Buying an Amiga
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@Tsaukpaetra I took great delight in exercising that very option when I bought my first laptop in 2000. Put Red Hat 9 on it. Been using desktop Linux ever since. It's a beautiful thing.
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@Tsaukpaetra That license agreement is really funny.
Where I live, if a contract is required to use a product, you have to make me sign it BEFORE you sell me the product.
That means that this license is completely meaningless.
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@TimeBandit said in Buying an Amiga:
BEFORE you sell me the product
The thing about software licenses, though, is that the product being sold is the license i.e. the right to use the software. The software itself always remains the property of the licensor.
So if you buy e.g. a Windows licence, then find yourself unable to agree to the terms that allow you to use Windows, then the license you have bought is of no use to you and you can return it for a refund.
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@flabdablet said in Buying an Amiga:
The thing about software licenses, though, is that the product being sold is the license i.e. the right to use the software. The software itself always remains the property of the licensor.
Scenario 1:
I go to BestBuy, I pickup a box of Windows on the shelf. Whatever is in the box is the product.Scenario 2:
I go to BestBuy, I pickup a laptop on the shelf. Whatever is in the box is the product (including Windows).In both scenario, I bought a product in a box.
So if you buy e.g. a Windows licence, then find yourself unable to agree to the terms that allow you to use Windows, then the license you have bought is of no use to you and you can return it for a refund.
This doesn't change anything. The law is clear : if there is a contract bound to the product, you have to make me accept it BEFORE you sell it to me.
Microsoft can try to make you think otherwise, but I have the full power of the consumer protection act behind me.
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@TimeBandit said in Buying an Amiga:
if there is a contract bound to the product, you have to make me accept it BEFORE you sell it to me.
...or, if that's not possible, allow you to return it for a full refund.
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@flabdablet said in Buying an Amiga:
@TimeBandit said in Buying an Amiga:
BEFORE you sell me the product
The thing about software licenses, though, is that the product being sold is the license i.e. the right to use the software. The software itself always remains the property of the licensor.
Dangerous Terms: Software Licensing Issues for U.S. Businesses in Europe and Japan:
The Directive on Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts[23] exhibits some of the most significant differences between EU and U.S. consumer contract law. The Directive applies to non-negotiated contracts between a business and a consumer. Software contract terms classified as unfair under the Directive are not binding on consumers. A non-negotiated contractual term is regarded unfair if, ?contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations arising under the contract, to the detriment of the consumer.?[24]
An Annex to the Directive contains a non-exclusive list of presumptively unfair terms. The list presumptively invalidates many terms typically present in U.S. software contracts: mandatory arbitration clauses, disclaimers of warranties, limitation of licensor?s liability, contract assignment, limitation of consumer?s remedies, automatic contract extension, binding the consumer to terms without providing a real opportunity of becoming acquainted with the terms (my emphasis), unilateral modifications of contract or any characteristics of the product or service.[25]
and:
Even if the licensee had reasonable notice and acceded to the terms of a clickwrap agreement, European courts are more likely to invalidate clauses considered abusive and suspect under the Unfair Contract Terms Directive and European consumer law.[109]
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My Atari ST worked the last time I hooked it up a few years ago. The monitor didn't :-(
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@tufty said in Buying an Amiga:
...or, if that's not possible, allow you to return it for a full refund.
That's not what the law say. If you didn't make me accept the contract before, it is VOID.
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@TimeBandit Well, yes, if you didn't accept it's void. There's just a difference between EU and US on what that means.
In EU you implicitly have rights cause you bought something. That is not changed by having to click a button below a tiny text box with a huge amount of text in order to exercise those rights.
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@flabdablet The problem with that decision was that Win2000 at the time that Redhat 9 came out was an excellent OS and Redhat 9 got abandoned for Fedora Core 1 at the time which was garbage.
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I am holding off buying a flicker fixer and a ram expansion until I get the machine next Tuesday (the guy choose the slowest postage ever, cunty ebay).
