Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => General chat about Amiga topics => Topic started by: Eric_Fresh on January 12, 2010, 11:49:27 PM
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I'm not sure if I want to keep upgrading this 500+ with as much ram as possible up to 9 megs, a nice sidecar HD and maybe a accelerator. I would say the most I want to spend upgrading it is $250, because with that a could get a new old stock A1200 with a CF HD from Amigakit. So here's what I have now...
A500+ with full ECS, 1.5MB ram, 68010 processor upgrade, 3.1 roms, CA-88 2nd floppy and best of all no yellowing. Should I upgrade this 500 with at least a hard drive or should I just spend a little more for a 1200?
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What do you want do with it? A stock A1200 will provide better performance and compatibility with AGA software, but you'll want a RAM expansion and an easy way to softkick Kickstart 1.3 for compatibility with legacy games.
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Out of the options you gave for voting, I chose to go the A1200 route, but only because your A500 is good enough as it is for most games. Personally, I'd just be happy with your A500 and skip the 1200 unless you really have $300-$500 burning a hole in your pocket. As Trev hinted, you will not be happy with a stock A1200. Fast Ram is only the beginning.
Internal or external HD solutions are out there for your A500 and cost less than $100. Guess it depends what you want to do with an Amiga these days. If its only to play games, minimally upgrade the A500 (more ram ain't gonna really do squat). If you want to get into Demo's, play around with AGA, the potential to do mass storage (A1200 has built in IDE) and some more "serious" stuff with an Amiga - then go for an A1200 - but be prepared to sink a lot of dough into her. She's an upgrade whore that way and you may never be fully satisfied ;-)
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Exactly. Your A1200 upgrade path will go something like this:
1. Buy A1200.
2. Buy "cheap" fast RAM expansion, maybe with RTC.
3. Since fast RAM expansion only lets you use 4 MB at the same time as the PCMICIA slot, buy not-so-cheap accelerator ($300+).
4. Built-in IDE support is functional but sketchy. Buy bufferred IDE interface.
5. 15 KHz CRT dead. Buy Indivision (awesome kit).
Someone really needs to build and release an inexpensive 32-bit fast RAM expansion for the A1200. I think availability of the connectors themselves is the issue and not the lack of want or design knowledge.
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Oh yeah here is a picture of my retro computer queen.
(http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/7010/vintagebaby.jpg)
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At least you're already good to go with one of the best home joysticks ever produced. :-) I love my Sega stick. (I'm also a fan of the Wico bat, despite having to hit the thing full force on every move.)
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Anything more and it will not be a cool A500. I would alway do mega upgrades on a classic with an A1200, you will get more overall from the machine.
Some of my previous cool classix:
A1200 (http://www.amiga.org/gallery/index.php?n=2093)
A600 (http://www.amiga.org/gallery/index.php?n=2956)
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The hard drives and other stuff are neat but the center of the Amiga universe is the graphics chipset. If you could upgrade that without swapping motherboards, I'd recommend it. As it is the only way to get a new graphics chipset that's Amiga compatible is to buy an A1200.
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The AGA chipset, the CF hard drive option and the ability to network and go online with it are the main reasons I want a A1200, also I would love to get an accelerator for it and get WB 3.9 which I've never seen in action and the networking and being able to go online...
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What do you want do with it? A stock A1200 will provide better performance and compatibility with AGA software, but you'll want a RAM expansion and an easy way to softkick Kickstart 1.3 for compatibility with legacy games.
Mainly I want to run demos and games, but I love having the most powerful machine possible even if I don't need to. Overkill is great.
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As it is the only way to get a new graphics chipset that's Amiga compatible is to buy an A1200.
Well, unless you can find the "AGA go Kit" for A500. I believe there where working prototypes.
Oh and of couse AGA and PPC for A500!!
(http://www.amiga.org/gallery/images/3552/large/1_2381.jpg)
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Well, unless you can find the "AGA go Kit" for A500. I believe there where working prototypes.
