35 replies to this topic

[monzamess]

toptenmaterial, on Tue Jun 28, 2011 11:40 AM, said:

Amiga 2000: This one I know nothing about. I saw a clip of some animation rendered by the Amiga 1000 and was blown away, practically PS1 quality in 1985! I'm wondering how the 2000 is different.

More like Genesis or SNES-era quality, with some advantages and disadvantages compared to those systems. Still impressive for the 1980s and a fun machine to mess around with. Lots of good games and easy to use music and art applications.

[toptenmaterial]

@Nathan: I will read the wikipedia link tonight. So, based on the of the comments that I've read, one of the issues in just slapping new insides in there would be overheating (?)

[nathanallan]

There's always that. C= cases weren't meant for hot processors like the P3/P4's that are out now. Most of the time grilles and fans have to be added.

[toptenmaterial]

Off-Topic: I joined Denial and have started reading some of the forums there. It's a neat little group. In terms of VIC hacks and projects, which seems to be where this thread is going, I bet there are a lot of resources there.

I am still curious about the Amiga, apparent headaches aside. My curiosity has to do with gaming, after seeing some clips of Amiga animation.

[nathanallan]

toptenmaterial, on Wed Jun 29, 2011 4:26 PM, said:

Please forgive me, but what is a form factor? I am picturing something that keeps the board and possibly slots for i/o intact.

From the perspective of a total idiot, here is how I see it: open up the machine, gut it, stick in a new board, stick in some sort of adapter for the old keyboard, somehow make slots on the side for usb or sd or whatever, possibly install a new power supply.

Missed this post, sorry. A form factor is the way the insides are set up. Nowadays ATX is standard, what most PCs come in. Mini ITX will fit an ATX case, but will take much less space. Basically how the screws and back panel line up to the case it fits into. There are LOTS of form factors. ATX and mini-ITX are jsut two of them.

For instance, you cannot put an ATX motherboard into an older AT style case. The holes and cutouts of the case will not match.

However, the ATX cases are cut so that you CAN put an AT board into an ATX case. Also you can't put a mini-ITX board into an AT case.

Also, the screw holes to bolt the board down are different in each; ITX, ATX will line up, AT and XT will not.

[toptenmaterial]

Ok. What will line up with the old VIC breadbox?

[nathanallan]

Nothing that is easy or cheap. The case has to be modified to accept pretty much any new boards that goes in it.

[toptenmaterial]

^^ wishful thinking on my part. I guess this sort of thing isn't at all mainstream. I have seen some resources for modding stuff such as Ben Heck's book which I think is geared towards beginners. I think I'm going to take a little time and hunt down some beginner blue prints so to speak, if they exist.

Once I actually have the dead VICs, I can start asking you real, practical questions instead of broad hypothetical ones. I appreciate your time.

[nathanallan]

Too easy! I love this stuff, ask away! Well, lots of us do love this stuff here

Edited by nathanallan, Thu Jun 30, 2011 3:09 PM.

[amiman99]

toptenmaterial, on Wed Jun 29, 2011 11:51 PM, said:

I am still curious about the Amiga, apparent headaches aside. My curiosity has to do with gaming, after seeing some clips of Amiga animation.

If you want to get into Amiga, try to get A1200 model. The A1200 comes with 2.5in IDE connector and PCMCIA slot. You can use PCMCIA for file transfer with CF to PCMCIA converter, ADF2DISK software to transfer adf disk images to real floppies, or if you go all out, use WHDLoad, you can play most floppy games from HD. There are so many possibilities.

[desiv]

There are some great Vic-20 games. Omega Race comes to mind, as I was just playing it yesterday.
It is a fun little (and I mean little, 5k RAM, 3.5K usable.. ) system...

The C64 is an 8-bit games monster. (Not going to get into a "whose better" argument)..
But, make sure you get a working disk drive with it..
FUN system....

The Amiga 2000 is interesting.. It will play all the Amiga 500 games, so it has some great games....
It's a big box.. I prefer the smaller Amigas myself. If you can get it for free/next to... do it. It's great.
If you're paying you might want to save for an Amiga 1200..

Note, I believe the Amiga 2000 composite video output is monochrome (like the A500), so you will need/want an Amiga RGB monitor or an adapter.
You can get the A520 (junk, bad quality, but works) or better, something like Amigamaniac's Amiga-composite/s-video a fairly inexpensively.
Or you can go crazy and buy a Amiga-VGA adapter...

Good luck..

desiv

Edited by desiv, Sun Jul 3, 2011 1:15 PM.