I want to buy an Amiga again!!!

[AmiGeezer]

Hi All,

I'm thinking of getting myself an Amiga again in the new year after a few years away.

I'm fancying an A4000 (Desktop or Tower) although I know it's memory access is slower than a 1200's.

As I want to get a graphics card would I be better getting an A1200 and towering it, accellerating it, getting a backplane (which one?) and then getting a card (Cybergraphics?) or would I be better getting a 4000 and the gfx card so I don't break my wallet with the 1200 costs and put up with the slower memory?

What other things should I consider?

I used to have a towered A1200 that I was proud of but sold that a couple of years ago. :-(

Cheers all!
Matt

[Ral-Clan]

You should consider the fact that you are going to be spending a lot of money.

Graphics cards and accelerator cards are hard to find and expensive, unfortunately.  That is, unless you are lucky and find one in a boot sale.  Otherwise on Ebay they go for high prices.

Maybe in the U.K. it is different - I think Amigas held on a little longer there.

Here in Canada though, you're only likely to find one even at a flea market or in the local classified ads once in a very blue moon.

Good luck though!

[AMIGA-FAN]

My modest opinion is: you should consider getting an emulator instead, such as WinUAE and/or Amithlon. Performances are far better on a modern PC with an emulator than you would get with an already outdated Amiga.
With WinUAE emulator compatibility issues with games is less problematic than with Amithlon. Amithlon is more suited to serious users who want to do development and other thiings other than playing (old) games with the Amiga.
WinUAE is more suited to general purpose as well as games but can also be used for playing games. Amithlon is also a bit more performing as far as speed is concerned.

So, it's up to you and depends also on what you are planning to do with the Amiga.

Regards.

[AMIGA-FAN]

My modest opinion is: you should consider getting an emulator instead, such as WinUAE and/or Amithlon. Performances are far better on a modern PC with an emulator than you would get with an already outdated Amiga.
With WinUAE emulator compatibility issues with games is less problematic than with Amithlon. Amithlon is more suited to serious users who want to do development and other thiings other than playing (old) games with the Amiga.
WinUAE is more suited to general purpose as well as games but can also be used for playing games. Amithlon is also a bit more performing as far as speed is concerned.

So, it's up to you and depends also on what you are planning to do with the Amiga.

Regards.

[X-ray]

Geezer, I would say wait for an A4000. You've already had an A1200. All you need to do is get an A4000D and a gfx card. Don't worry about memory, you can sort that out later with an 040 or 060 accelerator. That's what I would do, I would want novelty, I would want something I hadn't owned before. And I think the A4000D is a neat package if you don't need loads of drives. Just make sure it has an unblemished motherboard (no battery problems).

[amiga92570]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Amiga-4000-Tower-4000T-CyberStorm-060-Picasso-IV-XSurf_W0QQitemZ140063691675QQihZ004QQcategoryZ4598QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[skurk]

ral-clan wrote:
You should consider the fact that you are going to be spending a lot of money.

I can vouch for that.  Amiga isn't a hobby, it's an obsession.  I must have spent over $1000 on my A4000 by now, all on second-hand hardware.  It's nearly complete, expecting the final touch (68060) any day now.

Then I will start working on my A1200 project which has been on the drawing board for a couple of months.

Just as a friendly warning :-)

[X-ray]

I don't like the look of that one. Firstly he doesn't include the keyboard and mouse. Secondly the bezel has a missing button and has no door. This is a relisting so he could have taken new pictures showing that the door is intact, but he hasn't done it.
Lastly, the backplane dividers there are bent and that means there is the possibility of some bending or ham-handedness going on.
It is going to go for a lot, too, because it has a PIV and an 060 board. (Those are highly sought-after items).

[AmiGeezer]

Yep I saw that one - very expensive and a long way away!

The A4000 desktop goes very cheap over here, I've just missed out on a couple on eBay (#150066076509 for 102 GBP and #220054577208 for 113 GBP).

It's the accellerators and gfx cards that are expensive.

I've used UAE but didn't like the lack of 'feel' you get with the actual hardware. That's why I've still got a Dreamcast and have owned the following long past their sell-by-date... C64/VIC20/ZX Spectrum/CDTV etc etc (all gone now) and still have a Grandstand "Astro Wars" and a "Puckmonster" game.

Cheers!
Matt

[AmiGeezer]

Does anyone have a preference between PIV and CGfx cards? If so, why? Is there any difference in cost these days?

M

[X-ray]

The PIV comes with a very good scandoubler and flicker fixer. I would say that the PIVs are generally more sought after than the Cybervisions. They tend to fetch more on ebay.

[InTheSand]

AmiGeezer wrote:
...still have a Grandstand "Astro Wars"...

Heh! Cool, I've got one of those too!!!  :-)

 - Ali

[AmiGeezer]

De dooo di do di doo - de dooo di do di doo .... did-it.

Very loud sounds on it but great fun!

:-)

[GreenMeani]

I have just been giving a 2500 and a 500.
I am waiting for the 2500 to come in.
4000's just are way overpriced because of the Ebay crap. So I will wait until I find a 4000 at a resonable price. Or better yet hopefully a new amiga

[spirantho]

AmiGeezer wrote:
I'm fancying an A4000 (Desktop or Tower) although I know it's memory access is slower than a 1200's.

You're thinking of the A4000's standard CPU board - the A3640 - which had throttled memory. As soon as you stick an accelerator in there (Which you have to do really) there's no difference or the 4000 has faster memory. If you get a Cyberstorm PPC for instance you'll get the 64-bit wide memory interface rather than the BlizzardPPC's 32-bit (but of course you have to buy SIMMs in pairs!)

If you want a solid Amiga, the 4000 is a much better bet than the various expansions plied on top of each other you'd need to get a 1200 up to speed.