Reasons the A600GS is Awesome!

[Pyromania]

I'm looking for feedback from new A600GS owners on why they love the system.

[spanner]

I like its menu and how you can add games to it, add a pic of the game, and how you can edit them too, so if a game does not work you can delete it, you can not do that on any other mini console, it makes it unique, thats why I bought it, wasn't going to until I saw a video on YouTube (thats why real reviews are important and the user have bought the console not got it from the company for free, they are not real reviews) of its menu... and realised it was built by AmigaKit, I now do not use my THEA500 Mini now, there is no need too... and it does not need PCUAE, thats why I have not tried to add it, I only add it to the consoles that need it and make it better, this is OK the way it is, so I do not need to spoil it with it...

Made by the Amiga Community for the Amiga Community... AmigaKit is a Amiga Community Company(not a bad slogan for AmigaKit... ).

Thats why I think the A600 GS is AWESOME...

And THEA500 Mini was mainly make for profit not the Amiga Community, thats why its carousel is locked and can not add games to it, they spent a lot of time trying to stop it been hacked, thats why it has a key in it kernal and it changes the key if the carousel has been altered and stops THEA500 mini from booting.
And because you can run mods on it, it can at any time stop booting so turn on for 5 seconds then turn off because its key in the kernal has changed to 0, I did release a fix for it so a new kernal for it so it bypasses it, this shows RGL only care about profit before the community, I already desided I am not buy any more consoles made by them, THEA500 Mini is the last one.
Sorry about talking about them on here but wanted to show they do not care about the Amiga community at all, only buy machines that supports the Amiga community so buy the A600 GS because it does support it because it made by the Amiga community.. .

Just because it looks like a Amiga does not mean it is one, `Wolf in Sheep's Clothing`.

[THX-1138]

I'd owned the A500 mini for a while but that little fake keyboard irritated me and it felt like a toy rather than a computer to actually use, requiring a kludge to get an OS to run.  I was going to buy a Vampire standalone originally then saw the A600GS and was fascinated by it.

Spanner has explained the flexibility of the menu system for launching disk images etc. and those are positives.  Some other major positives for me are that the internals such as the SoC and SD are replaceable in the event of failure etc.  They've used great open source software components to make it tick.

The ability to update online and the included software is awesome and I believe the aim is to be able to download software eventually.

The jewel in the crown has to be Amibench.  It looks and feels like a modern Amiga should, even has native ARM support via the ARM Graphics Library and I understand they would like to make more parts native.

It's an evolving product, from people who seem to care about it.  My interactions with Amiga Kit and the devs is a positive one.  I've said elsewhere the presentation is outstanding, from the box to the hardware itself.

I'm glad I bought it, it's shaping up to be an awesome, modern Amiga-compatible system.

[F0LLETT]

I'd owned the A500 mini for a while but that little fake keyboard irritated me and it felt like a toy rather than a computer to actually use, requiring a kludge to get an OS to run.  I was going to buy a Vampire standalone originally then saw the A600GS and was fascinated by it.

Spanner has explained the flexibility of the menu system for launching disk images etc. and those are positives.  Some other major positives for me are that the internals such as the SoC and SD are replaceable in the event of failure etc.  They've used great open source software components to make it tick.

Have to agree, the mini was such a pain to run extra software. I hate not being able to add to carousel.
Then to use my real floppy drive, I have to use pandory. Just because they wont update the inbuild Amiberry.

Its a good menu system, as you can load up usb with games, then import them and remove USB. Its all on GS then.

[RobertB]

     For THEA500 Mini, you can always run the Aminimiga distro which will give you a classic Amiga desktop with many applications.  However, in terms of flexibility, the A600GS is more capable.

          New A600GS owner,
          Robert Bernardo
          Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
          Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network - http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan

[janikosk78]

I own the A500 Mini, but it's not perfect, as was mentioned earlier. RGL has already stopped updating it, as they're surely focusing on the upcoming Amiga maxi. I think the A600GS has potential, which is why I ordered it (about a week ago). I just can't wait for it to arrive.  I might end up skipping the Amiga maxi and happily sticking with this one instead. 

