Best bang for buck?

[Protek]

Which desktop model Amiga would give the best bang for buck: A2000, A3000 or A4000? Or actually, can you pimp your A2000 so, that it would be on par performance-wise with i.e. A4000? I know that I'd miss out on AGA and some other newer chipset features but what else I would miss out on? What is the difference in availability of add-ons and enhancements between these three models?

[A1260]

the A4000 will give you the most bang for bucks.... pimping an a2000 is not worth it!

[pan1k]

A1260 wrote:
the A4000 will give you the most bang for bucks.... pimping an a2000 is not worth it!

...unless you like mil-spec  :lol:

[skurk]

I'd say pimp an A1200, better (and cheaper IMO) hardware availability than the 4k.

[downix]

I'd suggest the 3k before the 4k,, due to the built-in scsi controller and that it will use most 4k peripherals.

[iMacMiga]

the A4000 will give you the most bang for bucks...

I agree with that, apart from the 3000 has SCSI, a built in ScanDoubler and much better case (albeit minus the 5.25" bay). The 4000 has AGA, but it also has crappy IDE and no SD, and the cases are bloody horrible. Take your pick - 4000s are usually easier to find.

pimping an a2000 is not worth it!

That bit's a load of bollocks though (IMO, obviously). I have a 2000 with a 32MB 040 card, CV3D, GVP SCSI (1GB HDD and CD-ROM) and a XSurf and it makes a REALLY nice 3.9 machine. They are a bit more quirky than 4000s and obviously don't have the extras the 3000 and 4000 have, but with all the Zorro slots available and the really solid case it makes a really nice big-box in it's own right. Don't be so quick to write it off. Also 1500s and 2000s are a *lot* cheaper and easier to find.

[Chubbyrain]

Out of all the Amiga's I've owned (A500,A1200, A2000, A3000, A4000, CD32) I have to say, I like the A3000 the best. Good build quality (but not ugly like the 2000), nice SCSI, built in VGA Support and UNIX to boot. Does everything I want really well.

I found the A4000 build quality to be shoddy and they seem to be a bit flakey on reliability. If you had to have an AGA machine, I'd go for a 1200, since people charge INSANE prices for A4000s on Ebay.

[gdanko]

A1260 wrote:
the A4000 will give you the most bang for bucks.... pimping an a2000 is not worth it!

Why the heck do we make the word pimp represent something good? Pimping is a very bad thing.

Anyway, I disagree. My 2000 is really nice.. other than AGA games it does everything. Nice 060, RTG card, NIC, 2m chip memory.. etc

It does everything I need it to do.

[motrucker]

gdanko wrote:

A1260 wrote:
the A4000 will give you the most bang for bucks.... pimping an a2000 is not worth it!

Why the heck do we make the word pimp represent something good? Pimping is a very bad thing.

Anyway, I disagree. My 2000 is really nice.. other than AGA games it does everything. Nice 060, RTG card, NIC, 2m chip memory.. etc

It does everything I need it to do.

I have a fairly powerful 2000 too, but being stuck with Zorro II slots, 1Mb chip ram (unless you find a megachip 2000)no built is SCSI & stable VGA make the A3000 a better choice. And don't forget the RAM barrier of the A2000.

[Jope]

The Zorro II was what soured my A2000 experience too.. I had a 2060 + 64MB RAM, CV3D, etc.. Yet switching RTG screens took several seconds because of the slow Zorro II bus.

I'll stick with the A4000 and A3000T. :-)