Just Bought a "New" Amiga 500

[davidmace]

 Bought an amiga 500 off e-bay a few days ago, should arrive at the weekend, it's this one here http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=012&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=220044439024&rd=1&rd=1

and the strange thing is i don't actually care if I got a good deal as long as it works, not had an amiga in years, I've also bought two of my favourite games Datastorm and Wings, great games!!

Anyway the reason Im posting this is im really behind with the Amiga hardware scene (as in 10 years behind) and want to know if anyone has any recommended purchases for this and where i can get them. I've got the 1/2 MB upgrade but i wouldnt mind more, i've already got my eye on a couple of things i saw on amiga kit, a new joystick and a device that allows you to plug 2 joysticks and a mouse in at the same time.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Apologies for posting in the wrong forum in the first place.

[davidmace]

Thanks for the replies, I've thought about a hard disk and certainly wouldn't mind one, I remember playing monkey island 2  when i had my old Amiga 500 which had 12 disks so it took a lot disk swapping. Where exactly do they plug into, it's been a while since I had one as you can see.

What's the advantages of using kickstart 3.1 over 1.3, if im correct you can buy those from amiga kit.

And of course I know there isn't a lot of knew hardware going around with it being an old mostly unsupported machine, although I have some quite impressive new stuff at Individual Computers, so where would be the best place to pick up new hardware? Should i keep checking e-bay or is there any shops that are recommended?

Thanks

[davidmace]

Thanks for a quick reply, the reason i got a 500 was because the games i want to play are OCS and correct me if I'm wrong but it's not possible to play these on a 1200, I already have a top of the range PC for things that aren't retro games and really missed my A500 recently.

Anyway, found this on e-bay http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AMIGA-A500-A1000-8MB-EXPANSION-8-MEGA-BYTE-MB-RAM_W0QQitemZ150058411381QQihZ005QQcategoryZ98928QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

wondering if you think this would be worth it, i assume it would upgrade my RAM to 9MB which would make my games load up faster.

[davidmace]

Oh right didn't know that OCS games were compatible with A1200, might get one of them in the future but for now im happy with my good old a500. I've noticed that the 8MB expansion has a through port so I could still get CD Rom or a hard disk as well.

For now, i've bought myself a new competition pro joystick and an automatic joystick/mouse switcher, better to buy these things new where possible to support the Amiga community, because lets face it the people who make these could probably make more money if they manufactured for PC's rather than an old machine like the amiga.

Have to say i do have some great games for my PC but you just can't beat some good retro games, not even sure what makes them so appealing because the graphics now are terrible but the gameplay in some of them are great and am really looking forward to getting the Amiga.

[davidmace]

Another quick question, I've seen there's a lot of expansion that use a clock port which an A500 doesn't have. However i've just found this http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=42&products_id=609&osCsid=eaf00b1cbf171396f5060c5327d0a645

which provides you with a clock port on an A500, it says it fits to the 68000 slot, is that the CPU slot? Would this mean i'd have to take the Amiga apart at all. and of course would it be worth it if this is all possible.

Sorry for my lack of Amiga knowledge, comes from using PC's for too long.

[davidmace]

Okay so here's my POA, split into what i'm definitely going/have done in the next few weeks, what i'm considering doing and what i might do in the future.

What I Am doing

Bought a new competition pro joystick
Bought an automatic joystick/mouse switcher

What I'm considering in next few weeks

Buy an 8MB Ram extension
Upgrade to ROM 3.1

Future upgrades

Buy a hard disk (very expensive though)
Buy a CD Rom
Try find an accelerator of some kind

If anyone else has any other suggestions for me then i'd appreciate.

I found a hard disk on e-bay for the A500 but it was over £100 with days to go and only a small one at that. Now you mentioned something about connecting an IDE hard disk, is this possible with A500 if so how do i go about doing this.

Thanks for all your help, ill let you know when it arrives and keep you up-to-date on how im finding it.

[davidmace]

Yeah people have suggested getting an emulator instead but i think i'm just stubborn and you cant beat the real thing.

Beside my PC doesn't have a floppy disk or room for adding one as i've got loads of hard disks rammed in there.

I'm basically gonna see how it goes and play it by ear, my new joystick arrived today which is good, the amiga should arrive Saturday i think.

So kickstart 3.1 has incompatibilities with old games, the majority of games ill be playing are the real old ones like datastorm and kid gloves, and definitely wings. Someone mentioned a kickstart switcher, how does that work and where can i get one from?

[davidmace]

Hi, just thought i'd give an update now I've got it up and running. Really enjoying it, been playing datastorm and speedball the most, am waiting for Bubble Bobble and Wings to arrive.

scuzzb494 wrote:
Dave

Always amazes me how folk say they are missing the Amiga and currently have a fast PC, then start talking about emulating the PC with more RAM, CDROM, hard drives, accelerators. For goodness sake, save your money. Just enjoy the 500 Commando.. ie as it was intended. Sure, get a 590 or a GVP HD+ ( better ) and a small amount of trapdoor RAM. If your gonna waste £50 get an A1200 and stop mucking about. Have the two set up and start modifying the A1200 for the fun of it... The A500 is far too restricting ( sorry ) I have two dozen A500s all in varying forms, some with the 3.1ROM and even accelerators. But my basic A500 with GVP sidecar is good to go every day for gaming... Mostly Space Invaders. The 1200s are seriously upgraded and networked. I would start steady and then work your way up through the classic kit... And then you`ll never touch your PC again.

Get a good monitor... Not the TV.

If you wanna see my kit then click the link.
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com

scuzz

To be honest mate I think I'm just curious to see how pimped out so to speak you can make the A500 while still running the old games I play and love.

Following the advert above I've found this http://eu-shop.elbox.com/cgibin/shop?info=660E502

and this http://eu-shop.elbox.com/cgibin/shop?info=660E500&sid=4ae262db

and have to admit I'm really tempted to get them, even if I just get the top one first.

Anyway get paid next week so might consider one of those.

A1200's are something I might consider in the future but for now I'm really happy with my A500.

I'll update this thread if get any more upgrades.