Classic Amiga for Web Browsing

[rvo_nl]

I've been running Amiga through emulation for ages and would like to return to hardware.

That is a wise decision
 

I'm fond of the old A500 chassis, but I assume it would could not be made powerful enough for something like netsurf even with an accelerator.

That is correct
 

I have not been able to get Netsurf working through emulation without enabling Picasso so I assume any hardware solution will need to support this. Is this something that an accelerator will take care of?

Yes, but it still will be a very slow experience. Ive tried, on my a1200 + 060 + rtg, but I wouldnt call it usable.
 

Cost isn't really an option; I can afford a powerful accelerator provided it can be found.

In that case, get the a1200 + ppc + 060 + bvision. It will fit the 'wedge' case, but its not recommended (heating and power issues). If you are concerned about that, take the a4000 + ppc + 060 + cvision route.
 
like I said, those setups will give you the fastest classic Amiga experience, but it still wont get you a modern, stable, fast webbrowser. Although Timberwolf comes closest. You know about Timberwolf, right?
 
So if that is still not what you're after, you might be better off with a cheaper solution: a1200 + 030/50 and just use Ibrowse. It is a fast, stable browser. But it doesnt support any of the modern web standards like CSS, Flash etc. Basically it will look like it's 1996 again. Not sure if that is a bad thing..

[rvo_nl]

We're trying to do something about that.
 
As utri007 says, NetSurf should be usable on a 68030 with 16MB and AGA. That'll be the absolute minimum, it might need a bit more than that, but it should be doable. The current 68k version, however, is rubbish.
 
This is the Atari 68k version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obDYaWp0wPo
I'm not convinced that is actually an '030 but the uploader hasn't posted a counter-comment saying it isn't. If it is, there's no reason why an AmigaOS 3 version should be slower.

Hi Chris, I have no idea who you are, probably one of the Netsurf guys? Anyway it looks really, really fast on that Falcon machine. If an Amiga 030 even had half of that speed it would be perfect on my 060. Hope this will happen some day!