Place to buy a new amiga and recommended software

[andy9841]

Hi

After viewing a couple of Amiga OS4 videos on YouTube I am impressed with OS4 and want to buy a machine but have no idea where to go.

Is there a website or a guide anywhere with a list of what hardware you can buy and a software guide including the best professional applications as well as recommended free application as well as games.

It appears from the comments on YouTube videos im not alone, I think it would be an excellent idea to have a web page somewhere with all the information on as newbies like me don't know whats new and whats recommended.

To me YouTube is an excellent advertising route for Amiga as its got me interested again after a 6 year break. Just wish most of the videos weren't recorded with a shakey blurred camera

So.. where can I go to get a list of essential hard and software guys?

[cv643d]

Easiest is to wait for links to Amigakit by Amigakit guy here on amiga.org

They sell the relevant motherboard which you will need and the operating system!

http://www.amigakit.com/

You will need either a SAM440 motherboard, or a SAM Flex motherboard, I would chose a SAM440 since it is Mini-ITX format, then you need the OS too.

http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=37&products_id=839
http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=37&products_id=860

If you want a second hand motherboard you will need to find a Pegasos 2 or Amiga One motherboard. I myself have a Pegasos 2 box which is rock solid. But both Peg2 and Amiga one mobos are difficult and expensive to find second hand.

If you like Workbench you will get a permanent week long hard on by OS 4.1 on modern hardware, believe me ;-)

[yoodoo]

Software at os4depot.net and of course aminet.

[cv643d]

It is a bit difficult to know what apps to install.

The best idea is to make a forum post when you get the hardware either here or on other forum with a question what apps should you get.

But, IMHO,

-OWB is a must, first time I spent an evening surfing the web on my Amiga only
-Tunenet is a great music player, however I am not so fond of the stock GUI
-That update drawer program, so you dont have to update a drawer everytime you want to see new content, ie for example when extracting an archive.

http://os4depot.net/index.php?function=showfile&file=utility/workbench/autoupdatewb.lha

[TCMSLP]

A quick table of software available (both commercial and GNU ports) would be very handy.   I'm seriously considering a new Amiga too - and whilst ports of OSS are fine, I'd really like to support some commercial Amiga developers - if such people exist nowadays

[JC]

I just ordered one from Amigakit myself.

[andy9841]

Shame that Samflex board only takes 1GB of ram.. I know Amigas dont use much but still, ram is dirt cheap.

Any good places to go for commercial games? I know Hyperion used to rule the roost back in the day, is there any others I should be aware of? Also, any cool demos to recommend?

Finally, what would you say were the major differences between OS3.9 and OS4.1?

[JC]

Well I've done a little research and from what I understand as long as a program is not trying to access the amigas custom chips it should run on a Sam under os 4.1. So for example old games will not run but a word processors should work or other standard apps. I have not received my Sam yet, it is supposed to be here this week so I'm certainly no authority. As far as software that has been tested I guess OS4 depot is apparently the best resource and aminet of course. I have personally found it a bit difficult gaining info on OS4 and Sam. I don't know if it has to do with the ongoing legal battle or what but I'm sure that doesn't help matters. I actually made a suggestion awhile back to have a section of Amiga.org devoted to OS4 and Sam etc... but it seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

[andy9841]

Ongoing legal battle??

You'll have to post your experiences with the sam board when it arrives. Does it come with the G4 or G3 processor do you know?

[persia]

Amiga Inc have been quiet as of late, no press releaases, phones dicsconnected, mail server offline for days at a time.  I understand they're a small company and probably can't afford a full time IT person but I still don't get the disconnected phones.  Is there still a legal battle going on?

[JC]

Ongoing legal battle??

You'll have to post your experiences with the sam board when it arrives. Does it come with the G4 or G3 processor do you know?

Well yes, I don't know all the details but there is a legal battle going on in the courts between Hyperion and Amiga Inc. over who owns the rights to the Amiga OS. It's been discussed to death here at A.org and on other sites. I would have much preferred purchasing my Sam and OS4.1 here in the US but when I contacted Software Hut they said that they could not help me due to the legal issues. So I guess my Samiga and OS4.1 are illegal which makes it all the more tasty.

And yes I will post some info about my Yosemite SAM (Simple Amiga Motherboard) after I've had some time to get acquainted with it. As for the processor all I know is that Amiga kit told me that it is a 440EP CPU running at 800mhz.

[klx300r]

@ JC
so did you get your Sam & OS4.1 yet? what do you think so far?..I'm gonna be getting a Samflex @733 with OS4.1 soon too hopefully :-)

[Piru]

I would have much preferred purchasing my Sam and OS4.1 here in the US but when I contacted Software Hut they said that they could not help me due to the legal issues.

That's quite interesting actually. What exactly did they say? That they cannot sell OS4 due to the ongoing legal battle? Didn't the judge OK selling it for now? Or are they perhaps expecting legal action from Amiga, Inc themselves if they sell any OS4 or OS4 hardware?