Classic HW, SAM440 or EFIKA ?

[Palm]

Are there anyone here who has tried out the SAM440 w/OS4.x ?
Is it any good in practical use ?

How is it to emulate 68k in OS4.x on a SAM440 (with UAE?) and watch demos and play games ? Will it work "properly" (as in "good enough") ?

I really like the benefits of new HW (more stable probably) which is faster and give nice speed enhancements to everyday desktop-amiga usage (browsing internet, playing mods etc, maybe some RTG gaming etc), but losing classic compatibility is a downer.

Also, what is the best option: EFIKA+MorphOS or SAM440+OS4.1 ?
(if you count out the price issue, what is best ?)


Any experiences ?

[takemehomegrandma]

How is it to emulate 68k in OS4.x on a SAM440 (with UAE?) and watch demos and play games ? Will it work "properly" (as in "good enough") ?

UAE is resource hungry and the Sam CPU is weak. Don't expect miracles there. If you want a good UAE experience then you'd better go for a Wintel PC.

I really like the benefits of new HW (more stable probably) which is faster and give nice speed enhancements to everyday desktop-amiga usage (browsing internet, playing mods etc, maybe some RTG gaming etc), but losing classic compatibility is a downer.

Also, what is the best option: EFIKA+MorphOS or SAM440+OS4.1 ?
(if you count out the price issue, what is best ?)

Sam is slightly more powerful than the Efika, and it has much better specs and expansion possibilities. The Efika is more limited but comes at a fraction of Sam's price tag.

Which one is the best of MorphOS and OS4 is heavily debated. I'd go for MorphOS if I were you, and if backwards compatibility is important to you, then MorphOS would be the better choice.

IMHO your *best* option would be to wait for the Mac Mini version of MorphOS and then buy a second hand G4 Mac Mini. Then you will have it all, the most powerful Amiga ever at a *very* nice price!

:-)

[Palm]

Yeah, I saw that MOS would run on macmini g4´s. However, I am wondering if this will be released anywhere within my lifetime (no, I am not 80). But I do know that after being an amiga enthusiast since 1985, that things thend to drag out in terms of time. 1 month can easily be 5 years without anyone lifting an eyebrow

I did see the presentationvideo made, that MOS would run on any of the PPC mac minis (as they are mostly the same inside). That is good news, though. But, how comoatible will it be ? Will it have all the drivers...audio, video, usb, ata etc ?

I would love to get a old G4 mini and try it out. Is it possible to test this ? Getting a used G4 mini would be easy.

If I get one tomorrow, how long should I expect to wait before I can test it ? (beta?)

Espen

[Painkiller]

MOS for Mac Mini isn't ready yet, but I'd say that it doesn't make sense now to buy Efika or Sam. Just wait for the MOS on Mac Mini and then buy it

[dammy]

I'd go with classic hardware.  Excluding a real Amiga, rather  use x86_64 SMP or one of those portable ARM gadgets.  If I was going to think about PPC, it would have to be like CherryPal (RIP) for around $99 retail.

Dammy

[takemehomegrandma]

Palm wrote:
Yeah, I saw that MOS would run on macmini g4´s. However, I am wondering if this will be released anywhere within my lifetime (no, I am not 80). But I do know that after being an amiga enthusiast since 1985, that things thend to drag out in terms of time. 1 month can easily be 5 years without anyone lifting an eyebrow

No one knows for sure. The MorphOS team isn't known for practicing good communication (or any communication whatsoever), so all you can do is guess based on what you see on shows, etc.

I did see the presentationvideo made, that MOS would run on any of the PPC mac minis (as they are mostly the same inside). That is good news, though. But, how comoatible will it be ? Will it have all the drivers...audio, video, usb, ata etc ?

I think it's some unfinished drivers that's holding back the release at this point. Video shouldn't be any problem though, the Radeon support is there since ages.

I would love to get a old G4 mini and try it out. Is it possible to test this ?

No, not until it's released.

It will be worth waiting for though IMHO, it will be the best solution ever! It was said that under some circumstances it will be slightly below 2x the speed of the Pegasos2 G4...

:-)

[takemehomegrandma]

Painkiller wrote:
MOS for Mac Mini isn't ready yet, but I'd say that it doesn't make sense now to buy Efika or Sam. Just wait for the MOS on Mac Mini and then buy it

Yeah, that sounds like the best thing to do...

[x56h34]

I have a G4 MacMini that is in stand-by mode for MOS. :-)
I originally bought it as I wanted to start using Mac OSX somehow, yet not pay thousands of dollars to be able do so. :-)

Leopard runs reasonably well on my G4 1.5Ghz MacMini with 1GB or ram, so I would assume that MOS will fly, once released that is. I also upgraded the original CDRW drive with a "Superdrive" (e.g. a proper DVD-RW burner with +-DL support) and I replaced the internal 2.5" 80GB hard drive with a 160GB 5400rpm one. Since this is one of the last PPC Minis released, the on-board Radeon 9200 is also a 64MB vram model (vs the standard 32MB edition).

