ACA500 prototype

[bbond007]

That thing would ONLY be impressive if I designed and built it, or some kid did, or the cat, but it does not really seem up Jens usual production quality.

Maybe it can work as an upgrade for A1000 users who are desperate an upgrade.

Honestly, if you want to upgrade a A500 to 14mhz with 2MB of ram with expansion slot, you buy an A1200, not this thing...

This upgrade alone is not really even enough to properly take advantage whdload...

Maybe I'm just negative because I'd like the AGA MKII to take priority over this thing...

[Jiffy]

Imagine a A500 all cleaned-up to look brand new with a nice side case will it look out of place against a A1200? My answer would be no.

Imagine an A500, all cleaned up, looking brand new with some nice internal expansions. Will it look out of place against an A1200? My answer would be no. :-)

User(s) should always welcome new hardware be it right or wrong as who else would do it.

That is something completely different. I welcome any new hardware for classic Amigas.

But Jens says he aims this device at inexperienced new A500 users wanting to relive their childhood without spending big bucks.

While a certainly believe there are such people, I severely doubt there are enough of them to warrant a device like this. I certainly dó believe most of the ACA500s, when and if available, will be bought by people wanting to use them to add an ACA12xx to theire A500.

In that case, the ACA500 is used as a rather expensive adapter, while both the beefed up 68000 and the extra 2 MB will not be used anymore, making the combination most likely to be quite expensive (even more so than the expected Zeus68k) and, because of the external design without a case (Jens insisted on not making a case for it quite strongly!) a fragile solution with a very large footprint.

I expect people Jens is targeting with this device, if they want to use a real A500 and not an emulator, most likely don't want to spend much money (Jens is most likely right with that assumption), but also do not want to use a large amount of space for their classic Miggie. And while the A500 in itself already occupies quite an amount of deskspace, this is even more so when using any kind of sidecar solution.

A very usable A500 for returning users would be the A500 itself, an Indivision ECS, 0.5 MB trapdoor ram, any kind of IDE/CF solution, an internal fast ram solution of at least 4 MB (preferably 8 MB) and a slightly faster cpu than stock.

If the ACA500 would have 4 or 8 MB and would be internal, I would buy one. Being it external and only having 2 MB (1.5 MB usable), I won't.

Ofcourse, I could be totally wrong about the the assumptions I make regarding the market Jens is aiming at. He says he's aiming at a certain group, but I doubt it will be bought by that group. It will most likely sell, it might even sell well, but not because of its cpu, the onboard ram or the fact that it is external (and thus easy to connect to an A500). It will sell to people wanting to use an ACA12xx with their A500.

I have no problem with that, but I find it rather curious that it is not the main focus of the ACA500, while being (imo) blatantly obvious.

I severely doubt many people will use the ACA500 in its standard configuration. And if that turns out to be the case, why bother making the ACA500 more than just an ACA12xx adapter?

[Lurch]

Maybe come back when you have an A500 & have tried cramming in multiple upgrades inside the case. A megachip and 1.8mb trapdoor expansion with a gary tower of death takes up a lot of the room.

I own an A500 plus, plenty of room inside so not sure where you're coming from. I've had various combinations of hardware inside/outside.

I've had an ide68k/ Tom's 8MB with a CFCard/68010 - This was great, nice and tidy, good for WHDLoad and the CF Card was mounted so you could access it without opening the case. This was the best setup, only thing missing was an 68030.

Currently I'm using an A590 (as I sold some 500 gear to fund my 1200) and find it takes up too much space on the desk and I'm missing my ide68k :-(

[Ral-Clan]

I don't know why you guys assume Jens isn't going to encase this.

I don't know why you are assuming that I thought he was going to encase this.  If I were to buy this device, I would be looking forward to making my own sidecar case for it.

[Ral-Clan]

what??
hardly. an entry level user with no experience would be much better served with a clean a1200. it would be cheaper, simpler, easier to get and would not fall apart when moving it around the table.

A1200s are over $100 US used.  A500s?  Well, they're usually under $50, sometimes much less. If you're in the right place at the right time, they're even free by the carload.  I don't know why they are so maligned.  They are essentially an A2000 without the Zorro slots (and this can be remedied).

[Jiffy]

A1200s are over $100 US used.  A500s?  Well, they're usually under $50, sometimes much less.

Which makes an A1200 a better option for the returning, non-tech user, as an A500 with an ACA500 is both less capable and more expensive than an A1200. :-)

[Jiffy]

I don't know why you are assuming that I thought he was going to encase this.  If I were to buy this device, I would be looking forward to making my own sidecar case for it.

The fun part of your answer is, that people (capable of) making a sidecar case for the ACA500 are not the people the ACA500 is aimed at. :-)

The ACA500, with its low price, low specs and easy to install design is aimed at the non-tech user returning to the Amiga just now to relive a part of their childhood and using their new A500 for what they used it back then: games, and nothing else. While there is nothing wrong with that, those are certainly not the people which you can expect to make their own sidecar case.

