Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => General chat about Amiga topics => Topic started by: nbarnes on March 16, 2012, 02:54:51 PM
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Hi Guys,
I'm torn. My finger is hovering over multiple "bid buttons" on ebay. Many years ago I had a A500, sadly no more. Every year or so I feel drawn to ebay to buy one and do "something".
BOOT
I'd like to pimp an a500 to the max purely to see "what could have been". But then I think, yeah but...why not an A600?....or an A1200? (get the benefit of all those new goodies still coming out and not be limited to the stuff I can run) and then I start thinking "is it a good investment?" why not wait for Natami (surely not long now...?). Then I go back to the A500 cos a "new" machine wouldn't have that warm, fuzzy feeling and that blue and orange workbench...Then I think, "I've got no room for it anyway and the missus will kill me" so I start thinking about UAE (tried it, very good, not the same), need a real machine...which one? A500? A600? aaaaarrrrgggghhh!!!! Guru.
BOOT
It's getting so bad I'm actually figuring in my decision as to wether I buy a bigger house or not...but then...if I did...I maybe wouldn't be able to afford all the goodies I want...and I haven't got the time anyway...and she'll still kill me...aaaaarrrrggghhh!!!! Guru.
BOOT
So...boys and girls...what do I do? Someone...hold my hand and tell me it's all going to be alright. Will the evil guru ever go away? On a more serious note, if only someone had made cheaper hard drives back in the early 90's I think I'd still have my A500...I wonder what I'd have on it now? There's loads of stuff on ebay, hard drives, memory upgrades, accelerators...you could build a nice little system...but the 1200 is more expandable....STOP IT!!!!
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A500 and max it out!
Lot more fun to play with.
Plus, you can put together a really nice 500 system for not a whole lot of money.
Just my $0.02.
Curtis
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Go for an A1200. Easy to install an IDE hard drive, 68020 straight off the bat, AGA...
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Bonus: Indivision ECS still available for an A500
CON: no AGA
Bonus: A500 holds nostalgic value
CON: none?
You can make a "pimper" A1200 for sure, but it wouldn't be the same machine of your youth. Its a fun hobby - I say start with the 500 and see where you go from there.
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A1200 no contest. It will run everything the A500 did and be cheaper to expand. Regarding nostalgia, if you had a general interest in Amigas it will be the same nostalgia of the A500 but on steroids, because you'll remember the fascination about new models coming out and exploring their capabilities. I think every Amiga user at those times was fascinated by new Amiga models.
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Just buy what you want, don't think of it as an investment, the only investment in Computers is Apple stock.
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Out of all Amigas that I have in my collection, there is only ONE that is on my desk full time: Amiga 1200 by Amiga Technologies.
Comes with Blizzard IV 50 MHz, 64MB RAM and internal CDROM.
In my opinion it's the best. It's compact, has AGA, PCMCIA slot, internal IDE, color composite out.
Most, if not all, games work on it using WHDLoad with proper configuration.
I would focus all my energy in finding one for a good price, and for best results get an accelerator with plenty of RAM.
The most used feature in A1200 is the PCMCIA slot. With the PCMCIA to CF card transferring files from PC to Amiga can not be easier.
Lan and Wifi is available too with PCMCIA cards, what more you can ask for?
If I had to downsize, save or rescue from fire, the A1200 is the one I'm keeping.
My $0.02 seriously.
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I have owned most Amiga models. These days I would say buy an A1200. It's a great machine, with loads of stuff still available new for it. The '020 and hard drive alone make it the obvious choice.
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A1200 with IndivisionAGA! You won't regret it:)
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I would say forget the wedge machines and get an A4000, which has actual slots and was meant to be expanded unlike the average expanded A1200 with a mountain of expansions it was never designed for precariously stuck to the motherboard with tape and refusing to boot if you look at it the wrong way. I had an A1200 with PPC, Mediator, Voodoo 3, sound card, NIC and a bunch of other stuff and I was so glad to sell it and get an A4000 which was rock solid even with every slot full.
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I wouldn't go the a500 way, because it is very expensive to get it to the max. Not too long ago, a person from this forum bought an accelerator for the 500 that cost him 400 eur. I think it was the 040 one. Is too much money and for that amount you could get an a1200 with accel and better performance.
On the other hand, an a500 with the never sold ppc board would be uber cool. I saw a photo of it and it was impressive!.
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The 500 is the ultimate in nostalgia for a lot of people, but it's a lot harder to "do stuff" with it, compared to a 1200.
A 1200 is much easier to get software unto, get a hard drive set up on etc.
You also get the 2 megs RAM by default, and AGA.
