Upgrade the Amiga 500 or save for A1200?

[TCD]

While the quitkey is a more or less 'fixable' issue, but problem with WHDLoad slaves without 68020 and 2 MB chip isn't that easily fixable. It's more a statement about 'better get an A1200 if you plan to play WHDLoad games' rather than a 'you can certainly get an A600 up to par with some fixes' here. The A1200 will be cheaper compared to an A600 with 2 MB chip and an 68020 I'd say

[desiv]

Originally Posted by TheCyberDruid

, but problem with WHDLoad slaves without 68020 and 2 MB chip isn't that easily fixable.)

I love the 1200.. That's what I use..

I hadn't heard about slaves requiring an 020 and 2M CHIP (other than games that actually required an 020 and 2M CHIP, mostly AGA games).....

Learn something new every decade.. (I don't like to aim too high)

desiv

[dJOS]

Yep, many games just crash on loading or exhibit weird behaviors on 010's and plain 68k's.

[TCD]

Some examples of WHDLoad games that have problems on an A600:

Alien Syndrome
Apidya
California Games
Conquests of the Longbow
Maniac Mansion
Railroad Tycoon

Only tested under emulation though.

[Lord Aga]

A600 is my personal pet, and it has received most love (money) among all my Amigas. But it is a very specific machine. For the people who know exactly what they want. It is not the best all round machine. Not by a long shot. Also, it is very gentle and frail.

Basic A500 (512+512) teamed up with a moderately expanded A1200 is the best possible combo for maximum enjoyment in 99% of all Amiga games.

[Neil79]

I was looking at more A1200's today and by heck they are expensive upto £300 some of them with average being £200!

Has anyone ever purchased a decent 1200 under 200?

[demolition]

Originally Posted by Neil79

I was looking at more A1200's today and by heck they are expensive upto £300 some of them with average being £200!

Has anyone ever purchased a decent 1200 under 200?

You should be able to get a decent unexpanded A1200 for around £100, e.g. from Amibay. The NOS ones from Petro are around £160 I think, so it shouldn't be much higher than this.

If you want one with an accelerator or other stuff, then you could quickly reach £300.

[Neil79]

Great thanks

[Neil79]

Just seen an Amiga 1200 for £124.99 + £16 P&P

But this put me off

This is complete package with a stack of disks etc the setup is tested, machine working a good package everything you need.

the games disks are untested <--

Personally I'd always test the games if they come with a pack!

There was also someone selling one for £150 on the bay, but £120 in collection. So I offered him the £120 if i could see it working, i'd pay cash in hand. But no response and he doesn't have anything else retro for sale, dodgy perhaps

[Lord Aga]

Why don't you contact Petro ?
His Amigas are brand new, never used, snowy white, and cost 150EUR + postage and stuff.

[Zetr0]

Hmmmm

An Amiga Experience - on a budget?


Sadly it has been a while since I have had to choose an Amiga to invest in, my 23 year collection of obsession at times has granted me lighter pockets for sure, but also a good insight into the Amiga Experience - and each machine (and configuration) differs from slightly to quite a bit indeed.

H ave two largely expanded A500's - one based with the GVP HD500

A500+ KS3.1
68010 / 8MB FAST / 2MB CHIP / 2.1GB HDD (SCSI II DMA)

And the other based on the CBM A570 CD-ROM

A500+ KS3.1
68010 / 8MB FAST / 2MB CHIP / CDROM

both of these offer a different experience, I plan to add a SCSI module / HDD to the A570 (if I can find the schematics on AmiNet) this will allow an external HDD to be added.

Do either of these make good Amiga Games machines - well yes they do, not only does WHDLoad (for the most part) work well, one can always fall-back to DISK's and in the case of the A570 custom CDROM compilations

However I can say that the above are a completely different experience compared to an A1200 or even A600.


So in your position, what would I do?

well I would keep hold of the A500 - build a list of wants for it, (I suggest starting off with mass-storage and memory) and wait for a bargain to come along - in the mean time - I would consider investing in an A600 (with 2MB RAM) or an A1200

the A600 with 2MB RAM (stock A600 only has 1MB), also has IDE - so a very inexpensive 2GB 2.5" IDE laptop hard drive would provide many MANY hours of fun! There are limitations but most have a work-a-round

the A1200 however comes with IDE and 2MB of RAM as standard - roughly twice as fast out of the box compared to the A600 - it offers perhaps the most upgrade options and even the cheapest upgrade path of any Amiga.

As other have suggest you should be able to get a FAST RAM equipped A1200 for under £100 - this I think will provide you with a great Amiga experience as well as leave a taste for more.

but don't get rid of the A500 - there great little pieces of history and should be played with - preferably with an extra 2 port joystick expansion and Gauntlet two with three friends / loot whores / soon to be enemies! =)

[Neil79]

I may have some good news, I've put interest in an Amiga 1200

Will reply later

Also have a floppy cleaner on the way for the A500

Thanks for the informative reply Zetr0

[Neil79]

WOOHOO!!!!!

Fully Cleaned Internally - AMIGA A1200 boxed with PSU, mouse, manuals, WB disks
4Gb CF card plus adapter with clean copy of Workbench installed
£128.13 Including p&p

https://imageshack.us/a/img211/1175/rebuildcompete.png

Got it on delivery, due next week

http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?t=44275

[Zetr0]

@Neil79

Congrats on your purchase..... now the REAL fun begins

[Neil79]

My A500 will remain stock though I'll probably open it up and give it a very good clean, plus the floppy heads. I want it to be a part of the rest of my growing up, perhaps a hand me down to my own kids one day

However the A1200 will be the gaming machine