Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => General chat about Amiga topics => Topic started by: swoslover on April 11, 2008, 11:39:30 PM
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If I wanted to use my a1200 for general use, all I need is internet access (at a reasonable speed) and word processing (preferably with word compatibility).
What kind of upgrades would I need for this, if possible. My 1200 at the moment is of the bog standard variety.
Also can anyone tell me is amiga future worth buying and are there any new programs being developed for amiga?
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reading specs!
:python:
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:roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:
Oh, man, at first I thought you were serious. Thanks for the laugh.
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For it to be somewhat enjoyable i think you would need a 68030 accelerator with 8-16 meg ram. A high speed serial port or pcmcia network card is all but necessary for reasonable net speed.
Software-wise AmigaOS 3.1 is good enough, you can get virtually all of the functionality that you get in AmigaOS 3.9. Amiga browsers don't support all web page features but Ibrowse 2.4 is the best, but you can't buy this (see separate thread), so get AWeb which is for free. You'll need a TCP stack as well such as Miami or genesis. You get genesis with AmigaOS3.9, not sure about Miami. Amigawriter has limited Word support but there are utilities on Aminet that can read word documents, and convert them to text, which you can the import into other word processors such as Wordworth or Final Writer.
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parallel port could be good alternative to rs232.. but you need other computer acting as gateway (and it might need to run linux)
gfx card is (practically) a must
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swoslover wrote:
If I wanted to use my a1200 for general use...
This would require a reasonable level of delusion, and quite some considerable Luddism.
What kind of upgrades would I need for this
A pre-release version of dementia?
Sorry, I kid. Just hope you are well warned that even the most extravagantly enhanced classic Amiga does not provide a good platform for use of the internet. Much web content will not be accessible.
In terms of functionality, all these upgrades do not provide good value for money.
I hope my comments are not taken the wrong way, as I really do appreciate the Amiga platform for what it is, but don't expect it to be a drop in replacement for a modern computer.
Good luck,
Oliver
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hey swoslover,
I'd say you need the best 68k CPU withh MMU you can get, along with as much ram as possible. You can still asqueeze a usable Debian linux system out of this, with open office and a web browser. You could use this setup for pretty much all your 'typical' day to day needs. Dont know if you wanted to specifically stick to AmigaOS ;)
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You can get more specific info here:
http://www.linux-m68k.org/faq/faq.html
Minimum requirements are quite basic - but the more power you hve on tap, the better
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swoslover wrote:
If I wanted to use my a1200 for general use, all I need is internet access (at a reasonable speed) and word processing (preferably with word compatibility).
What kind of upgrades would I need for this, if possible. My 1200 at the moment is of the bog standard variety.
If you upgrade your Amiga with a faster cpu, more ram and a nice harddisk, it can be used for many day to day tasks. Webbrowsing is complete torture, though. Unbearably slow (even with an 68060) and many webpages won't even display correctly (if at all).
Also can anyone tell me is amiga future worth buying and are there any new programs being developed for amiga?
The Amiga as a normal computerplatform has been dead for years now, with no chance of revival. It still remains a very nice hobbymachine, though, and there are still some hard- and software projects being developed here and there. Aweb (browser) and YAM (e-mail) are still being developed. Most software on the Amiga has been around for years and is pretty mature.
Appreciate your Amiga as a hobbymachine. It's fun to have, fun to use and even more fun if you do something usefull with it every now and then. But don't expect it to be a full replacement for a modern OSX/Windows/Linux computer.
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Internet is the easy part. You can get cheap PCMCIA network card for your A1200, BUT if you want to use browsers daily, graphics card is absolutely required. And fast CPU. 030/040 is the minimum, but slow for regular surfing. 060 or PPC machine is recommended. For A1200 it practically means that get 060 accelerator and Mediator PCI-bus with graphics card, network card etc. Lots of upgrading.
If you only need it for general utility use and don'n need old games/demos, then I'd say it might be better to get some new generation amiga computer. One which runs with MorphOS or AmigaOS4. They're much faster than your a1200 can ever be and they have more modern browsers coming. Although browsing isn't bad in speed wise with high-end classic Amiga, it's much more snappy with new machines. You could keep your A1200 with cheap accelerator for games and demos.
