Best possible expansions for A1200?

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Best possible expansions for A1200?

Postby Clym5 on Mon Nov 17, 2014 11:12 pm

Hey all!

I've been thinking about kitting out my Amiga, after seeing what a faster processor and more RAM can do. Does anyone here have any experience with accelerator cards and such?

What's the best accelerator and other HW to add? Ignoring price.

And then, what's the best, while still being somewhat frugal?

From what I've read, the ACA 1230/XX ones seem to be the best, but I could be wrong! I need PCMCIA to work too.
Amiga 4000: Apollo Turbo 040, 128MB Fast, 40gb HDD, CD-ROM (needs internet)
C64: 1541U-II, MixSID, WiFi, LumaFix64
ZX Spec, A1200, CD32, MacPlus/SE, A500, BBC Turbo Master (NASA), 2600, Acorn 4000, VIC-20, IBM 5155, GameBoy
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Re: Best possible expansions for A1200?

Postby acsi on Tue Nov 18, 2014 7:56 pm

I had an ACA1232 in my 1200 but had a few issues with it and wound up getting a Blizzard 1230.

Now my PCMCIA port will not work at all. Amiga's can be funny beast's and extremely frustrating I have found. Mind you I do like to push hardware to it's max :lol: .

I've already made one timing fix on the motherboard but it seems it may have been the incorrect one. There are various issue's with the different motherboards. From memory (and I could be wrong) the 1d4 is supposed to be the best one (or was it the 2b?).

Other than that the Blizzard is extremely stable at 50MHz. Whereas the ACA for me wasn't quite so friendly.
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Re: Best possible expansions for A1200?

Postby Clym5 on Thu Nov 20, 2014 5:45 pm

Ooh, the Blizzard 1230 looks nice. How do you go about keeping it from overheating? Or does it stay cool enough as it is?

Having PCMCIA is important for me, else I can't put files on it easily. The Subway USB controller wasn't an option for me for whatever reason. Can't recall... I'll have a look what board I have in mine.

I was also thinking about putting a spare Pi to use as a USB replacement for the disk drive though, and using an external FDD for when I needed it. It depends on the functionality that I can achieve with it.

Also, where's the best place to buy Amiga gear apart from Trademe? One of those online Amiga stores? eBay?
Amiga 4000: Apollo Turbo 040, 128MB Fast, 40gb HDD, CD-ROM (needs internet)
C64: 1541U-II, MixSID, WiFi, LumaFix64
ZX Spec, A1200, CD32, MacPlus/SE, A500, BBC Turbo Master (NASA), 2600, Acorn 4000, VIC-20, IBM 5155, GameBoy
Clym5
 
Posts: 284
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2014 5:23 pm
Location: Meadowbank, Auckland

Re: Best possible expansions for A1200?

Postby acsi on Thu Nov 20, 2014 6:26 pm

The Blizzard seems to run ok without overheating in the standard case.

I have a subway installed in my machine and find it to be really handy for transferring files. I'm now after a USB Wifi (compatible) for it due to the non working PCMCIA.

Regarding where to get stuff from I have found Amibay to be OK in the past but I've been ripped off twice and there is no fallback. eBay is a good source but also http://www.Amigakit.com/ and http://www.Vesalia.de/.
'acsi' on trademe
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Re: Best possible expansions for A1200?

Postby Clym5 on Thu Nov 20, 2014 7:06 pm

I don't have the trapdoor cover for my A1200, so I guess it'd have better ventilation without it anyway. I remember why I thought I wouldn't get the subway! It needed an accelerator or something to work, and I didn't have one. If I did get one, I'd probably get the Subway too. The price of accelerators is too high for me right now. $200+ for the ACA1233/40!

I mean, a A4000T would be better, but the ones on eBay are $1,200 or more!

What issues did you have with the ACA when you mentioned it wasn't quite so friendly?
Amiga 4000: Apollo Turbo 040, 128MB Fast, 40gb HDD, CD-ROM (needs internet)
C64: 1541U-II, MixSID, WiFi, LumaFix64
ZX Spec, A1200, CD32, MacPlus/SE, A500, BBC Turbo Master (NASA), 2600, Acorn 4000, VIC-20, IBM 5155, GameBoy
Clym5
 
Posts: 284
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2014 5:23 pm
Location: Meadowbank, Auckland

Re: Best possible expansions for A1200?

Postby acsi on Thu Nov 20, 2014 7:15 pm

The ACA used to freeze until I made the timing change but even after that it would freeze when I tried to use my ethernet PCMCIA card, used to use it for file transfer from my PC using Amiga Explorer. So I wound up picking up a Subway (not cheap) and the Blizzard just because it came up and was cheapish which now allows me to use a USB stick to transfer files.

Any Amiga gear seems to command a premium price. Especially when it comes to PPC gear, would love to give one of those a go but not at over $1000.
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Location: Wellington

Re: Best possible expansions for A1200?

Postby Carcenomy on Fri Nov 21, 2014 6:57 pm

Amibay is a good place to start looking if you want stuff like that, but Blizzards always command a premium. I've just got a RAM/FPU in mine, was thinking of an ACA. What'd you do with yours in the end asci?
Just the local Commodore hobo and middle-aged PC hoarder.
eisa on Trademe. A lasting reminder of a Compaq fetish when I was younger.
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Re: Best possible expansions for A1200?

Postby acsi on Fri Nov 21, 2014 7:56 pm

I sold the ACA on trademe.
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Re: Best possible expansions for A1200?

Postby Clym5 on Wed Dec 03, 2014 11:53 pm

What expansions would someone need to run the likes of a Black Lotus demo, such as Rift? 040 and 8mb or more RAM?
Amiga 4000: Apollo Turbo 040, 128MB Fast, 40gb HDD, CD-ROM (needs internet)
C64: 1541U-II, MixSID, WiFi, LumaFix64
ZX Spec, A1200, CD32, MacPlus/SE, A500, BBC Turbo Master (NASA), 2600, Acorn 4000, VIC-20, IBM 5155, GameBoy
Clym5
 
Posts: 284
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2014 5:23 pm
Location: Meadowbank, Auckland


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