Classic Amiga users, have you thought about next-gen?

[Cyberus]

**PLEASE DO NOT POST IN THIS THREAD IF YOU OWN OR HAVE ORDERED A PEGASOS OR A1, PLEASE!**

Sorry to shout, but I'm sick of the trolling or flamewars that such threads always become.

What I want to know, is if the classic Amiga users like me have considered getting a Pegasos or A1, and which way they are leaning if they haven't yet made up their mind. Those thinking of using AROS are welcome to contribute.

Personally, Pegasos interests me marginally more than A1 at the moment, particularly as I found the spec and price of the A1LITE dissappointing, but then I'd like to see OS4 in action before I make a choice.

Please don't post if you just want to plug the Pegasos or A1, it really isn't that funny anymore. Impress me by not being predictable :-)

Thanks for your understanding.

[TheMagicM]

I *had* a Peg I but not anymore.  I will buy one or the other, but it depends on who has the software support.  I dont want to buy a machine that has very little software or no software support.

[Robert17]

Humm well I suppose that's one of the main reasons I still use the amiga, it'll be good practise for the next gen machines... all I know is my next machine won't be a windows box... I'm just waiting to see how OS 4 turns out and how much support it gets... even if the A1 hardware isn't the speediest out there... it's still gonna seem lightspeed compared to classic hardware, I think anyway.

Robert

[EzdineG]

I don't want to start a war, but I personally don't consider those new boxes true Amigas.  Even if that wasn't the case, compared to modern PC's the hardware is lame. If I were going to emulate to play old Amiga games, why not just do it on a PC?

So here's one "old school" user with an official "No."

Adrian

[that_punk_guy]

I think if I had the money going spare, I'd have bought a Peg by now.

[Eric_Z]

@Cyberus

What about people who never owned a Classic? ;-)

[X-ray]

I would get more satisfaction buying a second-hand Cyberstorm PPC/060 board and running OS4 on my A4000T than buying an all-PPC computer.
That's because I already have a PC that can do everything I require (an A1 or a Peg doesn't offer me anything substantial).

So my answer is a definite 'no'. I don't regard those computers as Amigas. If they had custom chips found nowhere else in the computer industry, I would reconsider.

[FastRobPlus]

Sorry.  I have not and likely never will own a next-gen Amiga, as I don't feel that such a thing exists (please don't flame me - that's just my personal opinion!)

I think the cool hardware innovations right now are the PDA and cell phones, as well as gaming consoles (as you might infer from my avatar)

[Seehund]

Cyberus wrote:

Impress me by not being predictable :-)

I wonder what can be said that hasn't been said so many times before?

My two cents: At least as far as the "AmigaOne" goes, I doubt it's interesting to anyone but a subset of us current Amiga users. Amiga message boards and "AmigaOne"/"next generation Amiga" marketing material are the only places where I've seen reasonably modern hardware (its features and price) seriously being compared to 1-2 decades old hardware, at the same time as comparisons with contemporary hardware are dismissed as "irrelevant"!
These people usually seem to be the same that try to ignore the death of the Amiga and have great flamewars over which generic third party motherboard in the year 2004 that's "most Amiga":
- "ONLY TEH LICENSED TRAEDMARK COUNTS!!!111"
- "NO STUIPD SI TEH ENGINEER'S NAEM TAHT COUNTS!!!!111"


What do they put in our drinking water?

[bonkers]

For me none of the new machines have anything to do with amiga anymore, there is no revolutionary about them, atleast not in the way I associate amiga with, there are other companies doing more "amiga" like stuff, for me apple with OS X is alot more amiga regarding OS.

Having said that, I'm intressted in getting one of the new ones, most likely a Pegasos as I like the attitude of the company, they realise that we want computers for fun and not another tool (i.e. I dont care if there is a office program).

But for me Amiga is what some people here call classic and I will still spend most my time with them for many years to come. My main intresst is programming and I there is so much more to be done on the "classics" and they are so much more intressting to program than new-school computers, at least from my point of view.

[golem]

I'm another sceptic about whether these new machines are "Amigas". They seem like second-rate Macs to me. And I've always thought of Macs as being strictly for people with attitude problems about being different from everyone else for no other reason than to be different even if it costs more money. To me Amigas are basically 680x0 and any PPC is a very warm co-processor. If my Blizzard 060 gives up the ghost I'll try and replace it but I don't see any of these PPCs as panning out...sorry guys :-(

[KennyR]

EzdineG wrote:
I don't want to start a war, but I personally don't consider those new boxes true Amigas. Even if that wasn't the case, compared to modern PC's the hardware is lame. If I were going to emulate to play old Amiga games, why not just do it on a PC?

