New to Amiga...some questions

[Zildjianmeister]

Hello,
 
I am new to Amiga.  Well I'm actually contemplating getting into the Amiga hobby. Have had friends years ago that had them. I am old school Apple II user so I'm much more familiar with that line.  I was hoping some of you can provide some info regarding what I should be looking for like a common setup.
 
- What model Amiga should I be looking for to play the games and such.  I saw on Amigakit they have the 1200 or should I look for a 500. Is the 1200 completely backward compatible?
 
- I contacted Amigakit and they mentioned they have PAL models as I was hoping to hook it up to a tv with composite connection.  They said they may have some NTSC models and mentioned most of the games are for PAL.  Isn't there a large selection for NTSC models? I remember my friends having pretty large game collections.
 
- Is it relatively easy to get the images and transfer them to the Amiga and then to floppy? With the apple it's pretty easy and requires a serial cable and using software to convert it to floppy. What would be required for Amiga? Is there a specific OS required that would be able to run all or most of the software?
 
Thank you all for your time.

[CountRaven]

- What model Amiga should I be looking for to play the games and such. I saw on Amigakit they have the 1200 or should I look for a 500. Is the 1200 completely backward compatible?

1200 is great. Forget the floppies. You can have ALL the Amiga games on the Hard Disk and play em all via a program called WHDLoad. But you will need some extras to expand your Amiga:

1. A hard disk
2. An accelerator card that makes your Amiga faster
3. Some extra RAM.

I would suggest a 030 Accelerator card by Blizzard. Look at ebay.com and amibay.com The card usually comes with extra RAM.

As far as the hard disk, a 2.5 SCSI hard disk from an old laptop can do the trick. You can buy a new one from Amigakit adding it as option iinto your setup. They will install the OS too.

If you do not know how to plug the accelerator card AmigaKit can do it for you. Ask them to be sure.

I got a 1200 with 030 accelerator plugged on my TV. All the games are on the hard disk and with a double click on the icon I have fan. This is the ultimate Amiga gaming experience.

- I contacted Amigakit and they mentioned they have PAL models as I was hoping to hook it up to a tv with composite connection. They said they may have some NTSC models and mentioned most of the games are for PAL. Isn't there a large selection for NTSC models? I remember my friends having pretty large game collections.

On modern tV NTSC and PAL does not make any big sense. everything is supported. A PAL model should do the trick and all the games will play no matter in NTSC or PAL mode.

Is it relatively easy to get the images and transfer them to the Amiga and then to floppy? With the apple it's pretty easy and requires a serial cable and using software to convert it to floppy. What would be required for Amiga? Is there a specific OS required that would be able to run all or most of the software?

With about 20-30 euros more you can buy a PCMCIA to Ethernet network card and connect your Amiga to Internet. Then you can download all your favorite ADFs and convert em to real floppies using some software like EaysADF -if I can recall the name correctly-. This is the fastest and easiest way. Yes your fats Internet connection will work on the Amiga and you can even get it on line wireless using a different PCMCIA to Ethernet card (for about 40 euros) that allows wireless connection. The choice is yours.

[ZeBeeDee]

Hello,
 
I am new to Amiga.  Well I'm actually contemplating getting into the Amiga hobby. Have had friends years ago that had them. I am old school Apple II user so I'm much more familiar with that line.  I was hoping some of you can provide some info regarding what I should be looking for like a common setup.

First off, Welcome
 

- What model Amiga should I be looking for to play the games and such.  I saw on Amigakit they have the 1200 or should I look for a 500. Is the 1200 completely backward compatible?

I would suggest you get an A1200 with an internal HD plus 1 external floppy drive. This then will cover you for virtually all games out there including the WHDLoad software (http://www.whdload.de). The A1200 is 95%'ish compatibile with the A500 and there are ways around the games that refuse to work on it.
 

- I contacted Amigakit and they mentioned they have PAL models as I was hoping to hook it up to a tv with composite connection.  They said they may have some NTSC models and mentioned most of the games are for PAL.  Isn't there a large selection for NTSC models? I remember my friends having pretty large game collections.

If funds are not in limited supply, it doesn't matter if the A1200 is PAL or NTSC as you can have the Indivision VGA board fitted which will allow you to hook the Amiga up to a PC monitor thus negating the issue of PAL/NTSC compatibility plus you get a much better picture.
 

