005, 12:48:04 PM »
@ Technoid
Fair comment. We have seen a lot of vapourware I agree. However the Shark PPC was NEVER going to be released prior to OS4, for a fast cpu to use with classic software the  dragon 1200 Coldfire solution should be out by the end of this month (not January as intended, due to Freescale (motorola) delaying mass chip production untill June 15th) not too long to wait then to see if this vapourware becomes hardware. :-D
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Offline Amigamia

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Re: Back on the Amiga scene
« Reply #8 on: June 11, 2005, 02:08:22 PM »
@Karlos



Yes IT WAS!!!  
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Offline Karlos

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Re: Back on the Amiga scene
« Reply #9 on: June 11, 2005, 02:18:36 PM »
Not surprised. Most people had to pay quite a lot for 0.5MB back then ;-)
int p; // A
 

Offline Amigamia

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Re: Back on the Amiga scene
« Reply #10 on: June 11, 2005, 02:23:41 PM »
@ SamuraiCrow

Thanks for your important info. I am aware of the fact that to fit an amiga 1200 Motherboard in one of those ATX cases it requires modifications. They have already done it  for the buyers and they just change the backplane so the A1200 connections fits nicely in the back (HERE). My question was if anyone tried it already to see if it allows more expansion cards (PPC,68030 cards, PCI, etc.) what are the pro and cons? Will it require more modifications etc.?

Some of you may wonder why I don't ask them? If I do that they are going to, of course, enhance the product so they can sell it. I wanted to find out other opinions on it. Almost like a try before you buy but in this case I don't have the "try" option so I asked.

Thanks Ya'll

P.S.: To the Amiga.org owner: Why in the message icon list you have one for MS Windows, Linux but not an Amiga? Can it be added? Pure curiosity and a suggestion.
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