What do you guys think of my Amiga?

[dougal]

Oh yeah here is a picture of my retro computer queen.

That is one VERY nice and clean looking Amiga

Personally i would say that for most people, a perfect Amiga would be as most people in this thread are saying is an A1200 with a fastram card with RTC (Say 4 or 8mb) and an internal IDE harddisk. Also a PCMCIA Compact Flash reader is very usefull.

With that setup you can have a really nice WB3.1 setup with WHDLOAD to run all your classic games from harddrive.

The A500/+ is a great machince and very capable and will also run most games through WHDload if you have a harddisk and at least 3mb of ram but it does lack the AGA and is more expensive to upgrade.

[motorollin]

IMO the perfect Amiga is as follows:

A1200 in original desktop case
030 accelerator (preferably Blizzard) with fast RAM on board
Compact flash to IDE adapter with 4GB card
PCMCIA compact flash adapter like EasyADF
Lots of WHDLoad games

This is having gone through two basic A1200s upgraded to the max into towers, plus an A4000D similarly upgraded, and all sold and gone back to the setup above

--
moto

[Jope]

Someone really needs to build and release an inexpensive 32-bit fast RAM expansion for the A1200. I think availability of the connectors themselves is the issue and not the lack of want or design knowledge.

Can't have that unless you install a 32bit CPU on the board as well. The A1200's EC020 has a 24-bit address bus.

[arnljot]

That's one nice spotless piece of Amiga there. Keep it.

If space isn't an issue you could always get an A1200 later. But that A500 is so nice that you need to be the caretaker of it! :-) She deserves it.

[Hell Labs]

IMO the perfect Amiga is as follows:

A1200 in original desktop case
030 accelerator (preferably Blizzard) with fast RAM on board
Compact flash to IDE adapter with 4GB card
PCMCIA compact flash adapter like EasyADF
Lots of WHDLoad games

This is having gone through two basic A1200s upgraded to the max into towers, plus an A4000D similarly upgraded, and all sold and gone back to the setup above

--
moto

Replace the 030 accelerator with a PPC and a Graphics card (yes that is apparently possible in a desktop case) With OS4 on a separate partition and i'd agree with you. the Desktop case just can't be beat, but I do appreciate a crazy 1200T setup.

[brianb]

IMO the perfect Amiga is as follows:

A1200 in original desktop case
030 accelerator (preferably Blizzard) with fast RAM on board
Compact flash to IDE adapter with 4GB card
PCMCIA compact flash adapter like EasyADF
Lots of WHDLoad games

This is having gone through two basic A1200s upgraded to the max into towers, plus an A4000D similarly upgraded, and all sold and gone back to the setup above

--
moto

Agree with you on that...  That's the best setup, but I'm biased cause that's pretty much mine.  ;-)  For retro gaming and demos, the original 1200 with a Blizzard 030 is excellent.  WHDLoad makes gaming (and demos) a breeze to setup and run.   Even if you didn't want to do the CPU upgrade, an inexpensive 4MB ram expansion card will get you going for most games.  Just maybe not all the demos, if you're even into that.

Only thing I'd add, if you have the coin, is an Indivision AGA card.  It's an awesome upgrade.  Being able to use any CRT or LCD VGA monitor makes life a lot easier.  Not to mention it provides a very decent image too.

[Gulliver]

I totally agree with @brianb.
Get the A1200!

[rebb]

I had much fun building up my Amiga 500 setup. Currently with GVP A530,Os 3.1,Ide-Compact Flash and Indivision (Waiting for sata and esata adapters to arrive). Going to buy Delfina and second Indivision for it.

Don't play much games with it, but should work fine with whdload. Making music and programming is great on this machine.

I do also own A1200, but as I am biased on OCS programming and protracker, my A1200 still stays unused.

[motrucker]

I agree with the "get the A1200" idea here. It is much easier and cheaper to expand. You will have a few compatibility issues with older games - but if you keep your A500 stock, use it for the games that don't work on the A1200!