I need to know whether it has a Kickstart Rom version 3.1 apparently to WHDLoad Games from the CF adapter I bought and load workbench 3.9 which is the latest version.
There is a vampire 2 accelerator for about £100+ quid that machine the machine into something like a A2000 - A3000 speed machine that I have emailed interest about (but I am 900th in line, so a while to wait).
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@lucas1 said in Buying an Amiga:
@flabdablet The problem with that decision was that Win2000 at the time that Redhat 9 came out was an excellent OS and Redhat 9 got abandoned for Fedora Core 1 at the time which was garbage.
There was no problem with that decision. Refusing to install Windows on any of my personal machines has given me far, far more cause for joy than grief.
I work with Windows all day. There is no good reason why I need to bring that kind of suffering home as well.
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@lucas1 said in Buying an Amiga:
Vampire 2 Review - The Fastest Amiga Ever?! – 25:14— Dan Wood - kookytech.net
Like I said. It's easy to become that fat smelly guy wittering on about the amiga...
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@tufty Considering the state this A600 came in, It seems I probably got it off one of those fat smelly blokes. I confirmed it powered and seemed to be working, but it was filthy (like not just dusty, actually dirty), expecting a floppy in the drive. Looks like I am going to have to re-wire the main plug as it is almost hanging off.
So I took the thing part and used a damp cloth with bit of fairy liquid to get the worst off the case and hoovered most of the dust and dirty out of it. Took the keyboard apart and thankfully it was just dust. Going to maplin now to get some compressed air and then onto tesco to get some cotton wool buds so I can clean up the contacts (I have some cpu cleaner in a box somewhere when I build my PC last.
This is some pics after I got the worst off.
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@lucas1 said in Buying an Amiga:
Going to maplin now to get some compressed air
If it's really filthy inside, you're better off with an air jet handpiece attached to a proper compressor. Your local garage will probably let you use theirs for nothing. Mine does.
This will blow amazing amounts of shit out of floppy drives, optical drives, power supplies etc. without you needing to take them apart. Just be careful around fan blades - it's easy to make them spin fast enough to shatter.
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@flabdablet The hoover got the worst off. I ended up buying some anti static cleaner for £2 taking the keyboard off again and using that to get the rest of it off. The cans of compressed air were £12!! Maplin ain't cheap, but that is extortion.
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Hoovers are bad mojo around electronics, they bleed static like nobody's business. There's a good reason EEs use canned air or a compressor with dryer.
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@tufty I didn't use it near the actual mainboard.
It is clean now, posts okay. It seems I was right to hold back on getting some of the other kit. It wants a 3.1 kick-rom to recognise the IDE CF card properly.
I took the whole thing apart (it is surprisingly pleasant to work on compared to modern kit).
I am going to look at fixing the mains plug because it looks like it about to fall apart.
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Ordered a kitstart 3.1 rom (I can't be arsed with floppies), but it seems to work fine after a cleaning and re-assembly.
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@flabdablet said in Buying an Amiga:
If it's really filthy inside, you're better off with an air jet handpiece attached to a proper compressor. Your local garage will probably let you use theirs for nothing. Mine does.
This will blow amazing amounts of shit out of floppy drives, optical drives, power supplies etc. without you needing to take them apart. Just be careful around fan blades - it's easy to make them spin fast enough to shatter.
Don't forget to bring the air pressure down. About 40psi is more than enough. If you don't, the "amazing amounts of shit out" may include the CPU and/or other electronic parts.
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I ordered some stuff off of ebay because tbh I was being cheap.
After watching lots of vids before buying this vintage kit, I looked at a lot of Videos and everyone was using a CF to IDE connector with an old CF card. These are rather inexpensive (£5 - £10 e.g. 2 Lunchtimes at the local Sandwich shop).
- I ordered a CF to IDE adapter that didn't work ;(
- I ordered one from a amiga guy on ebay and it did work, the other one is going into the bin.
