Apollo V4+ Game Bundle vs Ultimate MiSTer PRO BlisSTer DUAL RAM

[drHirudo]

Both of them are excellent hardware.

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But after having them for some days already, I can say the Apollo V4+ wins for me, but this is from Amiga user perspective. For people who are more into various retro hardware, the Ultimate MiSTer may come better.

Apollo V4+ Game Bundle vs Ultimate MiSTer PRO BlisSTer DUAL RAM

Both devices are priced almost the same.
Fast comparison: A is for Apollo V4+ Game Bundle, U is for Ultimate MiSTer PRO BlisSTer DUAL RAM

A comes in excellent package, includes Mouse, Keyboard and Joystick. For the U you have to provide them separate, and USB hub as well.

A comes with 512 MB Fast RAM on the Amiga. U comes with 256 MB Fast RAM (seen in Workbench).

A comes with Amiga DB9 ports for using old Amiga joysticks and mice (not much useful for me, but still I can decide to attach some device).

A is very easy to connect to the Internet - demo version of IBrowse is attached and I connected instantly from Workbench. U needs some tinkering. Still didn't found a way to add stuff to the card, except by removing in and using SD card reader on another machine.

A is closed source, U is open source.

A is providing very fast classic 68K Amiga experience. U is providing Amiga experience with many games pre-installed. Once you are bored with the Amiga on U, you can try hundreds of other retro machines, consoles and arcade games. Some of these computers can be emulated on the Amiga with the A, but not all of them - for example there are VICE68K and MagiC64 (which has very bad D64 support), ASp for Sinclair and many other computers. Still have to check if ShapeShifter and/or Fusion will work good on the A. U has MacPlus core, with some games working (Lode Runner for example), but for later and faster 68K Mac machines emulation, the A may come better.

A comes with switchable (on/off) power supply. For U I have to unplug from the socket.

A is Black, U is White.

A is the best Classic Amiga that I've ever owned. U is the best retro oriented hardware that I've ever owned.

U can emulate PlayStation (PSX). Not sure how good FPSE 68K will perform on the A.

More to come as I tinker with both devices (at the same time).

So far the issues I have is that I can't framegrab with my BlackMagic DeckLink 4K the image from neither of the devices. My capture card is very picky about the resolution and the refresh rate. If you don't provide it exactly 50 Hz/60 Hz at the supported resolutions, it gives black screen. I captures excellent from AmigaOne (micro and X1000), C64, SNES, Atari etc, but has troubles with capture from PPC Macs (PowerBook, MacMini, iMac G4 and G5).
I bought three different HDMI to USB capture devices, hopefully capture of the A and U will work.

screenmode prefs on the A says 50/60 Hz of the modes that I select, but still not exactly this rate, because I can't framegrab.

[Anubis]

I thought that U can go up to 384MB ram, and if you want to test faster Amiga on U, get hybrid core for miggy.

https://github.com/scrameta/Minimig-AGA_MiSTer_Hybrid

PSX is one of rare cores that has save states and works really well.

GBA core is also worth checking. (EDIT - Actually all cores are worth checking)

Did not watch whole video, are you using Update All or just Update?

As for this:

U needs some tinkering. Still didn't found a way to add stuff to the card, except by removing in and using SD card reader on another machine.

When you start MISTER, it should show IP if you have it connected to internet (or with WiFi dongle as I have) and you can use FTP to connect and upload files.

For minimig, you can create share folder and use it as bridge between windows and amiga. (easy to load files )

Are you using Amiga OS3.2 or something else?

[drHirudo]

Update:
With 25 € HDMI to USB capture device finally I can framegrab the U. Now I can record all my U Amiga screens. Something that the 800 € Decklink wasn't able to do. Oh well, sometimes more expensive is not better, especially for retro gaming.

[Anubis]

Did you try to press Win + LShift + Print Screen by any chance?

[drHirudo]

Originally Posted by Ras Voja

I wish to capture Indi ECS mk3 and Vampire V2 HDMI Out as well as WII U out. What do you use?
I liked EL Gato that Ms Mad lemon uses, but hard to find.

It is strange named HDMI Video Capture cheap Chinese device, but it works nice. I bought same brand two other more expensive devices - one with HDMI out and another with Audio In (plus HDMI Out - the most expensive). Basically I think al these use same chipset inside, but as far as it works, I will use it and capture camera input with the Decklink. I may do unboxing videos of them, if I find the time and Jr doesn't hide them somewhere.

I've tried recording the 3D Demo II from Anarchy, but there are lots of resolution switches, which need time for adapting, making the demo almost unwatchable:

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I selected 384 MB RAM for the miniMIG core and it works (showing 400,000 KB free memory in Workbench. Still the Apollo V4 has 512 MB and 10 MB Chip RAM (only 2 MB for the MiSTer).

For me the A is the better Amiga product. As I wrote in OP, the MiSTer is better for people who like retro hardware and gaming in general, but the A wins the heart of true Amigan. That's it.

[drHirudo]

Another update. It's good that I bought several modifications of these cheap USB capture device. The second one that I tested has HDMI out, I connected the HDMI out from it to the Decklink 4K and it magically works (converts the signal to appropriate resolution/refresh rate). So now i can use the Decklink again for capture or use this capturer to capture through USB. I will test with the Time Sleuth Display Lag Tester which one of the methods is faster/slower.

[drHirudo]

Originally Posted by Ras Voja

Link please? To buy?
i afree Angela V4 is better then Mister, as Amiga sys. But mister can morph to something else.

I can't find link but these USB capturers are crap. It gives me ~100 ms lag, compared to 50 ms when I go to the HDMI Out->Decklink option. Which means, the USB interface adds 50 ms of lag. (Tested with Time Sleuth Display Lag Tester). But I can't use the HDMI Out->Decklink with the A. It works only with the U! I made some videos, which I may post sometime. Too busy right now, testing Linux and Internet connection on the MiSTer.

[drHirudo]

Update: Both machines work fine. I use both in different rooms, switching from one to another. Still some issues that need to fix on both sides.

On the MiSTer - the MiniMIG core seems better than the Apollo V4+ core for gaming. The old ECS and even AGA games play better on the MiSTer. On the V4+ the scrolls are very sluggish, leaving visible trails, making the games almost unplayable. No such issues on the MiSTer. Either I broke the Apollo V4+ somehow, or there is some setting that I need to set, or probably switch from the ApolloOS to AmigaOS?

At first I didn't notice any trails or sluggish scrolls and movements, because I ran Hexel by Ephidrena demo, which worked almost perfect, expect for some scrolls with broken patters. Additionally on the Apollo V4+ some of the screenmodes are not centered and some of the screens are not visible on the display, with field out of the visible area. Didn't notice such issue on the MiniMIG.

On the other hand, I didn't manage to get inside the MiSTer from the Internet. When i connect, it gets IP, but I can't connect FTP, Web Server, SSH or any other means. The only way that I was able to use the MiSTer to the Internet was by installing some Linux variant - LXDE Lightweight X1 Desktop Environment which has FireFox, but it is slow. Didn't try MiAmi or AmiTCP to connect to the Internet from the MiniMIG core, if it is possibie at all (has drivers).

On the Apollo V4+, I have no issues connecting to the Internet with IBrowse, from ApolloOS, but once I connect to the Internet from that machine, some of my other Internet connectent machines loses it's internet connection and i need reboot of the machines and router switches. Strange situation.

Anyway, my top priority now is fixing the Apollo V4+ sluggish movements, if possible and the uncentered screenmodes (if possible). Then I will try to set some recording setup of it, without too much lag (hopefully will reach under 100 ms).