Is the A1200 really that cool of a computer???

[SamuraiCrow]

@Barney

An SD-Card to PCMCIA adapter with a 4 gig SD Flash Memory might prove useful to you.

[Karlos]

Just curious, does anybody know the largest size flash card that can be used in the A1200 PCMCIA slot?

If you have a network in your home, I'd recommend a NIC as your PCMCIA expansion of choice. You can mount a flash drive internally on the IDE if you want to go down that route.

[tone007]

Definitely, network is way cooler than CF storage, why not download those ADFs right from the source with your 1200 rather than ferrying them over from a PC?  I skipped right over to WiFi for my 1200, but even that wasn't too bad to set up.

[rednova]

Dear Friends:

I have the best and latest pc computer coupled with the latest version of lightwave 3d.
Even though lightwave is amazing and costs a small fortune...I still power up my
amiga and play with 'aladdin 4d', I get my kicks messing with aladdin animation.
I use an amiga 1200 with 030 accel 50mhz and 32 mb ram.
I love aladdin 4d on my amiga 1200..it is just as much fun as using lightwave.
The old classic versions of aladdin are amazing for amiga 3d animation.
I love both amiga 1200 and aladdin..they are super in my eyes.
Even though the a1200 is slow to render...it can produce fantastic renders and
animations.
But that is not all !!!
I also use moviesetter (on a1200 ) which can make great cartoon animation ( haven't you
heard of Eric Schwarz ? ) and do not need to render, no great speed is required. I just
started making my own moviesetter movies...and the result is amazing.
But that is not all !!!
I also use DeluxePaint IV aga to make pictures to go along with my amos work.
But that is not all !!!
I use Amospro ( all in amiga 1200 )to code PD amiga games which I've Uploaded to
aminet.
And if this is not enough...I just installed Imagine a few months ago and I am planning
to learn imagine to make new 3d animation on my amiga 1200.
Not only do I do all this on my amiga 1200..but I also have a zillion other things that
I use my amiga 1200 for.
I love my amiga as a hobby animation system.
Love !!!

[Karlos]

Definitely, network is way cooler than CF storage, why not download those ADFs right from the source with your 1200 rather than ferrying them over from a PC?  I skipped right over to WiFi for my 1200, but even that wasn't too bad to set up.

I now actually store a lot of amiga data on my linux box and just share it out via smbfs.  This was especially handy for doing dev work, as I can use tools I'm more familiar with and use the amigas for binary testing.

I was previously using a CD Rom interface in the PCMCIA slot, but I can honestly say, I haven't missed it at all since going the network route. If I really need to mount a CD, I can assign CD0: to a symlink within the samba share directory.

[runequester]

obviously all personal preferences but to me:

Form factor. It just looks cool.

PCMCIA slot is handy for connecting all sorts of stuff.

AGA is nice for the games that do support it.

[barney]

If you have a network in your home, I'd recommend a NIC as your PCMCIA expansion of choice. You can mount a flash drive internally on the IDE if you want to go down that route.

That is a pretty good idea.  In my case, I have an internal 2.5 GB Microdrive on the inside so I need a method of transfering game files for WHD Load.  It seems like the easiest way to transfer files to the A1200 is by PCMCIA slot.

[nOw2]

Perhaps the point that's been missed in the replies so far is that the A1200 is ubiquitous - at least in Europe. Like the A500, it sold in millions. For many of us, it's the A1200 that was the computer in every kids bedroom when we were growing up and became many Amiga user's introduction to the platform.

[amiga1084]

Hello  All,

Why waste you time on toy computers(A500,A600,CD32,A1200) then go head. But If you look around in Australia (don't know any others parts of the world) you can find nice A3000-T or A4000-T for few hundred.But A3000T and A4000T are built like tanks.

Thanks in advance,
Merv Stent

[tone007]

As nice as the 3000T was, it didn't have AGA and so it couldn't be my only Amiga.

The "toy" 1200 can run more software than the monster 3000T.