- I installed workbench via WinUAE emulator and then booted from a CF card fine.
- It has a weird version of emacs on it.
- I fixed the really iffy mains cable. I Installed a new plug.
- Installed a 2mb ram upgrade and a Real time clock (the Amiga now knows it is 2016!).
- General cleanup if the computer. I de-soldered the RF output for when I by the scan doubler I can use that port for VGA.
All is working now and I can load workbench fine and I can play some of the classic games.
It looks like next to install an accelerator and a Scan doubler / fixer for VGA.
Next thing to do is get it on the internet and get it loading the dailywtf irc channel.I have done some basic chiptunes ... will be messing around with that more as time goes on as I love Retrowave music and have a good understanding of basic music theory.
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Everything is running, now lets see if I can get it connected to IRC, BBS etc.
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Got most of the game working via WHDLoad after looking at other forums. Got hold of some software for midi and chiptunes. I am doing some pretty basic stuff. But it is good fun.
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My Amiga accelerator is in the post office.
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@lucas1 said in Buying an Amiga:
a good understanding of basic music theory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrqMq1BuxF8&feature=youtu.be
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@flabdablet I used to do a lot of Guitar stuff so I know a lot of music theory.
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@flabdablet LOL whatever mate.
This is under "I think I can make the other person look stupid if I try hard enough",
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@lucas1 Anyway I get a massive boost from 7mhz to 16
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http://i.imgur.com/cbWqfs0.jpg
Accelerator card is in there now. I had an Kingston CF card in there it would not boot, a Transcend one did.
Need to work out how to fit the CF card in there in a more sensible way (probably longer cable). When I get paid next VGA upgrade and then I buy an ethernet card that is compatible with the PCMCIA port.
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Bought an Amiga 1200. I got it for the bargain price of £155. Some of them were going for over £300!!!!!!!!!"
It looked it really good nick. Still original box, lots of accessories etc, looked like it been sat up in someone loft for the last 20 years.
The Amiga 600 is done. Waiting for a CF / PCMCIA card so I can easily transfer files between my desktop and the amiga without having to reassemble every-time. Amiga OS doesn't have its own IP stack so while I have a network adaptor I can't be bothered taking the machine apart to transfer one archive containing the TCP/IP stack needed for the ethernet so I will wait for the adapter to come through the post.
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http://i.imgur.com/uKUduBd.jpg
Time to buy some kit ...
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@lucas1 For a fleeting moment I thought you had a QL there by that Amiga, then I recognised it as simply a black modern keyboard. Must be my medication.
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@Gurth Vintage computers are a bit of a hobby now. So maybe I should get one in the future.
Honestly while Amiga OS is quirky there are some really nice things about Amiga DOS e.g. how the Search path works.
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TW for anyone that doesn't get why I do it. I am essentially hotrodding an old computer.
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@lucas1 said in Buying an Amiga:
Vintage computers are a bit of a hobby now. So maybe I should get one in the future.
I’ve had much the same idea myself, but haven’t acted on it yet. I don’t have room to set up my modest collection as it is, so they don’t see any use at all; adding a QL or some other machine I would like, just means it’d also end up in the chest with the others.
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Products
1 x Indivision 1200 AGA MK2cr (ADAIND2CR) = £133.46
Adapter None
Backplate Included
1 x Kickstart 3.1 ROM chips (A1200) (AMIROM001) = £14.50
1 x ACA 1233n 40MHz with 128MB (A1233N40) = £208.61
ACATune Utility None
1 x 4GB CF IDE HARD DISK DRIVE (HDDIDECF4) = £19.96
Extra Apps On Hard Drive None
For Use With Amiga 1200
IDE Cable Length 3 CMSub-Total: £376.53
Delivery Service (Ship to GB : 0.87 KG): £5.47
Trackable/Insured Shipping: £2.59
Transaction Fee (1.9%): £7.31
VAT 20%: £63.67
Total: £391.90I just did pay off my car loan though.
