A500+ vs. A600

[Motormouth]

Which is better???

ECS vs ECS
upto 2 meg chip in both

Zorro I vs A600 trapdoor expansions

scsi options? vs ide on board

number pad vs small keyboard

opinions???

[danbeaver]

Which is better???

ECS vs ECS
upto 2 meg chip in both

Zorro I vs A600 trapdoor expansions

scsi options? vs ide on board

number pad vs small keyboard

opinions???

I believe the Warren Commission was too quick in overlooking the grassy knoll!

[Jiffy]

Neither is better. They both had their merits back then (with the A500+ slightly more expandable back then), they both have their merits right now (with the A600 being slightly more expandable right now).

They are quite alike and 'suffered' from the same incompatabilities when it came to software.

[ElPolloDiabl]

I prefer the A600, but I haven't played enough games to know if the lack of numeric pad becomes annoying. You can upgrade them to be almost identical.

[Robbie]

I would argue that the A500+ is probably still easier to expand, what with the ACA500 now available and the motherboard having socketed chips rather than surface mounting. I haven't owned either but i've heard of people having a lot of problems with boards overheating in the A600 or just coming loose intermittently.

[AmmoJammo]

I have an expanded A500, and an expanded A600...

The A600 takes up about 1/5th the desk space as the A500, that alone give the A600 the win

Of course, they are expanded in different ways, so the A500 could be made smaller, but its always going to be twice the size of the A600.

[Motormouth]

I have an expanded A500, and an expanded A600...

The A600 takes up about 1/5th the desk space as the A500, that alone give the A600 the win

Of course, they are expanded in different ways, so the A500 could be made smaller, but its always going to be twice the size of the A600.

Back in the day I had an A500 (rev 6A) with a GVP A500 HD and a slingshot pro with an A2065, the thing was really long..............  Plus you needed extra room on the right side for floppy access.   It was difficult finding a "small" desk to hold it.

Even the A2000 was small (in length) compared to this beast.

Neither is better. They both had their merits back then (with the A500+ slightly more expandable back then), they both have their merits right now (with the A600 being slightly more expandable right now).

They are quite alike and 'suffered' from the same incompatabilities when it came to software.

With either of these 3.1 should probably be the goal for configuration and not attempting to run older 1.3 games.

[Motormouth]

I would argue that the A500+ is probably still easier to expand, what with the ACA500 now available and the motherboard having socketed chips rather than surface mounting. I haven't owned either but i've heard of people having a lot of problems with boards overheating in the A600 or just coming loose intermittently.

It looks like the ACA500 out of stock at AmigaKit,  Is Jens going to be making more of these?

[psxphill]

Zorro I vs A600 trapdoor expansions

A500+ is better. The a600 trapdoor is essentially ram+rtc only, the same as the trapdoor in the A500. It's only the A1200 trapdoor that is equivalent to the expansion port on the A500+.

However the A500+ does not support Zorro I, those are used by the Ranger add on (and also the third party versions that were actually released) for the A1000 and are just a different shape to Zorro II cards.

Officially the slot on the side of the A500+ is called the "86-Pin Slot Expansion" and it's roughly compatible to the A2000 CPU slot, some accelerators were compatible with both. http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/supra28 The A2000 board is shaped like that because it's the same one used in the A500 version, it's just in a box and has a pass thru. AFAIK you can use the A500 version in an A2000 as well.

Personally a 1.3 A500 and a 3.1 A1200 is the way to go.

[paul1981]

The A600 has crappy smd capacitors which are leaking and wrecking boards as we speak.
The A500 is more desirable in that aspect (providing the barrel battery has been removed before motherboard damage).

You can't have a DMA connected hard disk on the A600. So another feather in the A500's cap.

I read somewhere though that you can't have graffiti emulation for Doom on the A500 with the IndivisionECS. Maybe I'm wrong... Can anyone clear this up?

Size, well if size doesn't matter then it makes no odds. I prefer the A600 size wise. If you want an 80's feel, then go for the A500.

[paul1981]

A500+ is better. The a600 trapdoor is essentially ram+rtc only, the same as the trapdoor in the A500. It's only the A1200 trapdoor that is equivalent to the expansion port on the A500+.

However the A500+ does not support Zorro I, those are used by the Ranger add on (and also the third party versions that were actually released) for the A1000 and are just a different shape to Zorro II cards.

Officially the slot on the side of the A500+ is called the "86-Pin Slot Expansion" and it's roughly compatible to the A2000 CPU slot, some accelerators were compatible with both. http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/supra28

There was a PC emulator card for the A600's trapdoor, but it is very rare. The IndivisionECS can be mounted in here too on top of one of Jen's chip ram expansions (A603, A604).

[Motormouth]

There was a PC emulator card for the A600's trapdoor, but it is very rare. The IndivisionECS can be mounted in here too on top of one of Jen's chip ram expansions (A603, A604).

Was there not also a PC emulator card for the A500's trapdoor?

[itix]

Both are 2nd class choice for gaming and 2nd class choice for productivity work (whatever this would be in 2015).

IDE (PATA) drives used to be cheaper and easier to find but now it is obsolete technology just like SCSI.

[AndyFC]

My mate had an A500+ at the same time as me and his was faulty (random crashes on s/w which worked for me) and when it came to an exchange, he got the A600 instead.

At the time he wished he'd tried to get an A500+ again as the lack of numeric keypad caused him issues with DPaint 3 and some games (a flight sim especially).

[vince_6]

I have both.
A500+ 2MB chip, 2MB fast (below 68k) and 2MB fast ACA500
A600 ACA620.

A500 is better for me, A600 is too hot and hard to repair.