THat being said, if the purpose is "what I had as a kid", then go with that :)
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It all depends what you want to spend & what it's used for
A500 - Nostalgic games, cheap memory, expensive accelerator = Expansion viable at a cost (hardware rareer).
A600 - Nostalgic but does not run all A500 games, additional IDE HD or CF card, can be used on the internet with PCIMCA network card, 030 accelerator card (Amiga kit) & V3.1 Rom
A1200 - All the same as above but with AGA (Advanced graphics) & more availiability of expansions from a wider source of areas.
A1000. A2000, A2500, A3000 - all availiable for expansion but may cost more money as hardware is not so as easily obtainable as the previous Amigas.
A4000T (Very Rare), A4000D (Rare-ish) these machines are fully expandable at cost but are a very good option if you are patient and have a disposable income with no limits.
I have all these Amiga's except the A4000T and the one I use most is the A600 with V3.1 ROM's as it's smaller and does not take up much space.
Good luck in your choice of machine, they are classics and are all very good at what they do with the various restrictions and hardware. :)
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I would so say go for an A1200 it is a nostalgia computer like the A500 in all regards. You get the benefit of easy expansions, easy to put software into it, AGA, easy HD installation BLAH BLAH BLAH
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I'd look for an A600. Then I'd buy one of Jens' '030 accelerators and an Indivision ECS flicker fixer.
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Amiga 1000 or 3000 only for me. Run the same stuff but look beautiful and have higher build quality.
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Hi,
I would get one of them dere g4 apple mac machines and install morphOS on it, then you would have a real Amiga
smerf
Sorry just had to say it, the devil made me do it. I humbly apoligize.
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Grab a A1200 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9THF92rvOhQ), much more fun than a 500 :)
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A lot of people have given you different advice and it's not really helping you much is it! If I was you I'd get an A1200, for reasons already stated. But, I don't see why you can't get an old A500 as well and just store it in the wardrobe or something just to look at once in a while (like me because I haven't the room to set it up).
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minimig
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Pretty much everyone will say get a a1200, since its cheap and more modern out of all the amigas.. A4000 would be nice but more expensive and harder to come by.
For me I have been a a500 owner back in the day, but I always wanted a a1200 when I was younger parents didnt have the money.. So a1200 was like the holygrail to me.. Seriously the a1200 is a workhorse compared to the a500..
I say, grab a a1200 if you can for around $105-ish USD. While your at it get a 030 accelerator , budget for around or just under $250USD, then you will have a nice machine where you can push the limits even further than the a500... AGA is very nice to have.. If you pimp out the a500 to the max, it will end up being like a a1200 but without AGA anyways and more expesive especially for acceletors.. I actually I think the a500 is better to pimp out if your into electronic design.. ie make new hardware for it and test it. theres alots of schematics for memory addons, basic ide interfaces, kickstart emulation eeproms, etc.
Meanwhile get a a500 as well, I've seen some on my local ebay from time to time go for $55 USD basic systems.
Also check amibay.com. If your patient and look everyday, Im sure a1200 $105USD and a500 $55 USD are doable.. well I got my a1200 for that price and a500 I got for free some ppl's garage 10 years ago :)
Not sure how much you are bidding for, but I waited 2 years for a cheap a1200 to come by.. but I wasn't in a rush..
Good luck!
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I paid $60 for my a500 a couple of years ago, and that was including a 1084s monitor.
I've never even seen an a1200 in this country.
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Hi,
I would get one of them dere g4 apple mac machines and install morphOS on it, then you would have a real Amiga
smerf
Sorry just had to say it, the devil made me do it. I humbly apoligize.
If you want a REALLY fast 1200, you need a fast X86 PC and a copy of AmigaForever.
Sorry just had to say that (and its true). Overclocked you really could almost have a 5GHz Amiga1200.
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Thanks Iggy. Finally someone that sees the hard over clocking work.
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Why a 500... well here goes
A nice start...
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/a500/a110_a50002.jpg
Not so humble...
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/amiga_scuzz91.htm
Just gets better...
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/car_0108/car1207417.jpg
Pimped...
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/a_scuzz_may22/a_scuzz_jun06_01.jpg
Flying with Rocket Fuel...
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/car_0410/car_100301.jpg
Racing ahead...
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/car_0507/a_scuzz_retro_0507_154.jpg
'0'va the top ...
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/car_1006/car_20Oct06_51.jpg
Hardly surprising....Should have been a 1200
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/car_0608/car08402.jpg
Not such a small interface...
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/a_scuzz_may22/a_scuzz_may29_02.jpg
Scuzz's little helper...
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/car_0608/car08174.jpg
Happy days... Say CHEESE...
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/car_0608/car08277.jpg
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Thanks everyone for chiming in. There's only one thing for it...I'll have to have a 500 and a 1200!...and a bigger house...