The Commodore Amiga 1000 Turns 30

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Holy moly! Has it really been that long since the launch of the The Commodore Amiga 1000?

Commodore International Ltd. unveiled its Amiga 1000 personal computer during a press event at New York’s Lincoln Center. It combined the powerful 16/32-bit Motorola 68000 CPU with one of the most advanced graphics and sound systems in its class, and ran a preemptive multitasking operating system that fit into 512 KB of memory.
 
Huh, I'm kind of surprised it's ONLY been 30 years. Geez, just look how far we've come since then.
 
Lol... that doesn't make me feel any younger.

Broadcast quality CGI on a 68000, still impressive this was done at all.
 
Amiga = best computers of all time. Going to hug my 500s when I get home.
 
The Amiga I had back in the days was 2nd best after Apple IIgs since the online world was largely text based and the IIgs had dedicated text mode which was blazing fast especially with hardware accelerator. Had a crappy all graphics mode Mac SE/30 which scrolled like shit that I dumped and went PC which was a natural progression.
 
I have two Amiga 1000 and one Amiga 1200 that I still use today for games and mod tracking.
 
Parja said:
Huh, I'm kind of surprised it's ONLY been 30 years. Geez, just look how far we've come since then.
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Not all that far. Yes, computers are faster now, hard drives are bigger, RAM is more abundant, etc, technology does advance. For the user experience however, the basic operating system is really not that different from the experience you get with Windows 7. The Amiga had the normal prerequisites for an advanced operating system, preemptive multitasking, windowing, command prompt, etc. The workflow I had while developing on the Amiga is pretty much the same as the workflow I have today on Windows. I'd have an editor open (UEdit, one of the most configurable editors ever), a command prompt for compiling or assembling, if debugging, a debugger. Today, I'd have these windows open plus a few more.

It's just too bad that Comadore had their head up there butt. If they'd had someone like Bill Gate in charge I'd bet that the Amiga would still be a viable system today.
 
still have my A1000 in the garage. damn 30 years? I remember feeling kind of suckered when I bought it, they were pushing the sale of the A1000 really hard and kept trying to throw in incentives, almost like they wanted to clear inventory. The very next week the Amiga 500 and 2000 were released.

RAM upgrade was also damn expensive on the A1000. but damn if those weren't some good times with a Supra 2400 baud modem
 
I'm a HUGE HUGE ex Amiga guy.

While I sold all my hardware years ago, boxed games, etc etc for which I got a very pretty penny. I think about the Amiga and it's impact on me as a gamer.

For those of you with extra income to spend, you can buy a brand new Amiga 1200 for about $199 US.

http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=40_85&products_id=305

Also, if you want ALL of the games, on Usenet right now is a 15GB archive called the "Ultimate Amiga Archive" ... I do believe the files are legal as almost of all for software is considered abandonware / and or the copyrights have expired. Personally, I am not 100% on this so move forward on your own accord.

Amiga for ever!
 
SixFootDuo said:
I'm a HUGE HUGE ex Amiga guy.

While I sold all my hardware years ago, boxed games, etc etc for which I got a very pretty penny. I think about the Amiga and it's impact on me as a gamer.

For those of you with extra income to spend, you can buy a brand new Amiga 1200 for about $199 US.

http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=40_85&products_id=305

Also, if you want ALL of the games, on Usenet right now is a 15GB archive called the "Ultimate Amiga Archive" ... I do believe the files are legal as almost of all for software is considered abandonware / and or the copyrights have expired. Personally, I am not 100% on this so move forward on your own accord.

Amiga for ever!
Click to expand...

Bummer....PAL only or I'd be on that like a hobo on a hot dog.
 
Bouncing ball demo and 4096 color King Tut picture, I salute you.
 
sadsteve said:
For the user experience however, the basic operating system is really not that different from the experience you get with Windows 7.
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This is true but there are other areas where computing has changed significantly since Windows 7. It's far more mobile these days with the rise of smartphones and tablets. Even Windows devices are more portable and can be used in many situations that weren't practical when Windows 7 came out.
 
