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Amiga computer related discussion => Recommended Amiga Dealers => Topic started by: giZmo350 on December 14, 2005, 09:54:22 PM

Title: AmigaKit / USA
Post by: giZmo350 on December 14, 2005, 09:54:22 PM
When I visit Amigakit.com and enter the US store, I see prices in $'s. Does that mean that I am buying products that are already located in the US and therefore don't have to pay shipping from overseas? Does Amigakit.com ever put their goods on ebay? Isn't it real expensive to have something shipped from the UK?
Title: Re: AmigaKit / USA
Post by: magnetic on December 14, 2005, 10:28:11 PM
Hi

If you are looking for a us dealer:

http://www.magneticsystemsnsyc.com

Plz let us know what you are looking for

Thank you

magnetic
Title: Re: AmigaKit / USA
Post by: LawlessPPC on December 14, 2005, 10:34:59 PM
the link is actually http://www.magneticsystemsnyc.com/
Title: Re: AmigaKit / USA
Post by: giZmo350 on December 15, 2005, 12:01:07 AM
Thank you for the link! I am looking for an A1200 that is like new (perhaps NOS?). I would like to put in the following:

A BLIZZARD 1260 ACCELERATOR - max ram.

A fairly large hard drive - I own a new 10gig Travelstar - can I use that? If not, I will need an HDD.

A PCMCIA NIC. (Possibly wireless?)

USB support.

A nice mouse. (Wireless?)

A slim USB external CD-ROM/Burner

Graphics...  I'm not sure about. (What monitors can I use with the built in graphics?) Possibly LCD?

I would like to use it as a wintel replacement. IOW, wordprocessing, graphics, Adobe, webpage building, email, internet, IM, printing with newer printers, rip & burn CDs, and in style.

OS3.5 (I like the graphics better than 3.9) Possibly OS4 when it comes out.

I would really not care for a tower as the compact-ness of the 1200 really appeals to me.

For starters.....   :-P

A reasonable quote? I live in Michigan...   :-)

@Magnetic...  are you a representitive/owner for the company?
Title: Re: AmigaKit / USA
Post by: adolescent on December 15, 2005, 01:55:18 AM
@gizmo350

You won't be able to run OS4 on a Blizzard 1260.  Only the BlizzardPPC, and that's when/if it's released.

The web browsing experience on an AGA Amiga is slightly worse than it is on a PPC Amiga which is pretty horrible itself.    

What graphics difference do you see in OS3.5 and OS3.9?

Everything you mention can be done* (to some extent), but don't expect anything to be as easy or as compatible as a modern computer.  :-(

* Although, I don't know what you mean by Adobe.  If you mean PDF viewing, then yes it can be done.  If it's something else then it probably can't.
Title: Re: AmigaKit / USA
Post by: Invisix on December 15, 2005, 02:21:36 AM
@gizmo350

Your requirements listed above absolutely require a tower case, as nothing except the Blizzard 1260 would fit in the default Keyboard / Case. For a tower solution, I recommend the D-BOX 1200, it's a beautiful case from what i've seen, nice and silvery. :-D

As for "graphics" the default is AGA, and the onboard graphics connector only supports Commodore / Amiga monitors (Amiga 1084S is what I recommend for this). In order to install an LCD / VGA type monitor, you are required to purchase a Scandoubler / Flicker fixer (if you only want OCS/ECS/AGA graphics).
Title: Re: AmigaKit / USA
Post by: AmigaEd on December 15, 2005, 03:16:48 AM
Any answers for the initial post?

Regards,
AmigaEd
Title: Re: AmigaKit / USA
Post by: giZmo350 on December 15, 2005, 03:21:12 AM
@adolescent


You won't be able to run OS4 on a Blizzard 1260. Only the BlizzardPPC, and that's when/if it's released.

Ahh, Okee Dokee....  Is it true that classic games can be played on a 68060 but not on PPC?

The web browsing experience on an AGA Amiga is slightly worse than it is on a PPC Amiga which is pretty horrible itself.

So, WinUAE is the only way to go for web surfing?

What graphics difference do you see in OS3.5 and OS3.9?

This seems to look nicer.........

http://www.amigahistory.co.uk/os35_bg1.jpg

than this...... or, are these not default desktop schemes? Is the OS3.5 pic even using AGA graphics?

http://www.amigahistory.co.uk/aos39screen2.jpg

Everything you mention can be done* (to some extent), but don't expect anything to be as easy or as compatible as a modern computer.

Yup, that I know.... I love tinkering with Amigas ;-)

* Although, I don't know what you mean by Adobe. If you mean PDF viewing, then yes it can be done. If it's something else then it probably can't.

Yes,  PDF viewing....

--------------------------------------------------------------

@Invisix

Your requirements listed above absolutely require a tower case, as nothing except the Blizzard 1260 would fit in the default Keyboard / Case. For a tower solution, I recommend the D-BOX 1200, it's a beautiful case from what i've seen, nice and silvery.

Bummer! I will definetly check out that case.

As for "graphics" the default is AGA, and the onboard graphics connector only supports Commodore / Amiga monitors (Amiga 1084S is what I recommend for this). In order to install an LCD / VGA type monitor, you are required to purchase a Scandoubler / Flicker fixer (if you only want OCS/ECS/AGA graphics).

purchasing a Scandoubler / Flicker fixer is do-able. What do you mean "if you only want OCS/ECS/AGA graphics"? Are you talking about greater resolutions with a 3rd party graphics card? Again, Is the OS3.5 pic (in the link above), even using AGA graphics?
Title: Re: AmigaKit / USA
Post by: Invisix on December 15, 2005, 03:58:19 AM
The pics listed above are not default.

