xcomcmdr wrote on 2021-10-28, 13:50:

Nothing. It's a steal of your money. […]
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appiah4 wrote on 2021-10-28, 13:21:

What exactly does the A500-Mini bring to the table that running Amibian on a Raspberry Pi 3 does not then?

Nothing. It's a steal of your money.

Better use WinUAE or something. A lot of ready-made packages also exist, legally to boot:
https://www.amigaforever.com/

I dont know if it is a steal of your money. Depends on how you look at it. How much is time worth to you and what will you end up paying for the same kind of finished product, if you want to sit in front of your tv and play from time to time? When it comes down to the end price, I think the 500-Mini will be reasonable priced.

And yes. It is not really for people who know how to set up things. Like a Vogon user. But I want to buy one anyway, so my original hardware will be for me and not my children to use.

xcomcmdr wrote on 2021-10-28, 13:50:

Nothing. It's a steal of your money. […]
Show full quote

appiah4 wrote on 2021-10-28, 13:21:

What exactly does the A500-Mini bring to the table that running Amibian on a Raspberry Pi 3 does not then?

Nothing. It's a steal of your money.

Better use WinUAE or something. A lot of ready-made packages also exist, legally to boot:
https://www.amigaforever.com/

WinUAE for a casual guy who just want's to play something for an hour is way too complicated.

I don't really have any retro hardware like A500-mini, maybe beside the last year's Nintendo Game&Watch (Super Mario Bros) - and while I can play SMB on any device I can imagine - playing it on this Game & Watch is so much fun. It was ~50 USD sure, but I think it was worth it, and I'm going to buy this year's release (Zelda) too.

I just checked up price for a500-Mini pre-order in Denmark. The price is 121 Euro and looking at the price for RaspberryPI hardware, high quality case, joysticks or controllers, legit kickstart roms and the time one spend on setting up. Then the a500-mini seems like a good deal.

Received these controllers today -

I needed some extra PC Gameport controllers, so grabbed those on a whim. The Gravis joystick isn't anything particularly special, a typical analog 2-button joystick. But I quite like the Saitek gamepad, with microswitches on the d-pad.

Both in good working order and tested on my 386.

I didn't expect to win this 🤣

It's my first and only Voodoo3 3500 ever 😁

Also it's complete in box and the card looks like new too, all shiny, dust free... and best thing... it actually works 😁

Sellers photo:

HanJammer wrote on 2021-10-28, 15:30:

WinUAE for a casual guy who just want's to play something for an hour is way too complicated.

The QuickStart page of WinUAE is easy enough... And it's really nothing new.

xcomcmdr wrote on 2021-10-28, 17:53:

HanJammer wrote on 2021-10-28, 15:30:

WinUAE for a casual guy who just want's to play something for an hour is way too complicated.

The QuickStart page of WinUAE is easy enough... And it's really nothing new.

It is, buuut... back in the day there was a ton of ppl who would have said they were "into" Amiga, and didn't know how to do more than put in a booter game and turn it on. Workbench? WTF is that?

kixs wrote on 2021-10-28, 17:07:

I didn't expect to win this :lol: […]
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I didn't expect to win this 🤣

It's my first and only Voodoo3 3500 ever 😁

Also it's complete in box and the card looks like new too, all shiny, dust free... and best thing... it actually works 😁

Sellers photo:

beautiful.

It might be worth it to attach a fan if you intend on using it. A typical Voodoo3 is already hot enough as it is.

xcomcmdr wrote on 2021-10-28, 17:53:

HanJammer wrote on 2021-10-28, 15:30:

WinUAE for a casual guy who just want's to play something for an hour is way too complicated.

The QuickStart page of WinUAE is easy enough... And it's really nothing new.

Doesn't matter if it came out 20 years ago or so. For somebody who is using it for the first time - it's new.

