Hi from Galway

[Deano59]

Hi - I am new to this site - When I was 16,17 and 18 I used to work in an arcade every summer - best job I ever had. In the last 3 years I have started to get back into retro gaming. During this time I have bought the following consoles - NES, Snes, Megadrive, Mega-CD, Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast and an original Xbox running Coin Ops 6 and Visionary 4. Each year I have been focusing on a different console - started with Sega as I had a megadrive back in the day - then I moved on to Nintendo and finally Xbox - needless to say I have all the modern consoles - Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, Wii and Wii U (Possibly my favourite of the current Gen - gotta love Mario 3D and Mario Kart 8 leads to hours of fun with my niece and nephew. This month my wife bought me a Commodore 64 as it was the first computer that ever entered my house - Christmas 1984. Luckily I am still mates with my childhood friends who were also big commodore and megadrive fans. I have played quite a few Commodore 64 games and am now itching to buy an Amiga. I don't really know which one to buy. I would love a 500 as I used to play Cannon Fodder on it at my mates house - however they were far too expensive to buy back in the day as I already had a megadrive habit to feed. I have heard that the Amiga 500+ is not compatible with quite a few games. I wouldn't mind a 600 but it doesn't have the same allure as the A500. The 1200 seems to be the machine to buy but again I think I would like to start at the beginning with the A500 and work my way up - what do you guys think?

It is very difficult to track a 500 down in excellent condition for a reasonable price these days - I ofen see white cases with yellowed keys - is it easy pick up a white keyboard for the A500 - I have been keeping an eye on ebay this week but they all seem to be in well used condition. Any suggestions on where I could buy an Amiga 500 in very good condition for a reasonable price would be very much appreciated.

I hope this gives you guys some idea of where I am coming from retro collecitng wise.

 

[CrazyC]

If you are looking to start with an a500 but move onto an a1200 then I would go straight to the a1200 being honest . All depends on finances really. Just be wary of ending up spending more by working up to it. When I got my a1200 I got a ram card because an accelerator was a bit more. But then within weeks bought an accelerator and took a loss on the ram card.

EDIT - Forgot to say Welcome! oops.

 

[SkydivinGirl]

Welcome to AmiBay!

Heather

 

[Bastich]

Hello and welcome

 

[Deano59]

Hi guys thank for the welcome - my mind says be sensible and get a 1200 but there is a teenager in me that is screaming for the 500 that I couldn't have back in the day.

- - - Updated - - -

Any tips on where to buy one?

 

[SkydivinGirl]

The best way to find what you're looking for is to place a Wanted ad here on the forums.

Heather

 

[Vesko]

Welcome to Amibay!

I recommend that you buy A500 if you like to pull the original floppies from the big boxes and start the game...

In every other case buy A1200. You can skip A500+ as it is like A600 but without IDE. If you buy A1200 you can skip A600 but if you have some extra money A600 can be a nice little movable machine.

 

[tabuhuso]

Welcome, good luck...

 

[Nobby_UK]

If all you want to do is play Cannon Fodder etc...

Then an A500 or A500+
(not that incompatible, and Relokick/TUDE etc usually help)
would be ideal.

I would however suggest getting a Gotek Floppy Emulator with it
as Disks and Drives can be unreliable these days.

 

[Deano59]

Sounds good - I had heard that the Amiga 500+ wasn't compatible with some games. - if I could play the following games then I would be thrilled:
Cannon Fodder, Stunt Car Racer, Lemmings, Chaos Engine, Creatures, Creatures 2, Midnight Resistance, Fire and Ice, James Pond, Robocod, Batman, Rick Dangerous 2. Any idea where I could get a clean Amiga 500? I bought 2 Commodore 64s in the last month - kept them because I love the machine but neither of them were quite as clean as the description suggested. Any idea how much I should expect to pay for a clean A500?

Thanks for all the suggestions - really helpful.

 

[CrazyC]

You will find that questions around how much you should pay for stuff are not answered on this site, as part of the appeal is that this is not an auction site and any answer will be seen as 'price driving'.
Best solution is probably to search through the previous threads in the for sale section, and you will get an idea.

 

[Nobby_UK]

Cannon Fodder, Stunt Car Racer, Lemmings, Chaos Engine, Creatures, Creatures 2, Midnight Resistance, Fire and Ice, James Pond, Robocod, Batman, Rick Dangerous 2.

Almost all of them are OCS/ECS compatible
Stunt Car Racer and Batman are OCS titles,
but I am sure Stunt Car Racer is OK...
Batman I could not Say for Sure...
Creatures 2 is Not on the Amiga says HOL

 

[Deano59]

Hi guys thanks for the replies - sorry for asking how much I could expect to pay - I didn't realise it was against the rules - it is fantastic to get feedback on those games from people who know what they are talking about - I am on a quest to find mint Amiga 500, a mint 600 and a mint 1200 - I will report back when I find each one and post some pics when I do find them.

It might take me all year but I think it is a pretty good New Year's resolution.

Thanks again guys - Merry Christmas

 

[Deano59]

Hi - guys I pulled the trigger on a 1200 today - it looked mint - won't have it until after Christmas but I am thrilled to finally own one. I'll let ye know when it arrives - I plan on getting the A500 and A600 at some stage - just waiting to get them in as close to mint condition as possible - not possible to try retrobrite in the west of Ireland - it has been raining for the last 5 days - thanks for all the advice guys - I really appreciate it. It is a basic 1200 model - I will use it mainly to play games- any recommendations on upgrades I should get for it - accelerator card etc...

 

[Deano59]

Hi guys - just pulled the trigger on a really white Amiga 500 thanks to placing a wanted ad on Amibay - helped out by a fellow member - delighted - I'll post pics when my 1200 and 500 arrive. 500 is computer only - any ideas where I could get a tv modulator, psu and mouse that look brand new?

Best Wishes

 

[Nobby_UK]

Why use a Modulator ? Horrid Things ! Get an RBG to Scart.

Mice turn up from time to time...
PSUs can be a bit of pot luck (condition vs output etc)
and can be expensive to ship.

 

[Deano59]

Managed to get rgb to scart that suits both the 1200 and 500 - thanks again - quick question - in relation to psu what do you mean by condition vs output - could I get a white one that doesn't have the correct output - what should I look out for? Thanks for your patience.

 

[Nobby_UK]

If you are not going to run expansions etc...
Then almost any would do.

You could even get a broken one with a white case
and fit a modern psu in it.

In my experience the white ones came with the 600/1200s
and the 500/500+s were beige.

 

[Deano59]

Another Amiga enters the fold - bought a CD32 described as being in pristine condition - I think I paid over the odds but I have been waiting a long time to get one without any scratches or scuffs.