Are 2MB SRAM PCMCIA Mem Upgrades woth the $$?

[RetroAmigaMan]

The A608 will be a great upgrade when they're finally available, but it could be quite some time before a second batch of them are made, and the first batch (which are already preordered/taken) is only just going into production now.

A 2MB SRAM card will in fact speed up your A600 very slightly, although it will slow an A1200 down. Here are some SysInfo results from a test I did:

A600 (2MB Chip, No FastRAM)
526 Dhrystones
0.54 MIPS

A600 (2MB Chip, 2MB PCMCIA SRAM)
699 Dhrystones
0.72 MIPS

Upgrading my A600 to a total of 4MB RAM has allowed me to play hundreds of WHDLoad games which wouldn't work before, as well as giving me more memory to work with when I have multiple applications running. I think they are definitely worth getting if you have an A600 and you don't want to wait possibly another year for a chance to grab an A608. But $100 is a lot! How about $39.98? That softens the blow a little doesn't it? You can buy them from Memory Ten, it's where I got mine from.

http://www.memoryx.net/bgz.html

I just hope nobody goes and buys them all up to resell, this is the cheapest place I've found in the world to get them and I think all A600 owners should have the chance to get one at a good price.

Hi Cammy, guys

I've had a look around http://www.memoryx.net/bgz.html but I'm having trouble finding the 4Mb SRAM PCMCIA memory you mentioned - are they sold out?

I've just arrived back from the UK (still jetlagged), with an A600 I snagged there (and assorted UK 8bit machines) that I've added a CF drive to.  I have 2Mb chip RAM, but that's about it, so I'm having issues getting games to run outside the CLI.  I've had an A1000 for almost 20 years, but it's gone back into the cupboard as I can't get a hold of any flash hard drives for it.  I'm really disappointed at this - I can readily get flash HDs for my 8bit BBC machine.  Developers seem to be a bit thin on the ground in the Amiga scene, whereas retrofit kits seem to be in abundance on eBay for the Acorn BBC (RetroClinic in particular are amazing - adding IDE and USB interfaces to a 1982-era machine).

Any idea where can find suitable SRAM modules for my A600?

Thanks

Steve

[RetroAmigaMan]

Aw that's pretty poor behaviour, buying up all stock.  BY the way, would a 6Mb CF card work?  I wouldn't care if the remaining 2Mb was locked off after the 4Mb limit, as long as the thing worked.

Thanks guys.

:elvis:

[RetroAmigaMan]

Thanks for the advice, guys.  I've just bought a 2Mb SRAM card.  Wasn't cheap, but will be worth it when I get it.  After all, two weeks ago I carried my A600 (plus p/s) in a backpack all the way from the UK.  Had to take it out for security heaps of times on the way home.  Got some curious looks.

Especially as I also had a Spectrum+ and an Acorn Electron.  Do love my 8bit Acorns -I've got a BBC B, a BBC+64K, a BBC Master and a Master Compact (plus spare chips, parts etc), and 2 Acorn Electrons.  All working.  

[RetroAmigaMan]

Best way to experience retro CF games goodness...  I snagged an A1200 from eBay.  Why did I bother dragging an A600 through Customs?  

Almost all of the games on CF work without a hitch, unlike on my A600 - only 3 in 10 worked.  Walker is just as good as I remembered. Now Wings finally works, which relates to my current PC Rise Of Flight obsession.  Now I just need to upgrade my SRAM card to a 4Mb+ trapdoor expansion, and I can dip into the AGA stuff.....