Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => General chat about Amiga topics => Topic started by: darkage on January 04, 2010, 11:31:58 PM
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Hi All,
Im a long term lurker here.
I was an active amiga user between 1988 to around 1999/2000 with my old trusty Amiga 500.
Since then I have collected 3 other Amiga 500's for free but havent tinkered with them for ages.
I still love these machines, enough so that it influenced me to take IT as a career path thats going back 15 years now. haha Whenever I feel lost in my career I always turn on my amiga which seems to inspire me always (: and gives me kicks & heaps of super memories. honestly my prime Amiga years were by far the happiest time of my live.. :P
Lately I've been looking at the A1200 new-old stock at Amigakit. I've always wanted a A1200 since I first saw my friends one in 1994 I would guess and I still got a slight itch to buy one.
My question is, is that a crazy idea to grab a A1200? I keep on thinking if its worth spending the money or if I would be still as happy with my A500 but from the perspective of building hardware for it. (As a hobby I put together PIC/Atmel projects along with etching own PCB's).
Another question I believe 030 & 060 accelerators are probably a must for the A1200 or else the experience might be a bit laggy. Whats the speed difference between these two? ie. 030 can satisfy you enough? 060 can you actually notice a speed improvement compared to the 030 or only when doing heavy number crunching tasks?
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hi, I was in the excat same boat as you and finally got my 1200 a few years back and let me tell you it was worth it!
I would highly recommend getting at least an 030 card (preferrably Blizzard as its rock solid)..my Blizzard 030@50 lets me run lightwave 3.5, doom, barsn pipes and many kickass aga demos with no problems at all
..of course, as many here will tell you, once you get a 1200 you will feel compelled to do many upgrades such as: 4GB or> CF card as main DH0, get a Indivision AGA crad to use modern LCD or VGA monitors etc etc etc :-)
anyhow start with the 1200 and 030 and go from there and have fun!
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Great idea! If you've got the cash, inclination, like to tinker and are patient - can't think of a better hobby-computing experience than an A1200 (or any Miggy really). Advantage of the 1200 is the readily available processor upgrades (and yes, an 060 is THAT much better all around for an ultimate Amiga experience), but for games only and some other minor utility type stuff - a high end 030 (50mhz) might be plenty. I'll admit, I had more fun upgrading and enjoy my big box Amiga than I ever did my A1200, but either way - you'll be happy tinkering with a 1200 if you're just used to a 500.
BTW: plan on spending a small fortune no matter what you do Amiga wise and Jens' Indivison AGA (native VGA out) is also highly recommended. OS3.9 on an 030 equipped A1200 *is* going to seem a little sluggish today - FYI, but it is what it is. Tons of patches to get the most out of your system on Aminet and here. If I were to go back to a 1200, the Boing Bag 3 patches would be a must for me, now that I'm used to an 060 machine.
Enjoy!
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I would highly recommend getting at least an 030 card (preferrably Blizzard as its rock solid)..my Blizzard 030@50 lets me run lightwave 3.5, doom, barsn pipes and many kickass aga demos with no problems at all
..of course, as many here will tell you, once you get a 1200 you will feel compelled to do many upgrades such as: 4GB or> CF card as main DH0, get a Indivision AGA crad to use modern LCD or VGA monitors etc etc etc :-)
anyhow start with the 1200 and 030 and go from there and have fun!
Seconded!
And welcome to the nuthouse! :roflmao:
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I don't think it's crazy - I'm in the exact same situation, have returned to the Amiga after quite a few dull PC/linux years.
I'm looking at getting another A1200 too, as I gave away all my Amigas years ago and reeally wish I hadn't. A1200s are fun to tinker with if you like that kind of thing. IMO a 030 with some extra RAM is a must, it's a vast improvement over the 000/020 and things like NewIcons (if you want a fancy WB) will be much more enjoyable, as well as general operations and games.
Couldn't say regarding noticable speed difference between 030/060 though, never had a 060, but 030s seem far more common than 060s on ebay. I've seen A1200s with 030s go for around 120 GBP or so on there, so it might be worth hanging on until you see a good deal if you're unsure.
Edit: 3 other people replied while my connection was lagging, so sorry for repetition :)
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I'd wait to see whats up with this a-eon thing first.
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Get the A1200.
But get an 040 rather than an 030.
