Hi all.
I want to assemble a working amiga that is actually usable, and is not too
difficult to use (I want my kids to be able to load games too), but I've
never actually owned or used an amiga in the past until now (but ZX Spectrum, c64s and 128), so I'll have to learn how to use it well (I don't think is too difficult).
- I own an Amiga 1000 and an Amiga 3000, they both work fine (I
personally tested them, I can boot workbench and some games), have a 1084 monitor, joysticks and mouse, these are complete computer (with a couple of external floppy drives), and I have tons of floppies and many brand new blank floppies.
The problem is that they don't have a hard drive, and I have no idea
of how much memory they have installed (I can check) and I noticed
how long do programs and games take to load.. How do I install a hard
drive o sd memory or cd reader in these things?
My other option is to just use an old PC computer (an amd atlhon 2200)
runing Winuae, and live with it (without having to actually put the
real Amigas to work) and a couple of joysticks. And why not, it can
run MAME too.
I'd like to listen about what do you think I should do, use the 1000,
3000 or the pc with winuae.
Thanks in advance.
Daniel
Drumheller, ab, Canada
Here are my feelings:
This year I bought both Clonto Amiga-Forever, and a New Old Stock CD32.
I was not happy with the CD32 because much of the software worked optimally in PAL. I did the hardware mod to add a NTSC/PAL(more like 50/60) switch without needing to use my Amiga mouse for early boot menu. Still, PAL modes were not right on my LCD panels.
Apparently The NTSC CD32 still continues to send the color signal in “PAL” mode.
I ended up buying the Indivision AGA 4000 for it. I made a booting CD32 disc with the Indivision utils & flash.
The problem is the CD32 begins to act flaky after an hour or so of usage… Then eventually just GURUS over and over.
On the other hand I have a Mac Mini with 2x2ghz CPUs and 4GB of ram. It’s the new Mini with 9400m video and I have XP installed on it as a boot option.
With WinUAE/AmigaForever CD32 emulation is amazingly smooth. The sound is not as good, but does not skip or anything like it did for me under Vista. Even under a heavy load, running XP, the Mini never gets unstable.
Plus, I don’t have to burn a bunch of CD’s….
Also, Xbox 360 Wireless controller is so much better than the CD32 game pad.
Additionally, Amikit is like having a high-end 060 Amiga…
I don’t know whom to call concerning my CD32. I suppose I can call Amiga Inc. That should be interesting.
On the other hand, if my Mini breaks, I’ll just call Apple.
The next project I’m planning on doing with the Mini is simply hooking up my M-audio firewire sound device and because it has MIDI, I may as well hook up the Roland MT32 as well.
I suppose if my CD32 was more reliable I’d try to get the Holy-Grail, the SX32…