Upgrade A1200 orbuy A4000?

[bubba]

I want a high-performance Amiga system and would like some advice.  I currently have a basic A1200 with just a memory expansion that I use for games.   I'd like to upgrade my system with a fast accelerator, CD-ROM, etc.  to make it OS 3.9 compatilbe.

It seems to me it might be a better value to buy an A4000 then to upgrade the A1200.  After an accelerator, improved powersupply, SCSI card, cooling hassles, etc. the cost seems comparable to a used A4000.

The only issues I see with the A4000 are the lack of a cheap ethernet solution, battery issues, and bad memory clips.  Any advice?  I also seem to see more A4000 on e-bay's than A1200 accessories (at least in the US).

Thanks!

[amiga4001]

If only been used for games stick with the 1200 with no accelarator.
If you want to use the more highspec games go for the 4000 as it is easy to buy and install yourself the upgrades.
For ethernetcards go for the mediator in a A4000 the busboards are "low" priced these days and nothing beats the voodoo card in the mediator(which you could find second-hand).
Ethernet card for the mediator is even easier to find and cheap!
For games in the 4000 dont go any further then a 030.
Even with WHD-load the 040 often causes problems.

[Tahoe]

I have a Mediator (Z4) Towered Amiga. I am going to up my 4000 though. It has real Z3 slots, and I just got myself a CyberstormPPC. BlizzardPPC cards are nice, but the version with SCSI are more difficult to find.

No all I need to get is a nice A4000 casing and a mediator 4000. I need the tower version of the mediator though, as the desktop one does not have a video-slot.

[x56h34]

The BPPC scsi is fast scsi-2 (theoretical maximum 10MB/s speed). CSPPC scsi is UW-SCSI-3 (theoretical maximum 40MB/s speed).

603e VS 604e?
32bit VS 64bit memory access?

To summarize, comparing CSPPC with BPPC...there's no contest, CSPPC wins. :-)

One of the reasons why A3000/A4000 is nicer to expand than A1200. ;-)

[doctorq]

Eventhough the CSPPC beats the BPPC, it will still be easier to find a BPPC than a CSPPC, since BPPC comes in 12 different versions, the CSPPC does not, IIRC the CSPPC only comes in 4 versions.

@Bubba
Everything depends on what you want to do with your computer. If you only want to upgrade in order to be able to run OS3.9, play games and use SCSI drives, then a A1200 desktop with a Blizzard 1230 board and SCSI kit will be enough.

If you on the other hand want to use the Amiga for the above, and play mp3s, surf the internet, play games like Quake 2, Heretic, etc, etc, you would be better off with an Amiga 4000. Most modern games requires a graphics card (or at least benefits from it) and a PPC CPU, and if you want this on an A1200 you first have to towerise, put in a busboard (either zorro or PCI), but with the A4000 this isn't needed, as everything is in a case that is ready to be expanded.

[x56h34]

@doctorq:

An even better choice would be an Escom A4000T. :-)

[Acill]

If you are going to spend that much money you should get an A1 and OS4. You can keep the A1200 for games and do the advanced stuff with the A1 and support the new Amiga. I myself use a Pegasos with MorphOS, but befor ei had an a3000 toweered with a CSPPC and mediator with all the goodies. I havent looked back since getting the new system and dont miss the classic machine at all.

[Brian]

@amiga4001

I second that, the 040 is a troublesome CPU but if he upgrades to a 060 he will have much of the compatibility back. 030 is slow and if he aims for OS3.9 the 3630 wont realy cut it, finding a blizzard4030 isn't going to be all that easy.

[Dandy]

Tahoe wrote:
...

Now all I need to get is a nice A4000 casing and a mediator 4000. I need the tower version of the mediator though, as the desktop one does not have a video-slot.

Errrmmmmm - what's that video slot good for?

[Tahoe]

Dandy wrote:

Errrmmmmm - what's that video slot good for?

For my Cybervision3D Scandoubler  :-D

[Brian]

Videocards & Digitizers might use it, cards like Toaster use only the gfx slot.

[Skyrunner]

Lack of cheap ethernet? Check out the XSurf2. It's reasonably priced and it's more than just a NIC.

Battery issues is something you can check out before buying the machine. If you take care of the batteries, you'll never run into trouble. You can also replace the battery with a coin-type one.

Bad SIMM slots are an issue but if you're going to use an accelerator it will not matter as it will most likely have its own RAM slots.

Get an A4000 unless you wanna freak out with towerising projects.