Thinking of buying an Amiga 500, should I?

[bedouin]

So, my apartment is small and I can't keep too many things in here at once.

 

I was browsing Craigslist today and saw someone offering an Amiga 500 with monitor for $20, and claims it's in good working order, though some E-Mail exchanges with the person reveals they don't know too much about Amigas.

 

I was a c64 guy growing up, later PCs, and then Macs. Think i should buy this? The monitor alone (assuming it's Commodore-brnaded) is worth $20, though Im tight for space. I've always wanted to play with an Amiga.

 

What kinds of modern hacks are available for this machine? I'm guessing Linux isn't an option; what networking options are available? Can it surf the internet?

 

Want to say yes or no by tomorrow.

[+remowilliams]

So, my apartment is small and I can't keep too many things in here at once.

 

I was browsing Craigslist today and saw someone offering an Amiga 500 with monitor for $20, and claims it's in good working order, though some E-Mail exchanges with the person reveals they don't know too much about Amigas.

 

I was a c64 guy growing up, later PCs, and then Macs.  Think i should buy this?  The monitor alone (assuming it's Commodore-brnaded) is worth $20, though Im tight for space.  I've always wanted to play with an Amiga.

 

What kinds of modern hacks are available for this machine?  I'm guessing Linux isn't an option; what networking options are available?  Can it surf the internet? 

 

Want to say yes or no by tomorrow.

980304[/snapback]

An Amiga 500 is good (very good in fact) for playing Amiga games on floppy on not a whole lot more.

 

Networking and surfing the internet are best left to the more powerful Amigas.

[MacbthPSW]

Yeah, I wouldn't buy it for networking or anything like that. I'd buy it for the monitor, and the chance to play some of the great Amiga games that were made. Everything else I enjoyed doing with my A500 (internet, music, programming, general goofing around with the GUI and multi-tasking) in the early 90s I'm doing in Windows now (though it took long enough to catch up!).

[Zonie]

I have one sitting basically new in the box. I got it back in '92 from a friend. He played with it for a day, then I did, and it went back in the box. I pulled it out years later, and only played with it for a few hrs. I just couldn't get into it. Now, If I got it as a successor to my C64 instead of my first PC clone (a 386) I may have liked it a whole lot more.

[Jess Ragan]

Think of it as more of a classic game system than a computer. The Amiga 500 was way ahead of its time, but that time was back in 1985. You probably COULD surf the Internet with the machine if you used a text-only browser like Lynx, but it won't be a satisfying experience.

 

The only Amiga I currently have in my possession is an Amiga CD32, which actually IS a game system but was designed with Amiga computer hardware. I never use it (I can't... no power supply!) but I'm nevertheless very proud of it. I LOVED Commodore products when I was a kid, going so far as to purchase a Commodore adding machine at a yard sale. Again, it had no practical use, but I was nevertheless happy to have it.

 

JR

[+Random Terrain]

I still have my Amiga 500 and I don't use it that much. Just for looking back at my old word processing files and unfinished games.

[+remowilliams]

Think of it as more of a classic game system than a computer.

 

The only Amiga I currently have in my possession is an Amiga CD32, which actually IS a game system but was designed with Amiga computer hardware.

 

JR

980376[/snapback]

That's definitely how I'd classify a 500.

 

The CD32 is my main Amiga gaming machine. It's upgraded with a SX32 MK2, 4GB HD, a bunch of RAM and a coprocessor. It simply rocks! Everything in one neat little package

 

I sure with I had an ST machine similar to the CD32.

[Jess Ragan]

What the heck kind of power supply does this thing take, anyway? I've got no idea where to look or what to buy. Is there a functional equivalent I could purchase at a Radio Shack?

 

JR

[NightSprinter]

Not sure 'bout the power supply, Jess, but I can suggest one thing: upgrade to 1MB of Chip-RAM if at all possible. There are some A500 games that will NOT work on a mere 512KB (Ghosts 'n Goblins being one of them.. oh that was a hell of a sweet port.. not perfect.. but damn..).

 

Also, for whoever was talking about the CD32, that is not an A500-class machine. That's actually just a console-focused A1200 (dead serious, compare the specs, plus the CD32 also uses a completely different chipset than the A500).

 

But yeah, for a lot of the old games the A500 is an excellent choice. Just make sure you upgrade to 1MB of Chip-RAM and get a good joystick.. preferrably two-button for games like R-Type (yes, R-Type DOES use the second button.. found that out running WinUAE in the past).

[Jess Ragan]

You're kidding... the system's actually WEAKER than the twenty year old Amiga 500? That is beyond depressing. I thought it had AGA support and everything... maybe I was thinking of the more advanced CDTV.

 

So, can I just install memory designed for an Amiga computer, or do I have to buy a special chip or cartridge designed especially for the unit?

