Hardware I would like

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

The things you listed are actually in production.  Or will be again soon, anyway, when they bring out that ACA 500 version 2, or whatever the heck it's going to be called.

Still sucky, IMHO, since it isn't internal, but hey, some people must've bought them.  

On the flipside, I'd like to see some '040 & '060 accelerators made for the big box systems.  I don't think a new one of those has rolled off the assembly line since what, about 1999?  Oh well, if wishes were fishes!  :lol:

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

As a side note, what the heck is it with people always wanting "Amiga" + "cheap"?  Go build a WinUAE system out of an old freecycle PC if you want cheap.  You gotta know this hobby isn't for cheapskates!  Gaaah!:destroy:

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

For A3000 and A4000. I would like some overclocked accelerator cards. Also a 'decelerator' for the A4000 so you could play A500/A1200 games on it.

You are aware of WHDLoad, right?  :lol:

Bah.  I've never seen a game run too fast on an accelerated Miggy.  If anything, I find it disappointing that games like Turrican II bogs down a little bit at the waterfalls scene on an A500, in exactly the same way it does on my A2000, which is 45x faster than a stock A500.  If anything, most of the games I've tried were coded to run at *exactly the same damned speed* on any system, and don't take enough advantage of accelerators.  Oh well, whatcha gonna do?  :p

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Big box accelerators(A2000,3000,4000) with fast ethernet,uwscsi/sata and usb onboard so it is local bus to the cpu and fast.

proper accelerators for A500/600/1200 with full fpu/mmu,scsi/sata.

This is a good point.  It would be nice to see accelerators that allow the use of legacy SCSI peripherals/drives, as well as modern SATA standard.  Would hate to see only one or the other.  Sort of a "bridging the past with the future" kind of thing.  And SCSI chips cost what, $5?  Would hardly push it over the limit in terms of cost, LOL.  :lol:

Still not gonna happen, but hey, why not, right?  

And if FPGA is the only way we're gonna get accelerators for big box systems, then ones that fully implement '040 or '060 instruction codes with FPU & MMU would be nice.  Say how about a 100MHz '060 card with built in X-Surf 100, RapidRoad, compatibility with modern RAM, SCSI & SATA.  How much would you pay for such a thing?  I'd plunk down at last $500, but I suspect it would cost a lot more than that, and that's not even counting the "Super AGA" that I'm sure people are going to ask for in this thread soon!  :laughing:

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Sure it is.
Since when do Amigans want to pay for anything (unless it is something they are fixated on)?
And my legacy system of choice, the A2000, IS still cheap.
As are the PowerMacs I run MorphOS on.
And the PC I have AROS installed on (an Atom based system).
And the PC I run WinUAE on...
etc.

That just proved my point.  All of those emulated platforms are cheap, and great for someone who wants to just tinker around with something that "feels like an Amiga".  But anybody who thinks they're going to get a high-spec, accelerated, classic system with "all the bells and whistles" for anything less than a G is either fooling themselves, or really lucky (like that guy who tripped over all the A4000T's in an alley.  I still hate him!  :laugh1:)

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Sorry Mike,
I didn't realize my A2000 didn't qualify.

I own two A2000's.  When you factor in the cost of the system itself plus accelerator, Indivision or graphics card, CF solution, memory expansion, upgraded ROM and other chips, network card, USB card, etc., both of them are well over $1000.  And that's just to "modernize" an A2000.  Build something more rare like an A3000 or A4000 with the works ('060 or PPC, PIV or CV64 graphics card, etc.), and it's going to be 2-3x that.

Even base systems themselves are typically in the $300-$400 range these days.  And I'm not talking about the $139 one on ebay right now with "CPU socket corroded will need to be replaced", and a whole laundry list of other problems.

At this point Amiga's are pretty much like classic cars.  All the good ones have already been bought up and restored.  It's hard to enter the classic hardware market without expecting to lay out a few bucks.  

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

CF Cards are limiting too, why have a 8/16/32GB card when I can have a 250GB HDD plus a DVD writer?

I actually had a pretty hard time finding an 8GB CF card recently.  Most places are only pushing sales of 16GB+, and 128GB cards are dropping close to the $100 USD mark.  Still more expensive than a hard drive, sure, but isn't 127GB the largest an Amiga can support?

Edit:  According to Wikipedia, largest PFS can do is "137GB Max volume size", and SFS "127GB Max volume size".  Not sure if that means you could have multiple volumes/partitions on a single device?

Edit again:  Nevermind, I just googled and found a note that PFS can do up to 2TB.  I guess you'll all be secure to download the entire Aminet onto your hard drives, as soon as an appropriate interface for said drives becomes available!  :lol:

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

I noticed that the Graffiti is an non-RTG video card that connects externally.
I have seen those in an Amiga magazine for years.
How does it work internally?

I assume you've read this already?

http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/graffiti

FYI Indivision ECS says it has a Graffiti mode built-in, but I've so-far not tried it with anything.

(actually, I did try it with one of the Doom-clones, either ADoom or DoomAttack, and it didn't work... turns out that particular application requires an Indivision in an A600 because of their special interface.  I downloaded Nemac IV with the idea to test it out in Graffiti mode, but after seeing it came on a zillion #%*&@ ADF's instead of a nice hard drive installer, I haven't gotten around to it yet).  

TL;DR.  Very little software supports Graffiti, but from the videos I've seen on YouTube, what software does support it looks pretty good.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

The Indivision AGA (Mrk2) on the other hand could have supported a very fast Graffiti mode that would have offered a speed up over using C2P for every frame.    Unfortunately it looks like it will never be made available to the Mrk 2 even though it was originally promised as a firmware update.

I would have been happy to have updated my ports to supported Graffiti...a sadly missed opportunity

I assume this is an off-handed dig at Jens not releasing more firmware updates for the things?  Yeah, I hear ya bud, I hear ya.  Am very happy with what they *can* do, I own three Indi's (one for each of my Amiga's), so I'm definitely a believer, but I agree - they could do so much more.

And while we're at it, where is that promised dual monitor driver?  :mad:

Your ports are great from what I've seen.  If anybody has the clout to get Jens to work on these upgrades, I'd think it would be you.  Don't give up the fight, sir!

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

You know, while we're at it wishing for "dream hardware", I wish there was a simple way to just "start up production again" on some of the old stuff that's already been made in the past.  You know, like A500 sidecars, internal accelerators, accelerators for the big box systems, etc.  Why re-invent the wheel, right?  This stuff is already out there, it's proven, and someone, somewhere, has the blueprints or plans to make them.

And then there's software, too.   There's a lot of really good software from back in the day, could "fairly easily" be updated with a few minor tweaks and patches, and start being sold again.

Sure, none of this stuff would make a fortune, but most of the development work is already done.  Why not continue to get paid for it?

Too bad the person that usually has the plans for the hardware or software is usually either (a) some greedy b*#tard, or (b) completely apathetic toward what's left of the Amiga community.  Why can't Amiga attract more normal folks to develop for it, right?  :roflmao:

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

The RHOS is the dealbreaker, I think.  I've heard that quoted before as a reason why this couldn't happen.  Still it's damned depressing, if you ask me.  

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

030 is too fast for A500

There's no such thing as "too fast".  Give me an '060 for my A500, Kthxbai.