A1200 System recommendation please?

[skilgannon]

Hi all!

Can someone out there help me please?  My beloved A1200 has died and so has my Microvitec Multiscan Monitor!

It's the video port on the computer and the monitor is just dead now (I think whatever happened killed them both!).

Anyway - My A1200 hard drive is still ok and what I want to know from you experts out there is what I need to do to fulfil the following requirement:

I would like a new A1200 system that can:

-Use my existing Hard Drive if possible
-Possibly use my existing accelerator (68040 card with 32Mb Ram) if appropriate
-Be able to output to a monitor (preferably my spare 19" LCD monitor but I have a spare 17" CRT as well)
-Be able to play my WHDLoad games.
-Be able to access the web (my current amiga could via a Goldcard PCMCIA network card).
-Be able to use a CD Rom drive (I have a legal OS3.9 CD in case I can't use my hard drive and need to reinstall)

My main goal I suppose is to be able to easily play WHDLoad games on a normal monitor and talk to my Amiga Forever share on my PC.  All the rest (web access etc) is a bonus.

I'm fine about it being a tower system and I guess it would have to be to accommodate the last requirement.  My problem is that I just don't know what I need to buy (bus boards and what not) in order to make the above requirements a reality.

It also doesn't need to be a kick @ss machine and price isn't an issue for me - I just need to know what to buy

Can someone help please - it would be very much appreciated?

Kind regards and thanks in advance

John

[DoogUK]

replacing your exixting hard disk into a new a1200 will see your new a1200 be exactly how your old one was...assuming whatever the fault was that killed your a1200 didnt kill the hard disk too of course.

you will still be able to use your existing gold card and accelerator exactly as you did before and WHDload games will run very nicely with your accelerator card.

as for the monitor, you will need a scandoubler/flicker fixer to play amiga games on pc monitors and they rarely go below £100 on the bay.

if you realy want a monitor and not to use a tv i would suggest picking up a commodore 1084 or phillips cm as they display the native modes for the amiga during gameplay, you can often pick them up here in uk very cheaply.

hope this helps

[skilgannon]

Thanks for the reply Doog, I've had 1084's and Philips MK2's in the past and they have died eventually also (why I eventually got the multiscan).  I know my HD is ok as it boots fine in a friends A1200 but I really want to be as future proof as possible now that all the amiga kit is getting more rare so a PC monitor makes sense to me.  

I think I am trying to make a 1200 system that will be as easy to use as possible and have some scope for the future if I decide to do anything rash like make it my main machine for browsing the web etc.

Do any of the busboards let me use a normal GFX card to play games on?  I have an old Voodoo card which I believe might be of use but am not sure in what context.  I also have an old SB sound card which might be of use - but am not sure.  Although money is not a real issue - it would be nice to use some of my existing old kit to make an A1200 that will run on modern equipment - you know?

John

[Flashlab]

Connecting your Amiga to a modern monitor requires a scandoubler/flicker fixer (SD/FF) or a monitor which can handle SCART input.

When you use graphics card you can display Workbench on your card but not WHDLoad games! Only cards which have a SD/FF on board can handle this (PicassoIV os CV64/3D).

Maybe your best bet is Winuae; this way you get all your screens on a PC monitor and a fast machine with graphics card capabilities too. You can even use your existing harddisk. Works with internet connections and WHDLoad is no problem. There are ways to connect Amiga joysticks too.

[amigakit]

Call us on Monday and we will be happy to discuss your requirements (02920 564676)

[DoogUK]

This is the reason i use a 1048s, although i love the multifunctionality of the amiga i am still hooked on its games ability......ease of use.

i'm lucky enough to own 4 1084's and use them all on my amigas.

at the end of the day its how "modern" you want to go...in your case i would reccomend an lcd monitor/tvtuner...that way you have best of both worlds.

[skilgannon]

Thanks everyone - I will call Amigakit during the week to see what they can offer.  WinUAE is not a solution for me as even though it is evolved it's not good enough (I use Amiga Forever and it's just not the same).

PLUS - I am a retro collector (especially Commodore) and would like as much as possible to have original kit (I own a Commodore SX64 for instance - which is great!).

I have a massive spec gaming PC (New Commodore one of course) and various other PC's at home and still can't get it to perform like an original A1200 would (That's maybe my problem - too many Microsoft qualifications and don't understand Amiga technologies well enough - lol).

