Amiga 1200 / Amiga 2000 Wanted.

[Argus]

Not to sound like Doomy, but what's wrong with an A3000? Sure you can't play AA games, but many of the better ones had earlier ECS versions suitable to the A3000 and later ones had RTG versions which would run fine on a graphics card equipped A3000.  A1200 stuff is tougher to get a hold of in the US, but there are tons of old full 32-bit A3000s with built in 68030s w/mmu, 68882 fpu, ZorroIII slots, and vga monitor ready 31KHz video output from Amber (though you may need a rom upgrad).  Adding a full 68030/68882 and flicker fixer to the A1200 would run you an extra $200 (if you were lucky to find 2nd hand).  A3000s go on eBay for maybe $100-$150, simply more machine for the buck and much more of a computer than the A1200 was intended.  Heck, even an old A2000 with a 68030 card and a flicker fixer makes a nice WHDLoad machine for OCS/ECS games.

[Argus]

I'm not talking 'loaded'; just base machines here.  Even a 'loaded' A500 is laughable next to a base A3000.  A well-equipped A1200 (other than AGA) just starts to approach it.

The base A3000 is so much more bang for buck it's not even close really.  I forgot to mention the built-in scsi dma controller and up to 16MB of fastram on the m/b (though these are rare zipp chips); fast slot compatibility with A4000-style accelerators for expansion; built-in RTC and battery.  If you can find a 25MHz A3000 with 8MB of zipp memory, w/ keyboard/mouse for <$150.00 you really won't be sorry.  Some A3000s even had high density floppy drives built in (Chinon FZ357A). It was simply the best machine C= ever made, imho.

A 'loaded' 32-bit Amiga w/ 68060, 3D graphics card, 128+MB ram, ethernet card, fast scsi controller, etc. is going to run you probably another $500+, regardless if it's an A3000, A4000 or A1200.  The point is when you're ready to invest such money, you'll be much happier putting it into an A3000.

[Argus]

Colin_Camper wrote:

Argus on 2006/1/27 0:14:04 Wrote:
Not to sound like Doomy, but what's wrong with an A3000?

Shouldn't that be 'What's wrong with an A2000?'   :-)

yeah, military spec and all that jazz

I love the A3000, it's quiet and really the machine C= most carefully built with all the fixins.  People complain it's hard to get into but I attribute that more to the great engineering that went into it.  The case is put together with such precision, you really get the impression it was well thought out by design.  Contrast that with the A4000, as the clunky top metal cover is a pain to seat properly.  Oh well, I like both, but the A3000 is my favorite. :roll: