So I dug out my A1200

[Philtor]

This has been sat with a plastic cover on it since I last used it.

I am 41 now and believe this was last used when I was about 13 or 14

Gutted to see all the yellowing on the plastic.

I remember getting a Seagate HDD kit for xmas one year and putting that in it, then installing Workbench.

Still have the external floppy drive for ‘backing up’ them old games

Does it work? I imagine it still does. Need to look for the PSU, mouse and cable to connect it up to the TV.

This was the one that come with Brian the lion and Cannon fodder if I recall ah god, the memories.

 

[montymint]

the yellowing can be fixed with hydrogen peroxide in the sun - there's a bunch of videos on youtube regarding it!

 

[Rroff]

I pulled out my old Acorn A3010 a few years back after it had been sitting in my parent's loft (converted) for like 15 years or so and sadly the mainboard was just green rot

 

[NinjaCool]

Not sure Cannon Fodder was in any Amiga 1200 bundles but Bran the Lion was in both the Computer Combat and the Frontier A1200 pack so I guess you might have gotten one of those back then.
I got the A500 with the popular Batman Pack and later the A1200 Magic Pack

Spoiler: backside

 

[Philtor]

So long ago now, I wish I would have kept the box!

I think I am going to try and get it powered up again to see if it works and fix the yellowing issue.

Just bringing it out this evening gave me so many happy memories.

I remember sending postal orders (do we even have them now?) to buy disks from public domain distributors I had found in the Amiga magazines.

I had an Amstrad 6128 plus also but that was sold later on.

Not a patch on the Amiga

 

[NinjaCool]

I never did do any postal orders back then (did have a subscription for an Amiga mag) but I did sometimes sneak in 1 of those cheaper Euro Power Pack releases when I was with my parents shopping

Spoiler: Pics

 

[something daft already!!]

I wish I kept my A1200 but I sold it to pay for parts for my first PC. I still play around with emulators every now and then.

 

[Philtor]

It was the very machine that got most of us into computers at that age really.

Wasn’t a power house by todays standards, but it was all you needed in a box.

I was trying out the keys and thinking oh these must be the switches that the keyboard geeks go on about

Makes me remember the film War Games, but that’s another thread lol

 

[Zefan]

It was the very machine that got most of us into computers at that age really.

Wasn’t a power house by todays standards, but it was all you needed in a box.

I was trying out the keys and thinking oh these must be the switches that the keyboard geeks go on about

Makes me remember the film War Games, but that’s another thread lol

I've noticed a lot of people talking about the mechanical switches on old Amigas... but they're definitely membrane, At least the 1200 certainly was. My Dad bought one off a workmate in 1993 and I have very fond memories of it, the first game I ever completed on my own was The Lion King, I pretended to know what I was doing in Frontier: Elite 2 and enjoyed a hell of a lot of Chaos Engine Co-op with my Dad, all with 2 button joysticks! How I ever beat the lion king on one of those is beyond me, I remember being very proud of myself so perhaps I did appreciate the challenge even at the time.

 

[Philtor]

They definitely have that IBM keyboard feel to them if that makes sense.

Games were superb for the time. Micro Machines and Syndicate

 

[NinjaCool]

I hope your A1200 works perfectly fine and I highly recommend trying out games like the Chaos Engine, Lotus 2, Sensible Soccer, Lemmings, IK+, Rick Dangerous and Superfrog

 

[GeX]

Some of the A500 keyboards where mechanical.
@Philtor - it will need recapping, the caps on them are prone to leaking and eating the PCB. If it doesn’t boot, it’ll likely be that

 

[Zefan]

They definitely have that IBM keyboard feel to them if that makes sense.

Games were superb for the time. Micro Machines and Syndicate

True, I think I have called the 1200 keyboard mechanical in the past too as it does have a certain quality to it. Just goes to show, membrane doesn't have to feel completely awful!

Some of the A500 keyboards where mechanical.
@Philtor - it will need recapping, the caps on them are prone to leaking and eating the PCB. If it doesn’t boot, it’ll likely be that

Nice to know that, I haven't got the most experience with amigas, just my 1200 from 1994-1998ish.

 

[purplesky]

I pulled out my old Acorn A3010 a few years back after it had been sitting in my parent's loft (converted) for like 15 years or so and sadly the mainboard was just green rot

The battery leakage in those Acorns are terrible. I have both an A3010 and A3020 and they both had the same issue. I cleaned both of them up around 7 years ago to avoid further damage. Luckily, most can be saved, even where some of the copper tracks have been eaten through. Just requires a bit of time to fix.

 

[varkanoid]

Not sure Cannon Fodder was in any Amiga 1200 bundles but Bran the Lion was in both the Computer Combat and the Frontier A1200 pack so I guess you might have gotten one of those back then.
I got the A500 with the popular Batman Pack and later the A1200 Magic Pack

Spoiler: backside

Could be it was packaged as a deal. Dixons and some other shops used to run promotions where you could buy an Amiga A500 and select 2 games from a selection of 10 free. Its possible Cannon Fodder was one of the free games.

Also remember MagicWB I used to always use that over the standard and remember updating it all the time. Worth the £15 registration.

 

[NinjaCool]

Could be it was packaged as a deal. Dixons and some other shops used to run promotions where you could buy an Amiga A500 and select 2 games from a selection of 10 free. Its possible Cannon Fodder was one of the free games.

It could be possible a local shop did a deal like that but that would mean Philtor got his A1200 over a year after its official launch.
Cannon Fodder came out in Dec 1993 while the A1200 started selling in Oct 1992, so if he got his A1200 in around 1994, that would increase the likelihood he got Cannon Fodder in a special deal.

It sure is a great game to get as a bonus

 

[Duke]

Nice to have the original still, I wish I had my original A500+

So does it still work? Might need a recap.

 

[Philtor]

I am still looking for the PSU, but I have confidence it will fire up. If it doesn’t, then a recap could get expensive

 

[GeX]

If you want to come chat about Amiga things, the Amiga section on RMC Discord is active and friendly. Might be able to help you out there

 

[Guest2]

Interesting how the yellowing is mainly confined to the keys rather than the outer housing. Was the cover only on the housing?