Hi all
I feel slightly embarrassed it has taken me so long to register with this great community, though I have been a passive visitor over the last couple of years. Like many of you I have experienced two phases of Amiga ownership. Back in 1990 I first experienced the Amiga 500 while visiting Bits and Bytes Computer shop near Central Station in Liverpool. At the time I had an Amstrad PC1512 ibm compatible (still have it!) and I was searching the shop for a PC game that would work on my CGA compatible display (lovely 4 colours). I was in denial at that age (12 ish) that my computer was the best in the world as it had two floppy drives, 512k ram and could run Gem Desktop, unlike my friends who still had the Spectrum etc. However, out the corner of my eye I noticed on the large CRT TV behind the counter a colourful, fast and silky car game. I'd never seen anything like it, even on the Sega Master System Games console I also owned. That game was Lotus Esprit Turbo challenge and at the time I felt a sense of defeat, the hulking beige computer at home was not what I thought it was, and that Christmas I pleaded with my parents for an Amiga.
Opening the Amiga on Christmas day was magical - I got the pack with Shadow of the Beast 2, Nightbreed and Back to the Future in it. I was gobsmacked with the intro of Shadow of the Beast and the guitar solo when you died. It was the start of an amazing period of computing for me and I made some friends along the way. Unfortunately at that age I acquired the majority of my games through swaps at school and the use of X-Copy. I did buy games when I could too - Hong Kong Phooey being the first and SAS Combat Simulator (Code Masters). For me the Amiga 500 brought me new friends when I moved from Runcorn to Liverpool - friends I still have to this day. It felt like a community then as I guess this place does now. The Amiga was a special computer and over the years I began to code on it and I bought the Amiga 1200 with 120MB HD to help me with my Computer Studies college course. I must admit the A1200 has more importance to me now than it did back then - it didn't blow me away as much as it should have back then - in part to the re-emergence of the PC. By the time I finished college I had sold my Amiga 1200 and had a 4mb 486 DX40 PC with Win 3.1
That period of my Amiga ownership ended.
Then about 10 years ago I re-acquired an Amiga 1200 with HD, then another A1200 (without) and then an Amiga 500+. At first the nostalgia of rifling through disk boxes with aging disks of Amiga Classics kept me occupied and I re-fell in love with this great machine. Eventually I bought an accelerator, added 32mb ram, CF card and updated workbench. I've bought numerous solutions over time to improve my experience on a flastcreen inc two flicker fixes and last year the fantastic BenQ 15hz monitor.
My A1200 is my perfect setup and my most cherished computer (unfortunately my love of old consoles/ computers has led to much money being spent).
Last year a mate of mine gave me his childhood A600 which had been in the loft for many years. It didn't work, but nothing a re-cap wouldn't fix. My name is now in the queue for a Vampire card and I will wait as long as it takes. I'm in no hurry, my 2nd period of Amiga ownership has no plans to end.
Bit of a ramble, though like many of you its clear the Amiga holds a special place in my heart. I've just turned 40, wife, kids etc. Decent enough job and the usual adult worries. Its great to connect with that little kid in me to enjoy the timeless classics.
I probably won't post an awful lot, as I simply don't get the time with 2 recent additions to the family. But its nice to be part of a great community, unlike many other forums I've been a member of (cars etc).
Thanks for accepting me here and I promise to be a good amiga citizen.
take care
Matt
I feel slightly embarrassed it has taken me so long to register with this great community, though I have been a passive visitor over the last couple of years. Like many of you I have experienced two phases of Amiga ownership. Back in 1990 I first experienced the Amiga 500 while visiting Bits and Bytes Computer shop near Central Station in Liverpool. At the time I had an Amstrad PC1512 ibm compatible (still have it!) and I was searching the shop for a PC game that would work on my CGA compatible display (lovely 4 colours). I was in denial at that age (12 ish) that my computer was the best in the world as it had two floppy drives, 512k ram and could run Gem Desktop, unlike my friends who still had the Spectrum etc. However, out the corner of my eye I noticed on the large CRT TV behind the counter a colourful, fast and silky car game. I'd never seen anything like it, even on the Sega Master System Games console I also owned. That game was Lotus Esprit Turbo challenge and at the time I felt a sense of defeat, the hulking beige computer at home was not what I thought it was, and that Christmas I pleaded with my parents for an Amiga.
Opening the Amiga on Christmas day was magical - I got the pack with Shadow of the Beast 2, Nightbreed and Back to the Future in it. I was gobsmacked with the intro of Shadow of the Beast and the guitar solo when you died. It was the start of an amazing period of computing for me and I made some friends along the way. Unfortunately at that age I acquired the majority of my games through swaps at school and the use of X-Copy. I did buy games when I could too - Hong Kong Phooey being the first and SAS Combat Simulator (Code Masters). For me the Amiga 500 brought me new friends when I moved from Runcorn to Liverpool - friends I still have to this day. It felt like a community then as I guess this place does now. The Amiga was a special computer and over the years I began to code on it and I bought the Amiga 1200 with 120MB HD to help me with my Computer Studies college course. I must admit the A1200 has more importance to me now than it did back then - it didn't blow me away as much as it should have back then - in part to the re-emergence of the PC. By the time I finished college I had sold my Amiga 1200 and had a 4mb 486 DX40 PC with Win 3.1
That period of my Amiga ownership ended.
Then about 10 years ago I re-acquired an Amiga 1200 with HD, then another A1200 (without) and then an Amiga 500+. At first the nostalgia of rifling through disk boxes with aging disks of Amiga Classics kept me occupied and I re-fell in love with this great machine. Eventually I bought an accelerator, added 32mb ram, CF card and updated workbench. I've bought numerous solutions over time to improve my experience on a flastcreen inc two flicker fixes and last year the fantastic BenQ 15hz monitor.
My A1200 is my perfect setup and my most cherished computer (unfortunately my love of old consoles/ computers has led to much money being spent).
Last year a mate of mine gave me his childhood A600 which had been in the loft for many years. It didn't work, but nothing a re-cap wouldn't fix. My name is now in the queue for a Vampire card and I will wait as long as it takes. I'm in no hurry, my 2nd period of Amiga ownership has no plans to end.
Bit of a ramble, though like many of you its clear the Amiga holds a special place in my heart. I've just turned 40, wife, kids etc. Decent enough job and the usual adult worries. Its great to connect with that little kid in me to enjoy the timeless classics.
I probably won't post an awful lot, as I simply don't get the time with 2 recent additions to the family. But its nice to be part of a great community, unlike many other forums I've been a member of (cars etc).
Thanks for accepting me here and I promise to be a good amiga citizen.
take care
Matt
