Any Amiga fans/users here?

[IndyColtsFan]

I know we've discussed retrocomputing here before, and from what I recall, a few Amiga fans post on AT regularly. Does anyone still actively use an Amiga (or any old computer for that matter) as a hobby? Really interested in hearing from big-box Amiga users who have hacked/upgraded/modded their systems and still may be using them.

 

[SearchMaster]

That was my dream computer in the 80s. I could never afford one though so I had to stick to my C-64.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

It's never too late to pick it up as a hobby now.

 

[Rubycon]

I try to think about it and have fond memories of vintage computers. Then as I pick up a smart phone that has tons more processing power and storage I want to cry. :'(

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I try to think about it and have fond memories of vintage computers. Then as I pick up a smart phone that has tons more processing power and storage I want to cry. :'(

Yeah, I think of that from time to time but I still like the old stuff better.

 

[Train]

Had an Amiga 1000 for years, it was badass, way ahead of it's time.

Bootup was ridiculously slow though. I think we had to use 2 disks to boot.

 

[lxskllr]

I'd be more inclined to use a faux retro computer. Gut the case, and put modern stuff in it, then use emulation to run the occasional old program. My old computer is an Atari800. I think it's still at my mothers house, but I'm not sure.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Had an Amiga 1000 for years, it was badass, way ahead of it's time.

Bootup was ridiculously slow though. I think we had to use 2 disks to boot.

Yep -- Kickstart first, then Workbench.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I'd be more inclined to use a faux retro computer. Gut the case, and put modern stuff in it, then use emulation to run the occasional old program. My old computer is an Atari800. I think it's still at my mothers house, but I'm not sure.

It just isn't the same. I could never quite get the Amiga Emulators working as well as the hardware.

 

[Barfo]

I have a few amigas

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I have a few amigas

pics?

 

[SKORPI0]

I used an Amiga 500 at home and 2000 at work late mid 80s to early 90s. Also had a C-64 of course and before that a Apple II plus with dual 5 1/4" floppy drives. Some friends used to assemble "IBM PC compatibles" when parts became available mid 80s. I still have my 3 1/2" Amiga diskettes stored in plastic containers. IBM PC at another job used 8" floppy for data storage.

A friend did computer graphics/commercial logos and stored the data in 20mb Seagate removable cartridges. Cannot remember what software was used, but it was the Amiga was the only computer that could do it for cheap. Storage media/cartridges was not really cheap IIRC. Hard drives were really expensive.

Photo of my uncleaned Amiga 500.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I used an Amiga 500 at home and 2000 at work late mid 80s to early 90s. Also had a C-64 of course and before that a Apple II plus with dual 5 1/4" floppy drives. Some friends used to assemble "IBM PC compatibles" when parts became available mid 80s. I still have my 3 1/2" Amiga diskettes stored in plastic containers. IBM PC at another job used 8" floppy for data storage.

A friend did computer graphics/commercial logos and stored the data in 20mb Seagate removable cartridges. Cannot remember what software was used, but it was the Amiga was the only computer that could do it for cheap. Storage media/cartridges was not really cheap IIRC. Hard drives were really expensive.

Photo of my uncleaned Amiga 500.

D:

I have an Amiga 2000 (see sig) and just bought an Amiga 3000 and can't wait to get it. It looks like it is in great shape with the only problem being that someone took a dremel to the back of the system, presumably to fit a Video Toaster 2000 into it.

 

[vshah]

I have a few amigas

lol :awe:

do you have to stick 2 disks in them to start them up too?

 

[Pheran]

I was an Amiga user back in the day, I had at various times an A1000, A500 and A2000. I still fondly remember that when I did a chipset upgrade, I actually had to cut a trace on the motherboard as a normal part of the process. Of course, back then RAM was installed as DIP chips, not SIMMs/DIMMs. I agree that the Amiga was way ahead of its time.

At one point I had a really ghetto hard drive setup on my A500. I had gotten hold of a SCSI hard drive from my father, but it was a full-height drive too large to fit in the sidecar SCSI controller/enclosure that was attached to my A500. So I just had the cables snaking out of the controller box to this bare hard drive on my desk - it still worked great!

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I was an Amiga user back in the day, I had at various times an A1000, A500 and A2000. I still fondly remember that when I did a chipset upgrade, I actually had to cut a trace on the motherboard as a normal part of the process. Of course, back then RAM was installed as DIP chips, not SIMMs/DIMMs. I agree that the Amiga was way ahead of its time.

At one point I had a really ghetto hard drive setup on my A500. I had gotten hold of a SCSI hard drive from my father, but it was a full-height drive too large to fit in the sidecar SCSI controller/enclosure that was attached to my A500. So I just had the cables snaking out of the controller box to this bare hard drive on my desk - it still worked great!

To me, it is amazing how many hardware idiosyncracies the Amigas had. I remember upgrading the Kickstart ROM (to version 2.04) in my Amiga 2000 and IIRC, it had a resistor soldered across 2 pins.

Fast forward from 1991 to 2011, and I add a 68030 accelerator. It would not boot when I had the 2.04 ROM selected; it would only boot with the 1.3 ROM selected. After researching, I found that there was yet another version of 2.x ROM I needed for the thing to boot properly. I got the ROM off eBay and everything worked great!

Remember the constant and important motherboard revisions? Some cards wouldn't work on revision 4.x boards, for example.

 

[paperfist]

I just have my C-64 left.

Had an Amiga 500 and 2000. Only mod I made to the box was moving the power switch.

 

[AreaCode707]

My neighbor probably has a ton. T3h internet credits him as an Amiga inventor.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

My neighbor probably has a ton. T3h internet credits him as an Amiga inventor.

You can't say that without telling us his name!

Are his initials RJM?

 

[AreaCode707]

You can't say that without telling us his name!

Are his initials RJM?

Nope. According to Wiki, "He brought multitasking to personal computers in 1985 with the creation of the Amiga Computer operating system kernel." That should be enough to find him.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Nope. According to Wiki, "He brought multitasking to personal computers in 1985 with the creation of the Amiga Computer operating system kernel." That should be enough to find him.

Ah yes, I knew it had to be one of those two.

 

[AreaCode707]

Ah yes, I knew it had to be one of those two.

We share a property line with him, and we actually refer to the ridge on our property by his last name. Although I grew up in the neighborhood I never met him. Once we finish the house build and move in I'd like to go over an introduce myself.

 

[Ichinisan]

Never used an Amiga computer, but I love listening to chiptunes from that machine (MOD or XM format).

 

[Ichinisan]

Try this Java MOD/XM player and let me know if it works:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/19038986/java_mod_player/test.html

Clicking any of the other buttons seems to lock it up. Wait for the player to load and just click "Play"

 

[SKORPI0]

Interesting videos on the AmigaOne X1000.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wT36RYN_Bk&context=C311c0ebADOEgsToPDskJiqJ2HUtikFKbVWBo4pN4F//url

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvXpdIroSu0&feature=related

Nice forum too..

http://www.amigans.net/