My Amiga is BACK!

[eightbit]

As most know I had sold all of my Amiga hardware at a certain point due to financial issues and I had regretted that decision for some time. I had an FPGA solution, but its just not the same.

 

So, this year was a pretty good one and we are in much better financial shape...and I got a big bonus. So I went on the hunt for an Amiga. Particularly an Amiga 500 as it is what I am the most nostalgic for. I don't care that it is limited versus other models. I wanted that wedge again!

 

Not being able to find anything on this side of the pond in a condition that I want, I ended up scouring Ebay.co.uk and I found a "loft cleanout" listing. Pictures were of the computer in the box with the foam, pink baggie, etc. so you really could not see the whole machine. But I had a hunch just from what I did see that it would be in great condition. I was right!

 

This is not just in great condition, its like new. Even the warranty sticker is intact.

 

Happy to have this one back in the collection again!

[Appeelicious]

How does she handle? Did you replace the battery from the expansion RAM. Those are silent killers. What revision do you have? Congrats on your new to you computer

[+OLD CS1]

3 hours ago, eightbit said:

As most know I had sold all of my Amiga hardware at a certain point due to financial issues and I had regretted that decision for some time.

Not going to say "I told you so," but I am glad you made it through your difficulties and have a flashy Amiga back in your hands.

[amiman99]

Looks clean!

For some reason it's always better to have the real Amiga.

[Daedalus2097]

Yep, that's a very clean-looking machine, nice find! Now, heed the advice about checking batteries on the RAM expansion and enjoy

[eightbit]

18 hours ago, Daedalus2097 said:

Yep, that's a very clean-looking machine, nice find! Now, heed the advice about checking batteries on the RAM expansion and enjoy

 

I can't tell you how many metal ram expansion boxes I have cracked open in order to save those boards over the years. Must have been dozens!

 

And, as that is the first thing I do I opened this trapdoor to find....a board with NO battery? Yeah, a board with RAM and a switch to turn it on and off integrated into the board...but no clock battery. I am A-OK with that!

 

But, as not everything can be perfect I did find the minus key on the keypad was loose like a loose tooth. I suspected a broken plunger and I was right. Thankfully Mitsumi plungers can be had on eBay (originals) five for $10 shipped with springs. I only really needed one plunger but I have four extra I suppose. The only time my heart dropped was when I had to break the warranty seal on this thing. It was either deal with the broken key and leave it sealed or fix it. I chose to fix it. The repair was successful and all keys are perfect now. And, that Mitsumi mylar was really really clean! Actually, all of it is.

 

The seller in England told me he had worked for Psygnosis and then Sony Liverpool and this was his "loft Amiga". I didn't pry into checking his credentials but he seemed on the level and honest.

Edited January 9 by eightbit

[str0m]

Did it come with any disks etc in case there is some software/code worth saving

[eightbit]

2 hours ago, str0m said:

Did it come with any disks etc in case there is some software/code worth saving

It came with a few hundred disks

 

If I find anything it will be archived. I have a Greaseweasle.

[+OLD CS1]

8 hours ago, eightbit said:

The seller in England told me he had worked for Psygnosis and then Sony Liverpool and this was his "loft Amiga". I didn't pry into checking his credentials but he seemed on the level and honest.

Any disks with hand-written or missing labels??  Would be really cool to stumble across some Psygnosis betas or never-released stuff.

[Boschloo]

9 hours ago, eightbit said:

The seller in England told me he had worked for Psygnosis

I wonder if he had a Sega Saturn devkit.

[eightbit]

27 minutes ago, Boschloo said:

I wonder if he had a Sega Saturn devkit.

Now that would be interesting. I am a very big Saturn fan as well

[eightbit]

1 hour ago, OLD CS1 said:

Any disks with hand-written or missing labels??  Would be really cool to stumble across some Psygnosis betas or never-released stuff.

There is a complete box of diskmag disks (Amiga format, etc.) and two boxes of hand written disks. The writing however is so small and apparently was written with pencil. From what I can make out there are quite a few pirated titles here, but I would have to go through this stuff and see if anything other than pirated games are in here. 

[Daedalus2097]

Nice! Yeah, Psygnosis were known to use Amigas well after Commodore had gone bust and the Amiga disappeared from the mainstream, so there's an outside chance of some interesting finds on those disks. Later on in particular though, they used expanded, more powerful machines (A1200s, A4000s) for the main work so it's probably more likely the home / spare gaming machine. But enjoy!

[eightbit]

On 12/27/2023 at 12:19 AM, Appeelicious said:

How does she handle? Did you replace the battery from the expansion RAM. Those are silent killers. What revision do you have? Congrats on your new to you computer

 

I apologize, I totally glazed over your response. It handles GREAT!

 

This is a Rev 5 board. Just stock with 512K and 512K trapdoor RAM, good old KS 1.2 and the red power LED that turns on and off audio audio filters. A very early A500.

 

I have since added a nice switchless floppy switcher and closed it up. That's all I need with this machine.

 

So many people "pimp out" their A500's as I have seen online and I am guilty of doing it to A500's in the past myself. But, no, not with this one. Keeping it real with floppies (and floppy images). I have had so much fun with this machine over the past few weeks just playing stuff again. It's such a great machine and I really did miss this.

Edited January 21 by eightbit