Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => General chat about Amiga topics => Topic started by: DigitalQ on January 09, 2008, 01:25:46 AM
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Okay, it's not much; I'm sure I'll add more in the future. At least it's something, and I feel my trusty crusty Amiga 500 deserves a tribute page; it was (and still is) a great machine. I hope you all enjoy the pictures; they enlarge when you click on them!
My Amiga 500 Tribute Page (http://digitalquirk.ca/amiga/a500tribute.html)
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Ah! The Amiga 500! Nice page.
This was the first computer I purchased with my own money, at the World of Commodore show in Toronto. I soooo wanted it. It was a great computer. Tons of games, capable. Even got me through university writing essays, etc.
I have a fondness in my heart for the A500. Love the wedge case. It's a very robust machine too. Basically it's an A2000 without the slots, so great build quality.
Oh, and that slingshot attachment you have is a nice and useful find!
I love the A500 *almost* as much as my VIC-20! But not quite!
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Nice page! I also had a 500 around that time and can relate, I then got a 2000, then a 4000 before I moved on to a PC.
You might want to fix the typo on the HD size! There were no 20Gb HDs back then!!
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nice looking 500!
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There were no 20Gb HDs back then!!
Oops! I don't know why I keep on doing that! Thanks for pointing it out.
I also love my Vic 20, but not in the same way as my Amiga 500. I love the Vic like I'd love the company of an old pet dog; whereas I love the Amiga like I love the company of an old friend. Some people may not see a difference between the two, but I do. Dogs can't talk. :lol:
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Nice page!
That is one seriously clean A500. You looked after that baby well.
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Very nice :-)
I cant forgive myself because i sold my A500 10 years ago..
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Oh, the link at the bottom of the screen doesn't seem to "link".
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Yes a nice page that, never had a 500, did get a 500+ once though.
Its nice to see some one doing a page like that.
Mike. :-) :-)
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ral-clan wrote:
Oh, the link at the bottom of the screen doesn't seem to "link".
That's because it's still a work in progress. I plan on creating a main Amiga home page which will link to various resources (ie; the Tribute page, the battery replacement page). The back to home page link is just there as a placeholder.
Thanks for pointing that out, though!
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Paul
Great first entry that. Just left me wanting to read more. Couple of real items of interest for me there... The Slingshot... Not come across that before. Certainly shows the many ways the A500 could be expanded. Who made that and could you take a pic of it on its own... Make and manufaturer details etc. Nice collectors piece. Also the box is one that I am not familiar with. Where did you buy your A500 from... How much etc. What do you you think you paid for your kit over the years. Also that stand to your monitor is just magical. Just left me wanting to see more of what you had. Like do you still have all the bits and pieces from inside the box and what were the contents..
Just excellent. Watch the old cheese 501 cus there is a dreaded battery in there that is probably leaking.
Well done and simply excellent... More pages please.
scuzz
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com
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That is one seriously clean A500. You looked after that baby well.
That was my first thought too. Are you sure you haven't manipulated those pictures? Haha.
And the blue WB1.x colour scheme. Really nasty! But it sure brings back fond memories.
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Well, I certainly don't want to leave anyone wanting... :-)
I put the Slingshot expander on my scanner and grabbed a couple of scans for you:
(http://99.253.2.30/amiga/slingshot/scan0004.jpg)
(http://99.253.2.30/amiga/slingshot/scan0005.jpg)
As you can see, it's a remarkably simple yet effective device made by Prespect Technics, Inc. I picked it up used for $20 back in the early 90's, and only ever used it with an A2090 card. I would like to test it with a GVP RAM and SCSI card I just recently won on evilBay; but I digress. Back to your questions.
The box is fairly common, I think, in where I live from the early days of the Amiga 500 release. I live in Canada, so if you're in a different country, that would explain the difference. I have seen them in much better shape at the local flea market; remember, this one's been hauled from one place to another with my A500 system over the years!
As for price, I can't remember exactly what I paid for the A500 and 1084s; all I remember is that I bought them both from a store in Peterborough, Ontario, after I sold my entire C64 system for $400. It might have been $800 for both. The A590 was an xMas gift, but I recall it being around $200. The 1011 drive was definitely $250. These are all pre-1990 prices.
The "Stand" on the monitor is built into the 1084s monitor; it flips down. An earlier version of the 1084 monitor has two "Legs" flip down from behind, allowing the monitor to "Prop up" on the flat vented spot of the A500 (though it "Fits" better on a Commodore 128).
As for the "Cheese" 501, I'm not too worried about it; as I have acquired a Supra RAM expander with a Lithium battery for free. I may pop open that old A501 to salvage the RAM chips.
I do plan on doing more. So far, I have this, along with this page (http://99.253.2.30/amiga/battery.html) which shows my A2000 system and explains how I replaced its clock battery. Eventually, I'd like to have a bunch of material on the A500/A2000 duo (my all-time favourite Amigas) accessible from a main "Home" page.
As for the pictures, they were not retouched...just photographed in a manner to show a yellowed A500 at its best. :-D
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Damnit, your A2000 is even prettier!
