Locating Amiga HW in the UK

Enverex · 07 May 2002, 18:28

Hi All,
I'm trying to find stuff like accellorators and stuff (GFX cards, Break out boards etc) for my 1200, but I cant find any in the UK, Ebay has about 1 thing a month and dont know of any computer amiga fairs in my area. I want to upgrade but can't

. Anyone know of any web sites or places which may sell equip like this?

Any help appreciated.

turk182 · 07 May 2002, 18:33

check your local papers for boot fares you will be suprised just how many amigas are out there!...Just last week my m8 got 2 1200 with HDs & ACCs for next to nought!.
Gotta get up early though

dreamkatcha · 07 May 2002, 22:32

Here are the links I've stumbled across on my travels so far...

http://www.classiconline.org.uk/
http://amigastuff.co.uk/
http://www.powerc.com/
http://www.eyetech.co.uk/

Hope they help

Enverex · 07 May 2002, 22:43

OMFG

Why the hell is everything so damn expensive!?

Its not fair..........

on another note: can you get the Cyberstorm PPC 604 233MHz 68060 50MHz for the 1200 are are the PPC's only for A4000's?

07 May 2002, 23:06

Quote:

on another note: can you get the Cyberstorm PPC 604 233MHz 68060 50MHz for the 1200 are are the PPC's only for A4000's?

you can

RetroMan · 07 May 2002, 23:16

Quote:

Originally posted by Burseg
you can

Yep

With the fitting Bus-Board no problem, but better get a Blizzard PPC Card for your A1200

Enverex · 08 May 2002, 00:03

and I suppose that costs £5000 just like everything else hm?

blackcornflake · 08 May 2002, 01:39

Quote:

Originally posted by RetroMan
Yep With the fitting Bus-Board no problem, but better get a Blizzard PPC Card for your A1200

@NightShade: RetroMan refers to the difference between Cyberstorm/Blizzard - the Cyberstorm PPC cards are for 'big-box' Amigas [3000/4000], whereas the Blizzard PPCs are for A1200s.

As for the prices...the designers/original manufacturers of these cards were phase 5 Digital Products, whose hardware was always expensive (even by Amiga standards), as it was innovative and high quality. Prior to the first PowerPC Amiga cards, they produced the first 68060 Amiga accelerators. phase 5 are now no more, but DCE (another German firm) have acquired the rights to manufacture phase 5-designed boards.

Generally, Amiga custom hardware has long been higher in price than PC stuff, due in part to extra time/work necessary in production, and also to lower volumes being manufactured/purchased. Those PPC boards carry a Motorola 68k chip, which is expensive itself - no longer mass market; smaller quantities to go around; higher price.

jmmijo · 08 May 2002, 04:33

Yep and the price will most likely go up as the market gets smaller and the parts available goes down as well

kriz · 08 May 2002, 10:10

Dont buy the Blizzard ppc cards, wait for the amigaOne ... As this will be much faster and cheaper (dont need 68k chips) ...

AmigaOne is the future.

08 May 2002, 11:15

Quote:

wait for the amigaOne

I thought it was available now.

blackcornflake · 08 May 2002, 13:40

AmigaOne? Not quite yet. Just around the corner. Like we haven't heard things like that for the last x years...

The Elbox SharkPPC card I intend to get is now 16 months past its originally published release date. Waiting for OS4, I believe. Which itself has slipped rather.

@Echostryker: I had never seen amigastuff until you pointed it out. Nice site. But the prices really are a bit much!

My earlier point about the relative expense of Amiga gear aside, I don't understand quite why third party vendors seem to charge a premium for Amiga products, no matter how old. £30 for a pre-owned IDE buffer card? £50 for a pre-owned 4MB card? I paid £40 for a new one five years ago!

No competition to drive prices down, perhaps.

Interesting fact: Power Computing offer free UK delivery to customers buying PC gear. Amiga stuff? Delivery on top.

Steve · 08 May 2002, 14:14

The best site in the UK for buying second hand Amiga software and hardware is by far and away AmiBench. You can get some really good bargains on there. Good luck with your PPC bargain hunting.

http://www.amibench.org/

Enverex · 08 May 2002, 18:12

So, whats confusing me is:

If I get a Blizzard PPC board, will I be able to get a GFX card like the Picasso IV? If so where does it go?

Another note, anyone know where I can get those board things that give you PCI slots, and if so, where do they plug in?

08 May 2002, 19:30

Quote:

If I get a Blizzard PPC board, will I be able to get a GFX card like the Picasso IV? If so where does it go?

