Shopping list for new Amiga 500

[bendz]

Hi Everyone,

So good to see so many people keeping the Amiga love going. I've wanted an Amiga for years and I am pretty sure that a family friend has picked me up a 500 for my birthday. So I am in the slightly awkward position of wanting to pick up a few bits and pieces before May so that if I'm right, I will be ready to get it all going.

I've done a fair bit of skulking in groups and forums over the last couple of years, so I think that I need an RGB2HDMI mod and a Gotek as a minimum to get me started. Are there any other things I should look out for as a basic setup? Or am I completely wrong?! I know nothing about the Amiga apart from the serial number and a photo of *something* in the trap door expansion (which is filling me with dread...).

Any advice gratefully received!

[dreadnought]

Welcome to the Amiga World

If you want HDMI, you might want to look at PiStorm which offers that, but also a lot more - especially HDD functionality. Gotek is great for starters but messing with adf files can get a bit tiresome, especially with multi-disk games. HDD (using WHDLoad) solves that and you can also have proper OS/Workbench then.

If you have a spare RPi then it's a really cheap solution, otherwise it might get a bit pricey.

The scary trap door something is most likely the 0.5 MB RAM expansion, which is a handy thing to have (a lot of games require it). Apart from that you'll need a mouse and some sort of joystick/gamepad, depnding on your preference. The original ones are more expensive, and prone to faults, but there are also modern solutions (eg adapers for USB mice, or new direct-DB9 controllers)

[RetroPassionUK]

Hello! welcome back to the fold and the A500 is a perfect start to the journey. I would keep it simple:

Gotek Drive

RGB2HDMI yes but only if you can find the Pi Zero, that's the issue, but the other option is a RGB to scart lead and then scart to HDMI as that will then work with any computer/console you may get in the future and is what I use in my twitch streams. or look our for a portable CRT TV/Monitor!!

And see how you go, you can then look at things like in the future:

Terrible Fire accelerator TF536 or TF534 for WHDLoad (don't forget up upgrade the chip ram).

3.1 or 3.2 kickstart/workbench/AmigaOS

New PSU (clean, light & modern)

But an A500 with a gotek and video leads will give you the kick your looking for. As many of our customers start on a A500 and then later trade them in for an A1200 or CD32 :-)

Enjoy the journey!

Steve

[bendz]

Originally Posted by dreadnought

Welcome to the Amiga World

If you want HDMI, you might want to look at PiStorm which offers that, but also a lot more - especially HDD functionality. Gotek is great for starters but messing with adf files can get a bit tiresome, especially with multi-disk games. HDD (using WHDLoad) solves that and you can also have proper OS/Workbench then.

If you have a spare RPi then it's a really cheap solution, otherwise it might get a bit pricey.

The scary trap door something is most likely the 0.5 MB RAM expansion, which is a handy thing to have (a lot of games require it). Apart from that you'll need a mouse and some sort of joystick/gamepad, depnding on your preference. The original ones are more expensive, and prone to faults, but there are also modern solutions (eg adapers for USB mice, or new direct-DB9 controllers)

Thanks, that is all really positive and good to hear! I have looked into the PiStorm and it seems like a fantastic add on. I've used WHDLoad on my MiSTer so I am familiar with that and I do like the idea of being able to use a HD. Definitely something I'll look into once the Pi3a+ becomes available again!!

I still have a Speedking that I used on my C64 so I'm guessing that will work on an Amiga?

Thanks for your friendly reply, really excited to get started with this!

[bendz]

Originally Posted by RetroPassionUK

Hello! welcome back to the fold and the A500 is a perfect start to the journey. I would keep it simple:

Gotek Drive

RGB2HDMI yes but only if you can find the Pi Zero, that's the issue, but the other option is a RGB to scart lead and then scart to HDMI as that will then work with any computer/console you may get in the future and is what I use in my twitch streams. or look our for a portable CRT TV/Monitor!!

And see how you go, you can then look at things like in the future:

Terrible Fire accelerator TF536 or TF534 for WHDLoad (don't forget up upgrade the chip ram).

