HELP! AMIGA experts! Better to get PAL OR NTSC model?

[MaximumRD]

First, let me be  clear, I have owned both the Amiga 500 and Amiga 1200 machines in the  past. Being in Canada of course what was available to me (I was not into  importing in those days) of course I ended up with NTSC models as that  is the Canadian standard as it is in the good ol' U.S.A. Though I never  got as far as getting higher models or using a Video Toaster etc, I did  have simple fun making Titles for my home movies using just Deluxe Paint  and recording to video tape. I am also knowledgeable enough that I made  bootable disks and I knew to hold down the two mouse buttons to access  the Early Startup Screen on my 1200 for certain games which was fine on  my 1084's Monitor.

Here is the thing, currently I own NO Amiga hardware. I DID just  recently acquire one of those 4 GB Compact Flash Cards with IDE adapter  from the UK containing a bootable WB 3.1 with TONS of  games/demos/applications all set to go. To test I even booted it using  UAE on my PC, worked very well actually. I noticed when I booted  emulating an NTSC Amiga and tried the game Super Skid Marks )an overhead  racing game) the game had graphical glitches. So of course I then tried  it again this time emulating a PAL Amiga and when I tried it again the  game loaded with perfect graphics but it seemed much slower gameplay  wise. Ok so to drone on I will just ask, though I live here in NTSC land  when I am ready to buy another AMIGA might I be better served getting  an PAL unit? Are they more compatible with the majority of titles? I  don't really plan recording the output to make titles like I did back in  the day considering the PC editing software I use now lol! The majority  of the use would be for playing games, a recordable signal would be  nice but I am sure I could at least display it using an add on device or  something. Would I be correct in assuming I could obtain a PAL Amiga  but use an American/Canadian power supply? I would think the output to  the PC would be the same it just needs to be the proper unit to plug  into our outlet? OK that's it, that is the capacity of my knowledge.  What I would humbly request is:        Please give me your advice, suggestions, opinions, comments and tell me  what you think would be my best option and why? I would greatly  appreciate any and all feedback! THANK SO MUCH IN ADVANCE!!!!  

[illy5603]

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[XDelusion]

I live in Ohio, and own a PAL 1200, and have converted two of my Atari 8-bits to PAL. Now I can enjoy ALL the software the way it was meant to be used.

[runequester]

The majority of games and stuff is in PAL format. You need to make sure you have a method of display other than a TV, but you will definately want a PAL machine.

With the original kickstarts (1.x) I had trouble even with a monitor, playing PAL games on an NTSC machine. Later machines can boot in either mode

[kedawa]

You're better off going with PAL for compatibility reasons.

If you want to record the PAL video signal, you could just use a USB capture device set to PAL mode.  I've yet to find one that doesn't support it.

The only caveat I would add about using PAL is that the 50Hz refresh rate can be very hard on the eyes if your monitor wasn't designed for it.  My NTSC 1084S displays the PAL signal just fine, but I don't think its phosphors are well suited to the lower refresh rate.

[spaceman88]

Hi,
I'm going to go against the majority and say you should just get a NTSC A1200. I've never had a problem getting PAL games going useing the early startup menu or a degrader type program. Most games were produced in both PAL and NTSC versions (yes there are exceptions) although today it does seem easier to find the PAL versions online.

[tone007]

For 1200s, I agree an NTSC unit is just as good as PAL if you don't mind picking PAL in the early startup, however it's nice to not have to worry about it.  The only issue I've had with NTSC machines doing "PAL" mode (which is really a 50hz video signal but still outputting NTSC color signal) is one of my LCDs in particular (using composite and s-video) saw the 50hz and automatically thought "PAL mode" and switched over, causing the picture to be in black and white. A real PAL machine worked just fine on the LCD.  Probably not a common issue, but it did happen to me.

[Franko]

Being in the UK and using PAL, it's strange that I tend to have the opposite problem, most games I play are set using a little util I wrote to play in NTSC mode so that they take up as much of the screen as possible...

[tone007]

When I play NTSC games in PAL mode, I don't notice they're not taking up the whole screen.



Try PAL games in NTSC mode, though, and part of the game gets cut off.  Agony isn't as fun if you can't see your score!