Did you get an Amiga because of the C64 legacy?

[alexh]

No. I had an Acorn Electron followed by a Spectrum +3

I bought my Amiga after a friend showed me Xenon II and Shadow of the Beast

[CCCP alert]

Originally Posted by Snoopy1234

No C64 but 4096 colours and stereo sound from a chip same as in the Fairlight synth Dire Straits used had me sold.

Fairlight is 16bit DACs by 1984/85, it was labelled 'Fairlight compatible' in the reviews I saw like on Micro Live playing samples on the A1000 keyboard on that infamous demo.

[grond]

To me "Commodore" was synonymous with "home computers". The first computers I knew of/saw were a VIC20, then a C64. Before I saw an Amiga, I bought a C16 which was in economical reach for me (1986). What I had really wanted was a C64. About that period was probably when I started reading software magazines and "learned" that the Spectrum was something that a proud C64 owner looked down on. I never met anyone with an Atari or CPC, hence, the C64 still seemed the much better choice to get some software. When I finally had saved enough and prices had come down enough, I got one. Before one of the C64 kids in the neighbourhood got an A500, I saw games reviews for Atari ST games and it seemed that this might be a good choice, too. When I eventually saw the Amiga, I didn't waste another thought about the ST. However, both computers were out of reach for me which is why it still took me until 1993 to eventually buy an Amiga (and I bought it with a bit of a feeling of nostalgia as the five or six years that had passed were a long time in the life of a teenager). I had also lost interest in computers for some years.

I guess the comparatively good experience with the C64 would not have influenced my purchase choice if e.g. the Amiga had ended up in Atari's hands. Seeing what the Amiga could do was the main reason for getting one. And since I was influenced by seeing one at my neighbour's home, I would think it was the same for him. The A500 was the new hot toy and that's why he got it. Btw, he sold it quickly to invest the money into a saxophone and I didn't get to see another Amiga until I bought mine. My former neighbour is a professional musician today.

[TCD]

Originally Posted by grond

About that period was probably when I started reading software magazines and "learned" that the Spectrum was something that a proud C64 owner looked down on.

I guess it was a German thing then

[lmimmfn]

Originally Posted by grond

if e.g. the Amiga had ended up in Atari's hands. Seeing what the Amiga could do was the main reason for getting one. And since I was influenced by seeing one at my neighbour's home, I would think it was the same for him. The A500 was the new hot toy and that's why he got it.

Thats a good point, at the time i wouldnt have cared if Atari released the Amiga or if it was Commodore, its the machine/technology itself i wanted, not the branding.

[khph_re]

No, at this point I still expected the next machine I bought to be incompatible with the last. So I'd by the best I could afford regardless of manufacturer.
I didn't realise the wild west of home computing was coming to an end, and that backwards compatibility would be a thing going forward.
It was, strangely, using the ST as an actual computer, and not a glorified games machine (as I has with past computers), that made me want an Amiga.

[jurassicman]

At home we initially had a ZX Spectrum 81 and after that, in 1984 a Commodore 64.

At the end of summer 1989 my dad sold the C64 (i loved it, we just added a 1571 II drive to it and I was enjoying a lot of new games) and I was very disappointed but after a week or so he brought home a shiny Amiga 500...

I was so excited and I couldn't have been more happy... I'm sure that my dad was suggested to do so by some friends/colleagues.

So... yes, we got an Amiga because of the C64 legacy I guess.

[Megalomaniac]

My impression is that every Commodore model was especially successful in Germany, with the Vic-20, C64 and Amiga all market-leading. Probably because Commodore's machines sold in European were all made in Germany for many years? Globally the Vic-20 broke sales records at the time, and the C64 remains the biggest selling single system ever, but in most countries there were other systems that were as big or bigger - the Amstrad in France, the Spectrum in the UK, the MSX in the Netherlands, all the Z80s in Spain, the Spectrum clones in Eastern Europe (both pre and post the end of Communism) so perhaps Commodore is a less synonymous name in most of Europe. Certainly, Clive Sinclair and Alan Sugar are more iconic than anyone from Commodore in the UK - it took a long time for Bill Gates or Steve Jobs to overhaul their recognition.

[amifan]

We had moved to the States from the UK around 1986 and our first Amiga was an A500. I believe what convinced us was seeing the Amiga 1000 in the camera and video shop, shortly after that we got an A500. The funny thing was we also got some copied games from the computer shop of all places lol

[Jope]

Originally Posted by Megalomaniac

Globally the Vic-20 broke sales records at the time, and the C64 remains the biggest selling single system ever, but in most countries there were other systems that were as big or bigger - the Amstrad in France, the Spectrum in the UK, the MSX in the Netherlands, all the Z80s in Spain, the Spectrum clones in Eastern Europe (both pre and post the end of Communism) so perhaps Commodore is a less synonymous name in most of Europe.

Us insignificant nordic people (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark) also had huge Commodore 8-bit and Amiga market shares. According to some sources, Finland had the most Commodore machines per capita of any country. [citation needed]

[phx]

Originally Posted by TCD

I guess it was a German thing then

The Commodore-way was indeed typical for Germany (and probably for Scandinavia as well). I rarely saw Spectrums or Amstrads (which were called Schneider here, IIRC) in the shops, and I didn't know anybody who owned one. MSX was completely absent. I only heard the name much later.

But the reason to focus on Commodore might also be that Germany was the only big European country who was unable to make home computers theirselves (unlike the British, France, Spain, etc.)!

