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Author Topic: Classic Amigas - Still Useful?  (Read 9343 times)

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Offline Ami_GFX

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Re: Classic Amigas - Still Useful?
« Reply #14 on: April 29, 2013, 04:32:20 AM »
The classic Amiga personality when I boot it up is: Lets do something fun and creative. I can't say the same for my laptop. I can easily be distracted by an email, even if I am having some fun and mostly what I do is business. It's stimulating, yes, but not pure fun in any sense. My classic Amigas are sheer joy and fun. I wouldn't never contaminate them with the distractions of web browsing and email. That's business. I turn my Amiga's on to do some art and have some fun.
A2500 owned since 1993 with A2630/DKB 2632, DKB Megachip, GVP EGS Spectrum, A2320 and GVP HC+8 on the inside and a DCTV on the outside. A4000D with CSPPC, Cybervision 64 and a Flicker Magic flicker fixer. A4000T Toaster Flyer & CSMKII. All systems completly retro and classic and mostly used to do geometic art as in my avatar.
 

Offline fishy_fiz

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Re: Classic Amigas - Still Useful?
« Reply #15 on: April 29, 2013, 04:54:07 AM »
Yep, I still use mine quite a bit, although to be honest I cant really articulate why. There's just something about the system, and perhaps its software that appeals to me in a way other systems dont. I dont just mean pcs, macs, etc. either. I used to own an A1, also had a 1.42ghz mac mini running (unregged) MOS, and have an AROS machine orders of magnitude faster that either of the aforementioned systems, yet my a1200 still reigns surpreme as far as Im concerned.

It just does what I ask of it without fuss and can give great results.

This of course depends on what a person wants to do. It's hardly going to be my 1st choice for browsing for example, or watching video (both are tasks I predominantly do under Windows or AROS (depending on which OS my netbook has running at any given time)), but despite what Amiga forum sites try to suggest in NG vs. classic discussions, theyre far from the be all/end all of computing.
Near as I can tell this is where I write something under the guise of being innocuous, but really its a pot shot at another persons/peoples choice of Amiga based systems. Unfortunately only I cant see how transparent and petty it makes me look.
 

Offline aggro_mix

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Re: Classic Amigas - Still Useful?
« Reply #16 on: April 29, 2013, 09:46:17 AM »
I still use my towerized A3000 fairly regularly. I prefer ImageFX when I need to do some photo editing/manipulation and I still use Bars&Pipes for making music. If I need to edit textfiles there's nothing like CED and YAM is till used for some of my personal email.

But there is nothing I can't do on other platforms. All of these programs run well on UAE and there are of course modern applications for whatever OS is your choice.

I think I still use my Amiga because it's fun and I know my way around the programs and the OS. For me it's quicker to do something in ImageFX than to figure out the same operation in Photoshop or Gimp.
 

Offline Hattig

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Re: Classic Amigas - Still Useful?
« Reply #17 on: April 29, 2013, 10:52:49 AM »
It seems that modern systems are all for consumption, especially Windows systems. I was always productive and creative on my old Amiga. Can't wait to get an FPGA Arcade and run DPaint again*.



* as a homage to DPaint, GrafX2 somehow comes up horrendously short. It does have some useful features however for pixel work, albeit a nasty user interface.
 

Offline TheBilgeRat

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Re: Classic Amigas - Still Useful?
« Reply #18 on: April 29, 2013, 11:14:55 PM »
I still use my systems daily.  Right now, its just my 68010 A2000 with a 40Mb SCSI hard drive and CDROM and indiECS.  I use it to code C, play WHD Load, and just generally have fun learning all about amigaOS 3.1.  I have an A4000d, but I have no display for it at the moment.

I do often bemoan the cost of the equipment, and sure a WinUAE setup is pretty freaking awesome in terms of raw speed.  BUT - there is a sort of je ne sais quoi about the real deal that I enjoy.  I'm going to soup this A2000 up as much as I can, and once the recap is done on the 4000 it will get some love as well.

I like seeing what I can accomplish with what I have.
 

Offline KernelTopic starter

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Re: Classic Amigas - Still Useful?
« Reply #19 on: April 30, 2013, 01:58:32 AM »
I've read a few about re-capping... is that recommended for specific models or all models?  I was under the impression that unless there is bulging or leaking, caps are fine?

As to the mention of something about having a real machine to do this on rather than an emulator... yeah, I feel the same way.  I guess it all just comes down to time availability... ever since I got the "real" job and had kids, all the tinkering and game playing seemed to go to the wayside...
 

