Poll: Let the A2000 or A3000 go?

[save2600]

Incredibly difficult decision and hell, may just end up keeping both. Was leaning toward letting the A3000 go, but... which would you do?

I really like the user-serviceable friendly aspect of the A2000. Socketed chips, it's large case that holds 2 floppies, any Zorro II cards and a SCSI CD drive internally are also great features. Also like how the monitor sits up higher on the A2000... much better viewing than the A3000. I have a nice sized HD in my A2000, any Kickstart in ROM I want and a 28mhz SupraTurbo accelerator that seems to do a fantastic job with everything I've ever thrown at it. Games and apps that benefit from the speedup all seem to run just as fast as the 25mhz 030 in my A3000.

The A3000 naturally has the 030 processor and I've also got a Deneb card with it. I definitely wouldn't want an A3000 without USB at this point, but the A2000 with its CD drive is enough for when I want to transfer things to and fro my modern computer. I no longer use the Amiga to get online, but if I did, Deneb surely comes in handy for that as well. No longer interested in running an OS higher than 3.1 on a legacy machine, so both machines are well suited for that. Oh, and I could care less about Amber for the time being while all my C= monitors are working anyway. lol    The high density drive is of little or no use to me as well.

Kind of at a crossroads here. Neither machine sees much use, so am thinking I should get rid of one. But if I do, I want it to be monetarily worth it or take something in on trade I would actually use. Originally, I was thinking of letting go of the A3000, since it's a more desirable machine which means that it'll fetch more money. I love the looks of the little bugger though and its keyboard is oh so sexy.

I've got spare motherboards, power supplies, mice and keyboards for both machines, so keeping 'em alive for the duration won't be too difficult.

Which would you be more likely to let go?

[save2600]

I recently sold my A4000 and kept my A3000 if that's of any help to you?

Yeah, all input is welcome. Objectivity regarding the OCS/ECS machines is good. Like I said, I'm not 100% sure which way to go yet, if any. I too don't care to own an AGA machine per se and the machines I do own see very little use outside of the occasional and very limited game time. I keep telling myself I'll do something more "productive", but we're going on years now and nothing! lol

[save2600]

I'd keep the A2000 assuming it is an ECS model.  The A3000 might have the built in SDFF and Z3 slots, but the A2000 has more space inside for expansions.  Also, as you have a CPU card I assume you have SCSI on that which is probably better than then SCSI on the A3000.

Yeah, I'm not really interested in the best performance anymore. If I was, I would have kept my super souped up A2500 with its 060, CV64/3D, OS3.9 blah, blah, blah setup.

And yes, the A2000 is ECS and has a 2091 SCSI card. 6mb of RAM and a 1GB HD. Even have a MegaChip I might keep and throw in there if I sell the A3000. The SupraTurbo is not a conventional accelerator as it's just a faster 68000 with lots of cache RAM. Great accelerator though for the money. Especially considering the cost.

[save2600]

To me, the A3000 takes up more space and there's more wires by the time you add an external floppy and CD drive. One of the reasons I won't deal with a wedge system Amiga anymore. Not an issue though if I kept the A3000, 'cause I'd have Deneb to handle what I'd be doing on CD-ROM  

[save2600]

Is the A3000 up to date chip wise? (so there are no Zorro III issues, etc) and stuffed full of RAM? If yes, maybe I would keep the A3000.
Do you still have the A1000? That would make a difference in my final decision too.
I would most likely keep them all!

Oh yeah, ain't letting go of my (2) A1000's and all their expansions just yet  

I'd have to take another look inside the A3000, but I'm 99% sure it has Buster 11 and everything else is pretty much up to date. 8mb Zip RAM, 2mb Chip. No ZIII issues after the latest Deneb firmware update.

[save2600]

I've had A4000's and A1200's up the yin-yang. Meh. Not impressed with AGA, surface mounted chips, weak power supplies, external peripherals and backwards/exploding/acid leaking caps. Again, not interested in the AGA machines, outside of a CD32 for games - 'maybe'. Wedgies are for spuds that still wear whitey tidies and the A4000 is the ugliest, most utilitarian looking Amiga C= ever pooped out.  :lol:

Joking aside, as mentioned in the marketplace, I may be interested in trading the 3000 for a nice CD32 collection if anyone would be so inclined.

[save2600]

you can add a second floppy inside the 3k you know ;)pull one out of the 2k and remove the front drive bezel.
Mech

Of course! Not exactly an economical proposition though. For the cost of another internal proper A3000 drive (no bezel cutting), I can buy a full A2000 system.  :lol:

[save2600]

the 2000 drive fits in a 3000 perfectly with no bezel cutting, you just need the to install a 3000 button on it

LOL!  Happen to have any of *those* just laying around?  :lol:

I agree with Tone too. Something about the singular drive in the middle, looks pretty sharp. If the 3000 ends up being my main Amiga, I would want it to be outfitted with two drives though.

[save2600]

There's also a guy who's organizing a group-buy of replacement eject buttons, so you could graft one on to any old spare 354.
http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?t=18691

Thanks Andy!

[save2600]

Thanks all for the input! After heavily weighing everything, I have decided to let the A3000 go. Any poking around I may do in the future can all be handled by the A1000 and A2000 I've got. At this point, the Amiga hobby for me really is more about nostalgia than getting any real productive use out of 'em  

I realize most members (and by a wide margin) recommended I keep the A3000 and I appreciate that, but I know its potential and features just would not and did not get the use in my home. Time to turn her loose! The first hard decision, but as I depart from hoarding, many more goodies are going to eventually make it to marketplace.