First Amiga

[mad2]

Hey everyone,

I have very limited experience with Amiga but the couple times I have used it have been great.  Im looking to get some form of an Amiga to get acquainted with Amiga and hopefully get some good use out of it.  I guess my question is what do all of you Amiga fans think would be a good intro computer into the Amiga world?

Thanks for any help

[Amiten]

@mad2
 
Wellcome aboard, this site its a very good start take your time and read all the good thread are here.
 
good look !
 
Regards and Amiga Forever
Amiten.

[save2600]

You really can't go wrong with any Amiga starting out.

If you're into semi-modern storage solutions and easy transfer of downloadable material from your PeeCee, then an Amiga 1200 might be in your future.

If you're mostly after the original experience where you enjoy collecting physical media and don't mind floppy disk load times, then *any* Amiga will do.

[amigadave]

Hey everyone,

I have very limited experience with Amiga but the couple times I have used it have been great.  Im looking to get some form of an Amiga to get acquainted with Amiga and hopefully get some good use out of it.  I guess my question is what do all of you Amiga fans think would be a good intro computer into the Amiga world?

Thanks for any help

Welcome to Amiga.org, enjoy your participation here.

It depends on what you want to do with an Amiga, which one would be good to start with.

If you just want to play some games and get a general feel for how an Amiga works, then go for the cheapest A500 with a trapdoor memory expansion for right now, or an A1200.  A600's are hard to find in some countries, but easy in others.  The three models mentioned above have the advantage that Individual Computers has designed, and is still designing new accelerators and RAM expansion devices for them, so you can upgrade them in the near future, if you like your experience with an Amiga.

Your budget and what you want to be able to do with your first Amiga will determine which one is best for you.  Good Luck and again, Welcome.

[mad2]

Thanks for the input..ive read a lot about the different versions of amiga and im hoping to eventually be able to get a more modern system..but would a system like and a500 give me a comparable experience so that I will be experienced enough to be decent with a new system like 4.1 or so?

[amigadave]

Thanks for the input..ive read a lot about the different versions of amiga and im hoping to eventually be able to get a more modern system..but would a system like and a500 give me a comparable experience so that I will be experienced enough to be decent with a new system like 4.1 or so?

If you are interested in running a "Next Generation" Amiga system, you can try AROS for free on most PC hardware, just download it, burn it to a CD and boot it up.

For MorphOS, find a friend who already has MorphOS installed and can show it to you and let you play with it for a while, or find a free, or very cheap supported G4 Mac model and download the free install ISO, burn it to a CD and install in on your supported G4 Mac to test it out in Demo Mode, which runs for 30 minutes at a time before slowing down and requiring a reboot.

For OS4, find a friend who has it already and will let you play around with it for a while to see if you like it.  There is no other free way to check it out at this time and the hardware is all over $500 to $1,200 and up, so make sure it is what you want before buying.

All are excellent systems, but they are not for everyone.

All Next Generation systems are very different from using a original Amiga computer, so it is like comparing apples and bananas.  All Next Generation systems can run the older Amiga software natively or through an emulator.

[XDelusion]

I'm at that point where I'm starting to like MorphOS more than I do classic Amiga OS. It just seems like the obvious next step in the OS' evolution, even though it is not technically Amiga OS.
I just really like how it barrows heavily from Directory Opus 5.x, not to mention all the other extra bells and whistles they've packed in with it. Like classic Amiga, it can be configured to work pretty damn well how ever you please, but unlike classic Amiga OS, you do not need to install Dopus 5.x, ScalOS, or what ever to make the directories a bit more friendly when you are navigating your system.

AROS is cool and all, but Wanderer and a few other things really need fleshed out before I can take it too seriously, but it's getting there for sure, and if you consider the fact that is is FREE, well then you can't really go wrong there! It's certainly something that is fun to follow the progress of, and it does of course have a few apps and games that JUST WORK as they should, which is always a bonus considering that you no longer have to resort to Windows, Mac, or Linux to use or play them.  DOSbox, and Quake III are but a couple examples.

OS 4 has always been too pricey for me to care about. Plus it just kind of looks like it is picking up almost exactly where Work Bench 3.x left off. Not that there are no new features, but... well just from all the videos and what not that I've seen, it just looks un-evolved in regards to how it works and all, though I'm sure there is plenty new underneath the hood. Also I've heard it is still slow in comparison to MorphOS and does not have the backwards compatibility down quite as well as MorphOS, though I could be wrong.

On the upside, should you want to try out OS 4.x, there is "supposed" to be a laptop out next year that is "supposed" to sell for between $300 and $500, which is something I think I'll invest in out of curiosity if nothing else.


Orrrrr.... if you just want to be lame, you can use WinUAE. Or if you want to be daring and try to find hardware that works...

Amithlon is a total pay off. It's the fastest Next Gen Amiga out there at the moment, in fact next to MorphOS and classic Amiga OS, it's my next favorite!

So many toys, so much to do, so many options to choose from!!! And all without the backing of major corporations!

If you are interested in running a "Next Generation" Amiga system, you can try AROS for free on most PC hardware, just download it, burn it to a CD and boot it up.

For MorphOS, find a friend who already has MorphOS installed and can show it to you and let you play with it for a while, or find a free, or very cheap supported G4 Mac model and download the free install ISO, burn it to a CD and install in on your supported G4 Mac to test it out in Demo Mode, which runs for 30 minutes at a time before slowing down and requiring a reboot.

For OS4, find a friend who has it already and will let you play around with it for a while to see if you like it.  There is no other free way to check it out at this time and the hardware is all over $500 to $1,200 and up, so make sure it is what you want before buying.

All are excellent systems, but they are not for everyone.

