Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => General chat about Amiga topics => Topic started by: RTID75 on May 31, 2011, 11:56:59 PM
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Hi all,
First post!
So, the story goes - Bought A1200 in 1993. Spent over a decade upgrading and changing it until it was something of a beast for it's time - Blizzard PPC 160 / 060, BVision, Power Flyer Gold, Power Tower, Microvitec GPM 1701, 250Mg ZIP drive, dial up internet, OS3.9 etc... etc...
Then, in about 2003/4 I bought a PC laptop. Ran it alongside the Amiga until the Microvitec broke down on the Amiga. I spent an aaaaaage trying to find another GPM 1701. Finally got one, but for some reason it wouldn't display the signal from the BVision that my previous 1701 had. Tried to fiddle about within my hard drive through AGA to remove the graphics settings to no avail. Amiga goes into wardrobe, monitor eventually ends up uncovered in an unforgiving, cold and slightly damp garage (I didn't put it there and didn't realise until it had been in there for months!).
So, fast forward a good 4 years and I've moved house and brought Amiga and monitor with me. This time it all languishes in the attic (clean and warm, if nothing else!). Fast forward another 18 months and I dig it all out and try to get it all going again with a view to stripping and selling.
Had immediate problems of no BVision output at all and keyboard not working. After much scratching of the head, and very nearly giving up again, the soldering iron came out to the BVision/AGA switcher wiring that had come unsoldered and I re-seated A4000 keyboard adapter. Would you believe it (after a good hour of the monitor making odd crackly noises / screen being off colour/on colour over and over) the old girl only fires up again in CGFx for the first time in about 7 years!!
Whipped out an old 2003 Workbench backup CD and restored all the files to undo all my previous fiddling, hooked her back up to my old hi-fi (also enjoying a resurrection!) and she's back!
7 second boot times - a joy after Windows!!!
I've removed and sold the ZIP drive, as I've also removed and sold the Port Plus Junior' that was previously running the internet connection (sadly, my crazily expensive Alienware PC is solely running that now).
The aim all along was to make sure things work, then sell them. I'm going through my old games 5 at a time on eBay, but now she's working again I almost feel like a Doctor mulling over pulling the plug on a life support machine and I am not sure I can do it! The only saving grace is that at 5 games at a time it's going to take a long time before I am at the point of having hardware and serious software only left.
It certainly feels nice having her back - that was always the intention, but the no doubt decent money the components would make now is still tempting. Maybe you can all put me off before it gets to that stage! :D
I've been amazed at how much old hardware I've got kicking around. I've also got 2x CD32's (one with the FMV module!) and another 2 A1200's. With a semi-decent expansion card I could whip up another decent-ish A1200 set up as I've got an IDE adapter and IDEFix amongst stuff no longer used. Decisions, decisions! :lol:
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I'll tell you right now, man: never sell your old computers, because if you ever change your mind, it's going to cost you 2-4 times as much to get back what you had.
Glad to hear it's working for you!
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I'll tell you right now, man: never sell your old computers, because if you ever change your mind, it's going to cost you 2-4 times as much to get back what you had.
Very true, and it's shocking just how many times you'll find a use for them once they are gone. I've got an old (xp) laptop coming my way next week and I'm damn glad of it, at last my vinyl cutter can be free of my main PC. As for Amigas and other "retro" hardware, even a stock A500, a C64 or Spectrum can be a great asset, kids can get to see that computers are not to be taken for granted and in all reality have a relatively short history. It helps give them a bit of perspective on the 600MHz touchscreen beasties that they think of as toys.
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Don't sell your hardware.. i did that in the mid 90's regretted it ever since and although now i have them and more back it has cost me alot.
I have now got everything working and its great i let the kids play with the A500,CD32 and A1200 and they enjoy it. I have 4 win 7 PC's at home plus a XP/Ubuntu PC and i still love to get on the Amiga and just mess around it just feel more alive.
So no don't sell such a nice setup (also always is nice to have spares!!!!!) i would sell the software but keep the hardware.