3.1 or 3.2 kickstart/workbench/AmigaOS

New PSU (clean, light & modern)

But an A500 with a gotek and video leads will give you the kick your looking for. As many of our customers start on a A500 and then later trade them in for an A1200 or CD32 :-)

Enjoy the journey!

Steve

Steve the RetroPassion website takes up an hour of my day, every day! Thanks for your reply. I have a PiZero2 ready to go for the RGB2HDMI mod. I did wonder if I could desolder the extra ports on a Pi3b and use that on the PiStorm? I have a 3b and as I'm sure you are aware the Pi3a+ seem to be endlessly out of stock.

I like your idea of going RGB-SCART-HDMI too though.

[trixster]

an A500 with a gotek, a decent joystick and an RGBtoHDMI is 90+% of the amiga experience. contrary to popular belief, you dont have to spend a fortune anything else is convenience and / or diminishing returns for exponential cash

[bendz]

Originally Posted by trixster

an A500 with a gotek, a decent joystick and an RGBtoHDMI is 90+% of the amiga experience. contrary to popular belief, you dont have to spend a fortune anything else is convenience and / or diminishing returns for exponential cash

Thanks, I'll try and remember that in 6 months time when I have packages arriving every other day

Seriously though that is great to know, it seems that my eternal lurking in groups and forums has, for once, resulted in a small amount of knowledge lodging in my ageing brain!

[stevelord]

Originally Posted by bendz

So I am in the slightly awkward position of wanting to pick up a few bits and pieces before May so that if I'm right, I will be ready to get it all going.

It'd be good to know a bit about your budget, how comfortable you are opening things up, and some of the things you might want to do. I expect you'd like to play games but would you also like to play with Vista, or edit photos on your Amiga?

Originally Posted by bendz

I've done a fair bit of skulking in groups and forums over the last couple of years, so I think that I need an RGB2HDMI mod and a Gotek as a minimum to get me started. Are there any other things I should look out for as a basic setup? Or am I completely wrong?

There's no right or wrong. There's never been a better time to own an Amiga 500. You have all the time to order stuff but for a basic setup I'd go minimal then expand. I second RP Steve's suggestion of an RGB-SCART - SCART-HDMI setup to start with. I'd also look into the state of the mouse and joysticks that come with the Amiga. Again, it depends on what you want to do and budget. Don't forget the audio isn't carried with the video signal, so some way to hook up the RCA phono jacks to your audio setup is essential. Some floppies and either a USB-serial cable and AmigaXfer, or an external Gotek and DF0/DF1 toggle switch will let you write ADF files from the TOSEC Amiga collection to disk. I'd start with an AmiTestKit disk to see what works and what needs love.

Once you know the state of the trapdoor expansion, any battery damage, and any other hardware issues you can start looking at repairs and expansions. I'd start with the bare minimum, have a look on YouTube for videos around the expansions you're interested in and make sure the person is using a similar A500 setup to your own. PiStorm offers a lot of bang for buck but comes with it's own issues. Thankfully this forum has discussed most of them. Best of luck!

[bendz]

Originally Posted by stevelord

It'd be good to know a bit about your budget, how comfortable you are opening things up, and some of the things you might want to do. I expect you'd like to play games but would you also like to play with Vista, or edit photos on your Amiga?



There's no right or wrong. There's never been a better time to own an Amiga 500. You have all the time to order stuff but for a basic setup I'd go minimal then expand. I second RP Steve's suggestion of an RGB-SCART - SCART-HDMI setup to start with. I'd also look into the state of the mouse and joysticks that come with the Amiga. Again, it depends on what you want to do and budget. Don't forget the audio isn't carried with the video signal, so some way to hook up the RCA phono jacks to your audio setup is essential. Some floppies and either a USB-serial cable and AmigaXfer, or an external Gotek and DF0/DF1 toggle switch will let you write ADF files from the TOSEC Amiga collection to disk. I'd start with an AmiTestKit disk to see what works and what needs love.

Once you know the state of the trapdoor expansion, any battery damage, and any other hardware issues you can start looking at repairs and expansions. I'd start with the bare minimum, have a look on YouTube for videos around the expansions you're interested in and make sure the person is using a similar A500 setup to your own. PiStorm offers a lot of bang for buck but comes with it's own issues. Thankfully this forum has discussed most of them. Best of luck!

