Commodore Amiga owners thread!

[Nemiyen]

I've just setup WinUAE on my laptop and having spent awhile getting the settings right... Scanlines, 2x line doubling etc (you have to use scanlines it just seems to smooth the jaggies and makes the picture better) I'm now having a blast playing the original cannon fodder. I can't help but keep using save states but I've managed to get to mission 11 without a single man lost!) But it's getting really hard now.

Amigas are burned in my childhood. I owned an a500 and really wanted an a1200 when my best mate got one but had to wait and save to get one. The first time I played settlers on my mates a1200 and it had sound due to the extra chip ram I knew I had to have one!

When I was working I owned an a600 and cd32 as well but sold my retro collection when I moved out my parents house as I didn't have the space (Philips CDI and Pana 3d0 Atari jaguar etc) and all my Amigas bar a few a1200s which I super regret to this day.

I'm half and half with the standalone vampire. I want it for the sake of having a unique Amiga experience but WinUAE on my laptop just works perfectly and looks great!

 

[MOOGLEYS]

Been playing Xenon 2 it’s a lot harder than I remember or I’m now just old and crap....lol...

 

[Monkeh]

I'll agree to disagree with the Vampire enthusiasts in its current form - I looked into it and at some point decided emulation is emulation and took the cheaper and better performing alternative for that side of the hobby. Right now it sits in my mind like the PSX Classic does to the Playstation OG - overpriced for what it achieves. I fully understand and know the current price of owning real hardware and their upgrades, I stopped collecting a couple of years back 4 machines short of a set when the prices hit a point where it was impractical for me to continue buying them and these are the CDTV, CD32, A3000T and A4000T - so it isn't like I'm not comparing emulation to real.

Some of my current collection to hand:

https://i.imgur.com/GuKJj4E.jpg

Left to right there is an A600, boxed A500+ and my A1000 sat on top of that, then 2x A2000 and an A1500 2 of which are are running GVP 030 cards one has a GVP 040 card in it, then on top of them are 2x A4000 one is rev B 4000/40 stock and the other is a rev D A4000EC30 with a Cyberstorm mk3 060 and Picasso IV installed, then on the right is my stock A3000 25Mhz. There are also a pair of unboxed A1200's behind there think one has a GVP 030 50Mhz accelerator and the other has a ACA 030 accelerator in it, both run CF cards instead of mechanical drives. I have more machines and upgrades knocking around but they're stored at my brothers atm and some of them are in need of some attention to get them back to fully working or cleaned when I get chance, mainly A500's but there is another A2000 and an A4000/40 that need some work on them as well. I also have a full space invader A500 with the C+ keyboard and the embedded Commodore logo in the case somewhere.

I applaud the Vampire team for trying to do something - it is a noble effort for them to try to breath new life into the machine, but its hardly practical when stacked against the alternatives out there in either the newer accelerators emerging in the last couple of years or old guard emulators imo. They had the potential to do something great but fell way short of the mark - building on the work of something like Amy ITX as one example path comes to mind if you're aiming for a stand alone modern classic Amiga replacement.

It is a weird time for the Amiga atm, there are several amazing projects underway, with newly made PCBs available for the A500+, A1200 and A4000's, as well as the A3640 PCB which are leading to evolutions where new functionality is being added along with fixes to Commodores legendary original sloppy engineering snafus are being introduced and in the next couple of years I can really see a lot of new home brew machines appearing for the more extreme end of the community - but I don't feel like Vampire is a part of that. Also most of the competition are open sourcing their products unlike Vampire which makes them a lot more accessible and easier to fix and prototype.

 

[naefeart]

Impressive collection, I wish i had kept mine, but there's only so much that's practical. My A1200 is the last remnants of my Amiga hoarding days.

I'm not going to try and change anyone's view about the Vampire, but my experience leads me to disagree with the 'emulation is emulation' pov.

Anyway, as you've alluded to, it's interesting times for the Amiga, especially considering how long ago the format officially died. I'm equal opportunities so I welcome all new projects/developments that come out. Anything that gives me more choice and keeps such retro communities going/expanding.

 

[Deleted member 66701]

I hate software emulation, just doesn't feel like an amiga.

Re-ipmplentation of the Amiga custom chipset in hardware like the Vampire is a much better approach. I'm deffinititely having a V4 the moment it comes out, even if it is 400 quid. I don't have any classic amiga hardware now I've sold the cdtv so it'll be just the v4 and x5000 to keep the flame burning.

 

[One Vision]

The amiga 500 with the red power light is the one that works with most games. The a500 with the green powerlight, well some games do not work. Both on Ks 1.3.
I remember Alien Breed used to crash on green powerlight version as well as other games.

 

[naefeart]

So, excitedly some treats came today. One of which, a new 1200 case. Having seen so many yellowed cases, I was always worried mine might go the same way. Luckily it didn't, but I'm surprised by the difference when I compare new and old:





If anything, my 1200 has a dark cream/light grey case. Actually it reminds me of my original A500. Quite a stark contrast to the new white case. It's a nice case and I like the cooling slot at the bottom, but I can't help feel I prefer my darker case... oh well. I'll keep it anyway, it could come in handy. I'll need to source a new badge, this could be trickier.

 

[Duke]

I'll need to source a new badge, this could be trickier.

