Bought a Picasso II, still need Deneb & maybe an Xsurf

[save2600]

Not looking to pay a museum curators premium... just looking to add a video accelerator card to an A2000 at a fair and reasonable price.

12/23/08 Goal #1 achieved: Picasso II for $117 shipped.

Could also use a Deneb card and maybe an XSurf or other ethernet card as well. I know the latter two can still be bought new, but if someone wants to part with theirs... Thanks!

[alexh]

Amiga and "fair and reasonable price" cannot go in the same sentence.

An RTG gfx card will set you back anything between $200-$450. Picasso II would be the cheapest although one with a scandoubler is recommended (CV64 / Picasso IV)

I doubt anyone would sell their Deneb's as they are so new so expect to pay rrp $185.

X-Surf III's usually sell for about $120-140, but you can pick up a Hydranet AUI network card and a AUI->10BaseT Tranceiver for much less.

You'd be lucky to have change from $550

The best deals can be found on the Polish equivalent of Ebay.

[Lorraine]

/

[save2600]

Thanks all! The idea of a Deneb and the USB dongle will save me some scratch. And I like the bits about Amiga-cheap-oxymorons and financial advisors!  lol

[redrumloa]

Brand new Deneb USB $175
Brand new X-Surf 3cc - $130
Used Retina Gfx card - $125

Outside eBay offer with free shipping in the USA. PM if interested.

[alexh]

I dont recommend a Retina Z2 GFX card because it is not RTG

[save2600]

Thanks, and that was going to be my next question. Was going to ask what everyone here thought of the Retina and EGS Spectrum cards....

BBOAH lists that Retina as being an RTG card though... but you're saying the driver was never released to enable it?

I just want a card capable of doing some mild surfing of the net is all. Used to have an A4000 with a Cybergrafx card and was pleased with its performance. Don't mind spending the money (not $300-$400 mind you) if it does the trick, looks good and is reliable.  

[nishtek]

Got a TekMagic 060, 128 MB RAM, SCSI -2 Controller on board.  But its price is >$500.
as far as:
network card price range $130-150
picasso 2 graphics card $100-160

I would say this is what you need as the BASIC setup if you gonna enjoy your amiga.  Deneb won't speed up your cpu or anything like this.  You'd be better off buying a faster CPU/ Accelerator board. :-)
And by faster perhaps 68060 or 68040 at least.  

[save2600]

I'm sorry - I left out an important tidbit: I do have a GVP 030 accelerator card for my Miggy. And it has got the pinout for the Spectrum EGS card as well.

I'm familiar enough with the prices on stuff that's available yet (such as the Deneb and XSurf).

 

[nishtek]

68030 is kinda slow for surfing but it may be ok to get by.
I'd say 68040 or 68060 as highly recommended.:-D

[save2600]

For sure. Was happy enough with the speed of my 40mhz A1200 for surfing though, so I have an idea of what to expect out my A2000 system.

Now if prices of 060 cards were down to earth, I'd surely slap one of those babies in there! But this has all been discussed before. Personally, before dolling out that kind of scratch for one, for what I'd like to do with it, I'd go the Sam, Efika, Pegasos, Mac Mini (when available), *whatever* route.

[nishtek]

Yeah 060 boards cost more as they have better performance than 040/030.  
060 is 3-4 times faster than 040 (if i recall correctly).  Most have also more memory on them.  Hence price is always higher $500-800 range.
040 costs about $200-250 range.
030 costs about $100-150 range.
Ranges based on observed ebay/marketplace forum prices.
User has to decide what is in their budget.  Efika/Sam/Pegasos don't compare as they will not run all of the classic hardware, especially if software touches the custom chips.
Rather choice comes to using Amiga for classic software or for newer software.

[Crom00]

The REtina Z2 is not compatible with the Cybergraphics standard. It used a monitor driver and software that patched WB to work with the card. Used this on my A2000, but Cybergraphics was much more stable and robust. So it works like Amiga RTG graphics card in that Retina screenmodes will show up in the Workbench screenmode prefs but aside from that consider this a frist gen Amiga graphics card.

Even the univeristy of Lowell board, the EGS spectrum and other early cards are compatible with Cybergraphics. The Retina Z3 however was Cybergraphics compatible. The closest the Amiga had to an RTG standard.

[nishtek]

Just to add Retina, won't do Picasso96 either.  

[save2600]

Okay - gotcha. Retina is crap... thought the price was too good to be true  ;-)   lol

There are a few conflicting reviews out there for the Retina. One is really well humoured, foul mouthed and realistic (as it showed it's waaaay too frustrating a card to setup and use practically) and another said it was the best card available at the time. I really appreciated the realistic/candid review and that made up my mind to pass on it. Configuring and installing Amiga stuff can be an exercise in tolerance to say the least and I've certainly had my fill over the years. Want as minimal a headache as possible. I *am* still willing to deal with headaches though, which is why I continue to invest in this old {bleep}e!