Oh and of couse AGA and PPC for A500!!
OMG! Who's the lucky bastard in possession of that modern piece of art? :)
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AGA To Go. Now thats getting a bit silly, where one can still purchase new-old stock 1200 in a smaller footprint package.
To be honest the best setup would be A500 as it is for compatibility with older games and return to the past feeling if u grew up with the A500 and a A1200 for hdd / accelerator / updated WB and AGA classic computing. (whdload if you get lazy inserting disks into A500 (: ) If you go all out upgrading the A500 you STILL need to go all out to upgrade the A1200. x2 the money spent.
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I voted A500. Max it out as much as you can afford.
If you get an A1200 there is Relokick 1.3 (to play 1.3 OCS games). Can someone provide a link to it or is it abandonware? If so I can upload an adf image then.
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Oh yeah here is a picture of my retro computer queen.
(http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/7010/vintagebaby.jpg)
That is one VERY nice and clean looking Amiga :)
Personally i would say that for most people, a perfect Amiga would be as most people in this thread are saying is an A1200 with a fastram card with RTC (Say 4 or 8mb) and an internal IDE harddisk. Also a PCMCIA Compact Flash reader is very usefull.
With that setup you can have a really nice WB3.1 setup with WHDLOAD to run all your classic games from harddrive.
The A500/+ is a great machince and very capable and will also run most games through WHDload if you have a harddisk and at least 3mb of ram but it does lack the AGA and is more expensive to upgrade.
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IMO the perfect Amiga is as follows:
A1200 in original desktop case
030 accelerator (preferably Blizzard) with fast RAM on board
Compact flash to IDE adapter with 4GB card
PCMCIA compact flash adapter like EasyADF
Lots of WHDLoad games :)
This is having gone through two basic A1200s upgraded to the max into towers, plus an A4000D similarly upgraded, and all sold and gone back to the setup above :)
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moto
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Someone really needs to build and release an inexpensive 32-bit fast RAM expansion for the A1200. I think availability of the connectors themselves is the issue and not the lack of want or design knowledge.
Can't have that unless you install a 32bit CPU on the board as well. The A1200's EC020 has a 24-bit address bus.
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That's one nice spotless piece of Amiga there. Keep it.
If space isn't an issue you could always get an A1200 later. But that A500 is so nice that you need to be the caretaker of it! :-) She deserves it.
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IMO the perfect Amiga is as follows:
A1200 in original desktop case
030 accelerator (preferably Blizzard) with fast RAM on board
Compact flash to IDE adapter with 4GB card
PCMCIA compact flash adapter like EasyADF
Lots of WHDLoad games :)
This is having gone through two basic A1200s upgraded to the max into towers, plus an A4000D similarly upgraded, and all sold and gone back to the setup above :)
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moto
Replace the 030 accelerator with a PPC and a Graphics card (yes that is apparently possible in a desktop case) With OS4 on a separate partition and i'd agree with you. the Desktop case just can't be beat, but I do appreciate a crazy 1200T setup.
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IMO the perfect Amiga is as follows:
A1200 in original desktop case
030 accelerator (preferably Blizzard) with fast RAM on board
Compact flash to IDE adapter with 4GB card
PCMCIA compact flash adapter like EasyADF
Lots of WHDLoad games :)
This is having gone through two basic A1200s upgraded to the max into towers, plus an A4000D similarly upgraded, and all sold and gone back to the setup above :)
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moto
Agree with you on that... That's the best setup, but I'm biased cause that's pretty much mine. ;-) For retro gaming and demos, the original 1200 with a Blizzard 030 is excellent. WHDLoad makes gaming (and demos) a breeze to setup and run. Even if you didn't want to do the CPU upgrade, an inexpensive 4MB ram expansion card will get you going for most games. Just maybe not all the demos, if you're even into that.