Trust me, i'm a doctor.
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I thought 040's ran hot and didnt really have that much more performance increase?
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Picked up an A1200 for $40.
Best $40 ever spent.
Got the following add ons
Got a 030 50mhtz CPU and FPU
128 megs
CFcard adapter
Winuae and one of those WB distributions so I can switch back and forth to Amiga and PC
PCMCIA CF card adapter
BLACK Plasticote paint for killer paintjob
Indivision
Black mouse
This thing sits in a box, becuase I honestly tinker with it endlessly, play games, MP3's Mods, etc. I had to take UAE of my laptop. At one point I had an Amiga Project as an excuse now I just can't waste time with the thing.
You run into other Amiga folks like this. Sold an A500 to a financial industry businessman in NYC who was orginally from the UK and wanted a spare as his A500's drive was getting "dodgy" as he said.
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From memory, I get the feeling alot of OCS games may not work on the A1200?
Would this be correct, Im just trying to remember back to 1994 now :)
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IT aint 199FO any MO...
If you get the WHDload versions the whole compatibility issue is usually patched. WHDLoad is a must if you're going to game... you're gonna love it! See that's the whole beauty of the CF enabled A1200, you can have an identical Amiga setup on an external USB drive and setup the workbench in UAE on your pc and drop the CF card into the Amiga...
Of just use the PCMCIA CF card reader as a go between. With this setup a CD-rom drive is not required in my experience.
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I thought 040's ran hot and didnt really have that much more performance increase?
Yeah, I'm not sure why you'd want to go that route. Maybe Tension meant to say 060? 040's run at 5vcc whilst the 060 runs at 3vcc. Then you're gonna to have to raise the desktop case, install a fan, etc., etc. Unless of course, you get a Blizzard 1240, remove the 040 and install an 060 you got for dirt cheap somewhere :)
That would make sense methinks... lol
I had an 040 25mhz card in my A2500 for a very short stint and feel it did not give me that much more improvement speed wise than my 030 @ 40mhz. But I'm talking general desktop usage. Perhaps somebody rendering or using their machines a little more professionally would disagree. But then I'd think they'd want to invest in an 060 anyway.
And yeah, like Crom00 said, no need to worry about compatibility any longer. Everything is patched with WHDLoad AND there are Degrader programs as well as Kickstart disks/programs that force a Kickstart 1.3 environment. Kickstart ROMS are dirt cheap if you want to stay on the "up and up" of things.
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Yeah, I'm not sure why you'd want to go that route. Maybe Tension meant to say 060? 040's run at 5vcc whilst the 060 runs at 3vcc. Then you're gonna to have to raise the desktop case, install a fan, etc., etc. Unless of course, you get a Blizzard 1240, remove the 040 and install an 060 you got for dirt cheap somewhere :)
That would make sense methinks... lol
I had an 040 25mhz card in my A2500 for a very short stint and feel it did not give me that much more improvement speed wise than my 030 @ 40mhz. But I'm talking general desktop usage. Perhaps somebody rendering or using their machines a little more professionally would disagree. But then I'd think they'd want to invest in an 060 anyway.
I never had a problem with my Apollo 1240 040 28Mhz. Although I did upgrade the fan to a bigger unit when i put the A1200 in a tower, just because I could :)
I was always led to believe that if given a choice,always go for the 040, even if it's a 28Mhz 040 rather than a 50Mhz 030.
Of course this was all before the Internet. All I was using was my monthly editions of CU Amiga (Or Amiga Format if CU Amiga wasn't in.)
P.S. The 060 cards for any Amiga are so prohibitively expensive that I can't imagine anyone ever owning one. It's like they don't even exist.
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Hi Darkage, welcome back into the Amiga world. I use my A1200 with 8MB Fast RAM/FPU with internal CF card and PCMCIA ethernet adapter every day. I browse the web, chat on MSN and IRC, use plenty of productivity software, code, and play games. As the others mentioned, WHDLoad fixes nearly all those old floppy and incompatibility problems, so just about every game runs from my hard drive (CF card) now. If these are the sorts of things you'd like to do, you may not even need to shell out for an expensive 030 card. The 020 in the A1200 is fine for general use and games provided you have some extra Fast RAM. Of course, if you want to browse multiple sites in tabs while having all your chat programs, email, Twitter, online games and things open at the same time, you might want the 030.