After getting a VIC-20 in 83 and a C64 in 84 there were three factors which brought me to the Amiga:

1. I knew about the system quite early from local home computer magazines (Happy Computer, 64er, etc.). And I knew this will be my dream computer.
2. In 1986 and early 87 I saw it live at friends and relatives.
3. From my former experience I was sure a new computer from Commodore cannot disappoint.

Got the A1000 in spring 1987 together with my brother. Never stopped using Amigas since then.

[TCD]

Originally Posted by phx

But the reason to focus on Commodore might also be that Germany was the only big European country who was unable to make home computers theirselves (unlike the British, France, Spain, etc.)!

Yep, that might be the case indeed. I think I saw a Schneider CPC once in a shop, but compared to the omnipresence of the C64 it was like spotting a unicorn

[Nobby_UK]

Nope, Speccy (plus version) came prior.

C64 too expensive for my family.

An Atari ST was on the cards,
until Commodore/Silica price matched.

[bluescrn]

Parents bought a breadbin C64 in the early days (83/84?), I must have been about 7 at the time.

Some years later, friends started getting A500s, and I got to experience some Amiga games (Xenon 2 being particularly memorable) but I couldn't convince my parents to get an Amiga even when they were looking for a new computer for their own use - they wanted IBM-compatible. The new family computer ended up being an expensive-but-underpowered IBM PS/1 (286, 1MB, VGA, no sound card, 12" monitor).

I remained rather jealous of A500-owning friends for quite a long time. The 286 would run a not-so-great version of DPaint 2, Lemmings, Elite Plus, and eventually Wolfenstein 3D (just about...), but in some ways the C64 was still a better games machine... Audio for a start...

Finally, by 1994, I was able to buy myself an A1200. And while it was getting into the dying days of the Amiga, it was worth the wait. So much playing and learning packed into the next couple of years, while doing my A-levels and trying to make games in Blitz Basic. Added a 120MB HD and an 030/4MB accelerator. Tried every one of the wannabe-Doom-clones of the period.

But by 1996, it was essentially over for the Amiga. The Pentium had arrived, along with Quake. Commodore was gone. Win95 had arrived. Voodoo 1 cards were about to appear. The Amiga was already entering the world of retro computing...

[Galahad/FLT]

Originally Posted by lmimmfn

Thats a good point, at the time i wouldnt have cared if Atari released the Amiga or if it was Commodore, its the machine/technology itself i wanted, not the branding.

Must admit, I didnt much care who made the Amiga either, if had been released by Atari and was the same, I would have wanted it.

Me having seen an Amiga before I got the ST is what made me reject it. Set aside the graphics and how well they were or not moving around the screen, it was the Amigas sound for me that set it apart.

The ST sounded like a more capable BBC in the sound department, but the sound from the Amiga was just leagues ahead.

Even my father that didn't really give a toss about that kind of thing, admitted that when he set it up for me, he sat there and listened to Huelsbecks title music for R-Type in its entirety and admitted "sounds pretty nice that!"

It was only after that that I realised, "oh, it does everything else better as well".

Had I seen an ST for the first time and not an Amiga , I have to say, I don't think I would have bothered with computers at all.

[gimbal]

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

Had I seen an ST for the first time and not an Amiga , I have to say, I don't think I would have bothered with computers at all.

Oof. That's a burn for the ages.

Never say never though. My career in IT would probably also have never taken off if I hadn't seen a classmate make a video game. Overnight I went from hating programming to living it.

[Bruce Abbott]

Originally Posted by Zak

Did you or your relatives get an Amiga for you back then, because of the good legacy of the C64? Or was it a well-planned rational decision because of the technical specifications?

Yes, it was a well-planned rational decision because of the technical specifications.

I first learned of the Amiga in 1985 from the A1000 review in Byte magazine. It had everything I could imagine in a home computer and more! Someone gave me a photocopy of the hardware reference manual too, and after reading it I had to have one. But they weren't available in New Zealand. At the time I had a ZX Spectrum, then Amstrad released the CPC664 so I got that instead. Had loads of fun with it for the next two years, then the A1000 (and A500) arrived in New Zealand and I was finally able to buy one.

I did have a loan of a C64 for a few days, but wasn't that impressed. The floppy drive was very slow and the games supplied with it were not to my tastes. The video display wasn't that great either (I had a mono monitor on my CPC - pin sharp 80 column text!).

Nevertheless I do think being made by Commodore did have some influence on my decision to get an Amiga. The C64 was known for its excellent chipset with sprites, hardware scrolling and SID sound which blew away the Spectrum and CPC. The Amiga was even better. I had never owned a Commodore machine before so this was the perfect time to get one!

[Dunny]

Originally Posted by Bruce Abbott

(I had a mono monitor on my CPC - pin sharp 80 column text!).

I had a CPC colour monitor from the 464 attached to my A1200 - bloody beautiful display, that was. Lovely and glassy and clear, with great colour.

[Ferry]

I learnt BASIC programming with magazines, pencil and paper, and I tried my progs on a friend's VIC-20. Then I started to work as a seller in the computer department of a general store. There I bought my first computer, a CPC 6128 with colour monitor, Xmas '87. I had read a little about the Amiga 1000, but never saw one live.

Then, one year later, a bit before Xmas '88, the A500 arrived to my store: I couldn't believe what it was able to do. I sold A LOT of them before I bought my own one, almost with no effort: I had one on the shop window and one in my store department, showing Battle Chess, Defender of the Crown, Boing demo, Kanankas demo, whatever, they sold themselves.

Like one month before Xmas '88, I sold the CPC and with that money I bought my first A500.

Saluditos,

Ferrán.

[lyzanxia]

For me yes, because most of my friends moved from c64 to amiga. This influenced me, and once I saw the amiga , I was sold