- Is it relatively easy to get the images and transfer them to the Amiga and then to floppy? With the apple it's pretty easy and requires a serial cable and using software to convert it to floppy. What would be required for Amiga? Is there a specific OS required that would be able to run all or most of the software?

You can download specific games/ultils and place the images onto a PC formatted 720kb floppy disk and then using the Amiga's built-in CrossDOS software, write them back to proper Amiga format OR (if they are WHDLoad compatible) run them from your internal HD. Of course, you can bypass the CrossDOS part entirely if you have a DVD drive attached - simply burn a DVD or a CD with the images on and extract them direct to the Amiga HD. Amiga OS3.0 or 3.1 is sufficient for your gaming needs.

As the system expands over time, you can add extra's to it and even perhaps put your A1200 into a tower case as many have already done.

One BIG recommendation is the addition of an accelerator board with extra RAM on it. This should be one of the first upgrades to consider for the system.
 

Thank you all for your time.

Thank you

[neongod]

-If you just want to play games I would suggest a CD32. Just insert a CD and play. You can buy many original games on ebay or find games compilation CD's on the net in ISO format with hundreds of games (even A500 and A1200 games not released on CD32 too). Download, burn and play.
If you want more than playing, or you want a "retro computer" feeling, both A500 and A1200 is a good way to start. A1200 is nearly 99% compatible with the A500. You will hardly find any software that will not run on the A1200 and there are many AGA chipset only games/demos that will run only on the A1200. So I would prefer the A1200.

-Regarding NTSC I cannot help, I always used PAL machines, and most software is for PAL, but if I'm correct you can select on boot between PAL/NTSC mode so it's not an issue.

-Transferring ADF images is not trivial but there are many methods. In case of A1200 the task is easier as it has more memory and OS3.0 has support for PC formatted floppies (CrossDos).
If you want to transfer only a few images at once I would do the following:
1. format a disk to 720kb on PC
2. transfer lha or unzip decompressing utility and adf2disk utility to amiga's ram
3. compress the adf on pc and copy it to the disk (compressing is necessary as amiga's floppy size is 880kb so it will not fit the 720kb disk)
alternatively you can split the file into two and join in amiga side.
4. decompress the file to amiga's ram disk
5. write it to a new amiga floppy disk with adf2disk.

In case of A500 this way is no go, as it has only 512 or 1mb ram. The A1200 has 2mb.

If you want to transfer more files, this method is quite slow and exhausting. I would suggest to buy a PCMCIA Compact Flash adapter. Copy all the files to the CF card on PC and plug it to the PCMCIA port of the A1200. That's all.

There are other methods using serial cable and AmigaExplorer software or buying a PCMCIA ethernet card and building a network between the Amiga and the PC, or using a PCMCIA CDROM, etc.

Edit: I see the others were faster. Indeed, adding a hard drive (any old 2.5" laptop drive smaller than 4Gb would do the trick) and a PCMCIA network card would make the best experience. You can download all the games from the net right on the amiga and play them from the hard drive. No need to swap floppies

[ajlwalker]

@CountRaven

Nice helpful reply, but is it really a SCSI interface inside the A1200?  I thought this was just IDE.

Or are you referring to the SCSI on the accelerator?

Can someone clarify for sure to stop this nice novice making an expensive mistake?

[save2600]

@CountRaven

Nice helpful reply, but is it really a SCSI interface inside the A1200?  I thought this was just IDE.

Or are you referring to the SCSI on the accelerator?

Can someone clarify for sure to stop this nice novice making an expensive mistake?

A1200 has built in 2.5" IDE inside. Some A1200 accelerators have SCSI or a place to add a SCSI board on them.

As an alternative, a lot of people are getting 2.5"IDE to CF Card adapters and using that in their 1200's. Might be a cheaper way to go depending on the cost of a HD. It consumes less power, puts out less heat and is (obviously) quiet compared to the tiny whisperings of a 2.5" HD.

[Moto]

Greetings Zildjian,

I had a lot of experience on Apple ][s back in the day as well.  Still love the Woz's craftsmanship.

To answer your question about the internal drive.  It is IDE, not SCSI.