Offline KernelTopic starter

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Re: Classic Amigas - Still Useful?
« Reply #20 on: April 30, 2013, 04:56:30 AM »
OK so the itch is getting stronger.  I plugged it all in... had to of course tear it apart and reseat everything first though.
 

Offline Tripitaka

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Re: Classic Amigas - Still Useful?
« Reply #21 on: April 30, 2013, 12:03:12 PM »
Looks pretty clean too.

As for how useful Amigas are in modern day, I guess it all depends on what you do with them. An A1200 with a CF Card as a hard drive, 030 and some extra RAM plus a wireless PCMCIA card is an ideal set-up for many retro gamers and doesn't cost the earth. Adding a scan doubler/ flicker fixer puts the cost up a bit. Something I am sadly missing, I mostly use an RGB SCART lead on my projector and play my games on a six foot screen. Benefactor sprites never looked so big. :D
Falling into a dark and red rage.
 

Offline Oldsmobile_Mike

Re: Classic Amigas - Still Useful?
« Reply #22 on: April 30, 2013, 07:33:18 PM »
Yes!  I use my A500 almost daily, mostly for hardware hacking and seeing what other tweaks I can do on it to squeeze an extra ounce of performance out of it.  I love the customizable and open nature of the system.  Also there's just something that feels "right" about doing Amiga stuff on an actual Amiga.  Always hated emulators, even when I didn't have an Amiga for years I refused to run one, and just kept all my software in storage until I picked up another one.  Bit of a purist, I suppose.  ;)
Amiga 500: 2MB Chip|16MB Fast|30MHz 68030+68882|3.9|Indivision ECS|GVP A500HD+|Mechware card reader + 8GB CF|Cocolino|SCSI DVD-RAM
Amiga 2000: 2MB Chip|136MB Fast|50MHz 68060|3.9|Indivision ECS + GVP Spectrum|Mechware card reader + 8GB CF|AD516|X-Surf 100|RapidRoad|Cocolino|SCSI CD-RW
 Amiga videos and other misc. stuff at https://www.youtube.com/CompTechMike/videos
 

Offline paul1981

Re: Classic Amigas - Still Useful?
« Reply #23 on: April 30, 2013, 08:08:19 PM »
Quote from: Kernel;733289
I've read a few about re-capping... is that recommended for specific models or all models?  I was under the impression that unless there is bulging or leaking, caps are fine?

SMD Electrolytic caps in A600/A1200/A4000/CD32 are the problem unfortunately. They leak, you can spot the leak by the dull finish on their solder joints. I suppose they could just dry out as well. In any case, those types of capacitors should be changed now if not already done so (they're not supposed to last above a few years anyway).
Lot's of Amiga's are still working fine with the original caps still in place (after 20 years) but it's very wise to check for leakage as any leakage can quite easily damage your board and even write the board off. :(
 

Offline KernelTopic starter

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Re: Classic Amigas - Still Useful?
« Reply #24 on: May 01, 2013, 04:57:00 AM »
Go figure... the Quantum ProDrive LPS 240 in this A3K is apparently going flakey and it will not boot anymore.  HDToolBox will recognize it but it cannot properly read the driver geometry nor can it save the geometry information (Error 4 on write!) is what I get.  to top that off, it appears to have a random lockup here and there when booted to the 3.1 install  floppy and I don't know if it's related to the HD issue or not.

I have some U320 SCSI drives and am waiting for an active terminatior (already have the 80 pin to 68  & 50 adapters) but then I found a thread that IBM drives are a crapshoot and low and behold these are IBM drives that I have sitting around.

The deck seems to be stacked against me... I'm seriously considering parting with this thing.  I'll wait until I try the active terminator to see if perhaps it's all related to an outgoing drive but I'm not going to hold my breath.
 

Offline haywirepc

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Re: Classic Amigas - Still Useful?
« Reply #25 on: May 01, 2013, 05:11:37 AM »
Welcome back to amiga, now you start the spending...

Isn't the hd controller in the 3k scsi? I have always hated and never had ANY luck with scsi systems.
I have never owned a 3k or 4k, (But have owned all others) so sorry can't help much with your probs.

:)

Its kinda fun bringing the old girl back to working like it did back in the day
condition. If your not careful though, you'll go off on a tear upgrading it
to crazy levels also.