A500-mini isn't dedicated for tinkerers or vintage computer enthusiasts. Like other retro machines like it - it's oriented at people who just want to play games from their childhood, free of any hassle. If there would be no market for such retro computers - it wouldn't be released (yet there is a lot of people who will buy it - NES mini, C64mini and so on proved it) and the price seems about right too.

I'd wait to see if it sells before saying that there is a market for it.

For me it's a niche product aiming at people with too much nostalgia and too much money, after everyone and their mum did the same (Playstation mini, nes mini, megadrive mini, and so on...) while there are far better options for far less money and a lot more games on offer. It's the same re-heated old titles for old geezers, with an unshameful price tag.

People who knew Amiga computers know how to operate them, and WinUAE, for decades.
No one is interested in the Amiga platform for the first time nowadays. Not enough to make a market, anyway.

We'll see...

xcomcmdr wrote on 2021-10-28, 19:21:

I'd wait to see if it sells before saying that there is a market for it.

Judging how good C64Mini and Maxi sold - we can be pretty sure it will sell good as well. Hype is high - even among hardcore vintage computer enthusiasts I know.
Somebody invested not small amount of money to bring this product to the market - if the company behind it wasn't sure it will sell - it would never be released.

xcomcmdr wrote on 2021-10-28, 19:21:

For me it's a niche product aiming at people with too much nostalgia and too much money (...)

I think you should never use this argument in this particular forum and thread 🤣 😁 Who we are to judge? 😁 Last month I've spent way more than it's price buying old tech and I'm pretty sure most of us here did.

People buying retro computers and consoles like this are not exactly like us (at least usually - because I'm pretty sure many of people here will buy or at least think about buying it). They will see these machines in big electronic stores or discount stores and will buy they on the spot in the heat of a moment. And I'm pretty sure they will have a lot of fun for quite some time. Retro gaming in general is sort of a niche hobby, it doesn't really matter if it's done on a real vintage computers or on a retro computers like a500-mini.
So while It's not for me either I would never go as far as saying it's too expensive or it's a bad business idea overall.

PS: Most people don't want to have to mess with floppy images, kickstart roms, setting up the emulator not to mention the hardware. They want to relive their memories on their big flat TV and want a one-click solution. This product is for people like them 😀

BitWrangler wrote on 2021-10-28, 17:57:

Workbench? WTF is that?

The second half of the AmigaOS. It is the GUI. A bit like Win3.11 on top of Dos.

xcomcmdr wrote on 2021-10-28, 19:21:

I'd wait to see if it sells before saying that there is a market for it. […]
Show full quote

I'd wait to see if it sells before saying that there is a market for it.

For me it's a niche product aiming at people with too much nostalgia and too much money, after everyone and their mum did the same (Playstation mini, nes mini, megadrive mini, and so on...) while there are far better options for far less money and a lot more games on offer. It's the same re-heated old titles for old geezers, with an unshameful price tag.

People who knew Amiga computers know how to operate them, and WinUAE, for decades.
No one is interested in the Amiga platform for the first time nowadays. Not enough to make a market, anyway.

We'll see...

Hehe.... You are forgetting all those that are into console gaming. They WILL talk about it and pitch it as a gaming console.

brostenen wrote on 2021-10-28, 20:59:

The second half of the AmigaOS. It is the GUI. A bit like Win3.11 on top of Dos.

I'm pretty sure BitWrangler's question was rethorical 😉
And Workbench (even 3.XX) is more like Win 1.0 usability-wise 😁 Horrible GUI. Horrible.

brostenen wrote on 2021-10-28, 21:00:

Hehe.... You are forgetting all those that are into console gaming. They WILL talk about it and pitch it as a gaming console.

Which in fact it is. But then again - even back in the day Amiga (when it comes to gaming) was always perceived by Commodore as sort of a gaming console - CDTV and CD32 is the best proof.

