opinions on ppc options ..please

[wawrzon]

i refused or rather was not interested in p5 ppc solution since ever i remember. it was even partly the initial reason for me not to invest into the platform anymore since i regarded the technical solution clumsy, halfa$$ed while too complicated and therefore too expensive. it was clear for me that with decisions like this the end of the pole was near.
then i got the ppc board few years ago, wanting even to minimally to improve on what 060 amigas could still do for me. and was bitterly disappointed, getting os4 didnt help any further.
following development of 4.1classic since i admittedly like the w3d readeon support and compositing it got, alas it is not enough for me to invest into it and it doesnt look like it goes in any further (at least in a direction id regard any useful)

[spirantho]

One thing that should be pointed out is that whether you go AmigaOS 4, MOS, AROS and whether you buy the X1000 or an Efika, you're going to have fun with it. All the options are good, each has their own strengths and weaknesses. So really go with what appeals to you at the time.

[michapol]

Hi Guys,

This is really interesting, I have an Amiga 1200 which I've done a few upgrades to and was hoping to one day add PPC to it, however I am also planning to get a dedicated PPC machine for OS 4.  That being the case the consensus seems to be that if I'm going to keep the Amiga 1200 running OS 3.x then the PPC is too expensive for what I'll use it for.

I think you've successfully changed my opinion on that one and potentially saved me a lot of money.  Thanks!

On the other hand do you think that Jens Schönfeld would ever make a PPC upgrade card for the A1200 and could it be a faster PPC than the blizzard cards and be potentially more useful or is the Amiga bus just too slow.

Thanks again guys.

[zylesea]

well, ofcourse I disagree with most of you..

get that ppc. get the fastest one, like those 060/330mhz versions that you can find on amibay at times. get the bvision. get the pcmcia right-angle adapter and a pcmcia ethernet card. get os4.1. insanely expensive? yes. a very frustrating software installation? yes. prone to breaking down? well, yes.. but definitely worth it one you got it running! imho the most you can get out of the real classic amiga -thats what counts for me. all the other stuff I can do on my pc.

I had a A1200PPC with all the bells and whistles, but once I had my first NG board (Pegasos) I recognized that I actually don't need and miss the A1200 anymore. Eventually it was sold and I never looked back (well,not entirely true: the Delfina lite I am missing a bit). Anyway, my MorphOS machines are way more powerful and provide me more than the A1200 ever did. Having an "Amigalaptop" is übercool!

[esc]

I have to get a PPC card.  Otherwise I have a brand-new, useless G-Rexx PCI.  

[Jose]

The logical decision is to keep the A1200 for games/programs that hit the hardware and a dedicated PPC machine for NG AmigaOSes. And I agree, once you've tried an NG AmigaOS there's no going back to the classics, they're still cool for what they are but not more.

[bbond007]

I would upgrade to an 060 and maybe forget the PPC.

The 603e PPC is just not significantly faster than the 060.

I had the 240/060. For me the PPC was used primarily as a MP3 decoder.

[wawrzon]

I have to get a PPC card.  Otherwise I have a brand-new, useless G-Rexx PCI.  

i think you can go for cyberstorm mk3 or a broken csppc with working 68k part, which could spare you some expenses.

[wawrzon]

Hi Guys,

This is really interesting, I have an Amiga 1200 which I've done a few upgrades to and was hoping to one day add PPC to it, however I am also planning to get a dedicated PPC machine for OS 4.  That being the case the consensus seems to be that if I'm going to keep the Amiga 1200 running OS 3.x then the PPC is too expensive for what I'll use it for.

i think we were not clear enough, we have to talk you out of getting dedicated os4 machine yet.

I think you've successfully changed my opinion on that one and potentially saved me a lot of money.  Thanks!

pleasure on our part, even though im cutting my own flesh as a potential seller

On the other hand do you think that Jens Schönfeld would ever make a PPC upgrade card for the A1200 and could it be a faster PPC than the blizzard cards and be potentially more useful or is the Amiga bus just too slow.

Thanks again guys.

jens schoenfeöd has repeatedly proven being discontent with the ppc route and, as far as i remember, being asked numerous times refused to build such an expansion. mostly for practical and financial reasons. even when it comes to 68k, his hardware is what i would consider rather low end. sorry. i dont think it is likely.

[AAACHIPSET]

mmm..interesting  comments...i passed  up a 060 ..the day i got out of hospital  actually  ..always  wondered  if i shouldve  bid  for  it  ..went  for  410.00 aussie  dollars  ...i think if a ppc  appears  at a good price  ill be  tempted  ..but cautious  ..more interested  in network an usb card ..one upgrade  i must reccommend  is the indivision aga card ...dont  think i could  go back to a 1200  without one now..makes  me  wonder though  with all the comments  not so positive  about ppc ..how successful  the new upcoming cards  for the a4000  will be  unless a lot  more  software  hardware  arrives  to back it up ..

[Linde]

The current options for PPC on classic hardware all seem pretty useless to me. If there's anything specific you want to use a PPC for that you can't just fix with a cheap PC, just get a Mac Mini and MorphOS.

[takemehomegrandma]

Get yourself a nice, cheap little Mac Mini and MorphOS 3!

[wawrzon]

mmm..interesting  comments...i passed  up a 060 ..the day i got out of hospital  actually  ..always  wondered  if i shouldve  bid  for  it  ..went  for  410.00 aussie  dollars  ...i think if a ppc  appears  at a good price  ill be  tempted  ..but cautious  ..more interested  in network an usb card ..one upgrade  i must reccommend  is the indivision aga card ...dont  think i could  go back to a 1200  without one now..makes  me  wonder though  with all the comments  not so positive  about ppc ..how successful  the new upcoming cards  for the a4000  will be  unless a lot  more  software  hardware  arrives  to back it up ..

if you mean the ultimate ppc then it isnt entirely clear how these cards are supposed to be utilized anyway. then again if such a card booted thanks built i 040 into seamless 68k emu running on ppc it might have some use on genuine amiga hardware. on the other hand the question is why to use a ppc and not anything better, but perhaps the modern cpus are just technically too complex to handle within an amateur dev project.

[orange]

Buy a 2nd hand MacMini,PowerMac,eMac or PowerBook with G4-CPU and install MorphOS (http://www.morphos-team.net/). Will set you down just 100-300 Euro (depending on which HW you choose) and will give you as much modern PPC-Amiga as one can get.

Just read the FAQ to make sure you buy a supported model.

you forgot to count in the price of morphos itself (over 100eur!).

[CSixx]

I have a bppc card also and while it's nice to have the ability to run the WarpOS versions of software, there isn't enough to justify the cost.

I own os 4.1Classic, but prefer to run 3.9 instead.
OS4.1 itself runs nice and fast, but all the software written for it generally assumes 4.1 users have more powerful hardware (sam's, peg's, etc..), and is slow on classics. Not to mention with 4.1 you lose access to some valuable software (WHDLoad).

My suggestion is to stick with the 030. And, if you want to run 4.1, get a Sam...

[utri007]

This is "hate OS4" site, so nobody should ask opinion about OS4 here.

There only few OS4 users here, rest of them has abandonet site or just stopped post anything OS4 related here. If you bought OS4 machine, there are plenty of people who get their sexual pleasure with spoiling others joy.

A OS4 is direct heir of A OS3.x. It is true that MorphOs has currently advantages over OS4, but it is just not be Amiga. Most of them will dissapper whem update 4.2 appears. AND there is no new and dedigated hardware for MorphOS

Sad thing is that every OS4 thread is hijacked with MorphOS fans, in fact they write more to OS4 threads than MorphOS threads.