Who went from A8 to Amiga?

[+kheller2]

I was curious this morning about how many A8 folks went on to the Amiga (or stayed with the Atari name on STs). Having gone through a Timex Sinclair 1000, a TI-99/4A (and used Apple ]['s) I had a hard decision between a C64 and the 800XL. I played with both, friends had C64s and Trash80s CoCos. I really didn't like the feel (physical, emotional and logical) of the C64 and went with the 800XL. I knew several folks at University that had Amiga 500s and that just seem to be an awesome machine. I have never owned one but recently thought of acquiring one.

[Rybags]

A8 first used 1981, owned 1983 onwards.

ST first used 1984, owned 1988 onwards though I was without one for a couple of years.

Amiga first used 1985, owned 1993 onwards.

 

I wanted an Amiga but until the 500 had been out for a while here, ST was way less to get started with, and software availability especially serious stuff was better. I didn't get much in the way of games for ST though, probably never had more than about 40 on floppy. Amiga though, I quickly got over 200.

[adam242]

I was one. I sold most of my A8 collection - my original 130XE, 600XL and a bunch of other stuff to buy a used Amiga 1000 in the late 80s. Really, really liked the Amiga. I played around with an ST a little but had a similar reaction to it as you did to the C64. It just didn't feel right to me. I was an Amiga guy through the nineties, replacing the 1000 with a 1200, until I finally switched to a Wintel box as my primary machine in the early 2000s.

 

When I sold the 130XE etc, I did hang onto an 800. I've never not had an Atari 8-bit since 1984.

Edited June 11, 2016 by adam242

[+davidcalgary29]

I was a diehard A8 user and couldn't stomach the thought of switching to either the ST or the Amiga. I bought an AT clone in '89 (mistake!) and didn't buy my first ST until 2002, and a CD32 two years later. Still don't use 'em. I do, however, still own (and use!) all of my A8 systems. My last acquisition was an 800XE.

Edited June 11, 2016 by davidcalgary29

[Mclaneinc]

I went from Atari to C64 and very shortly after to Amiga, first an A500, then a plus and a 600 and finally on to my favourite Amiga, my A1200 with 80mb hard drive (oh the lofty heights of storage), 8mb ram and a 68030 (eventually).

 

God I loved that machine, it still has that feel I had with my first Atari and continuing Atari's, it felt right from the get go and they never got neglected over time, I still play both systems on a regular basis (huge Sensible soccer and Cannon Fodder fan). The ST which I had for a whole single day just felt cheap and nasty...

Edited June 11, 2016 by Mclaneinc

[Keatah]

Cheap and nasty..

[thorfdbg]

I was curious this morning about how many A8 folks went on to the Amiga (or stayed with the Atari name on STs).

Here. From an 800XL right to an Amiga 2000. It was the logical choice to stay with the design (and not the brand).

[+Philsan]

VCS > Atari 800XL > Amiga: I was a Jay Miner adept!

[+MrFish]

I don't mean to usurp your topic, but I think this would make a good poll.

I'll take it from the broader perspective though, rather than being focused on the Amiga.

[Dmitry]

I was always a computer junkie. Owned in the day trs coco, ti 99, c64, even imported a Sinclair QL.

 

But my daily machine mid 80s was an 800xl. About 1987 my daily machine was briefly an Atari St... By 1989 I stopped using computers for about 6 years. Came back to a of compatible, but switched to Amiga which was my daily for a couple years. Continued my computer habit owning hp, sun. Sgi risc hardware... But eventually getting a powermac which replaced my Amiga, powermac being my main machine for quite a long time now.... But also owning Linux or pc as the need arises.

[Dmitry]

P.s. Ignoring the technical ownership... And btw I was not wealthy, just a trader making deals... I sold one machine to buy the next. But... Ignoring all that and based on what really impressed me, the Atari ST period is not memorable for me. My first love was the 800xl... Followed by the Amiga, then continuing to this day on Mac. But you know, I will keep my eye out for a nice quantum computer someday... Doesn't have to be Mac

[Jetboot Jack]

Both ST and Amiga as soon as they were available - Amiga 1000 and 520 ST - before UK release from friends in Slough & Maidenhead...

 

sTeVE

[Dropcheck]

Started with an Atari 800XL, 1050 Disk Drive and a 1027XL printer back in '83/84. Loved it. The 1027XL printer not so much..... I nearly wore the keyboard out typing in those Analog and Antic magazine programs. Joined a computer club, learned several programming languages and generally had a beautiful relationship.

 

But by 1989 there was a nice shiny new 16bit computer in the Homestead Navy Exchange computer section by the name of Amiga 500 that my boyfriend and I had fallen in love with.

Sadly the love affair didn't last as long for either the boyfriend or the computer and by 1993 I had sold it and picked up an Acer 386SX IBM clone. I won't call it a mistake, but there is something to be said for a love/hate relationship. I'm still using a much improved IBM clone, but I have gone back to my first computer love the Atari 800XL.

[kiwilove]

I was an early adoptee of the 1040ST - but I became dissatisfied with it - didn't like jerky scrolling or sprite movement - that playfields were not full screen. I really love the dead smooth scrolling and sprite movement you see in coin-op games - that is only possible via the hardware. So the Amiga would have the edge over the STs - if it's hardware is used to this effect - so I eventually moved onto the Amiga 500. While it had some decent titles - it still lacked the killer games I would have liked to have seen on it.

 

If you were into other games - like strategy and simulations, etc - you can say the 16-bit computers did deliver these.