 

JR

[+remowilliams]

You're kidding... the system's actually WEAKER than the twenty year old Amiga 500?  That is beyond depressing.  I thought it had AGA support and everything... maybe I was thinking of the more advanced CDTV.

 

So, can I just install memory designed for an Amiga computer, or do I have to buy a special chip or cartridge designed especially for the unit?

 

JR

980433[/snapback]

The bare bones CD32 is an '020 based machine (ala Amiga 1200 as mentioned), it's AGA and everything. Far more powerful than the 500 or the puny CDTV

 

To add memory or anything else for that matter you would need an SX32 or SX32 MK2 expansion module.

Edited December 11, 2005 by remowilliams

[NightSprinter]

You're kidding... the system's actually WEAKER than the twenty year old Amiga 500?  That is beyond depressing.  I thought it had AGA support and everything... maybe I was thinking of the more advanced CDTV.

 

So, can I just install memory designed for an Amiga computer, or do I have to buy a special chip or cartridge designed especially for the unit?

 

JR

980433[/snapback]

 

 

Jess, the CD32 is more POWERFUL than the A500. You got your info backwards, man. The CD32 can be upgraded into a beefier 1200 as remo mentioned. But for the classic A500 games.. I don't know how you could upgrade its memory. I'd try the AmigaKit website to see if they offer classic Amiga memory upgrades.

[Jess Ragan]

All right, I guess I misread that. I thought you'd said that the CD32 only had 512K of memory, and that it couldn't run all Amiga 500 games because of it. My mistake!

 

JR

[Quadhorn]

For what my biased opinion is worth, get an A1200:

 

* It can run anything for the A500 by bootstrapping the A500 OS from RAM and turning off AGA (fine; there's an 'A500 boot disk' that temporarily turns it into an A500 ala A7200->A2600).

* It then has everything the A1200 has better: better CPU, 2MB base RAM, AGA graphics, HDD slot, harder, faster, stronger,....

 

So far as further support goes, there's still a fair sized fan base out there doing the same ridiculous things to Amigas that you/us (?) lot do to Ataris: IDE support, sound and graphics cards, etc. So far as I know, it's possible to build some evil 68030-based PC-style tower system using PCI cards and 3dfx graphics with huge meaty HDDs running *nix OS's. How far did you want to take it? I'll fish around for the details later if you want them.

[Spoon]

$20 for a working A500 is worth it simply for Amiga's version of Moria.

[Famicoman]

I'd buy it.

[J.Max]

Jess-

 

There is no equivalent to the CD32 power supply. There are some people that make adapters though that allow you to plug an AT power supply in and use that, but I was never able to make it work.

[+remowilliams]

For $20 (if everything actually worked) - I'd buy it for the monitor alone. Most of the Commodore monitors are super.

[MacbthPSW]

You're kidding... the system's actually WEAKER than the twenty year old Amiga 500?

Not too important, but it was the first Amiga (the Amiga 1000) that came out in '85. The Amiga 500 and 2000 were released in '87. Not that a couple years make much difference out of 20

[Ze_ro]

I was browsing Craigslist today and saw someone offering an Amiga 500 with monitor for $20, and claims it's in good working order, though some E-Mail exchanges with the person reveals they don't know too much about Amigas.

$20 for an Amiga 500 with a monitor is a great deal. It's not the best Amiga out there, but there are plenty of games that can be played on it, and I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun with it.

 

The monitor alone (assuming it's Commodore-brnaded) is worth $20

Well, I wouldn't hold my breath on it being a Commodore monitor... if it turns out to be the 1084S, then you'll have gotten a great deal, but most people know those things are in high demand.

 

What kinds of modern hacks are available for this machine?  I'm guessing Linux isn't an option; what networking options are available?  Can it surf the internet?

Most of the Amiga community seems to revolve more around the later Amiga's like the 1200 and 3000... so finding expansion stuff for the 500 is difficult, and like most Amiga stuff, expensive. As mentioned, you might want to upgrade to 1 MB of RAM (although changing RAM isn't as easy as it is on a PC, and I think installing 1 MB RAM requires you to upgrade one of the 500's chips to a "Fat Agnus" chip).

 

As for Linux, my brother used to run BSD on his 500... but Unix is basically useless without a hard drive, and hard drive interfaces for the 500 are tough to find. I'm not sure how easy it would be to cobble together a system anyways... it's not like just burning a RedHat CD and installing from that. AmigaOS is a nice operating system though, and has a lot of Unix-like aspects to it. It's worth giving it a shot. If you're looking to give Linux a try, then you're better off buying an old Pentium and installing it on that, or use VMware or something.

