Which os for NatAmi?

[WolfToTheMoon]

There has been lots of talk about the hardware of NatAmi but nothing about what it will run on. Which Amiga os would be the most ideal to use?

AROS68K...

I think the NatAmi has great potiental in the future to really shake things up a bit in the divided Amiga community. Especially if they end up selling thousands of them and not just a hundred or two.

So what does everyone think?

I think they'll be lucky if they sell "a hundred or two". Natami will be very expensive for what it actually is... a retro hobby system. I doubt you'll see people lining up to buy one.

[WolfToTheMoon]

Yeah, there's the hilarious bit "C-USA is the way of the future with their generic hardware in slightly-less-generic cases, but NatAmi is doomed to fail, fail, fail! And it's totally going to be super-expensive even though there hasn't even been a price set yet!"

It will be very expensive(for what it is)...

Atari Coldfire is 599 euros(no VAT), and it uses a much cheaper CPU(Coldfire vs 68060) and a smaller FPGA. I'll be suprised if Natami undercuts SAM460 in price and not very surprised if it is more expensive.
That's just too much for a retro hobby thingy...

[WolfToTheMoon]

NatAmi isn't going to use an actual 060, though, except in the test models (SamuraiCrow can feel free to correct me if I've misread their site.) They're using a custom 68k variant within the FPGA. I'd bet that the lack of a $100 CPU would definitely offset the cost of a larger FPGA, so I'd be surprised if it's as expensive as the Atari Coldfire, let alone anywhere near as pricey as the SAM460. We'll have to see, though.

The Natami  page lists(under specification)...

http://www.natami.net/specification.htm

• CPU on CPU-card

68060 CPU on board for instant compatibility with AMIGA software and Operating Systems for Amiga-Hardware
[/LIST]

If that is true, than say hello to SAM460 prices.

[WolfToTheMoon]

Also, pictures over at Natami site show a 68060 board on top of the baseboard...

I had a talk about building a Coldfire based accelerator with a guy on the local amiga forum. During the discussion he mentioned the lowest retail price for the slowest 68060(50 MHz)... It was 300+ $(326, to be exact). Sure, Freescale will offer it to you at 90$ a piece - if you order 10 000 CPUs . So, I think my estimate of SAM460 prices could be spot on(btw, that's just for the motherboard).

[WolfToTheMoon]

That's what I thought, too. Moonywolf is going off of the NatAmi site, but I recall from previous discussions that the information there is severely outdated...

Even without the 68060, it's still going to be expensive...

C-one and Minimig are what... 300-400 euros? Something many times as poweful, with a much bigger FPGA, more memory and 68060(on the first models)... I'll be suprised if it isn't 1000 euros or more(with 060)... Later they will get cheaper, but how much, it remains to be seen.

[WolfToTheMoon]

This. Even 400 EUR (and that's a high estimate, judging by the Minimig  cost) would be a bargain compared to what it would cost to get a classic  Amiga up to anywhere near the estimated performance, and well within a  lot of our budgets for retrocomputing hardware.

But I suppose Wolftothemoon can't accept the idea of paying that kind of money for anything that doesn't have an Amiga sticker and slightly-customized case on it...

You wont see NATAMI at that price...

Minimig is 160 euros, yes... basic configuration... add 4 MB(68 euros) and ARM controller and it will be around 300 euros.

C-one is 333 euros.

These are all significantly less powerful computers with smaller FPGAs then Natami.

If anything, you should compare it to Atari Firebee(599 euros no VAT), which has a dirt cheap Coldfire and a smaller FPGA, but it is at least comparable in power and add ons. First models with 68060 will be even more expensive.