Why did you buy your first Amiga?

[gary]

The Amiga offered me the most potential for creative use for the lowest cost. There was also an active community that encouraged the creation of demos/music/animations/pictures/diskmags/etc just for fun.

The alternative was a IBM compatible PC which was more powerful in some areas, but was still boring to me. Had I known about Soundtracker (and its variants) and Deluxe Paint with animation I would have bought one much sooner.

Originally Posted by wanderer

I guess for most people the answer would be "the A500, to play those great games" but it should be interesting to also hear alternative stories you guys might have of the type "to finally shut my ST-owner mate's mouth" or "the arrival and technical superiority of the Amiga 1000 changed my life" etc. Of course, "to play X game" stories are always welcome.
For me it was the Commodore past which excluded every other option (C16, never got it to work, replaced by a C64 after a week, C128D), then a shocking preview photo of the A500 I used to gasp over, to be presented at the Cebit (tried to locate this photo on the net but had no success), and of course, the games, Defender Of The Crown namely. (too bad the 2nd disk had a read/write error, use DISKDOCTOR to correct it ).
Anyway, the entrance to the Amiga world is always a thing to remember.

I bought an Amiga 1000, when they first came out, because at the time it was the best personal computer that money could buy. The Amiga 1000 blew the doors off the IBM PC and the Apple Macintosh and even surpassed the powerful Atari 520ST, which also blew the doors off the PC and Mac. The Amiga 1000 was such a beautiful computer with its sculpted case and keyboard, and the famous colorful Amiga checkmark logo on the front cover. I just loved the way the keyboard could be "parked" in the CPU "garage". I also liked the classy and sculpted look of the Amiga monitor. Yes, Atari ST was "Power without the price", but "Only Amiga makes it possible". As my bud Duke Nukem would say "Hail to the king baby".

Originally Posted by Burseg

Because C64 sucked arse

The famous Commodore 64 is THE number one selling personal computer of all time. Over a BILLION of them were sold. Many schools had them. A Commodore 64 is displayed in the Smithsonian Institute. I will always have a special place in my heart for the Commodore 64 computer. In fact, I have one proudly displayed in my shop. It is sitting on a pedestal base with a glass cover protecting it from dust and fingers. A track light is also shining on it. My PC customers are always asking me "what is that" and I answer "that my friend is the famous Commodore 64 computer system, the number one selling computer of all time".

[adolescent]

I got my A500 after they had a demo of one at my high school science fair showing DigiPaint. It was the black and white picture of the girl and they were painting the lips, hair, etc. It was so simple by todays standard but I had never seen graphics like that. When I got a job I bought an A500 and a 1084 with my second paycheck. (I still have the monitor, but the A500 was parted a few years ago).

[adamst85]

I was amazed by graphics of Atari ST games (Targhan and Fred). WOW!!! I was owner of c64 and atari 130 xe in that times, and for me this ST games were completely awesome!! Amiga was more popular in my country (than ST), Targhan and Fred was on Amiga also , then I read in "Top Secret" mag about Gods, Metal Mutant and other games... Heh, I sold c64 and bought A500 - the best comp of all time. First games on my amiga? = Toki, Gods, Hudson Hawk, Targhan, Fred, Leander - mniam, mniam .

Originally Posted by gary

The Amiga offered me the most potential for creative use for the lowest cost.

OMG someone RATIONAL here!!!!

[Unknown_K]

Most sane people buy a computer to run the applications they think they need and will need. I sold my C64 in 1990 to buy a PC because the software I needed to run in my final years of college were PC based, and I got a GREAT deal on the new PC (1/3 retail cost new in box).

Assuming I didn't need a PC at the time I would have probably leaned toward an Atari ST because they were cheaper and had decent games in the late 80's (paying for your own college while working 40 hrs a week at a pizza shop makes you very cost conscious).

Now if I had rich parents who purchased anything I wanted an Amiga would have been the way to go, but such is life.

How many of you who had an Amiga when it was king actualy purchased it (the C64 I sold was purchased with my own money doing lawn/snow removal work)?

[Jope]

It was the logical upgrade from the C-64.

I never mainly played games - always more of a tinkerer. (of course that doesn't rule games out completely. ;-)

[Amiga1992]

Originally Posted by DoomMaster

The famous Commodore 64 is THE number one selling personal computer of all time. Over a BILLION of them were sold.