 

Internet connections are also kinda tricky. Your best bet might be to buy an old modem and use that to dial into an ISP.... if you don't have a dial-up account, you could rig something together where the Amiga dials into another PC in your house and "piggy-backs" on it's network connection, but that starts getting a little complicated. I'm not sure what options exist for ethernet connections for the 500. Also, setting up a TCP/IP stack and getting the necessary applications running on an Amiga 500 might be a little tricky... you'll certainly need that 1 MB RAM upgrade. My brother also managed to do this kind of stuff on his 500 though, so it IS possible. It's worth pointing out though, that even if you do get it all working, there's really not a lot of point to it, as there really isn't anything it can do that hasn't been done far better and faster on modern PC's by now. It's kinda just a parlor trick for the system at this point.

 

What the heck kind of power supply does this thing take, anyway? I've got no idea where to look or what to buy. Is there a functional equivalent I could purchase at a Radio Shack?

I'm afraid the power supply is fairly unique... it uses a square plug with about five connectors in it. I doubt you'll be able to find an equivalent at Radio Shack. Unless you're handy with a soldering iron, you're only choice is probably to look on eBay.

 

--Zero

[+remowilliams]

What the heck kind of power supply does this thing take, anyway? I've got no idea where to look or what to buy. Is there a functional equivalent I could purchase at a Radio Shack?

I'm afraid the power supply is fairly unique... it uses a square plug with about five connectors in it. I doubt you'll be able to find an equivalent at Radio Shack. Unless you're handy with a soldering iron, you're only choice is probably to look on eBay.

 

--Zero

980607[/snapback]

Correct, the odd square plug is for the regular Amiga line, but I believe Jess was asking about the CD32.

 

Jess - if you can find a four pin male DIN plug, it should be very easy to wire a PC power supply for the CD32. The stock CD32 power supply is a nice standard +5 +12 output.

It's worth pointing out though, that even if you do get it all working, there's really not a lot of point to it, as there really isn't anything it can do that hasn't been done far better and faster on modern PC's by now. It's kinda just a parlor trick for the system at this point.

 

--Zero

980607[/snapback]

That's exactly how I consider many modern types of use on such classic computers. I mean sure - I can hook my C64 to the internet and browse - but really - what is the point other than doing it just to prove it can be done? Of course - don't say that to close to the Amiga "community" - they freak the f* out

Edited December 11, 2005 by remowilliams

[bedouin]

I guess I'll buy it. I've toyed with nearly every OS out there but never used the Amiga's. I confirmed with the seller that it is indeed a C= monitor, and my 1702 died a couple years ago; a 1902 I bought off of eBay a few months back turned out to be a lemon.

 

What's a decent joystick to be used with this? In the day my favorite stick for my c64 was the one Epyx made.

[Seob]

I really like the amiga 500 system, all thoug i never owned one back then. Had to go to friends to play on them. They where really great at sound and movie editing.

I don't know wher you live but here in europe it was a really populair system.

I have now 3 amiga 500 systems, 1 that 1 have payed for 5 euro. and 2 that i have gotten for free. With the last one i got a harddisk to. I now have a really nice collection, with a memory upgrade, a520 tv modulator, a harddisk and a action replay card. As a monitor i use a philips. It's really the best monitor i have with ttl support, scart, cinch a as a bonus you can watch tv on it with a seperate tvmodulator.

I would say to you buy it, because it is a really great system.

[Artlover]

I've got a couple of A500's. Both with the 512K Upgrade/Clock cards. One with HDD interface and 20meg HD.

 

Never really used them very much, but glad I have them. If for no other reason......

 

LEMMINGS. Don't get no better then Amiga.

[kevin242]

Just to clarify about the memory on the A500. Im sure the one you buy

will have the a501 expansion in it (turn it over and you'll see a trapdoor

if there is card installed then it has it) they were really cheap upgrades

and almost every with A500 had one. If not you can prob find one on

ebay. All this talk of AGA machines

is nice, but 98% of all of Amiga games will run on a A500 with 1mb

of memory and a floppy. Their may be 20 games that were AGA only

(without a A500 ECS version).

 

As far as using ANY Amiga on the net(and yes you can use an A500 with ALynx or

Amosaic and MIAMI TCP) it's not too rewarding. I wouldnt bother with it.

 

One other thing, many of the A500's can have their chipram upgraded

to 1mg by soldering one lead on the motherboard. Not sure if this is

a wise decision if all you have is 1meg (that would mean you have no

fastmem). Like I said most games will run with 1/2 meg chip 1/2 meg

fast, so there is nothing to worry about.

 

 

There are lots of great games for the Amiga, get a copy of crossdos

and you can read low density (720k) ms dos disks on the miga which

should get you some games (unfort for you many amiga games used

the full 880k floppy's which would be harder to get over).

 

I would get a hard drive for it, will speed up gaming.