I bought the A1000 back in early '86 I think, then my A2000, and then an A3000 which had about a 120MB HD, 4MB of RAM, (had modified it for the latest "Gary" chip I think, for 2MB of VRAM if I remember right), a modem, probably like 30o Baud, and an SVGA monitor, Packard Bell I think.

That was a kick ass computer.

I was using an early object oriented programing language app called "Can Do". My buddy was doing commercials with his using a Toaster and Lightwave recording to a pair of Super VHS decks.

Those computers could do anything. Too bad Commodore bought Amiga and couldn't get real software vendor support off the ground, it killed the Amiga and it killed Commodore, that and Commodore's horrific leadership.
 
It's been such a long time but I do believe there is a way to boot PAL Amiga's into NTSC. It's one of the keys plus the a mouse button? I can't remember.

Also, I just read any new TV / Monitor handles PAL automagically. Not sure if this is true. In short, it's really not an issue.
 
SixFootDuo said:
It's been such a long time but I do believe there is a way to boot PAL Amiga's into NTSC. It's one of the keys plus the a mouse button? I can't remember.

Also, I just read any new TV / Monitor handles PAL automagically. Not sure if this is true. In short, it's really not an issue.
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Thanks, man. Will look into this. :)
 
Also, look into getting Amiga Forever, it's constantly updated and works flawlessly and is super cheap.
 
I have the August 1985 issue of Compute! magazine sitting here on my desk It's in used, but excellent condition - even has all the inserts. The advertisements are mind blowing. I bought it when I was in High School.

I wonder if it's worth anything on ebay....

bfqY94v.jpg
 
I really miss my Amiga computers. The OS is still better than windows IMHO, 512KB and multitasking, and plenty of RAM leftover for programs as well. I totally miss MC680x0 Assembly language too :)

It is a total shame that C= didn't tap the brands real potential. Bad management there what ho?
 
DoubleTap said:
I have the August 1985 issue of Compute! magazine sitting here on my desk It's in used, but excellent condition - even has all the inserts. The advertisements are mind blowing. I bought it when I was in High School.

I wonder if it's worth anything on ebay....

bfqY94v.jpg
Click to expand...

Ha! I should look into it also, I'm sure I still have a few cases of these somewhere in storage.
 
I still have an Amiga 3000T 040@25Mhz,
I hooked it back up a number of years ago and played some Lemmings 2 on it,
amiga3k.jpg


lemmings2.jpg
 
lcpiper said:
I bought the A1000 back in early '86 I think, then my A2000, and then an A3000 which had about a 120MB HD, 4MB of RAM, (had modified it for the latest "Gary" chip I think, for 2MB of VRAM if I remember right), a modem, probably like 30o Baud, and an SVGA monitor, Packard Bell I think.

That was a kick ass computer.

I was using an early object oriented programing language app called "Can Do". My buddy was doing commercials with his using a Toaster and Lightwave recording to a pair of Super VHS decks.

Those computers could do anything. Too bad Commodore bought Amiga and couldn't get real software vendor support off the ground, it killed the Amiga and it killed Commodore, that and Commodore's horrific leadership.
Click to expand...

My first computer I bought was an Amiga 3000 030@25mhz, bought it in 1992.
I bought the Toaster 4000 in 1993 since I wanted Lightwave 3D, $2500 card plus I had to upgrade my Amiga to be able to load and run the software, added 8MB Ram and a 345MB hard drive, giving me 14MB ram and 465MB of disk storage. About $3200 for the card, ram, and hard drive.

I ended up trading the toaster card for a 486 PC setup when Lightrave came out, it was a program that made Lightwave think there was a toaster card installed in the Amiga.
 
yeah man had a A500 and A1200 back then, i did everything with them, music, art, games, BBSing, you name it.. I actually won the A1200 from amiga world magazine plus Dpaint 4.. great memories and still have them both but havent been touched in years. there is also always amiga emulators out there that work well for anyone looking to relive the experience..
 
