A4000, A1200, or A2000?

[zipper]

The worst thing about the A4000 is trying to find a CD/DVD drive that fits with enough room to actually have the cable attached.  All it needed was an extra 2" of space.    

Had it - but barely.

[mechy]

So, I am at a crossroads of a sort.

I have a bit of Miggy money and am trying to decide the best way to spend it.  I am currently in possession of an A2000 rev 4.3 that is a trooper, but is stock 68000 with 3 megs of ram.  Researching all the things I can do to get it up to decent par (030 accelerator, indivision, at the very least), with that money I could for sure get an A1200.  The idea is much like Runequester- I just want to use the funk out of it.  I don't think I'd get rid of the big brown battleship, as she just keeps ticking, but I still really want an AGA machine like my first purchased computer (a 1200).  The problem is I always coveted the 4000s.  I know this topic has probably been flogged a bit, but I'd love to hear the chorus opinion on which AGA machine is preferable to expansion ( in a non-frankenstein way) and all around longevity.  Or should I eschew AGA altogether and make this 2000 a beast?

I'm so torn!

Don't listen to these guys. buy a 4000 or 4000t. reason is its got a good PSU,u can install a easy pal switch to keep the machine in pal mode, you get a 040 to start with and easy to add 16MB motherboard ram. u get zorro3 expansion to boot if you need it or want to go mediator later.you get buffered(albeit slow) ide, no sense in spending a fortune dongalizing a 1200 to death.and its nonsense its hard to find cd/dvd roms that fit,i have found plenty including the current 20x nec dvd i run. you can fit plenty inside a 4000d case.

mech

[mechy]

1200s are vastly cheaper than the 4000s nowadays, they are very expandable, and the PCMCIA slot comes in very handy these days.

The 2000 can be upgraded quite significantly too, of course, and you already got the beast.

1200 advantages: AGA. PCMCIA. IDE.

2000 advantages: Zorro slots (but 16 bit), far easier to add RTG

this is not true,its a common misconception. by the time u buy a 1200 and add a accelerator,get a decent power supply because the stock one is crap,your usually around $300-400+ and you still have no good expansion bus,which is what alot of used stock A4000/040's run(if not slightly more) .grab a zorro3 machine with buster 9 or 11 chip and you are further ahead.
A2000 zorro2 is dirt slow.i love the 2000 but why bother with zorro2,it cripples the gfx cards.

[orb85750]

It may be a good idea to decide what it is that you want to do with a new machine, that you can't do with your A2000, before sinking money into it.  If you just want to check out AGA, then maybe buy an inexpensive A1200.

[stevee617]

Mechy is right.

Really, go with a 4000. You get everything you'd really want all in one package and have to option of the RTG card with the AGA. You have access to IDE devices that are just more common today than A3000 SCSI peripherals.

[TheBilgeRat]

Thanks for all the advice!  I have decided to pursue an A4000D.

[tone007]

Don't forget to look out for battery leakage!  This is a very common problem in the 4000Ds, and can screw things up good.

[TheBilgeRat]

Don't forget to look out for battery leakage!  This is a very common problem in the 4000Ds, and can screw things up good.

Ja, a good reminder.