[BozzerBigD]

AGS 2.7 has just been released and there is a THEA500 Mini version. It's a game changer and along with the mature soft mods available and the community around them, the functionality of the Mini will exceed the A600GS for a long time to come IMHO. THE500 Mini is easy to use, Pandory500 is fairly easy to use and very versatile and AMiNIMiga is just like Workbench! AGS 2.7 is soooo easy and everything is preconfigured and just works. Yes, you have to use Amiberry to switch between mouse and player 2 joystick controls (Pandory is better on tht front) but everything just works! I don't see what the point of multiple little cheap ARM boxes on the market is, maybe the A1200NG will prove a nice A1200 improvement but RGL has engaged the community enough and actually motivated them indirectly to put right what they failed to do and the result is actually better! Buy one while the stocks last or buy a Maxi when available! The Amiga went mainstream again, jump on it!

[SkulleateR]

Really ? Relying on the community makes the500 mini better  ?

I have both of them and since I got the A600GS the Mini is gathering dust and is barely used ! Together with Pandory the500 mini is nothing more than a Raspberry Pi 3.5 if such thing would exist, every Pi4/400/5/500 can do things better (and even cheaper). The A600GS is unique, it comes with DB9 support OOTB, it has AmiBench (based on AROS) with already a great 68k compatability (for AROS this is) and you also get the benefit of new software not found elsewhere bundled with it like OctaMED 8 or the new Final Writer ... you can play WHD/HDF/ISO/ADF OOTB without using third party mods and if you have a problem/bug it will be adressed. I just got around using my old Amiga Disks with the Greaseweazle support and hey, you got networking support on the fly without any hassle AND without sourcing for a decent USB LAN Hub
On top you get BT support and as the A600GS uses DDR4 ram it has a better performance on Amiberry than "the other one" ...

Don´t get me wrong, I think RGL got many things right with the500 mini, but this battle is lost for them

[BozzerBigD]

There is no battle. THEA500 Mini is for ex-Amigans. The mainstream mini consoles get their attention and they buy one a birthday/Christmas gift! The AmigaKit products are for people with ailing A1200s or who can't find a cheap one on eBay or RetroPassion. They are two different markets IMHO. However of you want to add Workbench/AGS/Pandory emulator functionality to THEA500 Mini you can and it's at peak maturity in terms of the soft mods! The beta test A600GS project is ongoing! People call that 'support', I call it a work in progress that will one day be feature complete!

Horses for courses. Buy what you wish but suggest the Mini to your nephews and nieces would be my advice!

[F0LLETT]

There is no battle. THEA500 Mini is for ex-Amigans. The mainstream mini consoles get their attention and they buy one a birthday/Christmas gift! The AmigaKit products are for people with ailing A1200s or who can't find a cheap one on eBay or RetroPassion. They are two different markets IMHO. However of you want to add Workbench/AGS/Pandory emulator functionality to THEA500 Mini you can and it's at peak maturity in terms of the soft mods! The beta test A600GS project is ongoing! People call that 'support', I call it a work in progress that will one day be feature complete!

Horses for courses. Buy what you wish but suggest the Mini to your nephews and nieces would be my advice!

Whens the latest Amiberry update coming for Mini?
Unlike you, I DO NOT want to mess around extra usb stick, just to be able to use my real floppy drive on Mini.
Like SkullEater, my Mini is just sat gathering dust. RGL do not listen to community, end off.

Betatest??
So by that logic, windows is the biggest betatest in history.

[BozzerBigD]

@F0LLETT

So by that logic, windows is the biggest betatest in history.

Yes, except that Windows 11 is feature complete and free so it's more like AGS recently released for the Mini and other Amiga platforms (does the A600GS have a version?). Windows just needs security patches and tweaks to harvest more data from its users from time to time!😉

To be honest with your comment regarding "I DO NOT want to mess around (with an) extra USB stick"; it's very much like changing an Amiga floppy or a console cartridge to put in AGS or an Pandory, an AMiNIMiga distro or simply another collection of games!

What I DO NOT want is a product launching incomplete without its killer feature (the Amistore) and for the users to be leaned on to give suggestions and beta test for free until its a professional polished product like THEA500 Mini already is. I look forward to the day when the 'finished' A600GS demonstrates it's awesomeness with fully functioning Amistore and the ability to buy something like Metro Siege over the Internet and then play remote co-op 2-player using all this trumpeted about plug and play technology marketed as being included as standard! I guess you'll be able to crow about how irrelevant RGL is as that point but you certainly are not there yet! Happy bug hunting! I'll be playing Fire and Forget on AGS for the Mini or animating on DPaint using AMiNIMiga!

