#New to the Amiga
8 messages in this thread
Can anyone tell me the difference between the A500, A1000,A2000, A1200.
I am considering purchasing a used A1000 for $150. If im right, the A1000 is
the original Amiga. I am curious as to how upgradable and compatible it is. And
in the future if I could add a Toaster to it. Thanks Dan
Dan,
Yes, the 1000 was the original Amiga. The A1000, and 500 are in many ways
the same machine. A500 add-ons will even work on the 1000 expansion bus on
the right side if you turn them backwards. The 500 has a external power
supply, and attached keyboard, while the 1000 has a detached keyboard, and
the power supply is internal. The 1000 can be brought pretty close to the
ECS level of machines. The 2000 is also is on par with the 500 and 1000
except it has 1 meg chip ram built in, and it has expansion slots, CPU
slots, and a video slot. The 1200 is like the 500 (extenal power supply,
and attached keyboard), but it is more powerful. It has a 14 mhz 68EC020
the AGA chipset (2 to 256,000 colors out of a 16.8 million color palette),
and an internal IDE controller and CPU expansion bus.
Hate to break this to you, but the toaster will NOT work with the 1000. No
video slots exist in a stock 1000. The 1000 can be upgraded to the ECS
level that the 500 and 2000 can use. The cost though can reach the price
of the 1200.
Richard -> via the Amiga 1000 AutoPilot
Thanks, thats the info I needed.I dont think i'll bother with the 1000 then. I
just picked up some Amiga magizines and the A4000 seems to be the choice for
the Toaster 4000.
The aga chips are on both the 1200 and the 4000. I would assume then that the
big difference between them, aside from the case , would be processor speed?
Processor speed and expandability; the A4000 has slots and the 1200 does not.
You'll probably be able to do whatever you want expansion-wise with the 1200,
but it will cost more and be less convenient.
Bob
Yes the processor on the 1200 is a 14 mhz 68EC020. The 4000 comes with
either a 25 mhz 68040 or a 25 mhz 68EC030 depending on model.
Richard -> via the Amiga 1000 AutoPilot
Oh and pardon my ignorance 🙂 but what does ECS means?
It refers to the Amiga chip set, ECS Enhanced Chip Set.
Richard -> via the Amiga 1000 AutoPilot
Dan: You would add a $2,000 Video Toaster to a $150 A1000? Heh! Heh! I
like it! Actually, if a Toaster is in your future, look around and you can
find used and/or refurbished A2000 machines going for around $300 or so.
The A2000 will handle a Toaster nicely and has plenty of expansion slots.
— Ron Legro, Milwaukee
via AUTOPILOT (the only way to fly)