Rescued Amiga 500! Needs some parts

[LambdaCalculus]

Hey folks!

I have an Amiga 500 that I can say... rescued? Got for free? One of those two?... from a guy I met at VCF East about 2 years ago. It's been sitting in my basement until recently, as the guy who gave it to me didn't supply the right PSU for it (I got a C64 PSU instead).

I have recently decided to pull it out and start giving it a good cleaning up. So far all the keycaps have been pulled off and completely cleaned out, and now I need to get some retr0bright made to clean up the outer case. I picked up an RBG-to-VGA adapter off of AmigaKit so I can use it with a VGA monitor, but I'm going to probably get a Vampire 2 for it down the road, if I don't get an Amiga 1200 (which is what I TRULY covet!) first.

The Amiga has a Kickstart 2.04 ROM installed, so I need to get Workbench 2 disks for it. I may pull out the floppy and get a Gotek instead to make things easier. There's 512KB of RAM on board, and I think another 512KB installed via the trapdoor.

I also need a PSU, of course. I was guided to this page to get one.

I hope to be able to get what I need for this A500 soon; I've been dying to have a real Amiga for so damn long, and now that I have one, I just want to see it in action soon!

[intric8]

Hey there! Thanks for joining AmigaLove - very cool first post.

There's 512KB of RAM on board, and I think another 512KB installed via the trapdoor.

To be honest, if you've got 1MB of RAM and 2.04 installed, that's a pretty sweet little machine from an old-school perspective.

From a philosophical standpoint, I went down the very same road you're traveling down now albeit with the 1200s. I really enjoyed giving them some extra speed and RAM boosts (via Individual Computers in Germany). And I would LOVE to see pics of your before/after 500s keys and case, if you've taken any (or take any in the future). I love geeking out on that stuff. I'm very persnickety about having "pretty" vintage gear. The more mint-looking the better. Sadly my stock 500 is the only machine I haven't cleaned up yet - the case is very yellow and the internals have years of dust that needs to be excavated. It's on my to-do list as the machine works flawlessly.

Amigas are a joy to use.

You will need to ask yourself what your primary usage will be, IMO. If it's mostly hardware stuff for hardware's sake - I totally get that. But if you think your main use is going to be games - is it "old" games, newer (AGA) games, new (Vampire) games/demos, or all of the above?

Old games and software really work best under 1.3. My 1200s are all running 3.1, but they are currently in my closet. My 2000 (and soon to be 1000) run 1.3 and I will not be upgrading them. Everything "just works" software-wise and that's what I'm after. Every so often my 1200s just wouldn't run original old ADFs for the games I wanted, and I didn't want to go the WHDLoad via HDD route (which does solve this problem oftentimes, but to each his own).

And since you've already got 1MB of RAM you pretty much can run any classic software ever made. That machine is set. . . except, of course, in my opinion you really need a hard drive so you can boot Workbench off of it and save software and game saves to HDD. It's a life changer.

I'd focus on getting a hard drive first and foremost and see how that feels. That's just my opinion, of course. Looking forward to seeing what you decide to do!

Oh! And Ray Carlsen is the best. You better hop on one of his PSUs fast, as he's 70 now and probably won't be making them forever. I've got one for my 500/1200s and one for my C64. He's the best.

[LambdaCalculus]

Hey intric8!

I'm just clearing my credit cards down a bit so I can be able to get a PSU from Ray soon; that's first priority so I can get my Amiga powered up.

As for usage, I may do a little of everything: games old and new, run Workbench, generally get *really* into the Amiga hardware. The Vampire is tempting, but if I don't get one, I was considering getting an ACA500plus accelerator off Individual Computers, as they're cheaper than the Vampire option.

Are there any caveats I should be aware of when using an accelerator?

[intric8]

I'm just clearing my credit cards down a bit so I can be able to get a PSU from Ray soon

He only accepts checks, but will typically mail things off before even receiving a check in the mail!

As for accelerators, in my own experience I'm just not sure I often really tapped into them to see any real tangible benefit, but it was cool to see it work. They will speed up boot times (if you don't have a massive HDD) and some other tasks. I used the expanded RAM for ADF and file transfers, but never got close the amount the cards offered.

If you play racing games or flight sims I think you'll see a real difference. But I don't, so for me the difference was noticeable but not major - or really super necessary to get the job done.

But it was neat getting it to work.

I do wonder if an 030 40hz would make StarflIght less painfully slow. It would be fun to keep the viewport open to watch the landings but they take so long I just skip it.

[LambdaCalculus]

He only accepts checks, but will typically mail things off before even receiving a check in the mail!

Oog; I'm a little iffy on writing checks. But I guess I'll work something out with him.

[intric8]

These days when I'm forced to write a check it's as if I've forgotten how to use my hand for writing. Hah!

I had to go pilfer my desk drawers in search of my long lost checkbook, too.

[Zippy Zapp]

I just go get a cashiers check at my bank or counter checks that they print right there for a couple bucks. I haven't had a check book in over 15 years. But yeah Ray Carlsen's PSUs are first class.

[LambdaCalculus]

I just go get a cashiers check at my bank or counter checks that they print right there for a couple bucks. I haven't had a check book in over 15 years. But yeah Ray Carlsen's PSUs are first class.

Well, three pieces of good news:

1) Ray got back to me and is going to prepare a PSU for me

2) He'll accept a money order

3) My Amiga 500 will finally LIVE!!!

[intric8]

I think you'll be stunned at how quickly you receive one in the mail. And they are made to order (he doesn't have them sitting on a shelf pre-made).

To that end, you can get a really cool custom setup, should you ever need one. Like, one that supports multiple machines, or even a machine that was made for a different voltage. Guy knows his stuff.

[LambdaCalculus]

He shipped it out today with USPS Priority Shipping, so I should have it in a few days!

I also ordered a couple of sets of Workbench disks and a couple of spare Kickstart ROMs from Amigastore.eu (both 1.3 KS and WB and 2.05 KS and 2.1 WB), and I have a few disks to try out once everything is here.

Now to get some games for it!