Well I've done it (Again)

[CraigsBar]

Having Sold my 2 Amiga 1200's (One Accelerated) a couple of years ago, They are just too big and bulky and I never really fell for them... I dunno why but the AGA games were a big letdown for me. I never saw the advantage of the lower powered amigas so......


I have bought back into the Amiga world. Although I do not have the desk space for a 500 or the money to accelerate a 1200 again, I don't have the deep pockets required to get a towerised 1200, or a 4000 therefore I decided to keep it low end and compact. So I have just bought what seems to be a mint (non Yellow) 2mb Amiga 600 and 13 games. (One of which was Lemmings, so that was the clincher)


I intend putting a 16 gb DOM, which I have here anyway, in it as it currently has no mass storage so I'll need to buy OS 3.1 floppies and ROM from AmigaKIT or AmigaStore.


But once done it will sit 2nd pride of place on my desk here next to one of my Plus machines and sharing a 19" 4:3 TV/monitor with the GX4000 and Just CPC 128k.


Once the setup is complete I'll grab some photos. I do expect I'll need to accelerate the A600 in the not too distant future, especially if I want to use my WHDLoad licence on it. I expect the 68000 just won't cut it. without some more power.


Anyway I am looking forward to getting it, and setting up my own little corner of Retro Heaven in the home office next to the Mac Pro.


Regards

Craig

[Bryce]

I'm a big A600 fan too, mainly due to its power versus size aspect. For WHLoad you only need the RAM extended, the CPU doesn't really need to be boosted. The only drawback of the A600 over the A1200 (other than AGA) is that a few Flightsim and other games need a numerical pad, which it doesn't have. Don't forget, the HxC is also a worthwhile addition to the A600. Mine has one installed internally. For mass storage a CF card is easier and neater than using a DOM.

Bryce.

[EgoTrip]

Heaven and Mac in the same sentence?

[CraigsBar]

Heaven and Mac in the same sentence?

Yes, my MacPro *is* all powerful

[CraigsBar]

I'm a big A600 fan too, mainly due to its power versus size aspect. For WHLoad you only need the RAM extended, the CPU doesn't really need to be boosted. The only drawback of the A600 over the A1200 (other than AGA) is that a few Flightsim and other games need a numerical pad, which it doesn't have. Don't forget, the HxC is also a worthwhile addition to the A600. Mine has one installed internally. For mass storage a CF card is easier and neater than using a DOM.

Bryce.

I assume the DOM is too big for the case to be reassembled then? Otherwise how can the cf card and adaptor be easier? Well it's bought now l, if it does not fit then I can either fit it via a 90 degree adaptor or use it in the X-mass

[Bryce]

Easy, as in they are easier to find and only need a tiny easily available adapter and take up less space, especially if you have any other hardware expansions in that area.

Bryce.

[CraigsBar]

Easy, as in they are easier to find and only need a tiny easily available adapter and take up less space, especially if you have any other hardware expansions in that area.

Bryce.

Yeah, but I want to remove ribbon cables if possible. The case is so small, I hope the DOM will be a straight plug in and forget expansion. It already has a ram expansion fitted, so should be good to go

[Phantomz]

@CraigsBar Nice to hear you've another Amiga again, I love the Amiga's as much as the Amstrad's, I've got a few different models. 

I would have thought you would have gone for another 1200 instead of a 600, the 600 is a nice looking little machine, but I don't think the 1200 is much bigger really, it's not like in sticks out miles at the rear like the 500.

I understand what you mean about the AGA chipset, it wasn't the chipset that was supposed to come out, it was just a rush job. 

[CraigsBar]

Well I can make space for a 600 on my desk permanently. The 1200 was too long to leave out all the time. Let's face it, for what I will end up using it for (games) I don't need the 1200 coz whilst I has 2 1200s I never saw an aga title that made me go 'WOW!' And I can (and do) still emulate the aga chipset on MorphOS anyway.

[Bryce]

I never saw an aga title that made me go 'WOW!'

Banshee. My favourite AGA game

Bryce.

[Phantomz]

I like the " Eye of the Beholder AGA (VGA) Ports "  also, the 1200 lets you play the Atari ST ports of games like, " Gauntlet, Super Sprint, International Karate " etc 

[Carnivius]

Also A1200 being faster than A500/600 is useful for various games particularly 3D ones which do run better... even moreso when you put the A1200 into NTSC mode (boot menu when you hold down both mouse buttons on powering up or reset)  Never found my A1200 too big at all.  I always thought it was rather compact especially compared to the Amiga 500 and all the PC's and such. 

