Considering the A3000 your thoughts and advice :)

DrF · 24 October 2007, 21:52

Right, after much thinking about stuff and the general prices of A1200 gear, and then looking at the prices of big box Amiga gear, am I right in thinking add ons and upgrades are usually cheaper for the big box Amigas than the A1200?

Maybe there not actually cheaper but demand has drove A1200 prices to stupid heights, since I never knew anyone with anything other than a A500/600/1200 I guess these models out sold there bigger brothers by a long shot.

A A4000 would be lovely but I can't justify the cost, I would assume the A3000 can have its video upgraded anyhow? (so no need for AGA?)

As I have sort of gathered the A3000 can just be hooked up to a monitor? (scandoubler present?) saves me buying one and getting confused.

I think I need BinoX

woody.cool · 24 October 2007, 22:01

The A3000 is a very good option. The video can be upgraded but I'm unsure as to which cards are available for the A3000 having not owned one.

The A3000 is every bit as good as the A4000 (except the lack of AGA on the A3000).

cv643d · 24 October 2007, 22:44

Scandoubler/flicker fixer is integrated in motherboard on A3000. You can use any Zorro graphics card, preferably a Zorro 3 card with a integrated video switcher.

Here in Sweden basic stock A3000 sells for 150 euro. You can get 060 card for A1200 for about 150-200 euro, dont know if A1200 is so expensive.

Cheapest is A2000, nobody wants them. Finding a turbo board for them is tough though and they are slow as hell with Z2 graphics in hi-resolution.

DrF · 24 October 2007, 23:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by cv643d

Here in Sweden basic stock A3000 sells for 150 euro. You can get 060 card for A1200 for about 150-200 euro, dont know if A1200 is so expensive.

At current exchanges thats between £100-£140 which for a 060 I would say is good, but all I got offered and found so far is 030s and 040s for that price and would you believe more

alexh · 25 October 2007, 00:22

If a scandoubler is not essential, and you dont want to get an RTG gfx card, then a desktop A1200 is much cheaper.

Base Machine is cheaper. (£30 vs £150)
Accelerators are cheaper (030@50 for £40-£70)
Hard drives are cheaper and more reliable. (New 2.5" IDE vs Ancient second hand 3.5" SCSI)
Network cards are MUCH cheaper. (PCMCIA ethernet = £5, Zorro Ethernet = £75)
RAM is MUCH MUCH cheaper, easier to fit and you can have more of it (Standard 72-pin SIMMS upto 128Mbyte vs 16Mbyte Zip RAM).
A1200 has AGA, A3000 has ECS.

Dont forget that the A3000 scandoubler (like all Amiga scandoublers) doesnt work in PAL mode with some LCD monitors due to it's 50Hz refresh output. (Fine for use on most CRT monitors)

It really depends on what you want to use your Amiga for, if it is just playing games and running demos, general nostalgia, IMHO the heart and soul of what it is to use an Amiga today, then get an A1200 and use it with an RGB TV.

If you want to "pretend" to use it for serious work. Use a monitor, workbench etc. maybe spend a fortune updating it to a rather slow, PC with no applications then get an A3000

AMIGAZ · 25 October 2007, 09:29

I have an A3000 myself which is upgraded with a Cyberstorm MKII '060 50mhz, Cybervision 64, Hydra network card, 3.1 rom chips
I think it's a sweet machine, it's as fast as an A4000 if you upgrade the buster chip to rev. 11 and it has built in SCSI controller.
The only thing I which I feel I lack on my A3000 right now is that buster 11 chip so I can enjoy DMA on my gfx card...and I can't play those nice AGA games

24 October 2007, 21:52	#1
DrF Blessed A1200 Of TeH Rat Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Bham, UK Age: 42 Posts: 496	Considering the A3000 your thoughts and advice :) Right, after much thinking about stuff and the general prices of A1200 gear, and then looking at the prices of big box Amiga gear, am I right in thinking add ons and upgrades are usually cheaper for the big box Amigas than the A1200? Maybe there not actually cheaper but demand has drove A1200 prices to stupid heights, since I never knew anyone with anything other than a A500/600/1200 I guess these models out sold there bigger brothers by a long shot. A A4000 would be lovely but I can't justify the cost, I would assume the A3000 can have its video upgraded anyhow? (so no need for AGA?) As I have sort of gathered the A3000 can just be hooked up to a monitor? (scandoubler present?) saves me buying one and getting confused. I think I need BinoX

25 October 2007, 00:22	#5
alexh Thalion Webshrine Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Oxford Posts: 14,398	If a scandoubler is not essential, and you dont want to get an RTG gfx card, then a desktop A1200 is much cheaper. Base Machine is cheaper. (£30 vs £150) Accelerators are cheaper (030@50 for £40-£70) Hard drives are cheaper and more reliable. (New 2.5" IDE vs Ancient second hand 3.5" SCSI) Network cards are MUCH cheaper. (PCMCIA ethernet = £5, Zorro Ethernet = £75) RAM is MUCH MUCH cheaper, easier to fit and you can have more of it (Standard 72-pin SIMMS upto 128Mbyte vs 16Mbyte Zip RAM). A1200 has AGA, A3000 has ECS. Dont forget that the A3000 scandoubler (like all Amiga scandoublers) doesnt work in PAL mode with some LCD monitors due to it's 50Hz refresh output. (Fine for use on most CRT monitors) It really depends on what you want to use your Amiga for, if it is just playing games and running demos, general nostalgia, IMHO the heart and soul of what it is to use an Amiga today, then get an A1200 and use it with an RGB TV. If you want to "pretend" to use it for serious work. Use a monitor, workbench etc. maybe spend a fortune updating it to a rather slow, PC with no applications then get an A3000 Last edited by alexh; 25 October 2007 at 00:43.

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24 October 2007, 22:01	#2
woody.cool Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Wakefield UK Age: 41 Posts: 119	The A3000 is a very good option. The video can be upgraded but I'm unsure as to which cards are available for the A3000 having not owned one. The A3000 is every bit as good as the A4000 (except the lack of AGA on the A3000).

24 October 2007, 22:44	#3
cv643d Registered User Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Sweden Posts: 762	Scandoubler/flicker fixer is integrated in motherboard on A3000. You can use any Zorro graphics card, preferably a Zorro 3 card with a integrated video switcher. Here in Sweden basic stock A3000 sells for 150 euro. You can get 060 card for A1200 for about 150-200 euro, dont know if A1200 is so expensive. Cheapest is A2000, nobody wants them. Finding a turbo board for them is tough though and they are slow as hell with Z2 graphics in hi-resolution.

25 October 2007, 09:29	#6
AMIGAZ Amiga-Mad Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Sweden Age: 47 Posts: 1,291	I have an A3000 myself which is upgraded with a Cyberstorm MKII '060 50mhz, Cybervision 64, Hydra network card, 3.1 rom chips I think it's a sweet machine, it's as fast as an A4000 if you upgrade the buster chip to rev. 11 and it has built in SCSI controller. The only thing I which I feel I lack on my A3000 right now is that buster 11 chip so I can enjoy DMA on my gfx card...and I can't play those nice AGA games

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