ScuzzBlog: Diaries August 2023 Entry 8th August 2023: Post 1: Amiga A-500 Plus - Of many shades. Amiga A-500 Plus - Of many shades. I would be hard pushed to recommend a better ECS machine than a working A-500 Plus with a ROM switcher. Personally if you saw one on the Bay I would snap it up in an instant. Making sure first the battery was removed, cleaned up and working. Seriously these computers are like gold. Forget the A600 get a Plus. There were really two distinct popular eras for the Amiga. First we have the the pre Amiga 1200 era that predominantly saw the A-500 wedge style machine dominate the home market and then the actual A1200 era from around 1993 onwards until today in truth. Whilst the dominant machine was the Amiga 500 there is no doubt that Commodore pulled the plug on the Plus prematurely just to feed into the system the new style A600 so as to clear the decks ready for the A1200. There is no doubt that the A1200 is a vastly different machine to the 500 range, but there was still a quite enormous back catalogue of expansions, peripherals and add-ons primarily for the A-500 available. And just at the time the A-570 was let loose on the world Commodore cancel the computer that supports it. Yet at the same time not having a CD unit for the A1200. The A-500 Plus really was a great machine that simply got kicked into touch by Commodore in the hope that nobody would buy them. They didn't even officially launch the machine and in less than six months had already released its replacement. So why is this a good machine with a ROM switcher. Simple, you get the best of all the A-500 era can give you. With a flick of a switch you can be running 1.3 with the benefits of the A-500 under your belt and or 2.04 with the vastly improved Workbench. The later OS has a much improved hard drive management system and all the added functionality of the later Workbench for icon management and control. The computer is not an A1200 but it allows you to use all those mouthwatering gadgets and expansions designed for the A-500 whilst having socketed chips and the enhanced AGNUS and DENISE plus the extra memory and chip capacity. The only proviso for the A-500 Plus is making sure the battery has been removed and the area fully cleaned up. OK to the featured A-500 Plus and the many shades. This computer has seen so many changes to the original computer it barely is recognisable as the machine it started out as. My guess is that the base plastic case cover isn't even the same origin as the motherboard. I sense the motherboard was modified to take the ROM switch and another motherboard housed in that case. I was lucky enough to collect two of these computers from the same seller, and they were previously from an Amigan that had died. The other Amiga is in a similar state and talking to the seller it is obvious the guy had been swapping boards and cases around. So the bottom tray is not the same origin as the upper case. For my part I have swapped out the floppy drive and the keyboard. So there is really none of the originating case left as was. It really is an A-500 Plus of many shades. Saying all that I have grown to love this machine over the years what with the ROM switcher. I dedicated myself to repairing her at various times having had issues with the floppy drive early on. I eventually swapped out the keyboard and floppy as a last resort to getting her running smoothly. The battery was removed by me and I have monitored the cleaning up and carried out more work. The electric tape melted one year holding the switcher in place and oozed out all over the motherboard. Took me an age to clean up. Nasty sticky stuff I have to say. The computer has its own A590 sidecar which sits idle but stored together so I can quickly get them up and running. Important to remember how you left the switch to get the correct Workbench. I really could go on and on about this computer. She never like ever disappoints and I am mindful that whilst the main case is staying a lighter shade, the keys themselves of the swapped out keyboard are yellowing badly. I guess I could replace the keys with the original, but that isn't really my style. Anyhoo that is the A-500 Plus, probably the best machine that Commodore never officially released. It was like they were kinda ashamed of the poor girl when in fact they should have been so proud of what they had achieved. A true marvel. Go get one now !!! Amiga A-500 Plus - Of many shades.

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Last updated 8th August 2023

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