Awesome condition A500. Want to get it going

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Don't Panic. Please wash hands.
  • I picked up an A500 in working condition.

    I have:


    A500

    Power Supply

    A520 module

    512kb memory module in expansion port (removed the leaking battery)


    It outputs to a video source just fine.


    I'm missing


    Mouse

    Joystick.


    I've read some threads that recommend getting a gotek and some recommending an ACA500plus.


    Do I need both?


    I'm really keen to get it going :)


    Thanks from Australia.


    Adam

  • What you need depends on what you want to do :) The gotek is a "floppy drive emulator", you can use this to run games from disk images. The ACA500plus on the other hand is a "turbo card", ram expansion and CF Card interface. Among other things, it will allow you to run "whdload", which in turn enables you to run many games directly from "harddisk" (CF card in this scenario).

  • Mouse is where you should really go for something modern - the original ball-mouse really belongs into the 80s and should stay there. You can connect a modern optical mouse using Micromys V5.


    In my opinion - which is of course highly biased - a floppy emulator only adds to the mess that we've had back in the days with way too many floppy disks and slow loading times. Using ADF images is similar to using a ball-mouse - it brings back the memories, but also the bad ones about loading times and even searching times locating the right disk.


    With WHDload, you just choose the game/demo from the graphical desktop, and with the ACA500plus, you don't only have an accelerator, but also a very versatile way of configuring your Amiga in terms of Kickstart version (all of them come licensed with the ACA500plus), and memory configuration, all without opening the computer. The ACA500plus will allow you to run pretty much every piece of software that ever ran on an A500 - including the titles that depend on a certain Kicsktart version or a specific memory expansion. You won't have that with just a floppy emulator (unless you buy a Kickstart switcher, some extra memory and make some mainboard mods to switch between memory configs).


    For joysticks, you don't need to look for a specific Amiga-joystick. Any C64- or Atari joystick with a DB9 connector will do. Unfortunately, our Competition PRO Retro is sold out, so you'll have to check the used-market, classified ads or the local flea market.

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