Thanks for your reply. I guess I just want to get it up and running and take things from there. I'd definitely like to be able to play tunes (Hippo Player?) so I have already looked at sound bars that have RCA inputs.

I'm pretty confident at getting things open and tinkering if I need to and I can solder to a basic level. At least I managed to solder the GPIO header onto a PiZero and nothing caught fire. Not so far anyway...

[dreadnought]

What exactly is this SCART-HDMI solution? Isn't it something with a lot of caveats?

"What's your budget" is a good question, but that's also why I recommend having a little think beforehand and perhaps spend a bit more at the start than buy things bit-by-bit. For example, I also went with the "minimal" setup - Gotek and some old joystick from the web, but that wasn't really much fun, so I later ended up buying ACA500+ and a proper new joy. Doing that first would save me some money.

[trixster]

ACA500Plus is a very, very good A500 upgrade. It does so much very well. I'd recommend it highly.

[bendz]

Originally Posted by dreadnought

What exactly is this SCART-HDMI solution? Isn't it something with a lot of caveats?

"What's your budget" is a good question, but that's also why I recommend having a little think beforehand and perhaps spend a bit more at the start than buy things bit-by-bit. For example, I also went with the "minimal" setup - Gotek and some old joystick from the web, but that wasn't really much fun, so I later ended up buying ACA500+ and a proper new joy. Doing that first would save me some money.

I haven't thought too much about budget to be honest, beyond the RGB2HDMI and Gotek. I have a working joystick so no problem there. I guess I'll see how everything looks when I get the machine. Thank you for your advice!

[bendz]

Originally Posted by trixster

ACA500Plus is a very, very good A500 upgrade. It does so much very well. I'd recommend it highly.

Just been looking at that, sounds fantastic!

[trixster]

it's a complete toolkit for an otherwise unexpanded A500. turns it into a good whdload machine (for whdload slaves that still dont req 2MB chip), and is good to pair with a gotek too as you can use the gotek as an external df0:

It's a doddle to set up dual-boot WB 1.3 and WB 3.1 installs too, on the CF 'harddisk', for that full nostalgia feeling.

[manossg]

Another vote here for the ACA500+, what an awesome piece of hardware!

[Anubis]

Shopping list for new Amiga:

Get following:
1. DE10-Nano Board
2. MiSTer FPGA
3. Memory
4. USB Board (optional, you can also get use USB HUB)
5. Keyboard
6. Mouse
7. Gamepad / joystick
8. Case (optional)

This covers all other hardware you can run on this setup, including C64, Speccy, Apple II, BBC-B, Amstard CPC, Atari 800, Mac Plus, Sharp X68000....

[attle]

I would choose RGB2HDMI over a Scart-HDMI adaptor, the image quality is massively better.

[trixster]

Originally Posted by Anubis

Shopping list for new Amiga:

Get following:
1. DE10-Nano Board
2. MiSTer FPGA
3. Memory
4. Keyboard
5. Mouse
6. Gamepad / joystick
7. Case (optional)

This covers all other hardware you can run on this setup, including C64, Speccy, Apple II, BBC-B, Amstard CPC, Atari 800, Mac Plus, Sharp X68000....

Nice kit. It is absolutely not the same though.

[alexh]

Originally Posted by Anubis

Shopping list for new Amiga:

Get following:
1. DE10-Nano Board
2. MiSTer FPGA
3. Memory
4. USB Board (optional, you can also get use USB HUB)
5. Keyboard
6. Mouse
7. Gamepad / joystick
8. Case (optional)

This covers all other hardware you can run on this setup, including C64, Speccy, Apple II, BBC-B, Amstard CPC, Atari 800, Mac Plus, Sharp X68000....

See above.

Originally Posted by bendz

I've used WHDLoad on my MiSTer

He already has all of that. But a friend is giving him an A500 as a present!

[Anubis]

I missed all of that... (should drink coffee first and read ) Thank you for pointing that out.

If he already has all of that, does it really make sense to invest into A500?? Ok with PiStorm, but everything else is just either too expensive or too hard to get, even if you willing to pay the price. (this includes PiStorm)