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@ RTID75
Welcome to back to the strange and wonderful place they call Amigaland (insanity here is NOT optional)... :)
Like all the others have said DON'T sell your hardware as somewhere down the line one day you'll most likely wish you hadn't. I spent the whole of February this year buying up just some of the stuff I'd sold off years ago and it cost me well over a grand just to buy the few bit's and pieces that I did manage to win on eBay... :(
Box them up and put them by if you can and somewhere down the line if you've wandered off from the Amiga once again you'll at least have the option to come back again without it costing you an arm & a leg... :)
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I once owned a towered A1200 w/ppc and bvision that I purchased pre-assembled from Software Hut. It was to be a gift for my Mother but she wanted a peecee to use w/ cable modem. So since I had a towered A4000 060 I sold the 1200 and am still kicking myself to this day for not keeping it.
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JC, there's a family tragedy in there. Tell us more. :-)
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Hey RTID75 welcome,
i'll agree with everyone else, don't let go or if you want back in, it'll be a pain ;)
I've got an A1200 kitted out with A1230 and all the "basic" trimmings - usb, pcmcia net card. solid, reliable, and enough clout to be a workable machine.
Got another A1200 with PPC card GFX, for classic "to the max" action. looking at getting OS4.1 for it as it's been reworked for classic PPC miggys, as looking at what i use machines for, browsing is really my only stumbling block, and netsurf seems to be a fairly workable amiga based solution.
but.. it's just tools for the job. i havn't touched my main desktop PC for... ages now. ok so my laptop is always on, but it's just so usefull... even for a bit of UAE action :D
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Thanks for the welcome. Nice to hear from like-minded souls! :)
I suppose I'd come around to the 'I've not used it for years, so I don't need it' way of thinking, but as crazy as it sounds, breathing life back into the machine after such a long lay off was a very personally gratifying moment and a great feeling. It was like getting an old friend back! This particular A1200 and I go way back, as mentioned, and before the A1200 I had an A500+, so my Amiga adventure goes back nearly 20 years now. It was not something I wanted to give up on in the first place, more like circumstances dictated.
It's funny you know, it was only the weekend when I upgraded Amiga Forever 2008 to 2011, now I am running the real thing again! :D
So, some initial 'being back' thoughts after the few PC/Windows exclusively years:
Hate how the machine is all but locked up so much when heavy IDE activity is going on (burning CD's for example).
Hate instant crashes that take the whole machine down.
Hate remembering how fragile the file system can be.
*Love* the general speed of use in Workbench and exceptionally efficient use of memory / disk space compared to Windows.
Love the 7 second boot up time!
Love remembering that I have TVPaint on the hard drive! It's the only 24 bit graphics package I've ever been able to use (far from an expert, mind!). Never got on at all with anything similar on the PC.
Love the Heath Robinson-ness of the inside of this thing! It really is a DIY mixed bag of bits and bobs, bodges, and workarounds (that I put together 100% by myself!) but it works! I certainly could NEVER imagine taking a soldering iron to the motherboard of my Alienware like I did on the Amiga! I must have had nerves of steel and great confidence or much stupidity back in the day!
Amused getting used to the mouse control of the menus, the menus themselves, the other side close buttons again, then pointing the mouse in the wrong direction / clicking wrong buttons on Windows 7 soon afterwards! :lol:
Anyway, I'm sure I will be posting a bit more on here.
Oh, advice - DPaintV with printed manual - sell or keep?
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Thanks for the welcome. Nice to hear from like-minded souls! :)
I suppose I'd come around to the 'I've not used it for years, so I don't need it' way of thinking, but as crazy as it sounds, breathing life back into the machine after such a long lay off was a very personally gratifying moment and a great feeling. It was like getting an old friend back! This particular A1200 and I go way back, as mentioned, and before the A1200 I had an A500+, so my Amiga adventure goes back nearly 20 years now. It was not something I wanted to give up on in the first place, more like circumstances dictated.
It's funny you know, it was only the weekend when I upgraded Amiga Forever 2008 to 2011, now I am running the real thing again! :D
So, some initial 'being back' thoughts after the few PC/Windows exclusively years:
Hate how the machine is all but locked up so much when heavy IDE activity is going on (burning CD's for example).
Hate instant crashes that take the whole machine down.
Hate remembering how fragile the file system can be.
*Love* the general speed of use in Workbench and exceptionally efficient use of memory / disk space compared to Windows.
Love the 7 second boot up time!
Love remembering that I have TVPaint on the hard drive! It's the only 24 bit graphics package I've ever been able to use (far from an expert, mind!). Never got on at all with anything similar on the PC.
