Arnuphis

Congratulations! Model 3 is such a cool looking machine with it's silver case. Does it have any disk drives? That will affect what happens when its turned on. If it's being shipped you really want to open it up and check everything is intact/reseat chips etc. Before powering it on. You may also want to look out for RIFA caps in the power supply as they can make some 'magic smoke'. I will defer to the experts here for anything else.

If they ever to a 486 DX2-66 version with decent graphics/soundblaster and a 4:3 640x480 screen I will buy a dozen!

Not that I am aware of. I don't think it would be cost effective to make that passthrough connector.

Ah the Plus/4. I loved mine back in the day. As far as I remember you hit f1 to get into the applications. Then hit the C= key and C to get to the command line and type TF and enter. You may want to look online for the manual for the built in apps. As for replacing the built in software I defer to greater minds on that. When I had my Plus/4 my fav games were ACE, Mercenary, Trailblazer and Icicle Works. But I mainly used it for Word Processing. Not with the built in one but a cartridge. As for addons, the 1551 was the disk drive to get but obviously the modern SD card devices are so much more useful.

Not going to be drawn into a conversation about those who dodge taxes and those who do not. But suffice to say I ordered one from the Brewing Academy and it arrived quickly and is now happily installed in my 800XL.

Thanks! But yeah I am not touching that one and there will be no power of any kind until I open up the machine and check everything.

Here you go. Hope this is of use.

Funnily enough I have a NIB 800xl arriving soon. It's allegedly never been opened. So if that is true I can take pictures of what I find inside if that helps? Hopefully its not a brick and a note saying 'Haha sucker!'.

I was 12. Not sure if you are trying to be insulting there or not. Regardless of who's money it was your average person would look at the two machines side by side and the VIC would look better quality because it did not have a toy keyboard. the price would then seal the deal. I agree that under the hood the Atari was better but your average consumer was not that computer savvy. Thanks to Commodore, Sinclair etc. More people were able to experience a computer for the first time during the 1980s. I thought Sinclair machines were just awful but I respect them for broadening the appeal of home computers in the UK. And yes I have very fond memories of my VIC. It was a great computer. But even I outgrew it and ended up getting a TI-99/4a. Atari was still too expensive at the time. I remember a friend at school insulting the Atari 400/800 by saying 'You have to tell it that it's a computer' referring to you having to plug in a BASIC cartridge to make it do anything. He had a Dragon 32 so he looked down on everyone 😄

Vic-20 Price at launch $299 Atari 400 price $549. So at almost half the price you got a computer with a real keyboard. a bit less memory and a smaller display. But still a great machine with sound and color and loads of software and peripherals. So even though the 400 was a better machine in some areas the VIC killed it on price which was important to consumers. That is why I ended up with one and not an Atari when my parents went to the computer store. I feel the VIC deserves praise for making the market competitive and bringing down the prices for all future machines. It's the machine that changed my life and got me into a computing career. I would still take one over a 400 anyday. Membrane keyboards just suck. But I would never take a VIC over an 800. No sir no. The 800 was the best 8 bit home computer until probably the BBC or C128 or 800XL. If only the 800 had been the price of the 400 at that time. I may have been able to get that instead as it was clearly vastly superior. Then I would be posting with maybe a different bias.

Great haul! This was clearly a beloved machine for it's original owner.

I remember seeing the Atari 400 and 800 at my local department store, alongside the TI-99/4a and Vic-20. They were iconic machines and also very expensive. So it's nice to finally pay homage by buying the mini version. Not sure how much use I will get out of it but I want it to be successful so a full size Atari 8-bit (800 please!) comes out.

I always felt the 800 was the best looking Atari 8 bit. Just looked solid, sturdy and high quality. The 'wonky' function keys on the XL always looked cheap to me. But when it comes to a possible full size 'mini' product the XL would be the better choice because unless you are keeping the 800 hatch functional its a lot of wasted plastic.

Put me down for a Sophia for the 800XL. Thanks!

I think the VIC-20's strength is that you can get a decent machine code game on cassette to run on a base model. Like Cosmiads for example that you would need to put on a cartridge for an unexpanded TI-99/4a. It's a real shame TI pulled out of the market when the games really began to hit their stride with Parsec, Alpiner etc. Because those were show stoppers in the day.

So happy that Atari is getting some 'mini' love. Looks like a fun device to get a 4 player M.U.L.E. game going quick and easy for those who played it back in the day. I may get one because I always loved the 400/800 style. And if it's success means a full size version (I'd prefer an 800 though) then more power to it.

I agree with this. My first computer was a Vic-20 and although I typed in magazine listings and did some of the introduction to basic course it was all about the games. It was not until I sold my Vic-20 and got a TI-99/4a that I actually sat down and began to program my own stuff. I don't know if its was the lack of options as a cassette based user, or the scarcity of 3rd party software or even just the BASIC being more friendly but it motivated me to make my own software. For that reason alone the TI-99/4a will always have a special place in my heart.