Because emulation is not what you get a next-gen 'Amiga' for. You can't play 98% of Amiga games on an A1 or Pegasos, because the old stuff hits the hardware anyway. UAE is tonnes better if you want to do this.

You get A1/Peg for a super-fast version of AmigaOS that blows UAE away, even on the most powerful PC. You get it to use system-friendly apps. You get it because it's almost takes you back to the way Amigas were back in the mid-90s. There is no real practical reason why anyone would want a Pegasos or A1 - but I just wanted a faster replacement for my PPC Amiga 1200 and the Pegasos was it.

(Sorry Cyberus, I know I wasn't supposed to post, but I think that I also understand the viewpoint where people don't want nextgen too. I'll try not to post any more!)

[EzdineG]

KennyR wrote:
Because emulation is not what you get a next-gen 'Amiga' for. You can't play 98% of Amiga games on an A1 or Pegasos, because the old stuff hits the hardware anyway. UAE is tonnes better if you want to do this.

I was under the impression there was also a version of UAE for the new machines.  It's what my "If I were going to emulate ..." implied, because we can already do that (and probably faster) on the PC.

Adrian

[KennyR]

EzdineG wrote:
I was under the impression there was also a version of UAE for the new machines. It's what my "If I were going to emulate ..." implied, because we can already do that (and probably faster) on the PC.

And quite right, you can do it faster on the PC. Even if the hardware was as fast as PCs, the Linux UAE that OS4 and MOS ports are based on isn't a fraction as good or fast as WinUAE. UAE on a PC is just better for most things.

That said, people who buy A1/Peg don't want simple emulation. In some ways it's like having a cupboard full of VHS and no TV tuner. Plenty of choice, but not much chance of ever getting anything better than old VHS films.

I want an Amigalike OS that's fast, being actively developed, and has a scene around it that's more progressive than retro. Emulation just doesn't offer that to me.

[Brian Hoskins]

I think everyone who currently owns a classic Amiga and is serious about sticking with their Amiga for the future, has at least considered the next generation machines.
The people generally fall into the following bands:

1) Those who like the idea of Next Generation but can't afford it, or are unwilling to pay the current prices.

2) Those who could afford it, but are waiting for some clear water with regard to the future of the chosen platform (A1 or Peg) before shelling out tons of cash

3) Those who are completely against the current Next Generation machines altogether

4) Those who have already bought a Next Generation machine.

Personally I wouldn't consider the Pegasos to be a next generation Amiga at all due to the fact that it cannot run the next generation Amiga Operating System and is promoted as a "new platform" by it's manufacturers.  I've nothing against Pegasos/MOS users whatsoever and would not wish to create argument with them, but that's my personal stand on the next generation machines.

With regard to the AmigaOne, whether you believe it's good value for money or not depends on which way you look at it.  In one sense, you could quite rightly argue that the AmigaOne is extremely overpriced and does not compare favourably with prices for similarly spec'd motherboards on other platforms (such as the PC).  To look at it in a slightly different light, if you consider the prices we were all paying for brand new BPPC and CSPPC boards back in... what was it, 1997? Then you may quite rightly conclude that the AmigaOne isn't actually all that expensive at all, when compared to the price of a previous PPC product which was afterall, only an accelerator board.  Infact, the AmigaOne motherboard which is a fully-fledged computer platform in it's own right, is cheaper than the top of the range BPPC board which was only an accelerator for an existing classic amiga - and that's comparing 1997 prices with 2004 prices, in reality if you consider inflation as well then the BPPC boads were even more expensive in comparison with the modern A1 board.

My personal view is that the AmigaOne IS overpriced, and that it does need to come down in price before it will be considered good value for money.  Either that or the specs needs to drastically improve in order to make the price more appealing.  I would imagine even those who have bought an AmigaOne would admit that it's very expensive - even if they are actually happy with their purchase.
That said, I can completely understand the reasons why an AmigaOne is overpriced (economies of scale) and since I have already decided that I WILL be sticking with the Amiga for the forseeable future, it follows that I will eventually look to purchase a Next Generation machine.  I'd probably say that I fall into band 2, in that I am interested in a next generation machine but am waiting for some clear water regarding the future of the AmigaOne, the future of OS4 and the future of the new parent company, KMOS.

I would like to see new models of the AmigaOne with much improved specs and a similar (if not cheaper) price tag.  That would probably convince me enough to take the plunge sooner rather than later.

In the meantime, my PPC based A1200 is king ;-)

Brian