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The A2000 is, aside from the minor battery problem, absolutely mint. It looks as though it had never been used in the past 20 years, and doesn't show the slightest bit of yellowing; even on the keyboard. I can't really make a "Tribute" page to it, since I just got it this past December at World of Commodore. I do plan on getting a lot of use out of it, however.
:-D
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Hi
Those are wondefully sharp images of the Prespect Technics card and helps greatly fill in gaps with regard to expansions made for the A500. Well done.. just magic for serious collectors like me. Just need to get one now... Lucky you.
You can see where the collecting takes you though, cus with the variety of differing boxes even there is always something of interest from anyone who decides to photograph and display what they have. It really does help with the collating of the vast history of Commodore Products. Already from your site there are at least three specific items I had not even heard of. Just wish more Amiga enthusiasts would be so keen as to show the world just what they have.
Thats all very mouthwatering to me and I certainly will link you to my website. Would be great to get a full list of what you have down to the various leaflets, gurantees, cables, books, receipts even. It all paints a very vivid picture of the true Amiga ' set-up '. You can get kit off Ebay but you will never replace an Amiga original setup. I am lucky I still have my Amiga ' set-up ' .. All the various bits and pieces that have sat around the machine since birth. You seem to have quite a lot of what you originally have so you can best demonstrate what it was to have an original Amiga. Truly a unique situation and one you should be very very proud of. For me its not about acquiring an A4000 off the Bay and trying to make it into a modern PC. Its more about being able to appreciate an Amiga for what it truly was... The greatest computer ever made.
That is what Keeping the Faith is all about.
Just excellent.
scuzz
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com
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Hi
Sorry.. One last thing in respect of context. I travel around the UK picking up kit and I am always very very sad when I come across a serious Amigan getting rid of his kit. Cus, I know what it was to live the dream. Having grown up with the Amiga you appreciate that it was more than just the computer it was the whole world that existed around the computer, and your setup at home reflected a small part of that world. So seeing someones Amiga world fragmented and broken up is kinda really sad. The worst I ever had to deal with was a whole atic dedicated to the Amiga from a guy that must have died... And I was offered the whole lot for the collection. I just wished I could have taken the whole room undisturbed... Better, to have met the person to understand just what went on in his Amiga world. I have an old picture on the website of the actual Checkmate in context but it cannot begin to actually reflect the magical space that existed. As I say, if you are an Amiga thoroughbread and lived the dream you will appreciate what I am saying here... As I said earlier, that is something neither collectors off Ebay or users of the emulator will ever really appreciate.
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/amiga_scuzz86.htm
scuzz
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com
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Hi
You need to get the battery off. What I do ... Others will say different, but the computer is so valuable. I just rock the battery back and forth gently till it snaps off. I then clean with a cotton bud with vinegar and then neautralise with bicarbonate of soda [ small amounts ] Then dry with a very gentle heat from a hair dryer.
The A4000 and the A2000 snap off easy. The A3000T has tracks running below the battery and I would not do the same procedure.
The battery is a killer and should either be replaced, monitored or replaced.
Damage to the ' cheese '
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/amiga_scuzz403.htm
scuzz
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com
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Good news. I decided to crack open the A501 to inspect the potential "Damage." Here's what I found:
(http://99.253.2.30/amiga/A501inside.JPG)
Everything as clean and good as the day it was new! Now, the battery has long since lost its ability to retain a charge, but doesn't appear to have leaked a single drop onto the PCB. I will probably replace it with an exact duplicate and seal everything back up in the tin housing (I carefully de-soldered the case so it could go back together the way it was).
As for my system, I don't think I got rid of a single piece of my original A500 setup. I kept all my magazines, manuals, cables, even the dead RLL drive I used to use. I still have my collection of Jumpdisks with covers. I probably tossed out the warranty card and other junk like the plastic bag it was in a long time ago, though I still have my original Epson printer I used with it. I'm considering digging through the rest of the boxes I have stored away to dig out things like that old mail order modem and set everything up exactly as I had it.
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I've added a photo extension from my main tribute page where I will continually add photographs as I see fit; I've done the manuals, disks, inside the A501, and my favourite Joystick to use with the Amiga.
It's all here (click) (http://99.253.2.30/amiga/tributepics/picturesmain.html).
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Nice site :-) Looks Amiga-friendly too so kudos for that.
I still have 2 Amiga 500s in the attic, simply no space to set any of them up though!
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Nice site, brings back the great memories, I remember getting my first A500 when we had moved to America, I am dyslexic and the Amiga 500 was recommended by my teachers because it could read out what I wrote, so my father decided to buy me my first and only computer, an A500. I remember when it arrived (I was 10 at the time) the boxes where taller than me! It is great because the Amiga was so helpful for people like me and still is, I have to use my Amiga for reports to read out my mistakes hahaha.
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I remember mr_a500 (http://www.amiga.org/userinfo.php?uid=9703) has some very cool images posted here that prove nicely what a A500 can do:
http://www.amiga.org/gallery/index.php?u=2187
His last image (and last post for that matter) in this forum can be found here: http://www.amiga.org/gallery/index.php?n=2022
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I was well impressed with those, I never would have imagined that the A500 could do that - shame I hadn`t known that sooner.
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I thought that, when I bought my Amiga 500 back in 1988, it had no limits. Today I keep finding out just how true I was in that sentiment.