World's most awesome Dad award contender right here! I hope your sons enjoy the C64.

Mine was a ZX81. Of course at the time it was the only one I knew of due to school friends getting them. But parents got me a VIC-20 which blew my mind compared to the ZX81. But during the big explosion in home computers in the early 80s, l lusted after a Sharp MZ-80B because it looked like a 'serious' computer and it was listed in my mother's catalogue. Then I saw a TRS-80 Model III in the Tandy store and lusted after that. All way out of my price range at the time.

I love that you are sourcing original boards. Hopefully that memory board works out of the box. Looks fairly easy to fix if not. Here is the IMSAI link - https://thehighnibble.com/imsai8080/

Very nice! I am on the waiting list for an IMSAI clone which is somewhat similar. Please keep us updated!

Wow.. Triggered much? I guess we now know at least 1 person who is buying the A1222+ 😄 Let me try to respond to some of the things you said in your frenzied ramble. But the thing is. Some people do. I have met them. At every show there is an attitude that it is a superior machine to other platforms. And yes they are deluded. You are wrong. It's being sold at a price point that matches and exceeds that of equivalent machines and people are trying to use it as a modern desktop replacement. Again, I have been to shows and demonstrations where people are trying to run modern application suites on it. So it has to be compared. Now you are taking nonsense. There is a vast difference between someone keeping old hardware running with addons and a completely new machine with none of the original hardware. What point are you even trying to make here? calm down. Because it was brought to my attention on a public forum? And I guess that the idea is to sell them? Heaven forbid that you want anyone else joining your little clique of fanatics obviously. You are the only one getting frantic and worked up on this thread at any criticism of your precious Amiga from potential new customers. Maybe you best retreat back to your safety bubble? Maybe because I would like to see it succeed? It's pretty obvious you don't. You would rather see the OS die on overpriced hardware that no one will buy in any number sufficient to grow the platform. Just as long as you and your shrinking circle of like-minded people feel special. So in closing a nice *slow clap* for you sir and your fossil thinking.

For me an Amiga was the hardware. The custom chips and the design. It was revolutionary at the time. The OS was just the interface to bring it all home. So I don't view these new machines as true Amigas. If the OS makes the machine an Amiga then FPGA and Pi/Emulated setups are just as much an Amiga as the X5000, A1222+ are. And they are way less expensive. And yes. Having seen the 'modern' systems up and running they are too lacking to be taken seriously as a replacement for a Windows/Linux or Mac system. Even the enthusiasts I observe using them have to make way too many concessions to it's limitations from the moment they turn it on. This is what makes their price point so hard to accept. For me at least. It also makes me ask 'where are you going with this?'. So no, I will not be buying one of these. Like I refused to pay the price of an X5000. It would just be a useless doorstop full of buyers remorse. I would rather get a Mega65 and a Commander X16 and still have money left over. They at least know exactly what their purpose is. I wish someone would take the OS seriously, port it to ARM and make it open source like Linux. So at least people could use it without spending too much $$$. But if you know anything about Amiga history you know that will never happen for reasons too complex to go into here.

$1700 for something that is outperformed by a $300 chromebook? What a colossal waste of money. Are there really people who think this is something they want to buy? I always though the whole point was to develop something low cost to run AmigaOS 4.1? Surely it's time to give up on this dead end architecture and port the OS to ARM and run it on a Raspberry Pi or equivalent? At least you may actually grow the user base that way. At the end of the day is it really still an Amiga? Or is it an overpriced emulator? Better results running MorphOS on an old PowerMac and way less expensive. The A1222+ expensive for nostalgia purposes. To limited to be taken seriously as a modern OS. I wonder why it's even a thing anymore. I Guess I am not the target market. Sorry for the rant. If this is something you grow excited about then more power to you. Personally I would get a real classic amiga/emulator for nostalgia fun and a real computer for serious tasks and still spend less than the asking price of this thing.

I am tempted to say 'don't bother' as in 2023 Amiga hardware is very pricey and a lot of the user base seem to still think its 1987 and that the Amiga is the greatest machine in existence. There can be a high dollar bar to entry these days. Check if there are local computer clubs or shows as that may be your best option to get one without paying too much. Ebay prices are insane. But in the spirit of the thread I would suggest trying emulation first. You can get winUAE for free but there is a polished program called Amiga Forever which will give you a very nice and easy way in to try it out. You could also consider a FPGA device like a MiST or MiSTer to run Amiga core. That is what I use since I sold off all my old Amiga stuff. It's way less hassle. If you want to play with the old iron then get an A500. They were the best seller and there are lots of them. So chances of scoring one are cheap. Plus they do not suffer as badly with leaky caps as the later models. Your next issue will be getting a suitable display output as the Amiga outputs a non standard video signal. So try and get a matching 1084 monitor or similar. Then probably a gotek drive so you can use disk images and not have to rely on actual floppies. That's all I can think of at the moment.