I really like Super Stardust on AGA.  I felt that used extra colours well.   Plus I used Deluxe Paint IV AGA a lot which allowed artists to make use of the extra colours.
Although when you look at Ruff N' Tumble which has gorgeous use of colour, depth, shadering and realise that runs on a normal Amiga 500 you realise that extra colours don't mean anything if artists don't know how to use them properly and games with less colours can look like a lot more.  Part of the reason why I find so many more retro games to appear more colourful than most modern games despite the actual amount of colours being hugely different.


Been tempted lately to have a go at de-yellowing my A1200.  It's not too bad... until you compare it to how it used to look.  As I said to someone to twitter the other day it's like moving your couch and seeing what colour your carpet used to be.

[VincentGR]

Although I prefer 16bit Amigas, a 1200 is a must buy.
You can hide her behind a monitor or under the desk and use a small external keyboard and a wireless mouse.

[CraigsBar]

Like I said, I had 2 1200's one with a working 030 @ 50mhz and the other had a faulty Apollo 040 @ 66mhz. If I had known Bryce better back then I might have asked him to take a look at the Apollo, and then kept that machine. But I don't have the money, space or inclination to go down the 1200 route again. This little 600 looks beautiful, not yellow, still got the protective plastic on the case badge.
The DOM was cheap enough and 3.1 ROMs and discs are less that 40 euro for the set.
So for under 200 euro I will have a looking new a600 with 3.1, 16gig ssd, 2mb ram and whdload.
I might yet get an 020 accelerator and then put os 3.9 on it at a later time, I have the original CD here that I use under emulation. So that will be as good as free.

[TFM]

Just thinking what I can get for 200 Euros for the CPC... 

[CraigsBar]

Just thinking what I can get for 200 Euros for the CPC... 

not a lot to be honest.


a good condition CPC is gonna be 100ish (120+ for a ropey plus), then OK X-Mem, X-Mass, Mother4x, Multiface and RTC, we are already over the 200 mark and we've not got Gotek/HxC, Mouse interface, PlayCity, MiniBooster etc
And if you go for a plus then the C4CPC will push it right up.


and anyway I have all of these already. What I want is a machine to play lemmings on, with a mouse. ;-)


Although I am now looking for an Amiga copy of Pang... anyone have one spare?


Craig

[TFM]

Well, thanks to TotO on CPC side we do get expansions for a great - means small - price. On Amiga side IMHO things are more expensive. I would do this:


36 Euro CPC6128 (incl. shipping)
X-MASS, X-MEM, PlayCity, MultiPlay....


.... still plenty of money for the weekend! 


But back to topic, some of this Amiga games are a nice inspiration for Plus games actually. 

[CraigsBar]

Chancing my luck here. Particularly to the hardware guys @TotO, @Bryce, @Talrek etc.... Can any of you make me a 44pin ide  connector that will allow me to use my 44pin Female Dom's (X-mass and amiga) with my 44pin idea -> USB adaptor.

My adaptor is one of these

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=271414874877&alt=web

[TFM]

I would take such an adaptor too. Please +1 

[CraigsBar]

I would take such an adaptor too. Please +1 

Well I found one on Ebay. OK it comes with a long cable that I don't need, but it does seem to swap the pins over correctly


Sintech 2SET 44pin IDE Male TO Male Extension Adapter Card 10cms Cable 4 DOM SSD


Will let you know if it works once it arrives.

[The Last Bandit]

Its well worth getting a ACA620 and A604n memory upgrade for it as well.

[CraigsBar]

Its well worth getting a ACA620 and A604n memory upgrade for it as well.

Not this week! It already has a ram upgrade, and, although I would like an rtc for it, I cannot justify that right now. The aca620 upgrade, we'll see how well whdload works without it first.

[dodogildo]

Welcome back to Amiga. I adore how much Amiga 600 is compact and beautiful. She's the better looking sibling. But for 1200 you can have many affordable upgrades like the ACA 1221.

Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk

[CraigsBar]

Welcome back to Amiga. I adore how much Amiga 600 is compact and beautiful. She's the better looking sibling. But for 1200 you can have many affordable upgrades like the ACA 1221.

Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk

OK, I have bought (and fitted) a newer ram upgrade and rtc. And put myself on the preorder list for a vampire 600 v2 accelerator. That should sort whdload out nicely

[CraigsBar]

Hmmm, having played about with this now. I notice I have very quiet audio on the right channel. A websearch later and a visual inspection of the caps.... Oops! OK does anyone know of a retro recapping service in Galway area?