Greetings Amiga Users and How do i get Started?

[Zealand]

Hello, i'm new to the Amiga world, in fact the last time i used one was over a decade ago when i was around 10. I'm from the UK and i'm a computer science student.

I have been drawn to the Amiga for a while now because of the large software base, the very well designed hardware but mostly because of you lot the dedicated user base, i must be missing out on something.

Now on to the question, i have around 150 quid budget to get an Amiga and kit it out. What do you recommend i get as a new user? Im only looking to get the one since i will be living in a tiny room with little space for the next few years. I also don't mind getting just a barebones system now for the money and add upgrades in the future if you think that would be more worthwhile. I would also like to try some developing on it, so ideally something a number of others have incase i run into trouble.

Well i hope that makes sense, nice to meet you all  :-D

[Ross1]

Welcome To A.O.

For that price you should be able to get started but thats about all. I would recommend looking at getting a A1200 or a A4000 but the 1200 is slightly more flexible the drawback being that the case is too small for most modifications and add on stuff.
The A4000 has a larger case but costs more to get and cant be found new only used where there has been some new old stock 1200s floating around. Amigakit.com is a good place to start looking.
Both the 1200 and the 4000 can be placed in a tower, many of us have done so to give more space to add accelerators etc.
Other options are getting an A3000 tower but these are rare and cost big bucks when they are sold.
Well thats a start I am sure many others will have lots more to say as time goes on.

Enjoy :-D

[Homer]

Hi, and Welcome :-)
As long as you don't think you will be surfing the web, I guess an A1200 with a hard drive and a 68030 accelerator would be a useful system, if it is games you are after.

[meega]

What he said ^^, but you don't have to just play games on it. Some RAM on the accelerator would be nice (the more the merrier). Blizzard cards are good. The hard drive doesn't need to be big, a few hundred megabytes is lots in an Amiga.

Benefits of an Amiga include the ability to display on a TV, so you don't really *require* a dedicated monitor for it.

[Zealand]

Thanks for all the informative posts guys. Im going to look into getting a 1200 and putting it in a tower, although the D-box 1200 does look a little expensive on amigakit.com. I don't suppose anyone knows of any alternatives? Sorry for all the questions.

[amigakit]

Welcome,  we have cheaper Z4 towers for the A1200 available on request.

[murple]

AmigaKit already posted, but I was going to recommend you check their site out. They have new and refurbished Amiga 1200s in the original cases, and I guess also in tower cases. Personally I'm not sure how I feel about towerized 1200s... but lots of people like them, and theyre easier to expand. Most Amiga tower cases cost a ton of money though (over $200 for an empty case!!!). For the cost of a 1200 and an empty tower you could get a 1200 and a kick ass accelerator. If you can get a towerized 1200 as a package deal though, that might be a good choice. You might want to look at some of the bus boards for towerized 1200s, some of which have Zorro II, III and PCI slots, and some weird Zorro IV which was a post-Commodore invention.

What do you want to do with the Amiga? Thats a big factor in what you need. For someone like me who uses Linux for most things and the Amiga and Commodore 64 for retro geekery (games and demos mostly, I want to learn music making too though) the needs will be much simpler than the needs for someone who wants to use an Amiga as their main computer.

For retro gaming/demos: An Amiga 1200 or 2000 with a 68030 accelerator and some RAM expansion, and a way to transfer files from PC (either a PCMCIA ethernet card on a 1200 or a CDROM on a 2000) as well as a decent size hard drive (if using an Amiga 2000, you'll need a SCSI or IDE card to add a hard drive - SCSI cards are common and cheap). A 1200 has the AGA chipset that lets you play newer more graphically intense games and demos, but most classic games only need OCS or ECS which a 2000 can play just fine. Some real old games and demos dont easily play on 1200s. 2000s are more expandable since they have zorro slots. Accelerators are more common for 1200s, but it seems that 2000 accelerators are cheaper (if you can find them).

If you want to use an Amiga as an every day computer, you'll probably want a 1200 or 4000 with a 68060+PPC accelerator, lots of RAM, a scan doubler/flicker fixer or graphics card, an ethernet interface, and probably a bunch more stuff. Personally, I dont understand why people go this route, but whatever floats your boat.

[amigadave]

Zealand wrote:
.......I must be missing out on something.

Reply: No, you just have not caught the Amiga insanity disease yet.  Are you sure you want to get caught up in something as addictive as the "Amiga Phenomenon"?  It can be veeeeeeeeery costly over time.

All seriousness aside, welcome to Amiga.org.  The greatest Amiga site on the planet.

If money is tight and you don't have particular requirements for the AGA chipset display resolutions, an A500 can be found very cheap and will run the majority of that software base you mentioned.

Good luck.

[murple]

Id recommend against a 500...

A 500 can only display color if you have an RGB monitor or an A520 composite color adapter.

A 500 can only take a hard drive if you find a sidecar device of some kind.

There are not many accelerators for the 500, and they are very hard to find.

A 500 is a cheap computer, but unless you have an RGB Amiga monitor (or want to use it in black & white) and unless you never want to add a hard drive or CPU upgrade, in the long run a 500 will end up costing you more than just getting a 2000 or 1200 right off.

[Zealand]

Thanks murple and everyone. Im hoping to use a tft screen since TVs are too heavy for me to carry around, take up too much space and i don't currently own one. Im going to try and get a 1200 off ebay or somewhere else unless i find a cheap 4000/2000/3000. Then i will see about getting a tower to put it in if i feel the need or have the money!  :lol: