🚀 go-pugleaf

Daniel Cocks (timelord@byron.apana.org.au) wrote:
: I have got confused though about the difference between KickStart, Workbench,
: and Operating System. In the magazine I saw ads for upgrading the Amiga to
: OS 3.1, others where WB 2.x was required to run programs/hardware, and then
: there is Kickstart....what's it all mean and what do you need?? 

When they say OS 3.1 and WB 3.1, they're pretty much the same thing. If I 
said I have Workbench 3.1 or if I said I have OS (operating system) 3.1 
-- I'm saying the same thing.

Kickstart is the ROM chip required for most OS/WB upgrades. When you go 
from 1.2 to 1.3 -- you need a new ROM chip in the Amiga. When you go from 
1.3 to 2.04 -- you need a new ROM chip, but when you go from 2.04 to 2.05 
or 2.1 -- you don't need a new ROM chip. If you go from anything to 3.1 
(assuming that you don't have an AGA machine) then you need the 3.1 ROM 
(Kickstart) chip in your Amiga. All of the above upgrades require new 
versions of the Workbench software.

: So could you please give me some advice?? Below are the options I'm : 
: weighing up:

I've been where you are about 7 years ago. :-)

: 1. Upgrade my Amiga 500 - WB, KS, OS?? Get a hard drive, nothing huge
:    though. 

Frankly, I wouldn't bother upgrading the A500 at this point in time. Your 
hardware options are getting very very limited unless you buy used hardware.
Hardly anyone makes hardware for the A500's anymore.
 
:    What's this about IDE and SCSI hard 
drives??? :    I've heard you can connect CD rom to a 500? Is it workable?

IDE and SCSI are two entirely different controllers for devices. IDE is 
limited in the number of devices that it can support on one card (at 
least on the Amiga versions) and SCSI is usually faster and can support 
more devices off of 1 card. In short, buy SCSI (make sure it supports 
SCSI II standards and isn't one of those old junky controllers.)

You can hook a CD-ROM drive to an A500, but remember, EVERYTHING you buy 
on that A500 goes external! This means more expense and a bigger power 
supply if the devices don't have their own.

: 2. Update to a newer model - the 1200 seems to be the go, along with a CD
:    rom drive. I've also seen ads for the 2000 at a reasonable price.
:    Basically what's the diff between the 1200, 2000, 3000, and 4000?? 
:    I must say I'm leaning towards the 1200, so any specific advice on that
:    would be great.

Yes, I'd strongly suggest upgrading (keep the old A500 around if you can 
afford to -- it'll come in handy for playing games etc.)

Here we go:

A2000 - comes with: a separate keyboard, 5 internal Zorro II slots (for 
holding hard drive controllers, graphics cards, high-speed I/O ports, 
extra memory, etc.), CPU slot for acclerator, video slot for the Toaster 
or a flicker fixer, IBM AT slots for a bridgeboard etc., room for 2 3.5" 
drives mounted internally and 1 5.25" drive bay for a hard 
drive/CD-ROM/Tape Backup unit, etc., a 200 watt power supply with leads 
for 2 floppy drives and two other devices. This computer only comes with 
1 MB RAM on the motherboard and a 68000 CPU as stock equipment. This is a 
16-bit architecture machine. The expandability is huge and the hardware is 
still out there in abumdance for this model.

A3000 - comes with a separate keyboard, 4 internal Zorro III expansion 
slots (I think they're all Zorro III), a CPU slot, 25MHz 68030 CPU, 2 MB 
CHIP RAM on the motherboard and room for up to 16 MB FAST RAM on the 
motherboard, SCSI hard drive controller, fairly large power supply, 
32-bit architecture. It has room for 2 3.5" drives and 1 hard drive 
internally. The hardware options for this are very limited 
(A3000-specific items), but you can add most of the A2000-type hardware 
boards to the A3000.

A1200 - comes with an attached keyboard, 14 MHZ 68020 CPU, 32-bit 
architecture, AGA chip set, 2 MB CHIP RAM, one expansion slot in the 
belly and one PCMCIA slot on the side, IDE hard drive controller with 
room to mount one 2.5" HD internally. This is just about the same as 
your A500 in the expansion department. Almost all item go externally.
There are quite a few expansion devices for it, but you'll want an 
accelerator and some 32-bit FAST RAM to make this computer fly.

A4000 - this is similar to the A2000 in its internal expansion capabilities.
It comes with either a 68030 or 68040 COU, IDE hard drive controller, 2 
MB CHIP RAM and room for FAST RAM (not sure how much), separate keyboard, 
room for 2 3.5" internal dirves, AGA chip set.

It depends on your budget. If you can afford a used A4000, this would be 
my first choice. If not, my choices would be as follows:

A3000 (upgrade it to WB 3.1) should come with a hard drive and at least 5 
MB of memory. It already has decent speed right out of the box.

A2000 (upgrade to WB 3.1, add an accelerator and FAST RAM) This is what I 
have and you could get a bare bones unit and then add to it as you can 
afford to.

The only reason I'd stay away from the A1200 is due to its 
surface-mounted chips and limited expandability. It does have a slightly 
faster CPU than the A2000 and it does have the AGA chip set, but if you 
ever need repairs, forget it!

: 3. I've heard you can convert a CD32 into a fully working 1200...would
:    this be worth it (and cost effective with the add-ons you'd need to buy?)

If you care about CD-32 games and want a CD-ROM drive for the A1200 to 
boot. There are cheaper ways to go if you don't care about the games.

: I'm not after a SUPER powerful machine which will go faster than the speed
: of light (!) but something that is reasonably powerful, will run a lot of
: software, is CD compatible and will be around for awhile. I'd be using it
: mainly for word processing, games and running CD's, but I'd also like the
: option of being able to do "other" things with it as well if I wanted to.

See above recommendations: A4000, A3000, A2000 -- in that order.

Bill