Hahahaha
A BILLION!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

OVER A BILLION!!!!
MWAHAHHAAHAHHH!!

[Dastardly]

I bought an Amiga because

1. The games could be copied

2. My mate said 'Amigas are better than ST's'

3. I was a C64 owner so it was another Commodore

4. Seeing the amazing games in the shop

5. I had £400 to waste (best waste of money ever)

[girv]

Originally Posted by Unknown_K

How many of you who had an Amiga when it was king actualy purchased it ?

/me puts hand up

I was still at school so I could only work weekends, but I did 18 months in a
local department store carrying, cleaning, assembling flat-pack furniture, being
a delivery driver's helper and other general purpose skivvy-ing for a measly
GBP10 per day. I eventually managed to save the GBP360 I needed for an
A500 pack

In them days I was glad to have the price of a cup o' tea...

[spiff]

Well I wanted a computer 'cos my friends all had IK on thier c64s. So I played the "Daddyyy I need a computer for school" card.. and it worked like a charm.

The Irony of it all is that 12 years later I'm studying systems design at university.

Originally Posted by Unknown_K

How many of you who had an Amiga when it was king actualy purchased it?

I did. I paid $850.00 cash for my Amiga 1000 and $1,700.00 cash for my first Amiga 2000. In fact, I paid cash for every computer that I have ever owned. The secret to being able to pay cash for a nice computer is to never get married and never have children. This way you have more money to spend on yourself.

Originally Posted by Akira

Hahahaha
A BILLION!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

OVER A BILLION!!!!
MWAHAHHAAHAHHH!!

What are you laughing at, Akira? It is the truth. If you do not believe me then just take a look in the Guiness Book of World Records.

Do you know what the best selling Amiga was worldwide? You guessed it- the Amiga 500. The most popular Amiga in America was the Amiga 2000 and the most popular Amigas in Europe were the Amiga 1200 and 500.

[Amiga1992]

spiff: hehe, lucky for you your dad could afford it, i wasn't even near being able to afford one. Fortunately my uncle could ;P

I was lucky, my brother bought the first Amiga 500. I still use it...
It's a great training tool...

[the wolf]

I was in love with my C64, my mother purchased it after 2 full years of frustrating "I want it, I want it!" etc... (I guess she had enough of this! )
Then, all my friend around me changed their c64 to an Amiga (after some years, of course, not when I purchased my C64!) and I felt lonely because I couldn't more exchange games with them...
Oh yes. My first amiga was Amiga 1000 with 1,5 Mb...
At first, I was very unhappy with this, there was so few games really worth a playing (it was 1990), but year after year my games collection was growing and i found myself more satisfied with this computer (changed again with an Amiga 2000 with HD), than my old C64...

[wanderer]

This is all extremely interesting, a proof of the resourcefulness (??) of Amiga users everywhere. It'd be really interesting to know if there's someone on the board that got to know the Amiga only through emulators, I wonder how that feels...

[Npl]

Originally Posted by wanderer

This is all extremely interesting, a proof of the resourcefulness (??) of Amiga users everywhere. It'd be really interesting to know if there's someone on the board that got to know the Amiga only through emulators, I wonder how that feels...

Prolly aint feeling good - I suspect thats one of the reason you dont see People "discovering" the Amiga now. Using a SNes or Genesis Emu is much easier, no hardware-configuration, no diskswapping, no games that feel ackward to play using a Gamepad, no flakey diskimages, no give-me-an-answer-copy-protection on originals (CAPS).

Bought my first Amiga back in 1990, had an C64 before and was very envious looking at the A500 of a friend. Also I dint figure out how to copy C64-Floppies, but I knew how to use X-Copy

[squirminator2k]

My Dad purchased the A500 for office use when I was a young'n (I'm guessing about 3 or 4). He didn't buy a Bundle Pack with games but rather bought a package that contained office-style programs, but being a Gamer himself (him and my Mother were and are both keen Gamers) he got his mits on a few games, and even got some especially for me (I particularly remember him getting "Thundercats" and "Captain Planet"). Eventually I was playing every game he had. After a while he upgraded to an A2000, and then again to an A1200. He bought an Amiga CD32 on the cheap from a friend, too. But for me, Amigas have been almost entirely for Gaming.