Upgrading an A1200...

[Ishikodzume]

> http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=177&item=3434390358
[...]
> Netgear FA410

Thanks, i'll make a note of those two cards for when i get it.

Well, there is a Blizzard 1260 on eBay right now i am keeping my eyes on... hopefully it wont be too expensive . Any idea what is a decent price to pay for one? I can't seem to find that many examples...
I saw an 060 (Cyberstorm MKII i think) on Amibench for about £180, but that was with a load of RAM too.
Do you think it's realistic to be able to get an 060 for about £150 or somewhere around there?

> A gfx card is almost useless anyway for most demos

Yeah i know, but i was thinking the GFX card would be nice for hi-res desktop, and also maybe for graphics work... Amiga art packages tend to be so much nicer than everything else for my uses
But this isn't something i desparately need, and i am on kind of a tight budget... so...

> (you want an internal for best video quality)

Ah... but then doesn't the option of using my old monitor or a TV go out the window? I want to be able to use a VGA monitor, yes... but i'd still like to use the old graphics modes too. I was thinking with the external, all i do is unplug it, and it's back to normal...

> Well, you need a cd-rom for OS3.9 to install

I'm assuming it doesn't actually care about the media itself, though? I mean couldn't i copy the install files to the HDD and then ask it to use them there? It seems a waste to get a CD drive and controller etc, when i'm never going to need it.

> about 100 demos has to this date been made for PPC amiga's

Yeah, but... well, i'm more impressed with the demos that use the original hardware, really. If i want to watch a demo that has a crapload of processing power available to it, i might as well go watch one of the PC demos in my 15 GB collection
The plain 68k AGA/ECS demos impress the pants off of me just because of the amazing stuff they do on that older hardware, and remind me how much better it is than 'equivilent' x86 hardware for graphics work.

[fragment]

Ishikodzume wrote:
> (you want an internal for best video quality)
Ah... but then doesn't the option of using my old monitor or a TV go out the window? I want to be able to use a VGA monitor, yes... but i'd still like to use the old graphics modes too. I was thinking with the external, all i do is unplug it, and it's back to normal...

Hmm. It seems you have misunderstood something. Scandoubler makes it possible to view original graphics modes on an SVGA monitor. So you only need one monitor to get all the modes.

> Well, you need a cd-rom for OS3.9 to install
I'm assuming it doesn't actually care about the media itself, though? I mean couldn't i copy the install files to the HDD and then ask it to use them there? It seems a waste to get a CD drive and controller etc, when i'm never going to need it.

Works on OS3.5, propably 3.9 too :-)

[Ishikodzume]

> It seems you have misunderstood something. Scandoubler
> makes it possible to view original graphics modes on an SVGA
> monitor. So you only need one monitor to get all the modes.

Umm, no misunderstanding
What i am saying is, i want to be able to run it on a TV (and composite looks like crap). I mean, for watching demos, a 25" TV is much nicer than a 15" VGA monitor (which is all i have spare).
Also, i am assuming a 'flicker fixer' basically means it deinterlaces the image... however, there are times when you would /want/ interlacing, so, what do you do then?

> Works on OS3.5

Yay!

[ajk]

> Well, you need a cd-rom for OS3.9 to install

I'm assuming it doesn't actually care about the media itself, though? I mean couldn't i copy the install files to the HDD and then ask it to use them there? It seems a waste to get a CD drive and controller etc, when i'm never going to need it.

I don't think it would need more than an assign to an OS3.9 folder, but I have never tried.

In any case a normal IDE CDROM works with an A1200 just fine, although you may need an IDEFix card/cable (a buffered IDE interface system) to use both the CDROM and HD at the same time (haven't ever tried without). The IDEFix isn't awfully expensive though, and will speed up just the harddrive alone later on.

[Eddie]

I too was in the position of having a desktop A1200 and wanting to upgrade it without going for a tower, after lots of messing around I've ended up with a A4000 desktop with about every card I could fit in it, I guess its the nearest compromise  :-)

Regarding the flicker fixer either of the DCE ones are good, I've owned both, the external one would limit you in this case to just having a monitor output, but you don't even need to open the case to fit it.

The internal one is good (currently using it) and would still leave your normal Amiga output port free to be connected to a TV (so you could run a monitor and tv - depending on output frequency, without unplugging anything).  I do something simular with my A4000 using the Amiga's output via a scart switcher to the tv for video work/some games just for the bigger screen, while I have a proper monitor for the workbench.  It saves a lot of unplugging.

The downsides for the internal flickerfixer/scan doubler are you probally will need to remove some/all of the metal shielding, and you'll need to cut a port in the desktop case to add the extra VGA connector to make a tidy job.

I'd say if your prepared to go without a Graphics card, and you don't mind external boxed drives with all they're cables (at least a CDROM and maybe SCSI hd) then the desktop is still a good option with a Blizzard 1260.  OS wise I'm still using 3.0 too, but I've had to add PFS3 to use >4Gb hd's.

Or will you end up with a desktop A4000 in 6 months time ?   :-D

[ajk]

The downsides for the internal flickerfixer/scan doubler are you probally will need to remove some/all of the metal shielding, and you'll need to cut a port in the desktop case to add the extra VGA connector to make a tidy job.

Removing the shielding isn't necessary, at least not with the model I have (can't remember the brand, three small PCB's with flat cable connecting them). It's slim enough to fit inside. The VGA port is best to put next to the mouse port, unless of course there's already a SCSI port or something else there. A dremel or even a file is enough to cut a suitable hole.