Just remember, once you go down the rabbit hole, there is no going back. hahaha

I dk, me I gave up on classic hardware but I still occasionally look for a cheap system to start a restore on again. (anyone got a cheap system needing restore? let me know)
« Last Edit: May 01, 2013, 05:17:03 AM by haywirepc »
 

Offline commodorejohn

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Re: Classic Amigas - Still Useful?
« Reply #26 on: May 01, 2013, 05:49:45 AM »
I've had good luck with SCSI controllers for A500/2000 and SCSI in Macs, but when I owned an A3000 it gave me nothing but trouble, so much that I eventually just gave up on it and traded it for my current A1200 setup...
Computers: Amiga 1200, DEC VAXStation 4000/60, DEC MicroPDP-11/73
Synthesizers: Roland JX-10/MT-32/D-10, Oberheim Matrix-6, Yamaha DX7/FB-01, Korg MS-20 Mini, Ensoniq Mirage/SQ-80, Sequential Circuits Prophet-600, Hohner String Performer

"\'Legacy code\' often differs from its suggested alternative by actually working and scaling." - Bjarne Stroustrup
 

Offline Oldsmobile_Mike

Re: Classic Amigas - Still Useful?
« Reply #27 on: May 01, 2013, 06:03:29 AM »
Quote from: Kernel;733403
Go figure... the Quantum ProDrive LPS 240 in this A3K is apparently going flakey and it will not boot anymore.  HDToolBox will recognize it but it cannot properly read the driver geometry nor can it save the geometry information (Error 4 on write!) is what I get.  to top that off, it appears to have a random lockup here and there when booted to the 3.1 install  floppy and I don't know if it's related to the HD issue or not.

I have some U320 SCSI drives and am waiting for an active terminatior (already have the 80 pin to 68  & 50 adapters) but then I found a thread that IBM drives are a crapshoot and low and behold these are IBM drives that I have sitting around.

The deck seems to be stacked against me... I'm seriously considering parting with this thing.  I'll wait until I try the active terminator to see if perhaps it's all related to an outgoing drive but I'm not going to hold my breath.


Have you checked the battery??
Amiga 500: 2MB Chip|16MB Fast|30MHz 68030+68882|3.9|Indivision ECS|GVP A500HD+|Mechware card reader + 8GB CF|Cocolino|SCSI DVD-RAM
Amiga 2000: 2MB Chip|136MB Fast|50MHz 68060|3.9|Indivision ECS + GVP Spectrum|Mechware card reader + 8GB CF|AD516|X-Surf 100|RapidRoad|Cocolino|SCSI CD-RW
 Amiga videos and other misc. stuff at https://www.youtube.com/CompTechMike/videos
 

Offline Ami_GFX

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Re: Classic Amigas - Still Useful?
« Reply #28 on: May 01, 2013, 06:23:52 AM »
Quote from: Kernel;733403
Go figure... the Quantum ProDrive LPS 240 in this A3K is apparently going flakey and it will not boot anymore.  HDToolBox will recognize it but it cannot properly read the driver geometry nor can it save the geometry information (Error 4 on write!) is what I get.  to top that off, it appears to have a random lockup here and there when booted to the 3.1 install  floppy and I don't know if it's related to the HD issue or not.

I have some U320 SCSI drives and am waiting for an active terminatior (already have the 80 pin to 68  & 50 adapters) but then I found a thread that IBM drives are a crapshoot and low and behold these are IBM drives that I have sitting around.

The deck seems to be stacked against me... I'm seriously considering parting with this thing.  I'll wait until I try the active terminator to see if perhaps it's all related to an outgoing drive but I'm not going to hold my breath.


I wouldn't try a U320 in an A3000. A 1-4gb 50 pin SCSI II drive will work better in such an old system.
And it might not be the drive, it could be the controller on the MB.

It might not be so much money but it will be time and effort. I almost parted with my A2500 a few years ago but instead rebuilt it. The main part was a new MB. And a better SCSI card than the 2091 it came with. It cost some money but it was fun and satisfying to do.
A2500 owned since 1993 with A2630/DKB 2632, DKB Megachip, GVP EGS Spectrum, A2320 and GVP HC+8 on the inside and a DCTV on the outside. A4000D with CSPPC, Cybervision 64 and a Flicker Magic flicker fixer. A4000T Toaster Flyer & CSMKII. All systems completly retro and classic and mostly used to do geometic art as in my avatar.
 

Offline nicholas

Re: Classic Amigas - Still Useful?
« Reply #29 from previous page: May 01, 2013, 10:32:30 AM »
Quote from: Kernel;733289


As to the mention of something about having a real machine to do this on rather than an emulator... yeah, I feel the same way.  I guess it all just comes down to time availability... ever since I got the "real" job and had kids, all the tinkering and game playing seemed to go to the wayside...


I only ever use UAE to prep hard drives and get everything I need installed before putting them into real miggies.
“Een rezhim-i eshghalgar-i Quds bayad az sahneh-i ruzgar mahv shaved.” - Imam Ayatollah Sayyed  Ruhollah Khomeini