[Everblue]

I was going to start a thread just like this one because I am in exactly the same situation....

1. Classic - I dont think going for classic is a good idea. Hardware is old, expensive and can be very flakey. As for gaming of amiga classic games, I am waiting for clone-a.

2. Morphos: Somehow I dont 'feel' this to be a proper amiga os, OS4 is more - obviously this is subject to opinions and very debatable, but this thread is not about which is what.

3. Efika is cheap but unfortunately the case form is weird and I dont feel like doing any DIY.

4. Sam440 is very nice, a bit more powerful than Efika and much more customisable. The form factor is a standard one. Unfortunately the price is waaaaay over the top and certainly not powerful.

I am getting a headache Help!

[amigadave]

@Palm,

The MorphOS team has said not to expect MorhpOS to be released for the MacMini anytime soon, which in normal Amiga terms may mean 6 months to 2 years.

If you want something now, you must decide what is most important to you, 1. Backward compatibility, 2. Money, 3. Newest hardware for AmigaOS4.1?

From Everblue's post in this thread, it seems like you have already decided that for you the SAM440ep would be best, so save up a ton of money and get one.

From your original post, if money is your consideration, the EFIKA is the current hands down winner for hardware to run a next-gen Amiga-Like OS.

If you still want to play old Amiga games that hit the custom chips, you should get a Classic, or use WinUAE on your PC.

[Tripitaka]

I pretty much agree with the above two posts but this is also a good point to mention Natami. The project seems to be moving along well and for me the Natami is a hands down winner for classic software. Providing of course that it makes it to market at the right price.  :-)

[Palm]

Just gotta say thank you to all who replied to my original post. It is good to see that I am not the only one who has problems making up my mind.

For me, I am dragged between sticking to my old classic and being a good deciple or moving on to newer hw. It is easy to be stuck in the past, but i must admit that the feeling of REAL amiga HW makes me feel good....real good. But, using it makes me feel less good as my demands to speed and functionality has increased during the past decade or so after using OSX and "the-os-we-don't-speak-of" ;-)

For me, it is important to have a platform that has a decent networking functionality and has support for a good browser. Then I need the speed to be able to multitask. I also would like good IO functions as USB and stuff. Most of this IS possible on classic HW even on plain 40Mhz 040, i know, but I am not too happy with the fact that I am stuck on OS3.9 :-(   Goin to OS4.1 cost me a bunch if I want to get new HW -- so I am now at the crossroad and trying to decide for:

1. SAM440 + Amiga OS4.x
2. EFIKA + MOS
3. PEG2 + MOS
4. ClassicHW with PPC + Amiga OS4.x
5. Mac Mini G4 + MOS

I must say that it is tempting to buy SAM, but it cost alot.
EFIKA for me is not an option. Too funky formfactor, and worst performance than SAM.
Peg2 ...well...the card has been around for a while, so I don't want it :-) ..call me crazy, but I don't want it
Classic is ....well...classic.....expensive...flaky...yet cool.

I am most exited over MOS+MAC because

a) Small formfactor. Already inside a case and looks PRETTY!
b) cheap to get them used (halv the price of a SAM board).


I would like to start a party, called "The Leaky MOS - party" which goal is to try to get a leaked MOS4MAC ;-)


Come join :-))))


//Espen

[Amithony]

Go the SAM! From what i hear, its everything that you wanted an amiga to be.

[Palm]

Yeah, I would very much like to. Even though the cost definitely digs a big hole in the pocket, I would get it ASAP.... IF, I could. But it is not to be found. Waiting for the next batch to arrive, but as in most cases, promises of new batches in dec 2008 is probably not true. Delays is something we all know is commin in the amiga community, so even though acube claims dec2008 to be the date, I must admit that I do not belie it :-)

So a macminiG4 version of MOS is something I would go for. unless I find 500 euros in a pocket that I had forgotten about

OS4 is defintely MUCH cooler than MOS -- maybe not technically, but it is Amiga. And I would very much prefer AOS before MOS -- just because it is exactly that, Amiga
I am loyal to the brand, even though MOS might be better or more compatible or whatever.

If someone can sell me a SAM440, please contact me PM and I can PayPal the cash.


//Espen

[amigadave]

Have you seen and used an EFIKA?

If not, you should.

As for the form factor, mine came with a perfectly nice case, though it is not fancy.  I like it because it is smaller than an external 5.25" CD-ROM, runs faster than a CyberStorm 233 PPC Classic Amiga, and only uses a tiny amount of electricity even with the 128mb Radeon 9250 graphics card.

The performance is very close to that of the SAM440ep, but it won't run AmigaOS4.1 if that is what floats your boat.

It fits in the "Palm" of my hand (pun intended).