How could I forget the PCMCIA CF card adapter! If you have an old laptop with a PC card slot then you're all set up for transferring stuff from aminet or whatever to your A1200. I suppose I forgot to mention this because I was temporarily transported back to the 90's.
I think you've hit upon the optimum entry level solution Paul. It's even still
available at AmigaKit, (and presumably other suppliers) and is cheap to buy. I might even get one myself as it's a handy tool for scenarios where you're setting up a new AMIGA and you need an easy way to get software onto it.