what kind of specs would I need to use my amiga everyday

[swoslover]

If I wanted to use my a1200 for general use, all I need is internet access (at a reasonable speed) and word processing (preferably with word compatibility).

What kind of upgrades would I need for this, if possible.  My 1200 at the moment is of the bog standard variety.  

Also can anyone tell me is amiga future worth buying and are there any new programs being developed for amiga?

[weirdami]

reading specs!

 :python:

[persia]

:roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:

Oh, man, at first I thought you were serious.  Thanks for the laugh.

[stefcep2]

For it to be somewhat enjoyable i think you would need a 68030 accelerator with 8-16 meg ram.  A high speed serial port or pcmcia network card is all but necessary for reasonable net speed.  

Software-wise AmigaOS 3.1 is good enough, you can get virtually all of the functionality that you get in AmigaOS 3.9.  Amiga browsers don't support all web page features but Ibrowse 2.4 is the best, but you can't buy this (see separate thread), so get AWeb which is for free.  You'll need a TCP stack as well such as Miami or genesis.  You get genesis with AmigaOS3.9, not sure about Miami.  Amigawriter has limited Word support but there are utilities on Aminet that can read word documents, and convert them to text, which you can the import into other word processors such as Wordworth or Final Writer.

[orange]

parallel port could be good alternative to rs232.. but you need other computer acting as gateway (and it might need to run linux)
gfx card is (practically) a must

[Oliver]

swoslover wrote:
If I wanted to use my a1200 for general use...

This would require a reasonable level of delusion, and quite some considerable Luddism.

What kind of upgrades would I need for this

A pre-release version of dementia?

Sorry, I kid. Just hope you are well warned that even the most extravagantly enhanced classic Amiga does not provide a good platform for use of the internet. Much web content will not be accessible.

In terms of functionality, all these upgrades do not provide good value for money.

I hope my comments are not taken the wrong way, as I really do appreciate the Amiga platform for what it is, but don't expect it to be a drop in replacement for a modern computer.

Good luck,

Oliver

[frootloop]

hey swoslover,

I'd say you need the best 68k CPU withh MMU you can get, along with as much ram as possible. You can still asqueeze a usable Debian linux system out of this, with open office and a web browser. You could use this setup for pretty much all your 'typical' day to day needs. Dont know if you wanted to specifically stick to AmigaOS

[frootloop]

You can get more specific info here:
http://www.linux-m68k.org/faq/faq.html
Minimum requirements are quite basic - but the more power you hve on tap, the better

[Jiffy]

swoslover wrote:
If I wanted to use my a1200 for general use, all I need is internet access (at a reasonable speed) and word processing (preferably with word compatibility).

What kind of upgrades would I need for this, if possible.  My 1200 at the moment is of the bog standard variety.  

If you upgrade your Amiga with a faster cpu, more ram and a nice harddisk, it can be used for many day to day tasks. Webbrowsing is complete torture, though. Unbearably slow (even with an 68060) and many webpages won't even display correctly (if at all).

Also can anyone tell me is amiga future worth buying and are there any new programs being developed for amiga?

The Amiga as a normal computerplatform has been dead for years now, with no chance of revival. It still remains a very nice hobbymachine, though, and there are still some hard- and software projects being developed here and there.  Aweb (browser) and YAM (e-mail) are still being developed. Most software on the Amiga has been around for years and is pretty mature.

Appreciate your Amiga as a hobbymachine. It's fun to have, fun to use and even more fun if you do something usefull with it every now and then. But don't expect it to be a full replacement for a modern OSX/Windows/Linux computer.

[pVC]

Internet is the easy part. You can get cheap PCMCIA network card for your A1200, BUT if you want to use browsers daily, graphics card is absolutely required. And fast CPU. 030/040 is the minimum, but slow for regular surfing. 060 or PPC machine is recommended. For A1200 it practically means that get 060 accelerator and Mediator PCI-bus with graphics card, network card etc. Lots of upgrading.

If you only need it for general utility use and don'n need old games/demos, then I'd say it might be better to get some new generation amiga computer. One which runs with MorphOS or AmigaOS4. They're much faster than your a1200 can ever be and they have more modern browsers coming. Although browsing isn't bad in speed wise with high-end classic Amiga, it's much more snappy with new machines. You could keep your A1200 with cheap accelerator for games and demos.

Others already mentioned the compatibility issues of Amiga browsers for today's web, but if you're aware of them, you can still do the most on Amiga browsers too. Not necessarily as pretty as they've designed, but you can cope. And OTOH, browsing is usually much faster with Amiga than on PC as you don't get all useless ads jumping everywhere and blocking contents on badly designed pages I'm using IBrowse2.4 as my main browser still and I like it

[amigaksi]

>If I wanted to use my a1200 for general use, all I need is internet access (at a reasonable speed) and word processing (preferably with word compatibility).

You need a very fast computer to run bloated software.  Most internet software and MS-Word compatible stuff is bloated that relies on many levels of drivers/DLLs/applications.  I use the Amiga everyday but it's not for stuff developed/standardized after they stopped developing the Amiga.  See www.mpdos.com.

Your question is like buying the latest PC and then asking, "How do I make a real-time system, disable caching and compile directly to a fixed location and write directly to VGA registers and memory or control some external device?"  Well, you can't especially with a parallel port missing, power management with a mind of it's own, and things running in your system that you are in as much ignorance of as spyware and viruses.

[swoslover]

I didnt think it was such an unresonable prospect.  Sorry for being so stupid.  I had the belief that amigawriter 2.2 had some compatibility with word, perhaps that is my mistake.

I also though internet access would not be a problem, however I was under no illusions of it being as quick as my current set up (ibook g4).  My gf needs a new computer so I was thinking I could give her this and use an amiga for my limited needs of browsing and wp.

Also I recently saw an a1 on ebay, a rarity it must be said, go for 650 or thereabouts, is this worthwhile or is a set up like an a4000 040 desktop adequate (there is one on ebay now)

[swift240]

@ weirdami


"reading specs" ohhhhhhhh paaaaaleeeeeeeese


HAHAHAAAAAAAHAHAAAAAA ON THE FLOOR HAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAA
HELP HOHOHHOH HAAHAHAHAHAAAA

errrr NO.

(actualy I laughed my head of at that one)


Mike. :lol:  :lol:  :lol:

[alexh]

Even the fastest Amiga sucks at being a modern mainstream computer.

For the price of the fastest Amiga you could almost buy the fastest x86 PC.

[Marcb]

Jeez you guys are harsh, funny though.

I actually tried web browsing when I first resurrected the A1200 with a dkb cobra accelerator late last year, it was miserably slow and just stopped dead ( using Mosaic I think).
Funny thing is that I remember web browsing with it years ago, web sites must have been simpler back then..