All Next Generation systems are very different from using a original Amiga computer, so it is like comparing apples and bananas.  All Next Generation systems can run the older Amiga software natively or through an emulator.

[marcfrick2112]

Well, I am biased towards the 1200 as an intro Amiga... Granted, some expansions can be $$, but my tower is a sweet, very very stable machine...
Sure, I wish I had a processor about 5000x faster for Lightwave renders.. but, oh well....

ALso, if ya can find one for a decent price, A4000's are awesome too.. my late dad and I shared the A4000 w/WarpEngine in my sig. I think I paid $500 for it, some 4 years ago.... He mainly retouched photos, and the like, or made out labels, decals, whatnot on the Stylus Photo... but, also insisted I install Pinball Illusions, and SlamTilt on that machine!
:laughing:

Nice thing about Amiga's.. nowadays with WHDLoad.. you can do any 'serious' thing on most any 'semi-modern' miggy, and Still play games, and goof off...

[commodorejohn]

Both times I was getting into the Amiga, I found the A500 to be quite a serviceable machine to get acquainted on. They're inexpensive and readily available, and have a pretty reasonable variety of upgrades available for surprisingly little.

If you want to get a feel for Workbench and Workbench-based software (as opposed to games and the like,) you'll want to put a 3.1 ROM in and use Workbench 3.1, and likely get extra RAM and a hard drive, but even a WB1.3 A500 isn't a bad way to get acquainted.

[marcfrick2112]

Ya know, I had a nicely expanded A500 years ago.... I LOVED that machine... Sadly, the only downer for A500's is the price/scarcity of accelerators, and maybe Working HD interfaces....

My old, must missed A500.. no pics, but specs were: A500, rev. 6, 2MB chip, 34 MB fast. (2MB were via my SupraSCSI interface) WB 3.1, '030/'882 @ 50Mhz (ran hot enough to fry an egg! ) anything from a 640MB to a 1.2GB SCSI hard drive, a $5 CD-ROM drive (lol!) , 100MB Zip.

See, I really have to be able to run BOTH games and serious apps on my miggies... OK, like tonight... been playing a bunch of Amiga Shoot 'em ups, now I am compiling a Lightwave .ANIM. !
:laughing:

[Amiga_Nut]

Both times I was getting into the Amiga, I found the A500 to be quite a serviceable machine to get acquainted on. They're inexpensive and readily available, and have a pretty reasonable variety of upgrades available for surprisingly little.

If you want to get a feel for Workbench and Workbench-based software (as opposed to games and the like,) you'll want to put a 3.1 ROM in and use Workbench 3.1, and likely get extra RAM and a hard drive, but even a WB1.3 A500 isn't a bad way to get acquainted.

I would say similar really (ie A500 for classic Amiga gaming) but if you also want to try out Microsoft Office style serious applications on WB3.0 WB3.1 etc then probably cheaper to get an Amiga A1200 and a cheap laptop 4gb IDE hard drive rather than try and make an A500 into that sort of spec with extra (expensive) bits and bobs.

[djrikki]

@mad2

Check out my signature if you want to know more about the modern AmigaOS, hardware and software availability and everything else you need to know.  Feel free to 'Share' the site with friends and acquaintances on facebook, twitter and other social media sites.

[gaula92]

Minimig or FPGA Arcade. That or real Amiga hardware.
AND if you want a true Amiga experience (i.e, perfect smooth scroll and sound in PAL & NTSC software running on the custom chips that made the Amiga so great), AVOID emulation.
Emulation = audio latency , input latency , video latency.
FPGA reimplementation is the way to start with AMIGA today.

[Erol]

I thought i'd jot down my experience using the Amiga since the 1980s..

A500  - was fantastic starter machine, great for games and workbench 1.2 or 1.3, even my spectrum and atari ST fans hated me.. lol  mind you C64 ran rings around them..  
I still remember the day when i loaded 'marble madness' and 'defender of the crown' on the A500..  amazing!
 
A2000 - great for bridgeboards and expansion from A500, cheap and easy to fix.

A1200 (CBM & AT)  - Great machine, and AGA games are just great fun.. and can be made to run not all but most A500 games (Whdload).. watch out for the dodgy High Density floppy drives shipped with AT models.

A3000T  - lovely machine, it hated OS3.9 (my model did anyway)  rolled it back to 2.04..  and was a heavy beast it was actually heavier than the A4000T.  
You may have seen screenshots or posts i added to the "The Big Book of Amiga Hardware" website.

A4000D - again another favourite of mine, ok it's missing onboard scsi and vga but you got to admire Commodore did try.. at least there plenty of expansion available.
If you can get one of these mighty little brother machines, don't sell it like i did.. big mistake.

A4000T -  I had this machine from new for a long time, big brother of all the Amiga's..  very noisey when kitted out but fantastic machine.  I sold mine to a guy in Germany scientific research,  so it's being used for something useful rather than trying to stablise PPC side on games and watching OS3.9 tick away..  

CD32 console -  for games i would say this is my favourite machine for Amiga AGA games, ok it was over priced at the time and it had very limited expansion available (hard to find) but hey you gotta love 'Ultimate Body Blows' and "Alien Breed Tower Assault" amongst many..    It was a shame Commodore didn't push this machine further.. i would have loved to see a better port of 'Last Ninja' on this console..  shame Last Ninja 3 was a big dissapointment.


So I would say which ever Amiga you choose to buy they all give you enjoyment,  and again depends what you want out of the machine.   I really hope someone keeps a complete collection for a museum,  emulators just don't give you the same nostalgia..     my heart raced the other day when i booted up my old C64,  brings back memories when i was a child.     There is such a huge collection of games for the commodore computers, you think software houses would tap into these games, creating sequels or updated versions of these classic games.

Sorry to blab on..  and if i've missed alot out sorry its just a recap of what i remember..