There's also the option of a CD32 with a SX-1 or SX32 module, which adds 8MB RAM to the CD32, as well as all the standard Amiga ports so you can turn it into a full computer. DOOM runs smoother on a CD32 with 8MB Fast RAM than it does on an A1200 with 8MB Fast RAM, I've run benchmark tests that confirm it! The Akiko chip in the CD32 really helps out with Chunky to Planar conversion for 3D games.
Where abouts are you from? Maybe if you live close to someone with an A1200 they can give you a demonstration. I wanted one ever since the first time I used one, and I already had the CD32 :p
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Hi All,
Im a long term lurker here.
Lately I've been looking at the A1200 new-old stock at Amigakit. I've always wanted a A1200 since I first saw my friends one in 1994 I would guess and I still got a slight itch to buy one.
My question is, is that a crazy idea to grab a A1200? I keep on thinking if its worth spending the money or if I would be still as happy with my A500 but from the perspective of building hardware for it. (As a hobby I put together PIC/Atmel projects along with etching own PCB's).
Another question I believe 030 & 060 accelerators are probably a must for the A1200 or else the experience might be a bit laggy. Whats the speed difference between these two? ie. 030 can satisfy you enough? 060 can you actually notice a speed improvement compared to the 030 or only when doing heavy number crunching tasks?
If you have an itch, the best thing to do is give it a scratch (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VETGfJ9pjI0) ;)
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IMHO, the '060/AGA combo only makes sense if you're into the late AGA-era demoscene. While there is a pretty huge performance gap between the '030 and '060, AGA is so slow that it's really not all that noticeable just using Workbench. Also, the '060 somewhat hampers compatibility with old games.
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I noticed a speed difference going from a 33mhz 030 to a 25mhz 040. On Deluxe Music 2 the screen refreshed faster.
At the time I was also using it to connect to the internet on an old 28k modem, the internet was more useable too.
Other than those two things yeah there isn't a noticeable difference.
If you can wait there may be some backwards compatible clones (Natami is one of them) coming out... but who knows when.
If the minimig had more features I would have more interest in that.
I can't justify spending the money when you can get a Power Mac for cheap $$$.
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Occasionally though people do up and sell their entire setups for cheap. when they make it collection only it tends to keep everyone but the "true fans":confused: away.
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"Collection only" auctions are so much worse in Australia where we're all so spread out around this huge, empty continent.
NovaCoder has a great idea, check out YouTube for hundreds of videos that will make you want an Amiga again :)
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I love the sound of Australia - "empty" and all :)
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Man, you mean people actually live in austrailia? I thought that was just an urban legend.
Is the thing about having to wear hats outdoor to stop the sun giving you head cancer true?
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You don't go out around midday or you will be sunburned in two minutes. My aunty who lives by the beach got a tumour on her nose, so yeah it is a good idea to where a hat.
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Hi Darkage, welcome back into the Amiga world. I use my A1200 with 8MB Fast RAM/FPU with internal CF card and PCMCIA ethernet adapter every day. I browse the web, chat on MSN and IRC, use plenty of productivity software, code, and play games.
Whao! Such admirable dedication! Ok now that makes me want one even more seeing it still has some productivity uses today even if it is for fun!
I'm Located in Melbourne/Australia. Saw this CD32 on ebay still in box
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/AMIGA-CD32-console-still-NEW-and-in-the-box_W0QQitemZ320389560083QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Computers_Vintage?hash=item4a98b4b713
Available for pickup ONLY out in the country areas. $499 AUD for a CD32 seems a bit steep. Wonder what the normal 2nd hand price is from non-collectors.
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IT'S A TRAP!!!
That guy is a con-man! He is selling a CD32 he bought on eBay from China for under $150 and reselling it for $500. You can get one from China yourself if you search internationally for CD32 in eBay. They're all new in the box, but they're all NTSC with American PSUs. Most CD32 games are PAL, and there could be compatibility issues with a lot of software because of the CD32 being NTSC. Some people have been able to modify them to be PAL, and you may be able to bypass the problem alltogether with an Indivision scan doubler, but then you'd need to plug the CD32 into a PC monitor (not that that's a bad thing).
For tinkering, you'd still be better off with an A1200 though, or at least a PAL CD32 with an SX-1 or SX32 expansion, but those are rare.