There is another expansion slot on Blizzard PPC boards that permits a Bvision graphic board to be connected. Other types of hardware may be available now or in the future for this specific slot but afaik only graphic board you can get for a Blizzard PPC is Bvision. Bvision has a permedia 2 chip on board and adds 8mb of chip ram to system but it's an old chip and you probably won't want to pay for it when there are other options.

Quote:

Another note, anyone know where I can get those board things that give you PCI slots, and if so, where do they plug in?

That board is called mediator and available from www.elbox.com It can be connected to your 1200's expansion slot directly.

blackcornflake · 08 May 2002, 19:49

All true, Burseg. If I may elaborate with some pros and cons...

There are two PCI busboards made for the A1200. The G-Rex (otherwise known as the Predator-SE) is designed specifically for use with the Blizzard PPC. It actually requires the Blizzard PPC for connection. It is distributed in the UK by Eyetech. One big drawback- it connects via a logic board shaped a lot like the BlizzardVision gfx card, and subsequently makes fitting a BlizzardVision impossible!

As Burseg mentioned, the Mediator works with any accelerator. It connects via a pass-through edge connector, which cunningly allows any existing accelerator to be fitted to the other side. The Mediator board itself hangs down vertically from this pass-through connector, parallel with the A1200 motherboard. Available in UK from Power.

The G-Rex has 5 PCI slots, the Mediator has 4. There is no real PCI performance difference between the two boards.

The Picasso IV is a Zorro-bus gfx card. Zorro? Think of it as Amiga-flavour ISA. Due to its compact design, the A1200 has no internal Zorro slots, unlike the A3000 or A4000. You can purchase a Zorro busboard for the A1200 as an addon: (Z-IV busboard), from Power again. The Picasso IV is the best gfx card available for Zorro systems, as far as I am aware. Similar, but inferior, is the CyberVision64/3D, the forerunner of the BlizzardVision.

My advice? Forget Zorro and the Picasso IV card, which only has 4MB and an outdated chip set. It was brilliant in 1997, but not now. PCI has superseded Zorro.

Phew. And we didn't even get onto the AmigaOne...

08 May 2002, 20:50

Interesting blackcornflake, I didn't know about G-Rex. Will it work with Shark PPC?

And on the page they say:

Quote:

The Predator-SE connects to the PCI expansion port on the BlizzardPPC board. It offers 5x PCI slots with drivers supplied for:

S3 Virge (2D only)
Permedia2 (2D only)
Voodoo3 (Warp3D drivers to be available at a later date)
Voodoo4 (2D only)
Voodoo5 (2D only)
Realtek 8029 network card
Other drivers are planned to be supplied in the future. It also features an ATX power connector for use with ATX-equipped cases.

That doesn't sound good. No one wants to use a PCI busboard and a Voodoo5 just for 2d

.

Enverex · 08 May 2002, 21:54

Hm... no price on the predator, but anyway, I doubt I would be able to aford any of this amiga stuff (that sounds really stupid).

Hm...

jmmijo · 08 May 2002, 22:07

Well if it's anything like here in the states then I agree it's a bit too much but what can you do other then to luck out with something on eBay which seems pretty hard to do anymore

Enverex · 09 May 2002, 00:14

ok, got this from a friend:

"Nightshade.. if you can find a machine that can handle a G3 upgrade card (PDS) than I have 2.. ones a 266 and the other is a 300. Ive had both at 350 with stock cooling."

I can probably get more info, but what he's talking about, would it work in my 1200 if anyone knows why he is refering too?

07 May 2002, 18:28	#1
Enverex Fantasy Man! Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: UK Posts: 1,353	Locating Amiga HW in the UK Hi All, I'm trying to find stuff like accellorators and stuff (GFX cards, Break out boards etc) for my 1200, but I cant find any in the UK, Ebay has about 1 thing a month and dont know of any computer amiga fairs in my area. I want to upgrade but can't . Anyone know of any web sites or places which may sell equip like this? Any help appreciated.

07 May 2002, 22:43	#4
Enverex Fantasy Man! Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: UK Posts: 1,353	OMFG Why the hell is everything so damn expensive!? Its not fair.......... on another note: can you get the Cyberstorm PPC 604 233MHz 68060 50MHz for the 1200 are are the PPC's only for A4000's? Last edited by Enverex; 07 May 2002 at 22:51.

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07 May 2002, 18:33	#2
turk182 Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: london Posts: 188	check your local papers for boot fares you will be suprised just how many amigas are out there!...Just last week my m8 got 2 1200 with HDs & ACCs for next to nought!. Gotta get up early though

07 May 2002, 22:32	#3
dreamkatcha I've got a new byline Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 1,219	Here are the links I've stumbled across on my travels so far... http://www.classiconline.org.uk/ http://amigastuff.co.uk/ http://www.powerc.com/ http://www.eyetech.co.uk/ Hope they help

08 May 2002, 00:03	#7
Enverex Fantasy Man! Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: UK Posts: 1,353	and I suppose that costs £5000 just like everything else hm?