In the video below at 19:15 Neil recommends these people - https://www.facebook.com/plakativdruck/

 

[naefeart]

Aha! Awesome. Thanks Duke, looks very promising

 

[MOOGLEYS]

So, excitedly some treats came today. One of which, a new 1200 case. Having seen so many yellowed cases, I was always worried mine might go the same way. Luckily it didn't, but I'm surprised by the difference when I compare new and old:





If anything, my 1200 has a dark cream/light grey case. Actually it reminds me of my original A500. Quite a stark contrast to the new white case. It's a nice case and I like the cooling slot at the bottom, but I can't help feel I prefer my darker case... oh well. I'll keep it anyway, it could come in handy. I'll need to source a new badge, this could be trickier.

My A1200 I had from new was never that light and more like your original tbh. New case also looks smaller ?

 

[naefeart]

Nah, optical illusion. I thought that when I was laying them out, i checked and they're totally the same size.

Interesting, but with Commodore's build quality anything's possible re the case colour over the years.

 

[Duke]

Glad to help - report back if you get one from them Was going to also mention it looking much smaller than the current case

 

[Nemiyen]

I'll agree to disagree with the Vampire enthusiasts in its current form - I looked into it and at some point decided emulation is emulation and took the cheaper and better performing alternative for that side of the hobby. Right now it sits in my mind like the PSX Classic does to the Playstation OG - overpriced for what it achieves. I fully understand and know the current price of owning real hardware and their upgrades, I stopped collecting a couple of years back 4 machines short of a set when the prices hit a point where it was impractical for me to continue buying them and these are the CDTV, CD32, A3000T and A4000T - so it isn't like I'm not comparing emulation to real.

Some of my current collection to hand:

https://i.imgur.com/GuKJj4E.jpg

Left to right there is an A600, boxed A500+ and my A1000 sat on top of that, then 2x A2000 and an A1500 2 of which are are running GVP 030 cards one has a GVP 040 card in it, then on top of them are 2x A4000 one is rev B 4000/40 stock and the other is a rev D A4000EC30 with a Cyberstorm mk3 060 and Picasso IV installed, then on the right is my stock A3000 25Mhz. There are also a pair of unboxed A1200's behind there think one has a GVP 030 50Mhz accelerator and the other has a ACA 030 accelerator in it, both run CF cards instead of mechanical drives. I have more machines and upgrades knocking around but they're stored at my brothers atm and some of them are in need of some attention to get them back to fully working or cleaned when I get chance, mainly A500's but there is another A2000 and an A4000/40 that need some work on them as well. I also have a full space invader A500 with the C+ keyboard and the embedded Commodore logo in the case somewhere.

I applaud the Vampire team for trying to do something - it is a noble effort for them to try to breath new life into the machine, but its hardly practical when stacked against the alternatives out there in either the newer accelerators emerging in the last couple of years or old guard emulators imo. They had the potential to do something great but fell way short of the mark - building on the work of something like Amy ITX as one example path comes to mind if you're aiming for a stand alone modern classic Amiga replacement.

It is a weird time for the Amiga atm, there are several amazing projects underway, with newly made PCBs available for the A500+, A1200 and A4000's, as well as the A3640 PCB which are leading to evolutions where new functionality is being added along with fixes to Commodores legendary original sloppy engineering snafus are being introduced and in the next couple of years I can really see a lot of new home brew machines appearing for the more extreme end of the community - but I don't feel like Vampire is a part of that. Also most of the competition are open sourcing their products unlike Vampire which makes them a lot more accessible and easier to fix and prototype.

Very nice collection there. I've never owned any of the pc style Amigas. Only the home gaming type ones.

I keep thinking I should get a couple of those Rys MK2 devices for my A1200 as the mice I have are pretty much dead! Has anyone released any DB9 pin mice or is a converter to usb now my best option? I don't think the rys devices are the cheapest but I've read they're good?

All my cases are pretty much wee coloured as well so might have to look at getting a new case as well if I decide to set it up permanently. My old desk at home was right against the window so I had a Harvey dent style Amiga! Half yellowed and half an off coloured original style! Couldn't have moved it anywhere else though and it was too late by then as the damage was done.

 

[Monkeh]

I'm using the Cocolino 9 pin to PS/2 converter atm which I normally use my good old MS Intellimouse USB optical on with its own USB to PS/2 adapter and that works perfectly on all of the Amigas - even fits into the recesses of the big box models no problem. Not tried the Rys II so can't comment on how well they work I'm afraid.

 

[!bluetonic!]

The South West Amiga meet is a week on Saturday. The Amiga 1200 is being prepped.

There are so many accessories, so it's good to make sure everything works.

 

[!bluetonic!]

And here's my setup from the South West Amiga Event.

On the right, my Amiga 1200, ACA1221, Philips RGB monitor.

On the left, my SFF jack of all trades emulation PC running Amiga Forever with Amiga OS 4.1 and hosting a Roland MT-32.

It was a fantastic event.

 

[vanpeebles]

I wouldn't mind an MT-32 for my x68000

 

[picnic]

I still got an MT-32 hidden away in a cupboard Used mine with my ST which I recently got out of the loft! Not had the courage to add power to it yet

 

[Neil79]

 

[Cavallino]

Do want.
Custom job Neil?