Others already mentioned the compatibility issues of Amiga browsers for today's web, but if you're aware of them, you can still do the most on Amiga browsers too. Not necessarily as pretty as they've designed, but you can cope. And OTOH, browsing is usually much faster with Amiga than on PC as you don't get all useless ads jumping everywhere and blocking contents on badly designed pages :) I'm using IBrowse2.4 as my main browser still and I like it :)
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>If I wanted to use my a1200 for general use, all I need is internet access (at a reasonable speed) and word processing (preferably with word compatibility).
You need a very fast computer to run bloated software. Most internet software and MS-Word compatible stuff is bloated that relies on many levels of drivers/DLLs/applications. I use the Amiga everyday but it's not for stuff developed/standardized after they stopped developing the Amiga. See www.mpdos.com.
Your question is like buying the latest PC and then asking, "How do I make a real-time system, disable caching and compile directly to a fixed location and write directly to VGA registers and memory or control some external device?" Well, you can't especially with a parallel port missing, power management with a mind of it's own, and things running in your system that you are in as much ignorance of as spyware and viruses.
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I didnt think it was such an unresonable prospect. Sorry for being so stupid. I had the belief that amigawriter 2.2 had some compatibility with word, perhaps that is my mistake.
I also though internet access would not be a problem, however I was under no illusions of it being as quick as my current set up (ibook g4). My gf needs a new computer so I was thinking I could give her this and use an amiga for my limited needs of browsing and wp.
Also I recently saw an a1 on ebay, a rarity it must be said, go for 650 or thereabouts, is this worthwhile or is a set up like an a4000 040 desktop adequate (there is one on ebay now)
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@ weirdami
"reading specs" ohhhhhhhh paaaaaleeeeeeeese
HAHAHAAAAAAAHAHAAAAAA ON THE FLOOR HAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAA
HELP HOHOHHOH HAAHAHAHAHAAAA
errrr NO.
(actualy I laughed my head of at that one)
Mike. :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Even the fastest Amiga sucks at being a modern mainstream computer.
For the price of the fastest Amiga you could almost buy the fastest x86 PC.
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Jeez you guys are harsh, funny though.
I actually tried web browsing when I first resurrected the A1200 with a dkb cobra accelerator late last year, it was miserably slow and just stopped dead ( using Mosaic I think).
Funny thing is that I remember web browsing with it years ago, web sites must have been simpler back then..
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If you need a benchmark on how fast webpages used to be:
http://thalion.exotica.org.uk
I created the site in 1998 for Amiga's and apart from the font I use (and the content) nothing has changed since.
All pages were hand edited in Gold-Ed (although some pages touched up recently with Frontpage Express)
I guess it is a bit dated.
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Marcb wrote:
Jeez you guys are harsh, funny though.
I actually tried web browsing when I first resurrected the A1200 with a dkb cobra accelerator late last year, it was miserably slow and just stopped dead ( using Mosaic I think).
Funny thing is that I remember web browsing with it years ago, web sites must have been simpler back then..
Take a look-see. Don't forget your rose-tinted specs. ;-)
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.amiga.org/
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Think of it this way, I have a friend that collect old cars. He has an old Model T. It's a great car to drive, it's simple to maintain and work on, it takes you back to the early days of automobiles. Exactly what the Amiga does in the computer world. But would you take a Model T on a road trip from Sydney to Cairns? No, of course not.
That's not a criticism of the Model T, it was and is a great automobile, the beginning of mass production. It's simply a fact. If you think of the Amiga in the same terms you will appreciate it and understand that what you want to do simply isn't possible. It will lead to frustration and headaches.
Buy a cheap PC, surf the web and word process without problem and then, when you want the simple pleasures of yesterday's computing fire up the Amiga.
:pint::rtfm::elvis::juggler::mickeymouse::cheers::popcorn:
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Meega & Alexh,
Both look great on my PSP :lol:
Thanks for both the links, just the kind of sites I can lose myself for hours in...
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@ Persia
agreed, I haven't tried using the 1200 for web browsing since.
My amiga memories are made up of many things but web browsing isn't one of them...
Funny story about the rose coloured glasses Meega alluded to : in an effort to explain to my 9yo what a BBS was I restored my BBS files to the 1200 & logged in locally to show off my brilliant ANSI menus and my door games I'd written.