HanJammer wrote on 2021-10-28, 20:39:

Judging how good C64Mini and Maxi sold - we can be pretty sure it will sell good as well. Hype is high - even among hardcore vin […]
Show full quote

xcomcmdr wrote on 2021-10-28, 19:21:

I'd wait to see if it sells before saying that there is a market for it.

Judging how good C64Mini and Maxi sold - we can be pretty sure it will sell good as well. Hype is high - even among hardcore vintage computer enthusiasts I know.
Somebody invested not small amount of money to bring this product to the market - if the company behind it wasn't sure it will sell - it would never be released.

xcomcmdr wrote on 2021-10-28, 19:21:

For me it's a niche product aiming at people with too much nostalgia and too much money (...)

I think you should never use this argument in this particular forum and thread 🤣 😁 Who we are to judge? 😁 Last month I've spent way more than it's price buying old tech and I'm pretty sure most of us here did.

People buying retro computers and consoles like this are not exactly like us (at least usually - because I'm pretty sure many of people here will buy or at least think about buying it). They will see these machines in big electronic stores or discount stores and will buy they on the spot in the heat of a moment. And I'm pretty sure they will have a lot of fun for quite some time. Retro gaming in general is sort of a niche hobby, it doesn't really matter if it's done on a real vintage computers or on a retro computers like a500-mini.
So while It's not for me either I would never go as far as saying it's too expensive or it's a bad business idea overall.

PS: Most people don't want to have to mess with floppy images, kickstart roms, setting up the emulator not to mention the hardware. They want to relive their memories on their big flat TV and want a one-click solution. This product is for people like them 😀

Regarding price. Then it is still cheaper than building a RaspberryPI based solution. It will be 121 Euro (actually just under).

PI-400: 80 Euro
SD Card: 10 Euro (aprox, plus/minus, depending on quality, speed and size)
Good Controller: 20 Euro (and more if you want better than Speedlink Strike NX Wired USB)
Good mouse: 20 Euro (more for a better mouse)
Amiga forever: 9 Euro (to get the kickstarts)

So we are talking at least some 10 Euro more for a PI-Solution, and you do not even get the Amiga500 design and Tankmouse design. Plus you need to download software, copy kickstarts and all that. Compared to 500-Mini that you buy and just plug in. And you need to find all these things for the PI-400 on various webshops or physical shops.

HanJammer wrote on 2021-10-28, 20:39:

Judging how good C64Mini and Maxi sold - we can be pretty sure it will sell good as well. Hype is high - even among hardcore vin […]
Show full quote

xcomcmdr wrote on 2021-10-28, 19:21:

I'd wait to see if it sells before saying that there is a market for it.

Judging how good C64Mini and Maxi sold - we can be pretty sure it will sell good as well. Hype is high - even among hardcore vintage computer enthusiasts I know.
Somebody invested not small amount of money to bring this product to the market - if the company behind it wasn't sure it will sell - it would never be released.

xcomcmdr wrote on 2021-10-28, 19:21:

For me it's a niche product aiming at people with too much nostalgia and too much money (...)

I think you should never use this argument in this particular forum and thread 🤣 😁 Who we are to judge? 😁 Last month I've spent way more than it's price buying old tech and I'm pretty sure most of us here did.

People buying retro computers and consoles like this are not exactly like us (at least usually - because I'm pretty sure many of people here will buy or at least think about buying it). They will see these machines in big electronic stores or discount stores and will buy they on the spot in the heat of a moment. And I'm pretty sure they will have a lot of fun for quite some time. Retro gaming in general is sort of a niche hobby, it doesn't really matter if it's done on a real vintage computers or on a retro computers like a500-mini.
So while It's not for me either I would never go as far as saying it's too expensive or it's a bad business idea overall.