 

And so the 16-bit videogames consoles were the only home machines which delivered top notch arcade titles to the home via the SNES and Genesis/MegaDrive. The SNES having the upper hand of more colours and a better soundchip.

You have only to compare the likes of SWIV and say R-Type to see the difference between the 16-bit computers and videogames consoles.

Also the SNES had Super Mario World, Zelda, Super Metroid, Contra III and finally StreetFighter II.

 

Harvey

[kogden]

I would liked to have had an Amiga but my folks drank the Tramiel kool-aid. We got ST's and stuck with them into the 90's until we switched to Macs. The ST wasn't a bad machine thought and I thoroughly enjoyed a lot of the games released for it. Productivity apps were pretty awesome as well.

 

A friend of mine had an Amiga 2000 though and that was a very sweet machine. I always liked the Amiga GUI environment and functional command line.

[spookt]

Switched to a C64 very briefly after my A8s, mainly because software for the Atari was getting hard to find. Didn't stay long and went to an Amiga 500 then Amiga 1200 which I still have today. The Atari 8 bits and the Amigas are the machines I still own and love today.

[Tickled_Pink]

For me it was:

 

1983 - 16K Sinclair Spectrum (which survived about 4 months).

1985 - Atari 800XL

1988 - Atari ST

1993 - PC

 

Really miss the days of home computers.

[Mclaneinc]

 

Sadly the love affair didn't last as long for either the boyfriend or the computer and by 1993 I had sold it and picked up an Acer 386SX IBM clone. I won't call it a mistake, but there is something to be said for a love/hate relationship. I'm still using a much improved IBM clone, but I have gone back to my first computer love the Atari 800XL.

 

Good to see you sold the boyfriend, did you get a decent price

 

Being nosey I read a bit of your site and was stunned to see you had been served a cease and desist order for a ram upgrade..

 

Mr Cohen is either making a fortune or is grasping at straws...Its a small ram upgrade that isn't making money...Does he think he has the plans to Fort Knox?

[Mclaneinc]

Switched to a C64 very briefly after my A8s, mainly because software for the Atari was getting hard to find. Didn't stay long and went to an Amiga 500 then Amiga 1200 which I still have today. The Atari 8 bits and the Amigas are the machines I still own and love today.

 

I soooo want a 1200 back but the prices are sooo silly!

Edited June 11, 2016 by Mclaneinc

[+save2600]

Went from a TI-99/4A to an Atari 400 to an Apple ][+ to a C64, then finally an Amiga 1000. An Aquarius too, but that hardly counts.

 

From the Amiga 1000, went on to an A500 and an A1200 as soon as they were released. What a great time for computing all throughout the 80's and early 90's! Got back into the Amiga big time by the late 90's/early 2000's and still going strong.

 

[low.blow]

I was one that went from atari 8 bit to amiga. From there to a 486. Been messing around with the atari 400 and a500 again for the last couple of years, after decades away.

Edited June 12, 2016 by low.blow

[Timothy Kline]

 

Good to see you sold the boyfriend, did you get a decent price

 

Being nosey I read a bit of your site and was stunned to see you had been served a cease and desist order for a ram upgrade..

 

Mr Cohen is either making a fortune or is grasping at straws...Its a small ram upgrade that isn't making money...Does he think he has the plans to Fort Knox?

 

I believe that BEST Electronics has secured an exclusive license involving this particular RAM upgrade, McLane, which would definitely have motivated the developer to issue a cease-and-desist. O.o

 

http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/wizztronics%202_256.htm

 

--Tim

[Lynxpro]

I was curious this morning about how many A8 folks went on to the Amiga (or stayed with the Atari name on STs). Having gone through a Timex Sinclair 1000, a TI-99/4A (and used Apple ]['s) I had a hard decision between a C64 and the 800XL. I played with both, friends had C64s and Trash80s CoCos. I really didn't like the feel (physical, emotional and logical) of the C64 and went with the 800XL. I knew several folks at University that had Amiga 500s and that just seem to be an awesome machine. I have never owned one but recently thought of acquiring one.

 

Fellow Atarians of all Atari platforms, please stop repeating this tired meme about how the Amiga was a "real Atari" product and the ST was just a product with the "Atari name" [or even worse, a "Commodore product"] affixed to it.

 

Yes, Amiga had Jay Miner and Joe Decuir. But guess what? The Atari ST had Landon Dyer, Dave Staugas, and others.

 

The Amiga was blessed with ex-Atari Inc people working on its hardware. The Atari ST was blessed with ex-Atari Inc people working on its software and OS. Thank you.

[+Stephen]

 

Fellow Atarians of all Atari platforms, please stop repeating this tired meme about how the Amiga was a "real Atari" product and the ST was just a product with the "Atari name" [or even worse, a "Commodore product"] affixed to it.

 

Yes, Amiga had Jay Miner and Joe Decuir. But guess what? The Atari ST had Landon Dyer, Dave Staugas, and others.

 

The Amiga was blessed with ex-Atari Inc people working on its hardware. The Atari ST was blessed with ex-Atari Inc people working on its software and OS. Thank you.

I'd say the hardware defines a machine much more than the software.

[Lynxpro]

 

Good to see you sold the boyfriend, did you get a decent price

 

Being nosey I read a bit of your site and was stunned to see you had been served a cease and desist order for a ram upgrade..

 

Mr Cohen is either making a fortune or is grasping at straws...Its a small ram upgrade that isn't making money...Does he think he has the plans to Fort Knox?

 

Yeah, it's not like a Wizztronics 256k upgrade board is of the same caliber as a Battlesphere cartridge for the Jaguar! The nerve of some people in this hobby!