[amigakit]

@BozzerBigD

You can’t really compare AGS with the legitimate software included on the A600GS.  For a start everything on the A600GS is licenced correctly.  I haven’t used it but I believe that AGS is a large unlicenced software package which is resold at profit under a “copying service”. 

The A600GS passed beta status many months ago.  It is now being updated to add features that were not even promised at the time.   If you missed it we recently added Greaseweazle support and Custom Hard Drive support.  So you can now load multiple OS of your choice along with the ROM.  I expect that even AGS will work ….

Look forward to AmigaSys appearing soon as a free download.

[BozzerBigD]

@amigakit

"Awesome" is the word I think that you are looking for from me. 

I'll check in again when the webstore is working and obviously the A1200NG looks interesting. All the best. You're in good shape anyway because it's really hard to buy a sub-£100 THEA500 Mini right now. There must be something else coming on the horizon from RGL?! 

[F0LLETT]

@F0LLETT

Yes, except that Windows 11 is feature complete and free so it's more like AGS recently released for the Mini and other Amiga platforms (does the A600GS have a version?). Windows just needs security patches and tweaks to harvest more data from its users from time to time!😉

To be honest with your comment regarding "I DO NOT want to mess around (with an) extra USB stick"; it's very much like changing an Amiga floppy or a console cartridge to put in AGS or an Pandory, an AMiNIMiga distro or simply another collection of games!

What I DO NOT want is a product launching incomplete without its killer feature (the Amistore) and for the users to be leaned on to give suggestions and beta test for free until its a professional polished product like THEA500 Mini already is. I look forward to the day when the 'finished' A600GS demonstrates it's awesomeness with fully functioning Amistore and the ability to buy something like Metro Siege over the Internet and then play remote co-op 2-player using all this trumpeted about plug and play technology marketed as being included as standard! I guess you'll be able to crow about how irrelevant RGL is as that point but you certainly are not there yet! Happy bug hunting! I'll be playing Fire and Forget on AGS for the Mini or animating on DPaint using AMiNIMiga!

Sorry, there a some features I would like to see in windows. So again by your crazy logic. Its still in beta.

I can download all the packages you have and run them on GS. Whats your point. You just moan about everything you can.
Jeez, a serial port was put on NG, just because of you. Yet your still moaning. Now about Amistore. It will happen, just stop going on about it.
I find it crazy, just because pandory did what they did, RGL is off the hook in your eyes. I'm sorry, just wrong.

The best thing of all, your moaning about GS and you don't even own one. I own both, so I can comment, having used both.

What would make Mini killer for me, is updated Amiberry and ability to add games to carousel (have multible).

[AmigaOldskooler]

I'm very happy with the A600GS so far, and it is the hobby computer I've used the most during the last weeks.

Here are a few of the things that makes it awesome for me personally:

+ AmiBench - An OS in development which comes with software like OctaMED and Personal Paint

+ Firmware updates straight from the main menu - Click "Check" to see if one is available, if it is, download and it will automatically install

+ Download section which often gets new software you can try - Download and it will also automatically install! Deluxe Galaga, Santatron, easily available to the user.

+ Screenshots - You can take screenshots easily by pressing F12 and you can then save the screenshot as thumb (great for the menu) or save to HD. Great for saving images to post in game compos.

+ Choose between using old-school joysticks/mice or more modern ones with USB. Also, using a modern mouse/keyboard wireless combo works great. It also supports Bluetooth.

+ The new "System" tab which lets you customize your own Amiga setups choosing everything from CPU, network, RTG, RAM etc. - I have my Amiga 1200 setup on there and it works great. Combine with a physical floppy disk drive and you can for example set up a working Kick 1.3 Amiga 500 booting off floppies. Many possibilities here!

+ Easy to add ADF, WHD-Load, HDF to the main menu with the launcher - It is also interesting to see how much time one has spent on the various software.

There is a lot more I can say here, but I think the system is great. Now I have an A1200NG in pre-order, so looking forward to trying out that one as well.