PS: Most people don't want to have to mess with floppy images, kickstart roms, setting up the emulator not to mention the hardware. They want to relive their memories on their big flat TV and want a one-click solution. This product is for people like them 😀

Indeed. I guess I'm too much used to WinUAE for the last 20 years to see the appeal. :p

HanJammer wrote on 2021-10-28, 21:01:

Which in fact it is. But then again - even back in the day Amiga (when it comes to gaming) was always perceived by Commodore as sort of a gaming console - CDTV and CD32 is the best proof.

Nope. The Amiga is the worlds first multimedia computer. It started as a gaming console during devellopment, but evolved to a fully working pre-emptive multimedia computer that were 10 years ahead of everything. But it was so perfect for games, that most people used it only for that. One proof of the Amiga being a computer, is that it was used for critical parts of the space shuttle launch system. And it was used for effects in movies and television shows. Used for info-channels on cable tv. Used for producing music, used in the Superconducter Super Collider SSC near Dallas, used in millitaery systems like the GPALS, US geological survey, used for writing books on, and many many other places. The Amiga platform is not just a games console.

brostenen wrote on 2021-10-28, 21:26:

Nope. The Amiga is the worlds first multimedia computer. It started as a gaming console during devellopment, but evolved to a fully working pre-emptive multimedia computer that were 10 years ahead of everything.

Tandy 1000 was 1 year ahead of Amiga when it comes to multimedia computers 😀

brostenen wrote on 2021-10-28, 21:26:

The Amiga platform is not just a games console.

I never said that. I said that when it comes to gaming it was perceived as console by Commodore.

HanJammer wrote on 2021-10-28, 21:50:

Tandy 1000 was 1 year ahead of Amiga when it comes to multimedia computers :) […]
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brostenen wrote on 2021-10-28, 21:26:

Nope. The Amiga is the worlds first multimedia computer. It started as a gaming console during devellopment, but evolved to a fully working pre-emptive multimedia computer that were 10 years ahead of everything.

Tandy 1000 was 1 year ahead of Amiga when it comes to multimedia computers 😀

brostenen wrote on 2021-10-28, 21:26:

The Amiga platform is not just a games console.

I never said that. I said that when it comes to gaming it was perceived as console by Commodore.

I don't think the Tandy 1000 had pre emptive multitasking. But I could be wrong.

EDIT:
If Commodore never looked at the Amiga as anything else than a gaming console, then you will not find any advertisement at all from Commodore, that advertises the Amiga platform as non-gaming related. And they would never have started talks with eighter Sun or Silicon Graphics (I can not remember who it was), about using the Amiga3000-UX as a product in their lineup. And NASA would never have gotten meter high stacks of tech-papers on the platform, when they went for Amiga.

If you can find just one single ad' with Amiga, from Commodore, about anything non-gaming related. Then you know they thought about it as more than just a gaming platform.

EDIT, EDIT:
Sorry.... I forgot to add this. When I wrote that it started as a gaming console idea and expanded into a fully functioning computer during devellopment. Then that was when Commodore had nothing to do with Amiga at all. It was the Amiga INC company that develloped the Amiga. At first they were called Hi Toro, but took name change at some point. Jay Minor, the creator and father of the Amiga, was a former worker at Atari. He created arcade games and consoles. He also had a part in develloping the Atari 8bit line of computers. He saw that the future of computing were 16bit and when Atari did not want to make a 16bit, he resigned and founded Hi Toro that became Amiga INC. He borrowed money from Atari in order to complete the system, and when Jack Tramiel that were fired from Commodore bought Atari from Warner, then Amiga INC was bought by Commodore and they paid out the debt to Atari. And that is why we have Commodore Amiga and not Atari Amiga. But Commodore never invented the Amiga, they only refined and upgraded it through the years.

brostenen wrote on 2021-10-28, 20:59:

BitWrangler wrote on 2021-10-28, 17:57:

Workbench? WTF is that?

The second half of the AmigaOS. It is the GUI. A bit like Win3.11 on top of Dos.

That was obviously rhetorical, pertaining to those who only know how to use booters.