Items tagged with amiga
An upcoming documentary – The Commodore Story – is poised to hit long-time computer geeks that witnessed the birth of the 8-bit personal computing revolution right in the feels. At one point in time, Commodore was a billion dollar company and trailblazer in the fledgling personal computer market. Commodore’s accomplishments included the creation of the single, best-selling PC of all the time, the Commodore 64, and the introduction of the Amiga, which was the most advanced personal computer money could buy at the time. The Amiga offered multimedia features that were unmatched...
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If you are a frequent visitor to HotHardware, then you know that we have a soft spot for Amiga systems. So, our ears naturally perked up when we received word of an old Amiga 2500 system that has found its way to eBay. But this isn't just your everyday, run-of-the-mill Amiga system; this particular system previously resided at NASA. According to the eBay listing, the system was used in NASA's telemetry labs and is decked out with a NASA asset and inventory tags from 2005. The Amiga 2500 was equipped with two custom boards that helped it to analyze telemetry data for various NASA-related equipment...
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For long-time enthusiasts that were around during the ascent of personal computers, the Commodore Amiga remains one of the most beloved systems of all time. When it was originally released back in the mid-80’s, the Amiga could do things that no other consumer-class computer could – its graphics, sound, and multi-tasking capabilities were simply unmatched at the time. That initial sense of amazement at the Amiga’s unique capabilities is one of the reasons why the platform continues to have rabid fans some 30+ years later and why a small group of skilled enthusiasts have designed and manufactured...
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If you're an Amiga enthusiast, or happen to have an Amiga kicking around your home that hasn't been used in eons, you may be interested to learn of a brand-new accelerator that can breathe new life into these old boxes. Think of it as a way to experience what the Amiga could have been like if future generation parts were available back then. Called the Vampire V4, this FPGA device will be sold in a few configurations, including one that will function as as a standalone system. Conversely, it can be used as an add-in accelerator card for the classic Amiga 500, 1000, 1200, and 2000 systems, though...
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Dave Haynie, one of the chief engineers that worked on the Amiga back in its heyday, put it best when he said, “Amiga users make Macintosh users look like PC users”, in the Viva Amiga documentary that was released early this year. Those of us that were around when the Amiga initially debuted knew Commodore had something special on its hands. At the time of its launch, the Amiga was the most advanced personal computer money could buy – bar none. It offered multimedia features that were unmatched for many years, it was affordably priced (relatively speaking), and was the first personal computer with...
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Even after more than two decades since the company’s demise, the Commodore Amiga still has loyal fans that refuse to let the innovative platform die. Proof of the Amiga’s cult-like following is evident all over the web, but a review of the A-EON AmigaOne X5000 that just hit over at ArsTechnica has reignited the conversation in modern tech circles that don’t typically discuss the beloved Amiga. The A-EON AmigaOne X5000 is technically not a new product. Although Ars’ review was just published, the motherboard powering the system has been available for quite some time – full systems built around the...
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We'd contend that one of the best feelings in the entire world is that of nostalgia. Most of us love to time-travel in our minds back to a time that filled us with joy, whether it was caused by a place we visited, or something as simple as a video game we played. Well, where the Amiga is concerned, nostalgia is the name of the game (not literally), so it's of almost no surprise to learn that a brand-new documentary revolving around the platform has soared up the charts. Viva Amiga: The Story Of A Beautiful Machine is an hour-long documentary that takes a look at the Amiga computer from its inception,...
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Some three decades later, what's old is new again with the Commodore Amiga 2000 HD making an unlikely comeback. Well, sort of. Just over a week before Halloween, some lucky expo attendee stumbled upon a never touched and fully functioning Amiga system powered by a Motorola 68000 processor running at all of 7.16MHz. Oddly enough, his rare find wasn't even the first decades old virgin Amiga system unearthed this month! Around three weeks ago, a Facebook user posted pictures of a non-HD Amiga 2000 that was still in its retail packaging to the Commodore Amiga Facebook group. The system was sold as...
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Longing for those days of yesteryear, questing and conquering in Defender of The Crown? Or perhaps you miss that fast-paced platform action, snuffing out Aliens in Another World? You're not alone; Glenn had the itch too. Commodore Amiga Facebook group member Glenn, (and we'll leave it at that so you're not tempted to ring him up for a retro therapy session), was fortunate enough to stumble upon a machine that could quite literally take him back in time, circa 1985, maybe 87ish, otherwise known as the glory days of Commodore's Amiga personal computer. Rocking a Motorola 68000 processor, 256kB of...
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One common complaint in the twenty-first century is that nothing is built to last. Even complex, expensive computers seem to have a relatively short shelf-life nowadays. One computer in a small auto repair shop in Gdansk, Poland, however, has survived for the last twenty-five years against all odds. In January a photo was taken by Facebook user Bartek for the page Retrokomp/Loaderror. The picture recently resurfaced on Commodore USA’s Facebook page. The computer claiming victory here is a Commodore C64C that has been balancing driveshafts non-stop for a quarter of a century. The C64C looks like...
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If you've been feeling nostalgic lately, the Internet Archive has your fix. Jason Scott, the tireless archivist that's fleshed out the site with thousands of classic titles for MS-DOS, Windows 3.1, Sega Genesis, Atari 7800, and other dated platforms, all neatly wrapped in emulation, has added more than 10,000 Amiga applications, including over 2,000 games. These are all playable in your web browser, though performance varies depending on which one you're running. In our limited testing, games seemed to work best in Firefox and felt a little slow in Chrome and Edge. There's also the issue of figuring...
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Ever since the original Amiga A1000 launched in 1985, Commodore’s flagship desktop computer lineup has been called ahead of its time. When it first hit the scene, the Amiga’s advanced audio, graphics, and multi-tasking abilities were light years ahead of competing platforms. But, that was then. Although it still has somewhat of a cult following and is highly regarded amongst long-time geeks (like myself), the sad truth is that the Amiga can’t hold a candle to today’s modern systems in any meaningful technical category. That hasn’t stopped the Grand Rapids Public School district in Michigan from...
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If you're in your thirties or older, then perhaps you cut your teeth on an Amiga, and specifically the Amiga 500, the best selling model in the series. It was put out by Commodore, and compared to the popular Commodore 64 released in 1982, the Amiga 500 was a big step up. At the heart of the system was AmigaDOS, later renamed AmigaOS, which initially required a Motorola 68000 series processor. Assuming you ever played on an Amiga, it's probably been several years since you toyed around with one, that is unless you're one of the diehards that have kept the platform alive long after Commodore went...
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Commodore. Remember that name? It's a big one in the world of retro gaming, but perhaps not as big as the Amiga brand. Both are coming back into the limelight this week with the introduction of the Commodore Amiga Mini PC, a Core i7-powered small-form-factor box that is sure to tickle the fancy of gamers who remember what it was like to rely on an Amiga. It's the first Amiga to surface in 20 years, and it's packing a serious punch. It ships with an Intel Core i7-2700k (3.5GHz quad-core) CPU, 16GB of DDR3 memory, a 1TB hard drive (or optional SSD), Wi-Fi module and a slot-loading Blu-ray drive....
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