Love the Heath Robinson-ness of the inside of this thing! It really is a DIY mixed bag of bits and bobs, bodges, and workarounds (that I put together 100% by myself!) but it works! I certainly could NEVER imagine taking a soldering iron to the motherboard of my Alienware like I did on the Amiga! I must have had nerves of steel and great confidence or much stupidity back in the day!
Amused getting used to the mouse control of the menus, the menus themselves, the other side close buttons again, then pointing the mouse in the wrong direction / clicking wrong buttons on Windows 7 soon afterwards! :lol:
Anyway, I'm sure I will be posting a bit more on here.
Oh, advice - DPaintV with printed manual - sell or keep?
Whatever you do wit that DPaint5, can you scan the manual and put it up on EAB? I would love to have that manual.
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I would sell it now while you can and the prices are good. Classic hardware has a best-before date that is rapidly approaching. Time takes it's toll. Sell it now while it's still working.
With new hardware that was actually produced in this century available to run your Amiga software there's no need for the headaches classic HW brings.
I sold all my classic gear (A4000T, CSPPC, Mediator 4000, Several A1200's, two BPPC's, BVision, Mediator 1200 and loads more) after getting my first Pegasos and never regretted it for a minute. It was so much faster and easier to use and, strangely, more Amiga-compatible. Stuff I spent days trying to coax to run on the A4000 ran flawlessly on the Peg. No more wondering whether the 20yo motherboard with dozens of addons hanging off it in a case that was rarely closed would boot up, no more messing with drivers and installations.
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"I ...Live!" Evil Ash, Army of Darkness.
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I would sell it now while you can and the prices are good. Classic hardware has a best-before date that is rapidly approaching. Time takes it's toll. Sell it now while it's still working.
With new hardware that was actually produced in this century available to run your Amiga software there's no need for the headaches classic HW brings.
I beg to differ. Classic hardware, well cared-for, easily outlasts all modern equipment but industrial server stuff. And the price of classic hardware is hardly going down any time soon, thanks to eBay scalpers, which is all the more incentive not to sell - if you do want it back, it's going to cost you dearly. (And while I'm not going to dish on PPC hardware in general, I will say that you're not going to come out that far ahead selling a classic machine to buy a Pegasos or Sam system.)
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I beg to differ. Classic hardware, well cared-for, easily outlasts all modern equipment but industrial server stuff. And the price of classic hardware is hardly going down any time soon, thanks to eBay scalpers, which is all the more incentive not to sell - if you do want it back, it's going to cost you dearly. (And while I'm not going to dish on PPC hardware in general, I will say that you're not going to come out that far ahead selling a classic machine to buy a Pegasos or Sam system.)
I don't think that was a statement advocating PPC alternatives. Rather, I think he meant boards like the Replay and the Natami amongst others.
These replicate the original Amiga experience (with some enhancements).
NG PPC OS' attempt to build upon the Amiga legacy and go further.
I don't see these two markets as competitors.
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Well, yeah, they're not mutually exclusive, but he did specifically mention a Pegasos. If I misread his general thrust, though, my apologies.
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While i will buy a NATAMI and Replay board i still would not sell my classic's. I probably will not use them as much as my NATAMI but i will still fire them up and use them. Point is i tried the sell everything route and it didn't work i ended up paying 4-6 times as much as i sold them for when the time came that i wanted to be back in the scene.... Like i said there is nothing like getting the old girls working after so long it just so satisfying.
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While i will buy a NATAMI and Replay board i still would not sell my classic's. I probably will not use them as much as my NATAMI but i will still fire them up and use them. Point is i tried the sell everything route and it didn't work i ended up paying 4-6 times as much as i sold them for when the time came that i wanted to be back in the scene.... Like i said there is nothing like getting the old girls working after so long it just so satisfying.
Considering current pricing, I'd keep them too.
Its a two edged sword.
Sure you can cash in and get a few bucks (far less then their original price though)
AND should regret make you consider repurchase the cost could be quite high.
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Just read the headline. Instantly a voice in my head said:
"Something wonderful has happened:"
"Your Amiga is alive!!!"
It took me a few seconds to realize that the phrase contiues like this:
"and, even better...Some of your disks are infected by a VIRUS*!!!
Another masterpiece of The Mega-Mighty SCA*!!"
Hope you don“t have this one :)
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No, no viruses on my discs!
Oh, I don't have a scanner for the DPaintV manual. Even if I did, it'd take a LOT of scanning!