Would like to buy.

[Sky King]

I would like to buy an amiga system.  I have always heard the 1200 was the best one to get.  I just like to get everyones ideas one this before I make a purchase.

Thank you,
Sky King

I have had commodore equitment in my home sence 1988!
C63,C128,Vic20

[Ilwrath]

The A1200 is a great retro gaming machine.  It's able to play a lot of games without a lot of hassle.  Plus, it's small, has AGA, has an on-board IDE controller, has a PCMCIA slot, etc.  So it does have enough modern stuff to help you obtain games and files for it without the trauma and expense you'd encounter with a simple A500 only.  

Of course, if you're wanting to play with some old video editing, the 1200 is a terrible choice.  It's underpowered, has no video slot, is in an enclosed small chassis, poor power supply, etc.

Your best choice for a machine is all decided by what you want to do with it.

[JC]

I would like to buy an amiga system.  I have always heard the 1200 was the best one to get.  I just like to get everyones ideas one this before I make a purchase.

Thank you,
Sky King

I have had commodore equitment in my home sence 1988!
C63,C128,Vic20

If you are looking for the most modern Amiga to browse with etc... you may want to consider a Samiga from Amigakit.

[Animagic]

A1200 is a "usable" machine. You can play games, you can serf the internet (in an "amiga" way...) and of course it supports OS 3.1/3.9.

My advice:
- Buy an A1200
- Some RAM expansion (with or without an extra cpu). If you want to "boost" things up a bit, go for the all-time-classic "Blizzard 1230IV". It will NEVER let you down.
- An IDE-> CF adaptor so you can install a Compact Flash card as a harddrive (fast, little power consumption, almost no "extra temperature"). A 4GB SanDisk UltraII will be ideal.
- Install ClassicWB for AGA (faster than 3.9 - lots and lots "ready to use" pathes and extras - perfect for someone new in the Amiga), also register the WHDLOAD program. It will allow you to install games on the CF card and play them through workbench. No more "insert disk 2..."
- Buy also a CF-PCMCIA adaptor. You can transfer files from your PC to your Amiga with this adaptor. PC must have a Compact Flash reader (really inexpensive...)

With those above you have a pretty neat setup. An A1200 with extra RAM, a small but effective and really non-power consuming "harddrive", a ready-to-use OS and all the games you can ever play, installed on it. A perfect amiga experience of the classic age.

[x303]

Of course, if you're wanting to play with some old video editing, the 1200 is a terrible choice.  It's underpowered, has no video slot, is in an enclosed small chassis, poor power supply, etc.

But you can expand it and put it in a tower with better psu, more memory, better cpu (incl. powerpc) , better screenmodes with (for example) indivision aga for a1200, usb controller, os4, etc.
It's up to you how much you can / wanna spend.

x303

[koaftder]

I would like to buy an amiga system.  I have always heard the 1200 was the best one to get.  I just like to get everyones ideas one this before I make a purchase.

Thank you,
Sky King

I have had commodore equitment in my home sence 1988!
C63,C128,Vic20

Welcome to the board, hope you stick around.

I think the a1200 is an excellent choice.

[klx300r]

a 1200 is an awesome machine for gaming but just make sure to get WHDLoad so you can play most ECS/OCS games as well as the AGA games :-)
oh and a 030 accelerator card with some extra fastram would be sweet too !

[Sky King]

Thank you for all the info.  Were would I be able to buy one once I pick one?  I "see" some on the web and think I might get junk.  
 
Thanks again,
Sky King

[tone007]

If you like guarantees: http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=305¤cy=GBP&lcsid=6796926684bd49cb34d9f3ee7dc36826

[quarkx]

Agreed, AmigaKit is the only place to buy a 1200 if you want a "new" one that is not a crap shoot. I got my A1200 recently from them, and even though I didn't get a "NEW OLD STOCK" machine, It essentially is brand new. No yellowing on the case (Mathew said it was a brand new case), and custom built. They even upgraded the hard drive at no extra cost, because the smaller drives were out of stock. I also had them install an Indivision Flicker fixer and OS 3.9. I was sick of trying to get one on E-bay- They actually go for more on e-bay, and you never know what you are getting.