A4000 or souped up 1200 ??

[Oliver]

Hi,

You mentioned that games are not a priority, so why would you like to have AGA?  A graphics card will give you much nicer Workbenches, and you've already got an SD/FF.

The 4000 has the option of fitting a Toaster system.  They sometimes sell for very low prices these days.  I think there are many more options for graphics cards as well (though some of those options might be rare as hen's teeth, and not really all that great).  If you want to do real work on the machine, the HD throughput can be a big factor too.

I don't know what the situation is like in the UK, but in Aus, 1200's are much more common than 4000's, and dirt cheap by comparison.  Accelerators are more plentiful too.

I'm not sure what the situation is with PPC's on older these machines, but I'm under the impression that they are not actually used for bery much?  Can anyone correct me on this?  I think most software only takes advantage of whatever 68k is available.  I've never used one though, so check this point.  However, I think the difference between using a PPC on a 1200, and a PPC on a 4000 will not significantly affect the overall experience.

edit- Occaisionally I've liked to port my 1200 around, to use on the road, or just to plug it in to a friend's TV etc.  This is one good point of a wedge.  Some people still use them for gigging.  I've never done that though.  In the good old days, the 1200 was considered a reliable gigging sequencer, as PC's were famous for failing once they filled up with smoke in a club.

[Oliver]

I think using a 4000 with a good graphics card would be a good option for you if you want to do image generation/processing with it.  A graphics card will not turn the machine into a PC.  It will turn it into a better Amiga: more pride for you.  The Picasso IV would probably be a good choice, as it has a great on-board scandoubler/flickerfixer, which will allow you to use all your native video modes in their full glory.

Is your 3000 not functional now?  Is that the reason for wanting another machine?  As mentioned before, the 3000 really is a very capable machine.  I've used a 3000 for paint progs, 3D modelling, writing music, games, word processing, mathematical modelling, spread sheets, etc.  All very impressive in the day, and still usable now.

You also mentioned flaming and slagging: unfortunately there is a bit of that around here, but really not much.  Generally, the people here are more than enthusiastic to help, and there really is an impressive wealth of knowledge in amongst the forum members here (I'm not talking of myself here).

[Oliver]

doctorq wrote:
While towerising, you'll need a keyboard adaptor, and none of them are actually any good. The one I have in my A1200T can not have multiple keypresses, and that is very annoying when playing games.

Is that the case for ALL keyboard adapters?  Why is this?  Maybe I should design a new one.  Is there any particular reason for this?  Is it just a case of cutting corners, and keeping things simple?

[Oliver]

Anyway, a good graphics card will give you better performance with high colour depth and resolutions.  As far as I know, the AGA chipset aint that good at doing 24 bit graphics.  In terms of graphics capabilities, you don't really miss out on much by just sticking a good graphics card in your 3000.  Generally, graphics cards are able to surpass the performance of the AGA chipset, only they won't do tasks which are specifically written for AGA.  I think if you got a 4000 with a graphics card, you probably wouldn't actually use the AGA chipset much.  I haven't had this experience myself, but I have compared my 1200's AGA graphics capabilities with my friend's 3000+Gfx card.  I just stopped doing graphics work on mine, and used his instead.

Does anyone here own a 4000+GFX card, who could comment on this?  Do you actually take advantage of the AGA chipset, or just use the card?