Commodore didn't tell their customers that
Inside this A500 Plus we have an A500.
ScuzzBlog: Diaries December 2023
Entry 12th December 2023: Post 1: Amiga 500 and Plus - Hidden Treasures.
Amiga 500 and Plus - Hidden Treasures.
The Amiga 500 has to be the most imaginatively modified computer
of all the Amiga range. Its life spanned the longest of any of the
machines and also went through a number of internal changes. Whilst
Commodore were instrumental in instigating the revisions to the
board itself, many of the modifications were initiated by third
party products and or the ingenuity of the end users. Consequently
many of the computers may look generally the same, though their
insides could indeed be a very different story.
I simply loved collecting the Amiga 500 and the Plus. I have more
of these machines than any other in the collection. I was aware
that inside the computer there may be some hidden treasures and
so I would bid on the auctions for any busted and old broken kit
in the hope that I may find something inside. My efforts were
often rewarded with expansion cards, ROM switchers, upgraded
motherboards etc.
The only tell tale sign sometimes was the provision of an odd
switch on the outside of the case. This generally indicated a
ROM switcher.
The most treasured finds were the accelerators like the ViperCD
and the A5000. Finding an accelerator was the most rare of finds.
Each time I opened an A500 I kinda begged the Amiga gods to
reward me with an accelerator or rare RAM board. Finding one was
like finding a pearl, and man was that a good day.
There were very often some very strange hacks to motherboards.
One in particular involved an over zealous use of hot glue. The
machine had been upgraded with the latest AGNUS plus a clever
hack to give CHIP RAM to the expansion card. For some reason the
guy had stuck all the chips down with hot glue.
The AGNUS upgrade was the most common modification and sometimes
I would be lucky and find a MegaChip inside.
I guess the most odd of finds was an A500 Plus in a standard A500
box only to discover that inside the A500 Plus was an A500 board.
How bonkers was that.
This house is littered with A500 and 500 Plus machines and boxes.
They kinda are everywhere. Whilst I love my A1200s I gotta say I
do have a very soft spot for the A500. Had I not run out of space
I definitely would have continued on my quest to find even more
Amiga 500 hidden treasure. I so often see the 500s come up on the
Bay and it takes all my willpower not to bid.
Next time you see an auction for an old busted 500 or Plus just
think there may be lurking inside a priceless accelerator card.
PS It is a fact that I have yet to open all my Amiga 500s. True.
Amiga 500 and Plus - Hidden Treasures.
they were replacing their A500 computers for
an A500 Plus with the Cartoon Classics box set.
Instead they just left a little note inside.
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Last updated 12th December 2023
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