I now understand (I think) that an Amaiga video card solution might not be the way to go unless I use a very specific board (but that's maybe the answer!).

Really - I want to keep with as much "real" amiga hardware as possible while being able to run Workbench and normal A1200 WHDLoad games on a modern monitor (LCD/CRT).

I really do appreciate everyone's time in answering but feel I am not any closer in understanding what I need to buy to achieve my goal (I would love someone to say - buy this, this, that and that). If possible I would rather not buy yet another soon to be dead Mk11 or 1084 and Amiga 1200 to put my hard drive into knowing that in a few months I may be back where I am just now.

My friend has a couple of A4000's that he was going to give me but when we tested them - there were real problems getting them to boot (storage wasn't kind to them I think) but it's that kind of solution had it worked would have been great as I could have just plugged an old PC monitor in and away I would go.

Thanks all

John

[A6000]

It's the luck of the draw really, there are many amiga's that have given years of service and will last for many more years to come, but there are other amigas which are not as healthy, and will need some TLC.

If you want to play games, then an old CRT monitor will be fine with resolutions up to 640 x 512, but if you want the higher resolutions then you should think about getting a graphics card, flickerfixer/scan doubler and a vga monitor.

If it breaks down, replacements are cheap enough, although repairing it would be better for the amiga community in the long run.

[murple]

I would think just replacing the motherboard would be all you need. AmigaKit and various people on eBay all sell A1200 motherboards. Just swap out the dead one.

Buying a whole new 1200 and putting in your drive, accelerator, etc, would probably accomplish the same thing.

[Flashlab]

I don't give buying advice anymore since someone bought a monitor I like and he was very disappointed. So I just gave you the options you have; TV/Monitor with TV tuner or input, another second hand 1084 or a SD/FF that gives you a VGA plug (these devices are rare and expensive) if you want to keep the 1200 like it is.

Another option would be buying a busboard with video slot capabilities and then get a video card with a SD/FF. This option is very hard to find and expensive and requires a tower too.

Mind you, with an A4000 you have the same trouble. You can't just connect a VGA monitor to it; it has the same video port the 1200 has. Adding a graphics card is a lot easier though as you'd have a video slot with Zorro connector out of the box.

The easiest way for you right now to connect a 1200 to a screen would be using a composite cable from the 1200 to a TV or monitor that has composite input.

[skilgannon]

Thanks all.  Flashlab - I know what you mean about giving buying advice but from my perspective, all I need is examples of what kit I should buy in order to build a 1200 tower capable of running workbench and games on a VGA monitor.

Because I don't really get the bus board thing, if I want to build a tower that fits that requirement do I need to buy for example:

1200 tower box from Elbox or somewhere
Busboard (does this plug into an A1200 motherboard?)
Appropriate Ram
Appropriate Processor
Video card that will do both workbench and games
Expansion board
Sound card

Cheers

John

[Flashlab]

You'd need:

- A tower for the 1200
- A busboard; yes, it plugs into the motherboard via the trapdoor connector. Accellerators are plugged in the busboard then. Some busboards allow the use big box accellerators, but in most cases you can just use 1200 versions.
- A graphics card. If you want it to display AGA (native Amiga) screens too you need either a card that has SD/FF on board (busboard has to have an active video slot for this option!) or a seperate SD/FF that plugs into the monitor switcher of the graphics card. Look on www.amiga-hardware.com to see what RTG cards have SD/FF of monitor switchers.

You don't need more. However collecting this hardware is difficult and expensive.

[murple]

Also beware that if you use a SD/FF to display Amiga video on a VGA LCD monitor, it will look like crap. You'll need to use a CRT monitor... if you want to use an LCD, you're probably going to need to use a busboard that lets you use a PC VGA card or something, and I don't know if that will work for AGA stuff.

I spent a couple hundred bucks getting various equipment to display my Amiga on VGA... only to find out that for most of what I do, a Commodore RGB monitor works a whole lot better.

[morcar]

I`d say give amikit a go its free and if you got os3.9 you can install that on it with no problems. Also you can put setups on the winuae console for any amiga you wish and access the net either through amikit or your pc.

[DoogUK]

Like i suggested before, using an LCD monitor with built in tv tuner is probably the best way to go.
It will display the various graphics cards resolutions comfortably and when it comes to games and Amiga native screenmodes you can revert back easily using the rgb to scart option.

Best of both worlds.