I had an Amiga 500 with a 50 Megabyte hard drive and 4 Megabytes of ram in a case installed off the left side main bus. I also had a 68030 upgrade, placed a switch in the back and it let me switch between the kick start rom 1.3 and 2.04. I absolutely loved that computer and it was the best machine I ever owned, even considering what we have today. :D
 
ManofGod said:
I had an Amiga 500 with a 50 Megabyte hard drive and 4 Megabytes of ram in a case installed off the left side main bus. I also had a 68030 upgrade, placed a switch in the back and it let me switch between the kick start rom 1.3 and 2.04. I absolutely loved that computer and it was the best machine I ever owned, even considering what we have today. :D
Click to expand...

I almost forgot, I also remember spending many a happy hours tweaking the startup.sequence file. :D
 
Eradan said:
If anyone has any working Amiga hardware they want to sell, PM me.
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I should add (since I can't edit) that I'm looking for working hardware that hasn't turned yellow and would prefer original boxes. Thanks!
 
You can go on Amibay (not ebay) and find all kinds of Amiga hardware there. Problem is, most of it is in Europe. Spendy to have it shipped to the US.
 
I still have some Amiga games in the boxes still,
room-2012-3.jpg

Looks like there are 5 games sitting there.
 
Zepher said:
I still have some Amiga games in the boxes still,
room-2012-3.jpg

Looks like there are 5 games sitting there.
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Psygnosis. The Lexus of Amiga games! :D

I just came to realize I spent as much on magazines for the Amiga as I did on the hardware itself! That was 'beaucoup' money for a pile of mags. I still have them too!
 
ManofGod said:
I had an Amiga 500 with a 50 Megabyte hard drive and 4 Megabytes of ram in a case installed off the left side main bus. I also had a 68030 upgrade, placed a switch in the back and it let me switch between the kick start rom 1.3 and 2.04. I absolutely loved that computer and it was the best machine I ever owned, even considering what we have today. :D
Click to expand...

Ha! I had something similar, think it was a 20 Megabyte hard drive, ... I just remember I paid like $1200 for that plus the ram... UGH! Part of me wishes I wasn't so much into computers back then, because that was a shit ton of money. Also remember having to shorting that one jumper on the motherboard to allow the CPU to access another 512kb (if you had it) as chip ram.
 
Just buy a new Amiga. The tech is apparently easy and cost effective that some company starting making the machines again.

Also, I read that several thousands of Amiga 1200's destined for the greek market were found in some warehouse and had been there for 20+ years. I think that's how the story went and a lot of those are back on the market as well.

Amiga's are not hard to get.
 
I used to buy 500s from local pawn shops around Fort Hood, upgrade the Gary chips and add the RAM modules and send them to my buddy in Lubbock who would sell them to his friends and pay me my cut.

I found one, it was different, I got onto the mobo and found that it had mount points for four more RAM chips so I went to radio shack and bought some diodes and sockets for the chips, I soldered the sockets to the board and socketed the chips and wow, a full 1GB RAM. I was hoping I could then add the other RAM module for 1.5 Gig but no dice, the system still only saw the 1 GB. Still, it was somewhat unique and it went to a friend of ours.
 
Miss my 2000! Love the Psygnosis/Psyclapse games. So much originality back then in games.
Good times.
 
Brahmzy said:
Miss my 2000! Love the Psygnosis/Psyclapse games. So much originality back then in games.
Good times.
Click to expand...

I loved those games but some where so hard, I never did finish them or even come close. There was this one game where you go from base to base, finding parts to build some mega weapon and you could fly, drive and even use a tank. I do not remember the name of the game though, do you? It was so hard, but fun, that I kept trying but never finished it.

My favorite flight sim on my Amiga a Birds of Prey, it was great.
 
ManofGod said:
I loved those games but some where so hard, I never did finish them or even come close. There was this one game where you go from base to base, finding parts to build some mega weapon and you could fly, drive and even use a tank. I do not remember the name of the game though, do you? It was so hard, but fun, that I kept trying but never finished it.

My favorite flight sim on my Amiga a Birds of Prey, it was great.
Click to expand...

Birds of Prey is on my shelf in the above pic, top to bottom,
Combat Air Patrol
World Circuit
Super Frog
Birds of Prey
Lemmings 2 : The Tribes.
 
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