A600s are another option, they're quite expandable these days with a new 8MB FastRAM card and a 020 accelerator in the works. I've upgraded mine with 2MB ChipRAM, Kickstart ROM switcher, 1.3 and 3.1 ROMs, CF drive, PCMCIA Ethernet and SD Card reader, USB keypad, mouse and control pad, and a LCD monitor. I took some pics of it a little while ago which are here http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=49670
You should maybe look into going to one of the two Amiga club meetings in Melbourne, they get together every month I think. I'd love to go to them myself but I'm waaay up in Northern NSW where there seem to be hardly any Amiga users left. There are plenty in Victoria though.
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About the 600... I dunno... I had a buddy get an A600 back in the day and he sold it for an A1200 got a CPU card and ram. That was back in 93. He loved the 600 but the A1200 had more colors and CSA had a special on CPU cards so he jumped on it.
He never looked back.
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STAY AWAY from the NTSC cd32 unless every game you want is in PAL. It's funky as some games will only work in PAL on a PAL CD32. I mean the problem is your TV will not display the game properly. A multisystem TV or Commdore monitor may be better. Why didn't they include the RGB port!!!! Aside from that quirk the CD32 rocks. The game compliation CD's you can acquire are great.
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Hi
I'm sure you have seen the A1200 and lots of bits in the Auction House.
He's put it under Accessories/everything else.
Hope that helps.
Good luck.
(you know it makes sense!)
Stug:hammer:
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Hi
I'm sure you have seen the A1200 and lots of bits in the Auction House.
He's put it under Accessories/everything else.
Hope that helps.
Good luck.
(you know it makes sense!)
Stug:hammer:
Yep I have seen the A1200 on the auction house. UK is a little far though for shipping to Australia, but yet again brand new-old stock from Amigakit is tempting.
I knew this was bound to happen once I sparked my interest back in the Amiga. Im finding I stay up until 4am trolling around for cheap Ami hardware. Then I found a whole pile of Ami books in PDF on amigasupersite.com. Makes me want to read them all, to have a much better understanding of the machine inside out. I guess this is where things start to get nutty with some sort of obsessive behaviour. haha! but its all good its all good (:
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Not that crazy, Im looking to buy one myself. The cost isnt too bad, though the Indivision will add quite a bit to it.
Compatibility is pretty good. Only a few games that needed relokick or anything like that for 1.3 kickstart. And an AGA machine lets you play Banshee!
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Not that crazy, Im looking to buy one myself. The cost isnt too bad, though the Indivision will add quite a bit to it.
Very true when thinking back to the original cost in 1992. Correct me if Im wrong, I vaguely remember how much my friend payed for one when it was first released. I can remember him saving up for sometime though. Anyone know what price it was originally sold for? I keep on think just above $1200 or $1400 for some reason.
I know my Ami500 costed my parents $1000 in 1998 Im sure. actually I should have the original receipt someone in the filing cabinet. somewhere
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Nah man, I don't think getting an A1200 is crazy!
Given cost/availability of A1200s & upgrades, it is certainly in the better value for money category too :) Plus, with an A1200 you get options only available on a few other machines, such as AGA graphics, PCMCIA slot, IDE controller, etc.
As for NTSC CD32s from China, I've modified mine by fitting a PAL/NTSC switch & it was a very easy job. BUT, expansions for the CD32 are quite hard to come by & always VERY expensive, so if I were you, I'd go for the A1200 first.
PZ.
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Nah man, I don't think getting an A1200 is crazy!
Given cost/availability of A1200s & upgrades, it is certainly in the better value for money category too :) Plus, with an A1200 you get options only available on a few other machines, such as AGA graphics, PCMCIA slot, IDE controller, etc.
As for NTSC CD32s from China, I've modified mine by fitting a PAL/NTSC switch & it was a very easy job. BUT, expansions for the CD32 are quite hard to come by & always VERY expensive, so if I were you, I'd go for the A1200 first.
PZ.
thats true A1200 is best bang for buck for options, and has more kick value for reliving those funky years.
As for the NTSC CD32, I only dabbled in the thought since I regularly travel to China via Hong Kong. I msg'ed that ebay seller asking for shipping within China.. haha they just replied we only ship to AUD.???? strange....