[Lockon_15]

@Save2600
 
"She's an upgrade whore that way and you may never be fully satisfied ;-) "
 
That was P-R-I-C-E-L-E-S-S
 
May I present you my whore....
 

[amigadave]

I'm not sure if I want to keep upgrading this 500+ with as much ram as possible up to 9 megs, a nice sidecar HD and maybe a accelerator.  I would say the most I want to spend upgrading it is $250, because with that a could get a new old stock A1200 with a CF HD from Amigakit.  So here's what I have now...

A500+ with full ECS, 1.5MB ram, 68010 processor upgrade, 3.1 roms, CA-88 2nd floppy and best of all no yellowing.  Should I upgrade this 500 with at least a hard drive or should I just spend a little more for a 1200?

I have a nice A1200 in very pristine condition I would trade for your A500+ if you are interested.  I also have a 68030 accelerator for it, but we would have to negotiate for it to be included in the trade.  Both are like new in their original boxes and have hardly been used at all, since I bought another A1200 w/A1260 accelerator in it shortly after buying the A1200 brand new from AmigaKit a few years ago.  (or was it eBay, I can't remember, but it was a brand new "Magic Pack" A1200 and I have used it less than 50 hours and still have the pristine box and everything that came in it).

Let me know if you are interested.  I thought all the A500+ Amigas were in the UK and Germany?  Is it NTSC or PAL and does it have a US keyboard layout, or a UK layout?

Edit: I hope you have already removed the battery from the A500+ mobo, so it has not leaked on it.

[amigadave]

Well, unless you can find the "AGA go Kit" for A500.  I believe there where working prototypes.

Oh and of couse AGA and PPC for A500!!

Did any of these PPC + AGA boards for the A500 work, or was it just a concept board that never got finished?

[NovaCoder]

IMO the perfect Amiga is as follows:

A1200 in original desktop case
030 accelerator (preferably Blizzard) with fast RAM on board
Compact flash to IDE adapter with 4GB card
PCMCIA compact flash adapter like EasyADF
Lots of WHDLoad games

This is having gone through two basic A1200s upgraded to the max into towers, plus an A4000D similarly upgraded, and all sold and gone back to the setup above

--
moto

I agree, once you go beyond the desktop case (and away from using the classic chipset) it all becomes a bit silly.  What's the point in building an 'Amiga' that is only using the MB as a fixing plate to joint the various upgrades together

You did forget to add an IndivsionAGA to that list though!

Just get a 1200 with an IndivisionAGA, a (cheap) 4GB CF and a cheap 4mb memory card (no need for FPU) then install OS 3.1 + WHDLOAD and hook up some big speakers

You'll have an nice retro machine that will run most classic software with the best possible display for not much dollar.

[darkage]

@Save2600
 
"She's an upgrade whore that way and you may never be fully satisfied ;-) "
 
That was P-R-I-C-E-L-E-S-S
 
May I present you my whore....
 

Ok I must admit there is something disturbingly erotic and exciting about this setup.  Maybe the slender lines of the sidekick hdd. Ohhh man you must have deep pockets.  (:

[Lockon_15]

@darkage
Well, let's say that I skipped one typical PC upgrade cycle in order to get this up&running. From cost perspective, it's a well planned tradeoff between money and hobbies. In order to sustain this one, the others went down the drain.
 
It's not over yet.
There's a empty space for NIC inside that GVP A530....
Just few pics....
http://www.amiga.org/forums/album.php?albumid=58

[darkage]

@darkage
Well, let's say that I skipped one typical PC upgrade cycle in order to get this up&running. From cost perspective, it's a well planned tradeoff between money and hobbies. In order to sustain this one, the others went down the drain.
 
It's not over yet.
There's a empty space for NIC inside that GVP A530....
Just few pics....
http://www.amiga.org/forums/album.php?albumid=58

Serious can fit NIC??  :-/

Man I have waaaaay too many hobbies chewing through money