Do people still buy amigas?

[kipper2k]

Originally Posted by amiga_Forever

Let me ask you guys a few question....

Do you think the AMiga will live forever ? That is, based on readily available hardware (new companies coming along to develop... in addition) seems to be this that you can still repair an AMiga today.

But what happens when these companies just decide to say "We've decided to hang up our gloves and move on with PC's" ?

Where will the AMiga be then ?

Or do you think, even if companies change hands, the AMiga will always exist at some point. ?

The Amiga will always have that special place in my memories and i inend of keping all mine alive and kicking for as long as me. I think there will always be someone who will repair them as they start to fail

[diablothe2nd]

nothing lives forever.

it will at some point become too expensive for most people to maintain. As computing technology moves further and further forward, more and more components will become near impossible to get hold off for a reasonable price.

Just look at DSDD Floppy disks. Buying them brand new is getting pretty hard and expensive.

[ImmortalA1000]

Exactly the floppy drive itself is a big issue. I have an A500 and A600 that need floppy drives. External drives are required to make some games even playable.

But Amiga compatible floppy drives come from dead Amigas, so first thing to go will be the ability to load REAL games and at that point emulation becomes the way forward if no more drives are available IMO

[desiv]

Originally Posted by ImmortalA1000

But Amiga compatible floppy drives come from dead Amigas,

Or Amigakit or a PC drive and some solder work...

I've done both, work great...

desiv

I still have a 500 and a 1200, but I don't dare to switch them on because of what I was told about old condensator components which could melt after so many years and ruin the motherboard.

In fact, I'd love to buy a brand new 1200 today and reconfigure it from start. But not easy to find such hardware in France (i take all suggestions ! ).

So today I use exclusively WinUAE. The software is awesome, but it doesn't have the smell of a real 1200, but it is better than nothing.

[Unknown_K]

I never liked emulation much. My first Amiga was a 500 purchased in 2002 (late to the game) and the last was my A4000 purchased a couple years ago. Ten years ago real hardware was much cheaper then it is now (especially in top running condition) and decent working keyboards and mice are harder to come by.

[demolition]

Originally Posted by BabylonZeus

I still have a 500 and a 1200, but I don't dare to switch them on because of what I was told about old condensator components which could melt after so many years and ruin the motherboard.

In fact, the caps will ruin your motherboard faster if you never turn it on. Aluminium electrolytic capacitors should be charged up once a year, or the foil will start to degrade, performance will suffer, and they will eventually leak acid which will eat away any copper in the surroundings..
So my advice is to either have them recapped and start using them, or sell them to someone who will.

Originally Posted by demolition

In fact, the caps will ruin your motherboard faster if you never turn it on. Aluminium electrolytic capacitors should be charged up once a year, or the foil will start to degrade, performance will suffer, and they will eventually leak acid which will eat away any copper in the surroundings..
So my advice is to either have them recapped and start using them, or sell them to someone who will.

Ok, thanks for the information. Do you know if it is quite risky to do it by myself (maybe good tutos with pictures ?) or if it is possible to find some sort of shops who do this kind of repair ?

I have a 1200 which I could restore, but it has not been lit for maybe 10 years.

(maybe there is a better thread to discuss this or it has already been discussed)

[demolition]

Originally Posted by BabylonZeus

Ok, thanks for the information. Do you know if it is quite risky to do it by myself (maybe good tutos with pictures ?) or if it is possible to find some sort of shops who do this kind of repair ?

I have a 1200 which I could restore, but it has not been lit for maybe 10 years.

If you're experienced with a soldering iron and have access to a decent iron suitable for SMD, its not particularly hard to recap an Amiga. Although if the caps have leaked a lot, it might not just need a recap, then it also needs fixing of any broken tracks and vias that the acid may have caused.

I think Amigakit has a recapping service if you don't want to do it yourself. Although due to 2 x postage it may not be very cost-effective..

[bluegreengold]

Originally Posted by amiga_Forever

what happens when that 1084s CRT monitor breaks and you need a techie to fix?

You get a screwdriver, a soldering and desoldering iron and a handful of capacitors.

[illy5603]

Originally Posted by amiga_Forever

Do you think the AMiga will live forever ?

I look at it a lot like classic cars. Every year they get rarer every year but there are still people out there making parts for them and adapting more recent technology (CF cards as hard disks...) to work on the old systems.

It also helps that we have guys like Jens that keep making new parts for these systems.

As far as Amiga 4.X and the next gen Amigas, I think they will eventually stop being made and supported and will eventually fade into obscurity. The "original" Amiga should live on in perpetuity.