For your original question, depending on how much you want to spend:

1) A used Amiga 500 with an external floppy drive.  This will allow you to play just about all of the original Amiga games (before the model 1200/600s came out).   All amiga games should run fine on an NTSC amiga.  You can use the A520 video adapter to output to a normal television.  The video jack on the 500 only outputs monochrome video so it's pretty useless.

2) A brand new Amiga 1200 - There is a company in the UK (Amigakit.com) that sells new "old stock" and they can even fit your 1200 with a hard drive, accelerator, flicker fixer and a ton of other things.  I'm actually having one built right now from them.  I'm like a kid at Christmas!   As other people have said, they are mostly compatible with older games.  I won't know for certain until I start putting my own collection through the paces once my A1200 gets here.  

-daniel

[Karlos]

Welcome aboard Zildjian

Like cymbals by any chance?

[Damion]

Careful - many televisions in NTSC land do not handle 50Hz (PAL). While you can force games/demos to run in NTSC, in many cases it screws the timing.

Getting an Indivision somewhat solves the problem. Most CRTs can handle 50Hz OK, and the Indivision can "upsample" the signal to over 60Hz, making it compatible with LCDs (which often don't accept 50Hz). However, running the scanrate at anything other than 50Hz (or an exact multiple) will affect scrolling, more noticeable with some things than others.

If you're really fussy, the very slightly higher oscillator frequency of NTSC machines also makes a noticeable difference, even when in "PAL mode".

Best option will depend on how particular you are. Personally, I prefer PAL machines, and use LCDs and CRTs at 50Hz.

[Moto]

Careful - many televisions in NTSC land do not handle 50Hz (PAL). While you can force games/demos to run in NTSC, in many cases it screws the timing.

That's true about the NTSC timing being different.  All my friends and I had NTSC Amiga 500s running PAL games and I guess we just never knew any better about the timing being messed up.  The only noticeable difference was the bottom section of the game would be cut off.  It was all those Euro mega-demos that really made us mad because the music was not correctly sync'd to the graphics.  

On that note, the 1084 monitor flickers when I put the Amiga into PAL mode which is more annoying than playing the games with the bottom cut off.  And that's why I'm very anxious to try the Indivision scan doubler for the A500 when it gets released.

-daniel

[ZeBeeDee]

At times like these, I wish I still had my 4GB CF cards and interfaces with the complete WHDLoad (Unregistered of course) setup and games installed for sale lol

Shoot! Might just make a few more up - For nostalgia's sake of course

[CountRaven]

@CountRaven

Nice helpful reply, but is it really a SCSI interface inside the A1200? I thought this was just IDE.

Or are you referring to the SCSI on the accelerator?

Can someone clarify for sure to stop this nice novice making an expensive mistake?

Right it is an IDE interface. Thanks for the correction.

[zipper]

Careful - many televisions in NTSC land do not handle 50Hz (PAL). ..
, making it compatible with LCDs (which often don't accept 50Hz). ...

And sometimes you get surprised, like when I tested my BenQ monitor: 44-51 Hz, 59-61 Hz, 74-75 Hz. The low end was a real surprise!

[Cammy]

You don't need a 030 accelerator to play any WHDLoad games. You'll be just as well off with a much cheaper RAM card and 8MB RAM. And use an IDE-CF adapter and Compact Flash card instead of a hard drive, they boot and load faster, make no noise, draw no power, generate no heat, and help save your Amiga from overloading the weak PSU.

[Zildjianmeister]

Wow...so many replies!  Thanks for the information everyone! I know exactly where to go when I finally do get an Amiga and need some assistance. Everyone is so helpful and knowledgeable here.
 
I just need to reread all the postings and let it all absorb.  When I figure out what items/package I'm going to get I'll post back with my list to make sure I got everything down correctly.  
 
The most confusing thing for me was the whole PAL/NTSC thing. I think everyone's pretty much cleared that up for me.  I was hoping to have the option to hook up the Pal 1200 to one of my old tube tv's due to space concerns.  But if the Indivision works well with lcd's that would work.  Ability to use tv would be a nice option though if the Pal version would work here in the states.  
 
@Karlos - Yes.  I tried the other brands but the Zildjians always worked well for me.  Plus I like the big Z I have on the ride cymbal. :lol:
 
Thanks again everyone!  I'll post back soon.