Only thing I'd add, if you have the coin, is an Indivision AGA card. It's an awesome upgrade. Being able to use any CRT or LCD VGA monitor makes life a lot easier. Not to mention it provides a very decent image too.
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I totally agree with @brianb.
Get the A1200!
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I had much fun building up my Amiga 500 setup. Currently with GVP A530,Os 3.1,Ide-Compact Flash and Indivision (Waiting for sata and esata adapters to arrive). Going to buy Delfina and second Indivision for it.
Don't play much games with it, but should work fine with whdload. Making music and programming is great on this machine.
I do also own A1200, but as I am biased on OCS programming and protracker, my A1200 still stays unused.
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I agree with the "get the A1200" idea here. It is much easier and cheaper to expand. You will have a few compatibility issues with older games - but if you keep your A500 stock, use it for the games that don't work on the A1200!
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@Save2600
"She's an upgrade whore that way and you may never be fully satisfied ;-) "
That was P-R-I-C-E-L-E-S-S
May I present you my whore....
(http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/6229/amigamh.jpg)
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I'm not sure if I want to keep upgrading this 500+ with as much ram as possible up to 9 megs, a nice sidecar HD and maybe a accelerator. I would say the most I want to spend upgrading it is $250, because with that a could get a new old stock A1200 with a CF HD from Amigakit. So here's what I have now...
A500+ with full ECS, 1.5MB ram, 68010 processor upgrade, 3.1 roms, CA-88 2nd floppy and best of all no yellowing. Should I upgrade this 500 with at least a hard drive or should I just spend a little more for a 1200?
I have a nice A1200 in very pristine condition I would trade for your A500+ if you are interested. I also have a 68030 accelerator for it, but we would have to negotiate for it to be included in the trade. Both are like new in their original boxes and have hardly been used at all, since I bought another A1200 w/A1260 accelerator in it shortly after buying the A1200 brand new from AmigaKit a few years ago. (or was it eBay, I can't remember, but it was a brand new "Magic Pack" A1200 and I have used it less than 50 hours and still have the pristine box and everything that came in it).
Let me know if you are interested. I thought all the A500+ Amigas were in the UK and Germany? Is it NTSC or PAL and does it have a US keyboard layout, or a UK layout?
Edit: I hope you have already removed the battery from the A500+ mobo, so it has not leaked on it.
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Well, unless you can find the "AGA go Kit" for A500. I believe there where working prototypes.
Oh and of couse AGA and PPC for A500!!
(http://www.amiga.org/gallery/images/3552/large/1_2381.jpg)
Did any of these PPC + AGA boards for the A500 work, or was it just a concept board that never got finished?
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IMO the perfect Amiga is as follows:
A1200 in original desktop case
030 accelerator (preferably Blizzard) with fast RAM on board
Compact flash to IDE adapter with 4GB card
PCMCIA compact flash adapter like EasyADF
Lots of WHDLoad games :)
This is having gone through two basic A1200s upgraded to the max into towers, plus an A4000D similarly upgraded, and all sold and gone back to the setup above :)
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moto
I agree, once you go beyond the desktop case (and away from using the classic chipset) it all becomes a bit silly. What's the point in building an 'Amiga' that is only using the MB as a fixing plate to joint the various upgrades together ;)
You did forget to add an IndivsionAGA to that list though!
Just get a 1200 with an IndivisionAGA, a (cheap) 4GB CF and a cheap 4mb memory card (no need for FPU) then install OS 3.1 + WHDLOAD and hook up some big speakers :)
You'll have an nice retro machine that will run most classic software with the best possible display for not much dollar.
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@Save2600
"She's an upgrade whore that way and you may never be fully satisfied ;-) "
That was P-R-I-C-E-L-E-S-S
May I present you my whore....
(http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/6229/amigamh.jpg)
Ok I must admit there is something disturbingly erotic and exciting about this setup. Maybe the slender lines of the sidekick hdd. Ohhh man you must have deep pockets. (:
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@darkage
Well, let's say that I skipped one typical PC upgrade cycle in order to get this up&running. From cost perspective, it's a well planned tradeoff between money and hobbies. In order to sustain this one, the others went down the drain.
