Coming Back Into The Community

[irishmike]

Greetings All:

I have been away for about 2 years (it would be in October according to when I last visited the forums).  I have not been active in the forums here, but considerably active in my vintage computing hobby in general.

Since I have a "beer budget", my Amiga buying has been on hold (and mostly still is).  I sold my A4000 that I built up over time and it brought a little prosperity to my household.  I have decided to buy another Amiga, however I am going lower end this time.

What sparked my wanting a new "miggie" is that I ended up making a purchase on eBay for GFA BASIC 3.5 (for my Atari ST) -- turns out that I had my "duh cap" on that day and failed to notice that quite prominently, the version is for Amiga.  Ok, I now have a new, never used copy of GFA BASIC for Amiga and it is not in any way the seller's fault that I was dunce enough not to notice the listing said "Amiga" (so I did not even mention the foulup to the seller over in England nor do I harbor any ill will towards him, the transaction went very well).  This alone didn't spark my wanting a new machine.

I have been steadily acquiring software and parts for an Atari 1040ST that I bought from eBay and wanted to get "Shadow of the Beast" for it.  A friend here in the Kansas City Metro Area suggested that the Amiga version looked much better.  Just last night (August 2, 2009), I purchased a copy off of eBay and it should be here later this week.  Hence the fire is lit under my butt to get a new Amiga machine.

COMPLETE ASIDE:  IF anyone has a copy of the Shadow of the Beast manual they would scan and make a PDF, I could use it!!!!

So I am now looking for an Amiga 2000, I think I can find the base machine here in Kansas City -- but I will need to find a flicker fixer/scan doubler for it and I understand that the one that software hut used to manufacture is no longer in production currently as they had a parts supplier dry up.  (That was the Toastscan).  So I am needing either a Picasso II (I believe that that is a VGA card -- please correct me if I am wrong) or to find one of those type flicker fixers.  Help is welcome for me to acquire that as well.  Otherwise I think I know where to find OS 3.9, ROM 3.1 versions and such for the unit.  Normally Amigakit in case anyone wondered!

I am also looking for the compiler for GFA BASIC 3.5 since I bought the interpreter.

Anyhow, I am not sure how well I will like the A2000 because I loved the A4000 and my A1200 before it.  I would definitely buy another A1200, but the price is way out of my budget for right now.  I have to build the whole Amiga system for under $200 USD... that is going to be hard.  That, of course, is not including OS 3.9 and the 3.1 ROMs.  After those the price will be closer to $300 USD I think.

Yes, doing retro computing is sometimes a challenge!

Anyhow, hope some of you can help with some of the things I mentioned above.  By all means -- suggest, advise, and comment.  Look forward to being involved in the community again.

[tone007]

Hopefully the 2000 you get has an accelerator if you want to run 3.9, I believe it won't run on the stock 68000.

[irishmike]

@tone007:  Are there good accelerators for A2000?  Could use some examples (names) and of course availability.  Thanks for the advice, didn't think of needing one... the 68000 is of course the same processor in my Atari ST :-)

I would love a 030.

[tone007]

There are a few decent accelerators.  The C= 2630 is probably the best priced one (sub $100 if you're lucky,) but it can only handle 4mb of RAM onboard.  GVPs are around as well for a bit more money, but they have the drawback of requiring special GVP SIMMs, so it's best to get one of those already populated with RAM.  Here's a list of A2000 accelerators: http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/a2000proc

As for scandoublers/flickerfixers, if you're not in a hurry Individual Computers is supposed to be coming out with an A2000 (and a500, a600) compatible internal one that'd be price-competitive with legacy scandoublers, and probably function better.  Either way, those are generally in the $100+ range as well.

edit: if you're up for using composite/s-video, http://www.amigamaniac.com has just developed a very affordable Amiga RGB to s-video/composite solution that seems to work very well.

[irishmike]

@tone007:  thanks for the information.  It is very helpful.

[tone007]

Also, just in case this wasn't an issue the last time you were shopping for Amigas, you definitely want to look out for leaky batteries on the motherboard.  (2000, 3000, 4000.)  The acid does some pretty nasty things to the boards, and getting stuck with a half eaten board is no fun.

