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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: unite on May 29, 2007, 10:29:59 PM
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As some you might of seen in another post I recently joined this site cause I recently dug out the old amigas. Have been head scratching over the 1200 and reckon she deserves a bit of a boost. Basically I'm setting her up to play all the old games again but am going to go for a hard drive this time to save on all that annoying disk swapping. My question is, since I've been using WINUAE a fair bit is it possible with a few upgrades to get the amigas workbench looking a bit more upto date i.e. higher res, more colours say something like the Amiga in a box addon for WINUAE. I have been looking at various accelerator boards but to be honest I don't really have a clue and I know you guys know yer stuff so if I said I had £100 to spend what kinda bits would you recommend.
P.S. I would like to be able to display on a spare 14" PC monitor I have. Been reading up and it seems I just need a converter of some sort.
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100 gbp isn't going to get you very far, I'm afraid. On estimate, you're looking at around 300-400 to get it looking and running really good. I suggest to start looking for a P5 1260 or BlizzardPPC. They're not so easy to find, but they do crop up every now and again. That'll set you back a cool 200 right there. The next biggie is PCI in the form of a Mediator. Software Hut and Amigakit both have them in stock. Thats another bill, at least..
Once you get those two essential items out of the way, then you'll naturally want more. :) You can really go kinda nuts upgrading Amigas.. I mean you have Zorro slots, PCI slot, multiple clockports, even a cardslot! You could have three of everything if you really wanted to.. Its only really limited if you are married. Welcome to the wonderful (and expensive) world of classic Amiga.
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unite wrote:
Basically I'm setting her up to play all the old games again but am going to go for a hard drive this time to save on all that annoying disk swapping.
A 2,5 IDE PC Drive will do, beware more than 4GB will need a patch. And you probably need something to hold that HD inside the A1200.
unite wrote:
My question is, since I've been using WINUAE a fair bit is it possible with a few upgrades to get the amigas workbench looking a bit more upto date i.e. higher res, more colours say something like the Amiga in a box addon for WINUAE.
Erm sotware wise it's no problem to have a funkier Workbench. The Problem is that resoulution and 256 colours will stay until you upgrade to a gfx card as they are an hardware limitation.
unite wrote:
I have been looking at various accelerator boards but to be honest I don't really have a clue and I know you guys know yer stuff so if I said I had £100 to spend what kinda bits would you recommend..
I don't know exact prices maybe have a look at some Blizzard, MTec, whatever 1230 Board with a bit of FastRam. A Ram only expansion will also help. A 1240 or 1260 Accelerator board should be nice but you will see that Amiga accellerators are insane priced. If you have compatability issues with your Accelerator and some games try WHDLoad and if you like it register it then.
unite wrote:
P.S. I would like to be able to display on a spare 14" PC monitor I have. Been reading up and it seems I just need a converter of some sort.
Depends on if it can syncronyze on 15 kHz, if not you need a Scandoubler/Flickerfixer bye bye hard earned money...
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lol looks like the wifes going to kill me then :P
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Is this anygood?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190116778990&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:middle:uk
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A 1240 should be fast enough, you will need WHDLoad for certain Games. The seller also admits that he paid 160 new (that was ten? years before 2007) so keep that in mind while bidding on it. Good hunting.
And for the wife, let she show you all her shoes and say that your AMIGA was much cheaper than that... :lol:
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If you mainly want the machine for games, the '040 may not be the best choice. You may want to stick with an 68030 accelerator, with maybe 32Mb of RAM.