It's not over yet.
There's a empty space for NIC inside that GVP A530....
Just few pics....
http://www.amiga.org/forums/album.php?albumid=58
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@darkage
Well, let's say that I skipped one typical PC upgrade cycle in order to get this up&running. From cost perspective, it's a well planned tradeoff between money and hobbies. In order to sustain this one, the others went down the drain.
It's not over yet.
There's a empty space for NIC inside that GVP A530....
Just few pics....
http://www.amiga.org/forums/album.php?albumid=58
Serious can fit NIC???????? :-/
Man I have waaaaay too many hobbies chewing through money :(
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@darkage
Well, let's say that I skipped one typical PC upgrade cycle in order to get this up&running. From cost perspective, it's a well planned tradeoff between money and hobbies. In order to sustain this one, the others went down the drain.
It's not over yet.
There's a empty space for NIC inside that GVP A530....
Just few pics....
http://www.amiga.org/forums/album.php?albumid=58
Tell us more about this A500/A530 NIC you are talking about. Inquiring minds want to know!
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Oh battery has long since been removed with no leakage at all.
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Personally I would work both machines because they both can be fun for so many different reasons. Your A500 as a project probably deserves a hard drive just for the hell of it. A1200's are relatively cheap and you could also start building on that. Each are fun... More is better.
Just don`t get an A1200 and give up on your rather splendid kit. You obviously enjoy the Amiga so just get an A1200 also...
Couple of links for you from the collection
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/amiga_scuzz86.htm
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/amiga_scuzz382.htm
The first shows the Checkmate and the second shows various cards for the 500. Of interest maybe the Viper 520 CD which came from a machine sold as an A1200 in an A500. Hardly the case but certainly a great find. The 500 is a classic machine and kinda is now for the real enthusiast when it comes to expanding. The 1200 is easy-peasy in comparison, so i would try to up the 500.
I am sure you have checked but if you have the plus I am assuming the battery is OK.
scuzz
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com
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@ Eric
I've got a spare Apollo 1240 68060 @ 66Htz with 32mb onboard if you ever get an A1200 and have a few spare $$$'s lol
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Well, that was Metalguy66's idea in 1st place, I'm just following the paradigm. Some year ago, he used hard facts to disect eventual A500 - NIC integration. In short, with functional SANA2 driver for one older Realtek chip (IIRC, the same one used in X-Surf) a one could use make simple RTL8029 interfacing with a small buffer, simple glue logic and few passive elements to adapt it to Zorro. There's no Zorro port inside A530 or HD+, but all signals are set in place in GVP's proprietary connector used with GVP286 PC bridge.
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I miss my Amiga 500 system... :( The sensible side of me says go the 1200 route. The very un-sensible part of me says max out that 500 as much as possible. Beg, borrow, or steal to get a hard drive, accelerator, Mini Mega-Chip, etc....
I saved the Supra HD and Mega-Chip from my 500, just in case....
Specs. of my 500 were:
A500, Rev 6, OS3.1, Derringer '030/'881 @ 50MHz, 2MB chip, 34 MB fast (2MB in the Supra), 640MB HDD, 100MB Zip, DCTV
sigh.....
Edit: Ooops, I think it was an '882 math co-pro...
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Did any of these PPC + AGA boards for the A500 work, or was it just a concept board that never got finished?
From what I've hard DCE actually protyped the "AGA-Go Kit" and it actually functioned, so it's not just a mock up. (you can see in the picture it has an A1200 style slot as well and hence the PPC plugged in)
How many were made or where they ended up I don't know. But the word was that it wasn't released as it would have cost more than an actual A1200.
AGA and PPC A500, that would be something to behold. The only thing cooler would be that thing plugged into an A1000. ;-)