08 May 2002, 04:33	#9
jmmijo Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: PDX Age: 62 Posts: 2,395	Yep and the price will most likely go up as the market gets smaller and the parts available goes down as well

08 May 2002, 10:10	#10
kriz Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: No(R)Way Age: 41 Posts: 3,185	Dont buy the Blizzard ppc cards, wait for the amigaOne ... As this will be much faster and cheaper (dont need 68k chips) ... AmigaOne is the future.

08 May 2002, 13:40	#12
blackcornflake Moderator Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Cereal box Posts: 794	AmigaOne? Not quite yet. Just around the corner. Like we haven't heard things like that for the last x years... The Elbox SharkPPC card I intend to get is now 16 months past its originally published release date. Waiting for OS4, I believe. Which itself has slipped rather. @Echostryker: I had never seen amigastuff until you pointed it out. Nice site. But the prices really are a bit much! My earlier point about the relative expense of Amiga gear aside, I don't understand quite why third party vendors seem to charge a premium for Amiga products, no matter how old. £30 for a pre-owned IDE buffer card? £50 for a pre-owned 4MB card? I paid £40 for a new one five years ago! No competition to drive prices down, perhaps. Interesting fact: Power Computing offer free UK delivery to customers buying PC gear. Amiga stuff? Delivery on top.

08 May 2002, 14:14	#13
Steve I Identify as an Ewok Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: North Lincolnshire Age: 45 Posts: 2,356	The best site in the UK for buying second hand Amiga software and hardware is by far and away AmiBench. You can get some really good bargains on there. Good luck with your PPC bargain hunting. http://www.amibench.org/

08 May 2002, 18:12	#14
Enverex Fantasy Man! Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: UK Posts: 1,353	So, whats confusing me is: If I get a Blizzard PPC board, will I be able to get a GFX card like the Picasso IV? If so where does it go? Another note, anyone know where I can get those board things that give you PCI slots, and if so, where do they plug in?

08 May 2002, 19:49	#16
blackcornflake Moderator Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Cereal box Posts: 794	All true, Burseg. If I may elaborate with some pros and cons... There are two PCI busboards made for the A1200. The G-Rex (otherwise known as the Predator-SE) is designed specifically for use with the Blizzard PPC. It actually requires the Blizzard PPC for connection. It is distributed in the UK by Eyetech. One big drawback- it connects via a logic board shaped a lot like the BlizzardVision gfx card, and subsequently makes fitting a BlizzardVision impossible! As Burseg mentioned, the Mediator works with any accelerator. It connects via a pass-through edge connector, which cunningly allows any existing accelerator to be fitted to the other side. The Mediator board itself hangs down vertically from this pass-through connector, parallel with the A1200 motherboard. Available in UK from Power. The G-Rex has 5 PCI slots, the Mediator has 4. There is no real PCI performance difference between the two boards. The Picasso IV is a Zorro-bus gfx card. Zorro? Think of it as Amiga-flavour ISA. Due to its compact design, the A1200 has no internal Zorro slots, unlike the A3000 or A4000. You can purchase a Zorro busboard for the A1200 as an addon: (Z-IV busboard), from Power again. The Picasso IV is the best gfx card available for Zorro systems, as far as I am aware. Similar, but inferior, is the CyberVision64/3D, the forerunner of the BlizzardVision. My advice? Forget Zorro and the Picasso IV card, which only has 4MB and an outdated chip set. It was brilliant in 1997, but not now. PCI has superseded Zorro. Phew. And we didn't even get onto the AmigaOne...

08 May 2002, 21:54	#18
Enverex Fantasy Man! Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: UK Posts: 1,353	Hm... no price on the predator, but anyway, I doubt I would be able to aford any of this amiga stuff (that sounds really stupid). Hm...

08 May 2002, 22:07	#19
jmmijo Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: PDX Age: 62 Posts: 2,395	Well if it's anything like here in the states then I agree it's a bit too much but what can you do other then to luck out with something on eBay which seems pretty hard to do anymore

09 May 2002, 00:14	#20
Enverex Fantasy Man! Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: UK Posts: 1,353	ok, got this from a friend: "Nightshade.. if you can find a machine that can handle a G3 upgrade card (PDS) than I have 2.. ones a 266 and the other is a 300. Ive had both at 350 with stock cooling." I can probably get more info, but what he's talking about, would it work in my 1200 if anyone knows why he is refering too?

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