God love him, he was too nice to tell me what he really thought but even I thought they were crap :-D
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persia wrote:But would you take a Model T on a road trip from Sydney to Cairns? No, of course not.
Why not? (http://www.ezistimmodeltford.com/background/)
We travelled from Swan Hill, Victoria to Perth, Western Australia in a Model T Ford. At that time it took 26 days to complete the journey, whereas this time however, it is expected to take only 10 days.
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oh, wow the Nullarbor by Model T. At least you did it in the winter
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Ok cool
All this curiosity was aroused, originally, when reading an ST forum where they bemoaned the fact the ST was dead while the Amiga scene was still very much active.
I didn't think it was all that unreasonable to use a "souped-up" Amiga for WP and the net, although now remembering laborious surfing on my 200mhz dreamcast I have some perspective.
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swoslover wrote:
Ok cool
All this curiosity was aroused, originally, when reading an ST forum where they bemoaned the fact the ST was dead while the Amiga scene was still very much active.
Yes the Amiga scene is still active.
I didn't think it was all that unreasonable to use a "souped-up" Amiga for WP and the net, although now remembering laborious surfing on my 200mhz dreamcast I have some perspective.
The issue is the Amiga hardware is so dated it requires alot of souping-up just to match the performance of the Dreamcast.
The problem with the PPC system that offer Amiga compatibility (AmigaOne/PegasusPPC) is they are not very accessible thus software that takes advantage of the new hardware mostly doesn't exist.
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@ swoslover
This has come up time and again and there are always ppl on all sides on the issue. All computers are compromises, even those commonly reguarded as modern, state-of-the-art, etc.
There are a handful of ppl here who use the Amiga platform as their main computer, me included. I have all the other platforms available to me too. For me, it's a matter of fun, preference and trust. I'm tickled with my choice. Also, I spent the money for a capable Amiga (actually several) only when a great deal came along.
Only you can decide what your needs and expectations of modern web use are and if the Amiga can meet them. One more free thinking individual is always welcome, grin.
If you decide to try the Amiga route, the 1200 is expandable. One of the big box Amigas might be easier and cheaper to get the required souped-uppedness. Maybe not. (I've surfed on an A600 before. It was not as much fun as my current set-up.)
Good Luck. Do it your way.
@ Alexh
Your page came up almost instantly. I found the "Mythic Breasts" button very provocative until I read it closer. Grin.
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meega wrote:
Marcb wrote:
Jeez you guys are harsh, funny though.
I actually tried web browsing when I first resurrected the A1200 with a dkb cobra accelerator late last year, it was miserably slow and just stopped dead ( using Mosaic I think).
Funny thing is that I remember web browsing with it years ago, web sites must have been simpler back then..
Take a look-see. Don't forget your rose-tinted specs. ;-)
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.amiga.org/
I'd thought I'd try browsing some web pages on my A1200 68040 @40 mhz , but by reading web pages off a Cu Amiga cover CD because I can't be bothered getting it online but also to see how quickly old pages were decoded. As a bonus it would show how it might perform on a high-speed connection. I configured the browser to show image maps only and to use external viewers if I wanted to see the images, opening up on a separate screen. I used PAl overscan hires in 64 colors with ftext and fblit to help screen redraw speeds. Pages reading off the 8x Cdrom were rendered very quickly, not as fast as a PC would, but quite acceptable. If I configured to display images in within web pages, things slowed down a bit, but still OK. I then did the same on my 68060 A4000 on a CGX screen, web browsing off the cd was every bit as fast the PC.
I used my A4000 as my only machine up until 18 months ago, and i thought I'd get it online again.
Firstly, email using YAM was faster then outlook: outlook seems to take longer establishing the connection to the server, and working out whats on it, before it decides to download the messages. Web browsing speeds were ok if simple pages were being viewed: anything with complicated javascipt and layout took MUCH longer with lots of errors. text was however nearly always rendered. Other problems are that some sites insist you have a PC browser, flash animations really bog things down with errors, (having said that I don't use flash on my pc either) and some banking sites wouldn't let me in.
Not sure if this helps..
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Simple browsing can be relatively quick on an 040/060 and patched AGA system. While definitely not recommended for everyday use, you could, say, check your gmail, transfer some money around, and read amiga.org with relative speed and ease.
Again though, it's more of a cool "novelty" factor than something you'd want to use exclusively.