How was the A4000 sold in US, Europe..

[eXeler0]

Those of you who remember, how was the A4000 sold in terms of included software, hardware. Was it always ”barebone / minimalistic” or were there bundles with say Scala, or Lightwave or Toaster or something else..?
Any differences between US, Europe and the rest of the world?
I can only remember seeing ”barebone” A4000 with nothing extra included in Sweden although it was out of my price range back then so I didnt pay too much attention to how it was sold.

[CCRider]

Not sure if Newtek bundled it directly, but they made great efforts for the computer not look it was an Amiga:

[Matt_H]

Here in the U.S., Commodore shipped at least some configurations of the 4000 completely barebones, with just the OS (disks and manuals). I'd have to go back and check Amiga World and Amazing Computing to see what was being offered at the time. I kind of remember reading about bundles with DPaintIV AGA and some other productivity software, but my suspicion is that those were more Commodore telling dealers "Hey, make sure you also send the customer [package containing other software]" rather than those programs being included in the 4000's box.

Newtek sold full Video Toaster systems under license, but they were branded as Toasters rather than Amigas. Buying a Toaster board separately included the same stickers that were pre-applied to the OEM systems.

I have no idea what Scala did.

[Pyromania]

Scala was selling some AGA machines with a Scala logo after the Commodore Bankruptcy. These were turn key machines to run Scala InfoChannel. I believe many of them were A4000's.

[grelbfarlk]

The package I got on launch included Dpaint-IV and Adpro and something else a word processor which I never used.

[TheLurker]

As there were no dealers anywhere near me, I bought mail order. I don't remember if anything came with it though. I bought the Toaster, WarpEngine, TBC, and AD 516 separately and installed the software I already had. I also picked up InfoChannel but never did much with it.

[eXeler0]

Thanks all,
were there ever any bundles with 24-bit RTG or professional sound cards?

[alexh]

In the UK it was sold mainly bare bones with either A3630 or A3640 plus an optional a CBM 1960 monitor. Maybe they came with DPaint.

Unfortunately http://amr.abime.net chose not to host adverts but look on http://archive.org at some full Amiga magazines around the 1993 time.

Originally Posted by eXeler0

were there ever any bundles with 24-bit RTG or professional sound cards?

You have to remember that the best RTG solutions for A4000 did not arrive until after CBM went bankrupt and after Escom went bankrupt. e.g. Picasso IV was 1996 Cybervision 64/3D was 1996

[TCD]

Since I'm going through CU Amiga atm, here are 4 adverts from CU Amiga 12/1993 for the A4000:

[eXeler0]

Originally Posted by alexh

In the UK it was sold mainly bare bones with either A3630 or A3640 plus an optional a CBM 1960 monitor. Maybe they came with DPaint.

Unfortunately http://amr.abime.net chose not to host adverts but look on http://archive.org at some full Amiga magazines around the 1993 time.


You have to remember that the best RTG solutions for A4000 did not arrive until after CBM went bankrupt and after Escom went bankrupt. e.g. Picasso IV was 1996 Cybervision 64/3D was 1996

Sure, the best ones came later, but already in 1992 there were GVP 110/24, Retina, Vivid24.
Vivid 24 could do 1280x1024 non interlaced at 24 bit, not bad for 1992. It was also expandable so that one in particular was an interesting card for anyone needing a workstation for graphics intensive stuff.
All of the above were Zorro III cards.

[Aulapatchuc]

My A4000 came with 4MB ram and 120Hd disk. It was completely bare bones. I upgraded it to 8Mb and that was it. I bought it in April 1994 for 2200€.

I bought a Cybervision 64 in 1995, along with 16 bit audio card and SCSI 2 controller, SCSI 2 disk, 2.1GB and SCSI CD-ROM and 8MB of RAM.

[sokolovic]

Originally Posted by Aulapatchuc

I bought it in April 1994 for 2200€.

Ouch ! Hope you wasn't too disapointed at the end of thé month.

[Aulapatchuc]

Originally Posted by sokolovic

Ouch ! Hope you wasn't too disapointed at the end of thé month.

To be truly fair, I was, but the Amiga love continued to the point of bashing out another huge sum to upgrade it the year after.

[btp]

Originally Posted by Pyromania

Scala was selling some AGA machines with a Scala logo after the Commodore Bankruptcy. These were turn key machines to run Scala InfoChannel. I believe many of them were A4000's.

According to the Big Book of Amiga Hardware, Scala used CD32 and Amiga 1200 machines with their software. I guess it makes sense business wise if you consider the cost difference compared to an A4000.

[Hedeon]

Originally Posted by Aulapatchuc

I bought it in April 1994 for 2200€.

That according to the 2002 exchange rate?

[S0ulA55a551n]

I am pretty sure there was a software bundle for A4000. Sure I used to have a pack ( although didn't own an A4000) , that had words worth and d-apint etc in it

[CCCP alert]

I think, from memory, Commodore set up something called Amiga Centres of Excellence and it was here you would be able to see things like how using a 24bit graphics card or M-JPEG capture card would be. Off the top of my head I think Amiga Centre Scotland or similar was one of them.

Mail order companies, not the one with the Radio DJ's photos plastered all over the 4-6 page full colour glossy affairs, did just ship the machine barebones. Others shipped with some software, like Dpaint IV etc IIRC.