[rvo_nl]

Hello All,
 
Why waste you time on toy computers(A500,A600,CD32,A1200) then go head. But If you look around in Australia (don't know any others parts of the world) you can find nice A3000-T or A4000-T for few hundred.But A3000T and A4000T are built like tanks.
 
Thanks in advance,
Merv Stent

Too much of a tank for me. I prefer the looks of a nice & quiet Power Tower'ed a1200 anytime. The 4000D is even worse, I could never fit that on my desk in an elegant way. And fitting stuff inside the case was a pain aswell. There can be only one. And its the a1200!
 
Oh, and wait, how much memory goes into a PPC'ed a4000 again? What, only 128MB?!

[illy5603]

I prefer the A1200 with a solid state hard disk or compact flash card for a hard disk. Mine sits on the corner of my desk and runs the BBS 24/7. It has been on for over a year non stop, makes absolutely no noise and produces very little heat.

I do miss the 3000T I used to own but when I think about it, it was slower, had less ram, no AGA, was noisy and even with 3 hard disks it had less than half the storage of my current A1200.

[scuzzb494]

I have pretty much every Amiga model and most flavours of those models. Of all the Amigas in my collection the A1200 takes pride of place, standing head and shoulders above the rest. No machine other than say the 500 ( a poor second ) has had so much created for it. What makes the A1200 even more special is that it was created at almost the very same time as the demise of its creators, and yet the Amiga community continues to support it to this very day. And the acid test is that the computer as with my 1993 machine still functions perfectly. Mine connects through broadband to the internet and runs without fault. Has never failed me.

I have so many A1200s I have lost count, and I wouldn`t part with one of them. They all are named and each is ever so slightly different in set up. I just swap em out when I feel like a change.

You will never see the benefit of an A1200 till you have spent a good time working the OS, expanding the hardware, configuring your software and enjoying many many hours on the computer. This is a love affair and not just a gaming experience. You don`t have to work very hard with the A1200 before you start being rewarded. All you have to do is give her some space, pride of place, a few extra peripheral goodies and some TLC. Then just maybe you will start to understand this marvel.

Trouble is once bitten you will be hooked. So beware. The other computers are fine and work without fault, I mean, they are all Amigas after all. But in the family of the greatest computers ever made the Amiga 1200 is the Queen... She is a marvel.

http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/amiga_scuzz30.htm

http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/amiga_scuzz108.htm

http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/car_0406/car_1606_230.jpg

http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/my_amiga_large.jpg

My favourite computer The Amiga A1200 Simply the greatest computer ever designed I mean that sincerely. The whole unit is a  design marvel. Nothing has been left to chance and unlike modern computers, the design flows through each and every part of the machine from hardware and even through into the OS.

And for those that think this is a kids machine, I would rather stay in the nursery than suffer the glorified mobile phones that modern entertainment systems have become. Its quite insulting to use the term of computer with the crap that gets churned out today. A tin box will always be a tin box, yet an A1200 has style. Always will have.

[persia]

The 1200 captures the spirit of the late '80s/early '90s in a way that no other model can.  Just the look screams 1990.

[actung_bab]

wow imagine a modern 1200 maybe a xeon machine with built in wifi inbuilt keyboard
maybe slid out tray stlye with flash drive networkable to my psx3 streaming
moto gp races and stargate universve omg l am in my happy place
with nice inbuilt grpahics card oh say 1 gig video ram
so you have 1 gig chip ram oh yeah..... l get my bib out .

[persia]

@actung_bab

Computers in keyboards basically became irrelevant with the advent of bluetooth for keyboards and mice and the rise of the laptop.  It sort of became a neither fish nor fowl, and disappeared.

I'd re-imagine the 1200 today as a sleek cool looking desktop box, and a bluetooth keyboard & mouse.  Something you could fit a few full size cards in but still slim enough to rest in back of a monitor or TV.  HDMI ports, blue ray drive, lots of USB ports, eSata external connector, firewire ports.

Maybe something like:

or