Repurpose a PC laptop into a Portable Amiga?

[MaximumRD]

You don't really NEED to read any of this ---------------------------------------------------

Let me start by saying I am not a fan of "Commodore" USA. Rather the  current iteration of it anyways. It is funny how many people, mostly  those that never actually used a real original Amiga seem to be getting  all giddy over the recent news of Commodore USA releasing "new" Amiga's,  C64's and Vic's. My comments have mostly been along the lines of "These  are nothing more than overly priced (for the PC hardware your getting)  Keyboard PC's slapped into stylized cases with a Commodore badge added."  These so called new Commodore machines rely on Emulation for the Amiga /  C64 side. Unless I have missed something that is exactly what it is.  THAT SAID being a Canadian who actually has no original AMIGA hardware  currently the prospect of obtaining original hardware whether on Ebay or  an online retailer is expensive, even when I find a deal that is  tolerable once shipping to Canada is added on top as well as possible  duty fees and taxes well, let's just say I am not in the financial state  to consider it. LET ME BE CLEAR, I am a long time AMIGA fan that truly  regrets all the Amiga A500 / A1200 equipment I sold back in the day but  hard times called for desperate measures. I, as I assume most of you  much prefer using original hardware but still, a fake Amiga is better  than no Amiga in my opinion. I refuse to buy any of Commodore USA's  offerings but I did have a thought that at some point I will be  replacing my current laptop with an updated laptop as it is something I  need. I figured I might as well use the old laptop for something and I  was thinking it would be cool to dedicate it for AMIGA use.

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PLEASE DO READ THIS.
This is what I really need to know

I am no genius for sure, I have used the AMIGA FOREVER package a lot and  yes I was into AMIGA EMULATION long before that I just bought AMIGA  FOREVER to support CLOANTO and legitimatize use the Kickstart ROMS etc.  What I would like to accomplish if possible is make the emulation as  transparent as possible. It's a TOSHIBA SATELLITTE 200D. Here are the  specs:

      Operating System       ********* Windows 7 Ultimate
      OS Service Pack         Service Pack 1
      DirectX                     DirectX 11.0
      CPU Type:                 Mobile DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK-57, 1900 MHz (9.5 x 200)
      Motherboard Name:     Toshiba Satellite P200D
      Motherboard Chipset:  AMD M690V, AMD Hammer
      BIOS Type:                Phoenix (02/25/08)
      Video Adapter:           ATI Radeon X1200  (128 MB)
      Hard Drive:                160 GB, 5400 RPM, SATA
      Optical Drive:             PIONEER DVD-RW
      SD card reader
Of course I would replace the OS if needed to whatever would be best for my project.

WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE to have it so that upon powering up the  laptop that some type of AMIGA EMULATOR is launched automaticly and load  AMIGA WORKBENCH? Essentially, I would like it to mimic turning on an  AMIGA A1200 with built in Hard Disk. Of course I would like IF POSSIBLE  all the laptops built in hardware functioning and accessible (USB PORTS /  DVD DRIVE / SD CARD SLOT / WIRELESS ADAPTER / Functioning sound etc) I know I am asking a lot here lol but  I figure I wont know unless I ask. If I can only launch the AMIGA  emulation manually exactly which OS would yield the best results and  what AMIGA Emulator should I use? Has anyone else here done this?  Dedicated a laptop or Desktop completely to Amiga emulation? Please let  me know your suggestions, advice, etc THANKS to all in advance.  

[haywirepc]

I have had several pc's as dedicated amiga emulation machines.
 
You can replace windows shell with winuae and it will seem to boot straight to amiga os3.x. I have used windows xp, removing windows boot screens, login screens and so forth.
 
What you end up with is a machine using windows drivers for everything, but with os3.x as the shell. This works very well. In my experience a pc of 1.5ghz or better works best for this. Your specs for this laptop are great for this kind of project.

Steven

[MaximumRD]

I have had several pc's as dedicated amiga emulation machines.
 
You can replace windows shell with winuae and it will seem to boot straight to amiga os3.x. I have used windows xp, removing windows boot screens, login screens and so forth.
 
What you end up with is a machine using windows drivers for everything, but with os3.x as the shell. This works very well. In my experience a pc of 1.5ghz or better works best for this. Your specs for this laptop are great for this kind of project.

Steven

That sounds awesome and certainly makes me happy and hopeful.
However,
this replacing the windows shell with winuae, HOW IS IT DONE?  :confused:

[Duce]

I have a mini-itx system running XP that boots entirely into Workbench.  Never see Windows at all.  See the pdf below for the guide I used.  I am extremely happy with the system I threw together and configured based on that guide, it runs flawlessly and faster/more reliably than any real Amiga I ever owned.  Outside of a stripped XP install, all it really needs is roms and WinUAE.  Below link mirror courtesy of Zac67, iirc.

http://wowohl.de/Amiga_XP_x86.pdf

[haywirepc]

Yes I used this guide as well and I think its excellent for repurposing an old pc into a "new amiga". I got rid of all my real amiga hardware recently.
I want to play games, occasionally use some mod sound stuff and art programs. Works great for all I use. I almost never need to see whats under the hood and kinda forget its NOT an amiga.
 
Lately I am using amigasys. I like this alot. I haven't put much time into really customizing much. Mostly, I play whdload games on the amiga forever 3.x install.
 
Steven

[fishy_fiz]

Unless old games and demos are important to you, amithlon simply cant be touched for this sort of thing. It was designed to make amiga os the main os on an x86 pc. It gives direct access to hardware (winuae doesnt). Its still a lot faster than winuae. It can run x86 native os3.x binaries as well as 68k. It lets you create custom p96 screenmodes like a real amiga (winuae doesnt). It boots a heck of a lot faster than using a butchered WinXP for a host. Its not succeptable to windows viruses (using winuae u are succeptable). Put simply its the ultimate emulated amiga experience and you really do feel like youre using a turbo charged amiga. Everything you do using it is done from amiga os and a person has to rely on it (os3.9) unlike Winuae. Theyre quite different though, amithlon is more a way for amiga os3.9 to run on x86 hardware and directly use its hardware while Winuae emulates an amiga but using Windows apis and some other resources. The only advantages Winuae has over amithlon is custom chipset emulation, but euaeload fixes that in an invisable fashion. Additionally the pc hardware needs to be supported in the amithlon kernel for amitthlon, so winuae will work properly on a lot more machines.  While I do on occassion use winuae, and think its a well done bit of software Id never use it as a "serious" amiga system.