Crazy Idea to get a A1200?

[darkage]

Hi All,

Im a long term lurker here.

I was an active amiga user between 1988 to around 1999/2000 with my old trusty Amiga 500.

Since then I have collected 3 other Amiga 500's for free but havent tinkered with them for ages.

I still love these machines, enough so that it influenced me to take IT as a career path thats going back 15 years now.   haha Whenever I feel lost in my career I always turn on my amiga which seems to inspire me always (:  and gives me kicks & heaps of super memories.   honestly my prime Amiga years were by far the happiest time of my live..

Lately I've been looking at the A1200 new-old stock at Amigakit.  I've always wanted a A1200 since I first saw my friends one in 1994 I would guess and I still got a slight itch to buy one.

My question is, is that a crazy idea to grab a A1200? I keep on thinking if its worth spending the money or if I would be still as happy with my A500 but from the perspective of building hardware for it.   (As a hobby I put together PIC/Atmel projects along with etching own PCB's).  

Another question I believe 030 & 060 accelerators are probably a must for the A1200 or else the experience might be a bit laggy.  Whats the speed difference between these two?  ie. 030 can satisfy you enough? 060 can you actually notice a speed improvement compared to the 030 or only when doing heavy number crunching tasks?

[darkage]

I thought 040's ran hot and didnt really have that much more performance increase?

[darkage]

From memory,  I get the feeling alot of OCS games may not work on the A1200?

Would this be correct, Im just trying to remember back to 1994 now

[darkage]

Hi Darkage, welcome back into the Amiga world. I use my A1200 with 8MB Fast RAM/FPU with internal CF card and PCMCIA ethernet adapter every day. I browse the web, chat on MSN and IRC, use plenty of productivity software, code, and play games.

Whao!  Such admirable dedication!  Ok now that makes me want one even more seeing it still has some productivity uses today even if it is for fun!

I'm Located in Melbourne/Australia.    Saw this CD32 on ebay still in box

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/AMIGA-CD32-console-still-NEW-and-in-the-box_W0QQitemZ320389560083QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Computers_Vintage?hash=item4a98b4b713

Available for pickup ONLY out in the country areas.   $499 AUD for a CD32 seems a bit steep.    Wonder what the normal 2nd hand price is from non-collectors.

[darkage]

Hi
I'm sure you have seen the A1200 and lots of bits in the Auction House.
He's put it under Accessories/everything else.
Hope that helps.
Good luck.
(you know it makes sense!)

Stug:hammer:

Yep I have seen the A1200 on the auction house.   UK is a little far though for shipping to Australia, but yet again brand new-old stock from Amigakit is tempting.

I knew this was bound to happen once I sparked my interest back in the Amiga.  Im finding I stay up until 4am trolling around for cheap Ami hardware.   Then I found a whole pile of Ami books in PDF on amigasupersite.com.   Makes me want to read them all, to have a much better understanding of the machine inside out.  I guess this is where things start to get nutty with some sort of obsessive behaviour. haha!  but its all good its all good (:

[darkage]

Not that crazy, Im looking to buy one myself. The cost isnt too bad, though the Indivision will add quite a bit to it.

Very true when thinking back to the original cost in 1992.   Correct me if Im wrong, I vaguely remember how much my friend payed for one when it was first released.   I can remember him saving up for sometime though.    Anyone know what price it was originally sold for?  I keep on think just above $1200 or $1400 for some reason.

I know my Ami500 costed my parents $1000 in 1998 Im sure.  actually I should have the original receipt someone in the filing cabinet.  somewhere

[darkage]

Nah man, I don't think getting an A1200 is crazy!

Given cost/availability of A1200s & upgrades, it is certainly in the better value for money category too Plus, with an A1200 you get options only available on a few other machines, such as AGA graphics, PCMCIA slot, IDE controller, etc.

As for NTSC CD32s from China, I've modified mine by fitting a PAL/NTSC switch & it was a very easy job. BUT, expansions for the CD32 are quite hard to come by & always VERY expensive, so if I were you, I'd go for the A1200 first.

PZ.

thats true A1200 is best bang for buck for options, and has more kick value for reliving those funky years.

As for the NTSC CD32, I only dabbled in the thought since I regularly travel to China via Hong Kong.  I msg'ed that ebay seller asking for shipping within China.. haha they just replied we only ship to AUD.? strange....