User avatar
rkindig

Posted Wed Apr 05, 2023 7:45 am

Hi, I'm relatively new to the Amiga.

Looking for the best A500 virtual hard drive/mem upgrade/accelerator (optional). Is the ACA500+ a great way to go?

I have the Parceiro for my Amiga 1000 and love it! Want something similar for the A500.

thanks!

Randy Kindig
Floppy Days Podcast (http://www.floppydays.com)

User avatar
intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Wed Apr 05, 2023 8:02 am

Hold onto your hat, rkindig.

There is a horizontal A500 Parceiro in the works... You should ask DD about it.

User avatar
rkindig

Posted Wed Apr 05, 2023 8:10 am

Really!? I spoke with David a LOT about the Parceiro during my A1000 purchase. He didn't mention it :)

thanks!

User avatar
intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Wed Apr 05, 2023 8:16 am

Well, it's not really ready for "announcing" if you know what I mean. But I think it was rather close last I checked.

User avatar
McTrinsic

Posted Wed Apr 05, 2023 8:52 am

To answer your question: yes, the ACA500+ is an excellent device that is a great addition to an Amiga 500.

It has tons of features that benefit the use. There are cases for it available as third-party add-ons.

I‘d recommend it, without saying anything about potential other solutions.

User avatar
rkindig

Posted Sun May 28, 2023 7:38 pm

intric8 wrote:
Wed Apr 05, 2023 8:16 am
Well, it's not really ready for "announcing" if you know what I mean. But I think it was rather close last I checked.
I got the A500 Parceiro from David Dunklee. The first one! (well, except I'm sure David's own).

Great device!

Randy

User avatar
maurensen

Posted Mon May 29, 2023 2:44 am

Yes, the ACA 500+ is a great solution (I have it on my A1000).
Irixlab's 520 classic is more powerful but lacks an important feature for me: the ability to switch between different kickstarts on the fly.
But be warned: if you for any reason (your fault or their evident fault doesn't makes difference) would have the need of assistance from Icomp you'll end up crazy because people at icomp is the most unsupportive and rude persons I've ever experienced in Amigaland.

User avatar
Crackgift

Posted Mon May 29, 2023 7:07 am

Hello! It's great to hear that you're exploring the Amiga platform. The ACA500+ is indeed a popular and highly regarded option for enhancing the Amiga 500.

The ACA500+ is a versatile expansion board that combines multiple functionalities into a single device. It serves as a virtual hard drive, memory expansion, and accelerator for the Amiga 500. With the ACA500+, you can add an SD card or CompactFlash as a virtual hard drive, providing convenient storage options for your Amiga software and files.

In terms of memory expansion, the ACA500+ supports up to 10MB of Fast RAM, which can significantly improve the performance of your Amiga 500, especially when running memory-intensive applications or games.

Additionally, the ACA500+ offers the option for an accelerator module, allowing you to further boost the processing power of your Amiga 500. However, please note that the accelerator module is an optional add-on and not included with the base ACA500+ board.

Overall, the ACA500+ is considered a reliable and feature-rich upgrade for the Amiga 500, offering expanded storage, increased memory, and potential performance enhancements. It's worth considering if you're looking to enhance the capabilities of your Amiga 500 and have a similar experience to the Parceiro you enjoy with your Amiga 1000.

Before making a purchase, I recommend checking with reputable Amiga retailers or online communities to ensure the availability and compatibility of the ACA500+ for your specific Amiga 500 model and requirements.

User avatar
McTrinsic

Posted Mon May 29, 2023 12:18 pm

… and if you encounter something that needs clarification with your ACA500(+), Amigalove Support Squad is at your side 😆👍

User avatar
bwldrbst

Posted Fri Jun 02, 2023 6:12 pm

I've just recently put a CDTV-RAM-IDE - https://gitlab.com/MHeinrichs/CDTV-RAM-IDE - in my Rev 5 A500. It's a modest upgrade - no fancy features like acceleration or kickstart switching - but it's a lot cheaper. I really just wanted a 1.3 machine with HD and some fastram, something I never experienced back in the day as I went from a 1MB A500 with floppy drives to an A1200 and then A4000.

Unlike other cheap IDE devices that emulate the Gayle chip in an A600 or A1200, this one will auto-boot OS 1.3 with no other modifications.
PXL_20230517_112548070.jpg
You can see I had to lift it up a bit to get it over the kickstart chip.
PXL_20230517_112532622.MP.jpg





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