The AMIGA family

Commodore introduced computer enthusiasts to the AMIGA 1000 in July 1985 for around US$1300.    This computer was quite an advance on the Commodore C128 which they had launched in January of the same year and a move from 8 bit to 16 bit computing.

The A1000 was a desktop style computer which allowed a monitor to sit on top of it.     With separate keyboard it was similar in looks to the C128D but with 3.5" DSDD floppy drive.


AMIGA 1000 SPECIFICATIONS
  • Microprocessor: 68000
  • Speed: 7.16 MHz
  • Memory: 256K RAM, 192K ROM, expansion (internal) up to 512K, (external) up to 8Mb
  • Disk capacity: 880K 3.5" internal, port for external FDD also.
  • Display: RGB analog or digital, composite video, RF modulator.
  • Colour: 4096 possible colours,
  • Resolution: Display modes - 320 x 200, 320 x 400, 640 x 200, 640 x 400
  • Sound: Four channel stereo sound - two channels left, two channels right.
  • I/O Ports: RS232, Parallel, External disk drive, 2 controller ports (mouse & joystick or two joysticks), composite video, RF output, RGB analog or digital (selectable), keyboard and expansion bus.
  • Speech synthesis: Text to voice - male, female or robot.
  • Keyboard: 89 keys with numeric keypad.

CAUTION: The A1000 had non standard serial and parallel ports in that they were gender reversed. Of course you say "You just use a gender-bender to use a standard centronics printer cable!"     But wait, not only were the genders of the DB25 connectors reversed, pin 23 of the parallel port had +5 Volts on it.     Normally this pin is at zero potential and the printer end is grounded.     Result - damaged A1000 port and possibly the printer too. Check your manual for pin-outs!

The AMIGA proved to be a great multimedia machine and the creative ability of this technology was soon realised by programmers and commercial institutions.

The A1000 was superseded by the A500 and A2000 in early 1987.     The A500 being aimed at the home user and the A2000 in it's desktop case with expansion slots being more suited to expansion including the PC Bridgeboards to give it PC (IBM) compatibility.


The A500 and A2000 computers

The AMIGA soon proved to be a worthy successor to the C64 which had sold many millions by the time the AMIGA was launched.    AMIGA was probably the most popular home computer brand in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

With the later introduction of the A600, A600HD and A1200 models for home users and the A3000 and A4000 at the higher end of the market there was a choice available to suit all users.

Third party manufacturers were quick to capitalise on the popularity of the AMIGA and it's capabilities, providing add-ons including video and audio digitisers, external floppy and hard drives, memory expansions, accellerator cards and PC emulator software and hardware.     Even an AMIGA mouse was made by third party manufacturers.