So, while Jens certainly has a point on certain design choices with the ACA500, the line of thinking he follows has (in my opinion) lead him to believe he's aiming the product at a certain market that, even if it would exist, will not be the market which will buy the ACA500. The ACA500 will be bought by people wanting to use an ACA12xx with their A500. And those people, most of them long time Amiga enthusiasts, can be expected to fit an internal design in the A500, making the choice for an external version rather dubious.

It is certainly easier to fit an internal version of the ACA500 than design and make a stable and good looking external case for the ACA500 yourself.

Face it: the ACA500 will be used as an ACA12xx adapter, not as a stand alone device. If this is so, just call it what it is.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

I'm a "returning A500 user" and would love an accelerator, but not an external one.  Ugh, guess I'll just have to keep waiting and scouring ebay...  

[Methuselas]

Yeah, I have to admit, I was really looking forward to this, 'cos of the ACA12xx expansion slot, but seeing that it's a side car and he's nerfed the original specs, I'm not interested at all now. I'll just wait for the Zeus. Sure I'm gonna lose a lot of ram, but it will probably be cheaper than buying both the ACA500 and an ACA12xx series and it's internal. This isn't the 90's. Most of us have a PC or Mac on our desks, so real estate space is limited and the last thing I want to deal with is the A500, with it's brick PS, mouse AND a sidecar all cluttered on my desk with my PC's three monitors, keyboard, speakers and mouse. :/

[kamelito]

I'm a "returning A500 user" and would love an accelerator, but not an external one.  Ugh, guess I'll just have to keep waiting and scouring ebay...  

Don'twanna hijack this thread but alternative exist but more expensive.

[AmmoJammo]

I own an A500 plus, plenty of room inside so not sure where you're coming from. I've had various combinations of hardware inside/outside.

exactly...

An internal accelerator, designed to accommodate a few other potential internal expansions could fairly easily have been done.

maybe an 020 at 28Mhz, 8meg ram, a compact flash slot, and maybe a second IDE connector for a cdrom...

even if it cost twice as much as the ACA500, its twice as functional and practical!

[ExtremeWays]

I may be in the minority here, but I really like the idea of the ACA500.  The sidecar is bulky, but is a recognised old school way to expand an Amiga 500.  If you could make the board in the same shape as the A590, you'd find a whole new market for those units on ebay

Also, I think that it shouldn't be too hard to make an internal version of the ACA500.  All you would need to do is make the connector flexible, or at a 270 degree angle.  Then you'd be able to mount the PCB inside the A500.

[TheBilgeRat]

Now it turns out to be a 14 MHz 68000 (not a problem for me)...

This is a problem.  The whole point would be WHDLoad.

[desiv]

This is a problem.  The whole point would be WHDLoad.

If your problem is the 68000 and WHDLoad because of the QUIT key, then Jens has said that his card would intercept that (whatever it is) and allow it to quit.
(I'm pretty sure anyway, that thread is huge and I can't find it now with a quick browse)
Found it: http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=872545&postcount=683

I'm OK with the concept.
I'm glad that this is one of numerous options.  
Kipper2K's looks great for all internal and low end.  (No CPU increase, but IDE68K and 8M RAM?  NICE!)
This one, with enough RAM to run a lot of games with WHDLoad (more would be better of course) and the expansion options for adding an accelerator.  Also the new kickstart options are really really kual!!!)
Zeus, which looks to be a great high end option..

As they say, it's all good.

And I like sidecar expansions..
That being said, I like sidecar expansions with nice cases (like the GVP).
I had a DataFlyer sidecar for my A500 back in the day and I liked that.

I really hope there is a case option (and/or Jens reconsiders and includes one) as I agree, I think that's needed.

I have a sidecar dual CF HD for my A1000 from tomthul, which I like.
It has no case, but it's a homebrew hardware, so I kind of expect that.
Even with that, I'm thinking a Vic-20 cart might be able to be tweaked to make a case for it, so I'm probably going to try that...

So, I'm not complaining.  I see a lot of good in the ACA500.
And with the other options coming out...
Good time to be an Amiga fan..

:-)

desiv

[haywirepc]

As I recall a couple extra megs of ram on an a500 can make a huge difference, but how much difference can 14mhz verses 8mhz make in video display speed, like say when you click on a drawer full of whdload games?

Would 14mhz display a lets say s letter drawer full of games that much quicker to justify this expense? I don't know, not busting on this just asking...

[spirantho]

Given the fact that Jens is aiming at a low cost peripheral, I'd imagine there's a good reason for the CPU and RAM on the card. My knowledge of the A500 expansion bus and the A1200 one isn't great, but it wouldn't surprise me if there had to be a CPU on there to provide some signals that the A500 usually doesn't provide. Plus I'd imagine the cost of a 68000 is tiny compared to the cost of development and small-scale manufacturing.

We should be grateful anyone's making any new hardware at all for our Amigas - even if it's not what we personally want, the fact that someone is making something is great - and there will be someone somewhere for whom that little side-car is a god-send. Remember just how expensive and rare A500 accelerators are! It may not be pretty but it's a pretty efficient way of expanding the market for his accelerator, and that can only help his Amiga future.

If I made some hardware, but was forced to make it external, I'd be pretty upset if I spent a year on it and it got branded as a "joke", to be honest.