[amigakit]

Welcome!

[irishmike]

@tone007:  Yes, I remember about the batteries, that is one thing I always look at before I make a purchase decision!  There is a guy here in Kansas City who can repair damage on some of the boards and did some kind of fix where the battery would not be so suspectable to leaking as well.  He is the fellow who repaired my original A4000 board that was non-functioning.  He has always done a good job on any electronic repair I have sent his way.

@amigakit:  thanks.

[redfox]

@irishmike

I use a Microway FlickerFixer AGA 2000 in my A2000HD.  It is a very old board but has been very reliable for many years.  I don't know if any are available on ebay or similar.

Please note that this board has nothing to do with the Amiga AGA chipset.  It was manufactured long before the term AGA was used by Commodore for the advanced graphics AGA chipset

Some details about this flickefixer are available here
http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/aga2000

and Big Book of Amiga Hardware.
http://www.amiga-hardware.com/
under Flickerfixers & Scandoublers

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redfox

[irishmike]

@fedfox:  Looks like a cool board.  I am kind of holding out for a Picaso II or a newer model board though.

@all:  found myself a A2000, be picking it up Friday (Aug 7, 2009).  I will naturally need to get the 3.1 ROMs for it (from Amigakit :-D) soon too.  It will have a GVP accelerator in it!

[brianb]

Amiga ownership on a beer budget seems to be getting harder every year...  It has now become a "collectible" and no longer "old junk".   I know it was never "junk", but you know that old computer sitting up in the closet.

I'd suggest keeping an eye on local ads (local papers, craigslists), garage sales, etc.   Try to find someone clearing out an attic or something.   I bought a huge lot of amiga hardware this way (A1200, A500, software, two monitors, mice, joysticks, etc.).   I kept most, and sold a couple high $ items on eBay.  Made back most of the money I put out on the initial lot.

[redfox]

@irishmike

Picaso II ... always wanted one of those for my machine.

Not sure if it will run with the stock 68000 processor, but should work just fine with a GVP accelerator

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redfox

[irishmike]

@brianb:  Yeah, the beer budget is not just my Amiga Gear!  I have just acquired an Atari 1040ST system and a lot of software and hardware for it.  It is vintage computing in general that is getting more expensive -- especially when non-collectors get wind that the old "piece of junk" in their closet is worth something now.  I think eBay does serve to partially drive the price up on the hardware though.  It is true that it is becoming more scarce and therefore has more value -- but my latest purchase from eBay is a shining example of the obsurdity of some of the pricing.

The story (and this is the reader's digest version) is that when I bought "Shadow of the Beast for the Amiga -- I was watching two listings.  One was buy it now for $25.00 USD and the other was at $22.00 and auction style.  The $22 one had the whole box, manual and a T-Shirt ta-boot.  I decided to watch it until it got closer to the ending which was at 6:45 ish CDT last night (Aug 2, 2009).  At 5 hours to go, the price was already at $81 USD and I stopped watching it after executing the buy it now for just the disks.  The game was less than $50 USD new for crying out loud and the seller of the boxed edition made no claim that the disks were even any good.  So some poor soul bought an $81.00 (at least) T-Shirt and manual basically.  I am for paying for what vintage software is actually worth, but I don't think I can ever justify more than $50.  That is even hard to swallow for me.  But some of it is very hard to find and therefore the value is greater for a collector.

I am kind of the odd one out because I view my collection as old, but I also know the value of the stuff and that is always a dangerous combination because you could easily prey upon someone who has no idea of the value and while it is a deal for you, it is in some ways taking advantage of those not in the know.  I try to be fair in all my dealings!

Anyhow, didn't mean to publish a novel here.  I think the watching CL and eBay idea is a good one and I already do.  For Amiga gear, I do have an excellent resource right in my back yard and therefore count myself lucky.

[irishmike]

@redfox:  As I stated, the A2000 I am buying comes with the GVP 030 accelerator :-)  I think that it will be a great little machine!

[redfox]

@irishmike

I agree ... great little machine!

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redfox