Next purchase - What should it be...

[Rooster]

So I'm happy and content with my A500 and A2k.  (well minus the issues at hand!).

What I'm wondering / curious about, is other than starting an entire collection (which I wouldn't mind doing someday) what newer era Ami should I set my buying sights on?  back in the day, I never "progressed" past my Ami500, which I still have.  Missed out on many generations (ok, a few anyway!) of awesome Ami times.

Should I look for A600?  A1200? A4000?  Other??
Tell me your thoughts / comments / suggestions.  (Also looking for locations other than ebay for purchase, if ya wanna drop some places/people!) Concerns would be:

1-All current software is A500/2000 based.  So I'll have NOTHING to put on this newer era system (other than what it comes with - but no OS, no applications, no games!)

2-Hardware upgrades - Which of these are the easiest to find stuff for? Which are the hardest, or are they all about equal?

I realize this might be a kind of vague question, but I appreciate any input.  I can read specs all day long, but that doesn't tell me what I'm ACTUALLY going to be able to find - What pieces/upgrades/software for what system.  That's why I'm asking the experts out there  Thanks again as always,

   Rooster

[Doppie1200]

Depends a little on what you want to be doing with your system

The A600 won't bring much more then what you already have.
Apart from PCMCIA harddisk and perhaps some acceleration the machine is pretty limited.

The A1200 is probably the best. Accelerators are easy to find. You could start off slow with just a ram expansion. The machine allows anything the A600 does with a little extra kick. You can even go beyond sanity by building a tower and adding a busboard and all kinds of wicked expansions like voodoo card, sound card ....I dont really know much about this level of expansion. I prefer original cases.

Putting software on either A600 or 1200 is no problem because you can add compact flash and exchange files with your PC.

The A4000 can be turned into a monster aswell. However accelerators are harder and more expensive to find.

So it's your choice, do you want the easyier path that is seemingly limited only by your money? Go A1200. Do you want the harder path that needs more money and patience? Go A4000.

Best of luck

[Retromania]

Sounds like sound advice to me !

Good luck and let us know what you go for! :-)

[c64_d0c]

go for a amiga 1200, thats the best...
________
Sexy lesbians

[Colin_Camper]

Well the A1200 probably makes the most sense so I say go for the 600!

Look at all the cool new hardware coming out for this small but perfectly formed beauty!

[lempkee]

i'd say an fully souped up 1200...

[adonay]

try amiga 1200 get os 3.9 and a acc board will give you a new amiga experience cd rom etc. you will find a new amiga experience that gives you alot of more possiblilties with your amiga..

[KThunder]

my two cents:
if aga isnt that huge a deal for you, go with a 3000 or 3000t. they are much more common and less expensive than a 4000 or 4000t. you dont have to put them into a tower to do any serious upgradeing like a 1200 and mediator.
they can take almost all of the upgrades the 4000's can including mediators for pci if you want to go that route and the vga out is nearly perfenct.
aga is good but unless you have a scan doubler flicker fixer it is a pain for connecting to a monitor. i had a nec3d monitor and there were still problems.
one thing though i must say for the 1200: the composite out with a nice big tv is beautiful, even though i have a 21 inch monitor for my 3000 the 1200 was great for games.

[TjLaZer]

Well being in the US be prepared to pay a pretty penny for A1200/600's... Even A4000's are costly.  I have one of each.

[Matt_H]

Well being in the US be prepared to pay a pretty penny for A1200/600's... Even A4000's are costly. I have one of each.

Indeed. I always get jealous when I see European users posting about the 4 A1200s they got for 5 euros each. :-)

I paid almost $80 (incl. shipping) for an A600 from the UK, which is still a little cheaper than what they tend to go for locally in the US.

EDIT: Er, ahem, on topic, an A3000 or A4000 will probably offer you the most expandability "out of the box". A1200s probably have more potential, but they'll need to be re-housed to get the most out of them, which will set you back another couple hundred dollars for a dedicated tower solution.

[stopthegop]

imho,  the 4k is the way to go.  I find the zorro slots to be useful even in a full-blown mutant miggy.  There are a lot of high-quality zorro cards out there that you would have trouble making work in a 1200.  Prelude, AD516, X-surf, A4091 SCSI, Toaster/flyer, etc...  The downside to with the 4000 is, as someone already mentioned, price.  An A1200 "monster box" is gonna set you back too.  Whereas the A1200 with all the goodies is merely "outrageously high priced", the A4k more like "clinical insanity."  Its a little like having a child, but more expensive.    The upshot is that the Amiga will provide you with hours upon hours of Windows-Free/Macintosh-Free bliss.  And, unlike PCs and Macs, the Amiga will retain if not appreciate in value.  Either way, good luck!    

[rdolores]

A1200. There is still a good supply of both refurbished and NOS (New Old Stock) out there. I believe AmiKit has them, and perhaps SoftwareHut.

[TheMagicM]

I'd buy a A4k desktop

[smiley1635]

Well I would say get an A600 and an A1200

A600s go for £20 on ebay uk and they always look good.

And then you can get an A1200 to upgrade.

Dunoo what prices are like in the USA though

[pierre]

big box amiga for me, but if you just wanna play games a1200 is nifty,  A4000(Desktop) nice machine. The A3000 (desktop of tower) is the best amiga ever made OBLY issue is the lack of AGA......