This is a default AmigaOS 3.5 screenshot.

(http://toastytech.com/guis/amigaabout.gif)

More screenshots can be seen here (http://toastytech.com/guis/amiga35.html).

AGA is able to do 8-bit (256 colors) in normal display mode and 262144 colors in Hold-And-Modify (HAM) mode (18-bit color, 6-bit per RGB channel). Palette for AGA chipset is 16777216 colors (24-bit). The original Amiga chipset (OCS) had 4096 colors (12-bit, 4-bit per RGB channel), of which 32 could be displayed unless in half-bright (which provided an additional 32 colors fixed at half the brightness of the first 32) or HAM mode. Other features added to AGA over ECS were superhires smooth scrolling and 32-bit memory fetches to supply the graphics data bandwidth for 8 bitplane graphics modes.

However, with a PCI graphics card such as a Voodoo3, etc, OCS/ECS/AGA games and apps won't be viewable/playable! You could hack a tv card to show the amiga video. The quality sucks though, and it's not very trivial to hack it. <-- Thanks to Piru for this bit of info.

Overall the whole point of owning a PCI graphics card is to obtain higher res, and color depths, at the sacrifice of losing alot of classic games, tech demos, etc.

However not all is lost, you can connect 2 monitors; connect one to the scan doubler for viewing OCS/ECS/AGA games, apps, and tech demos, and connect the other monitor to a graphics card.
Title: Re: AmigaKit / USA
Post by: adolescent on December 15, 2005, 04:17:38 AM
Quote

Invisix wrote:
@gizmo350

Your requirements listed above absolutely require a tower case, as nothing except the Blizzard 1260 would fit in the default Keyboard / Case. For a tower solution, I recommend the D-BOX 1200, it's a beautiful case from what i've seen, nice and silvery. :-D


I disagree.  A HD, PCMCIA NIC, etc. all fit as standard and doesn't require any case modification at all.  To fit USB the case requires a bit of modification but nothing serious.

Quote

As for "graphics" the default is AGA, and the onboard graphics connector only supports Commodore / Amiga monitors (Amiga 1084S is what I recommend for this). In order to install an LCD / VGA type monitor, you are required to purchase a Scandoubler / Flicker fixer (if you only want OCS/ECS/AGA graphics).


You can use VGA modes with a standard VGA monitor.  For normal PAL/NTSC modes the LCD would have to have a composite or s-video input.
Title: Re: AmigaKit / USA
Post by: giZmo350 on December 15, 2005, 05:38:46 AM
@Invisix

That screenshot of OS3.5 is really nice. Clean. Do you have a shot of OS3.9 AGA native too?


@adolescent

If I can fit a HDD and the BLIZZARD 1260 ACCELERATOR into the case of the 1200, that would be just what I'm looking for. The monitor choices seem simple and it sounds like I can use AGA for everything I need. I would love to see a screenshot of AGA on LCD.


I just want a simple yet functional system that is somewhat backwards compatible with all the classic stuff. I am just so tired of Windows "bloat". I've been using Windows since version 1.1. I use Win XP Pro and Office 2003 Pro everyday... ya, it does a great job for productivity, but I just want something that I can use good wordprocessing, graphics and fun stuff on for relaxation. I have ALWAYS disliked most games on the PC... DOS games were good and most 2nd generation Sierra games were cool. Forget using a joystick! Well, sorry I'm preaching to the choir here...


@Magnetic

Do you have an email that you would prefer I contact you on for what I am looking for in my post above?


@All

Thanks for this great information!
Title: Re: AmigaKit / USA
Post by: adolescent on December 15, 2005, 05:50:19 AM
Quote

gizmo350 wrote:
If I can fit a HDD and the BLIZZARD 1260 ACCELERATOR into the case of the 1200, that would be just what I'm looking for. The monitor choices seem simple and it sounds like I can use AGA for everything I need. I would love to see a screenshot of AGA on LCD.


Of course you can.  My A1200 specs:

Blizzard 1260 + SCSI-IV (128M RAM total)
4xEIDE'99
20GB Hitachi ATA4 HD
HD Floppy
Netgear MA401 NIC
DCE ScanMagic Internal SD/FF

Some day I'll throw in a Subway USB and be done (although I've always wanted to mount a laptop CD-ROM in there too.  Oh, and then there's the S-Video mod that I have to try.  And...).
Title: Re: AmigaKit / USA
Post by: Cyberus on December 15, 2005, 07:36:14 AM
I'd assumed it was not possible to fit the SCSI kit in the desktop case....
Title: Re: AmigaKit / USA
Post by: adolescent on December 16, 2005, 04:52:53 AM
Quote

Cyberus wrote:
I'd assumed it was not possible to fit the SCSI kit in the desktop case....


It's designed for the desktop case.  The external connector fits the expansion cut out at the back of the case.
Title: Re: AmigaKit / USA
Post by: machinehead on December 16, 2005, 02:57:44 PM
The products are located in the UK. International shipping is more than domestic but is not too bad for items that aren't very heavy.
Dave