used 1000 or new 500?
15 messages in this thread
I am about to buy an amiga, but don't know which one to get. I can get a used
1000 with 512k, second ext. drive and genlock with some software for about
$500. I can also get a new 500 for 600. I want to use the system to play with
video productions(i.e. genlocks, frame grabers …) I have a mac+ for most of
my other needs but a mac II is just overpriced. Also I have always wanted to
play with an Amiga. Will the 1000 suit my uses. I know I will have to add some
memory. Local store(bit bucket in boston area) says I will need about 2MB. Any
comments on the above questions would sure be helpfull.
mark falk
Mark –
I own an Amiga 1000. I would be very surprised if you could get a 500
outfitted as the 1000 you described for a measly $600. I would suggest that
you look at the keyboards, the A1000's detachable, the A500's closer to the
industry standards. As for expansion, immediately the A1000 wins hands down.
The A1000 can support an additional 2MB and a disk controller. The A500 needs
additional power supplies (read $$$) for the same effect. The A1000 will
reportedly not be able to support any fatter CHIP memory, whereas the A500
apparently will. (CHIP memory is absolutely essential for video!)
However, $500 for an outfitted A1000 (assuming it is functional) is a good
price.
BTW – I highly recommend the Microbotics StarBoard-II 2MB expansion memory
(et.al.)
– Nelson …
Nelson, thanks for the reply. Yes, it is functional. I went looking for prices
on memory for the A1000. I can get in the boston area a .5MB add on board for
about $400. If I were to buy a A500 it would cost $600 for the A500, $200 for
the .5MB memory upgrade, $200 for the second ext. disk drive, and $200 for a
genlock. This adds up to $1200. If I buy the used A1000 it will cost $500 for
the main unit and another $400 for the .5MB memory upgrade for a total of $900.
The delta is $400. So my question is, is the it worth it to spend another $400
to end up with a A500(with 1MB of memory), second ext. disk drive and genlock,
all new. The used A1000 I think has the commodore genlock. One of the local
dealers says that thay never worked very well. Is that true? I have seen some
of the things that my friend did on this A1000 and it sure looked good to me.
Anyway thanks again for the help. Mark Falk
I wouldn't buy an A500. It's cheap and the keyboard's stuck to the computer.
The 2000 should be your ultimate goal. Buy a 1000 and buy only expansion
hardware that can be upgraded to fit into a 2000 later.
define cheap.
Well, three people have had their mouse rust out internally within 4 to 5
months. In fact, it just happened to the demo computer – the painted metal
rollers inside the computer rusted and the ball wouldn't turn.
Many people have had defective problems with the Chinon drives, regarded by
alot of people I know as some of the worst in the entire computer industry.
The power supply is pathetic.
Overall, the A500 is an inexpensive computer that's a very good value next to
most other things out there – but it's also very cheaply made. Many cut
corners, high defective rates, etc.
Henry,
I don't know about your mouse, but the rollers in my mouse are NOT
painted. They are bright metal all the way. If you see what looks like paint
on them…my guess is that it's dirt. Try to remove it and see if things start
to work again.
I recall an earlier discussion about this and many folks thought there
was a rubber coating on the metal rollers…but close examination showed it to
be an accumulation of dirt that was easily removed and the mouse started to
work again just fine.
Don
I understand that there are several mice in use by Commodore. One of these
mice(s) has plastic rollers, another one is the 1000 mouse, and another one is
the kind of mouse I am describing. There may even be more.
The mouse that I am describing has rollers made of a metal that rusts, and
it's got silver paint on it. You can chip the paint off with your fingernails,
eventually it falls off by itself.
After that happens, a couple of months later the rollers actually rust, and
turn brownish from the rust. The dirt gets into the little rust pits and you
cannot get it out, without a pin, which digs into the roller more.
Eventually the roller becomes unuseable.
That makes the mouse unuseable.
This happened on the demo computer at work very quickly. when I play game,s
my palms sweat like crazy. There's even a noticeable wet spot on the mouse
mat. So our computer's mouse was rusted within 6 months. Other customer's
have taken up to a year have taken longer.
To the best of my knowledge, these mice were only packaged in A500's.
Henry –
Sounds to me that the "silver paint that comes off" is a good description of a
poor job of chroming steel.
– Nelson …
Henry,
I'd have to agree with Nelson…sounds like a crummy chrome job. I
can't imagine painting the rollers as a viable opion. Either that, or a
dishonest manufacturer tried (and apparently succeeded) to pass off a cheap
painted roller for a chrome plated roller. Geeze, the cost difference has to
be all of about 1/4 cent or less. Even if they made a million of them, that'd
only be $2500.
Don
Henry,
While early on in its life I would probably have tended to agree with you
regrding the high defective rate on the A500. However, C-A in my opinion has
turned that around and today its rare for us to come up with a DOA A500.
The power-supply sold with the A500 provides all the power needed for C-A
recommended configurations. If you expand furthur you will need more power.
Afterall, I don't hear you bitching about the extra power required to drive a
hard drive on the A1000. On the A500 we need extra power for memory too.
What's the big deal?
The mouse sold with the A500 is exactly the same except for the connector
as what is sold with the A1000, A2000, PC-10 and works fine. I've never had
one rust. Actually, I take that back about them being all the same. I just
opened my mouse on my A2k and it's got white plastic rollers. The other rollers
that I can remember seeing are metal (unpainted) and now you say there are some
painted metal rollers out there too. Anyway, I've never seen one rust, and in
general I've found the mice to be the same as far as life and reliability.
(both fair to good)
Can't really say much about the drives, haven't needed to look inside to
many A500's myself. I can say that I have not found an abnormally high
defective rate on A500s.
The point of the last message was just to make you think again before you
go bashing the A500 as I think C-A has done some good work at fixing early
problems. Also I think a lot of your ideas just come from the A500 being at
the low end of Amiga computers. Being less expensive does not necesarily imply
being 'cheap'.
-John
John,
I certainly agree. I bought one of the first 500's, had the first 500 on this
forum, and have had zero mechanical problems with it. When the mouse squeaks a
little too much I wipe off the rollers (metal BTW, and not "painted" or
"rusty"). The power supply has been adequate, and has not failed. The disk
drives are operating fine. I've gotten used to the attached keyboard. The
ONLY reason I'll be upgrading to a 2XXX will be further expansion needs. I
don't have the deskspace the 500 requires for the same expansion.
Lee
John,
I've got an older A1000, the mouse it came with is definately different from
those that come with the 500 & 2000. Mine weighs quite a bit more and has a
sliding cover to access the ball. The two different versions I've seen on the
500 & 2000 are lighter, have a rotating cover and a smaller ball. The teflon
pads on the bottom don't seem as high in quality either.
I never took a close look at the rollers other than to notice that mine used
metal and the others had either metal or plastic. The paint? I'd agree that it
probably was a bum chrome job.
-Jack-
Mark –
The A1000 with the .5MB memory expansion can QED be expanded to a full 2MB
(plus the .5MB internal) whilst the A500 will be stuck at 1MB. $400 will buy a
nice bit of software. If you are really into video I think, personally, you
would be happier with the A1000. However, please understand that free advice
is worth exactly what you pay for it.
– Nelson …
Nelson,
What do you mean the 500 will be stuck at 1MB? I have 3MB on mine, and there
are boards on the market to expand the 500 INTERNALLY to 2.5MB.
Lee