Ohio Scientific Challenger 1P, Apple II+, TRS-80 Model 1, Atari 400, Osborne 1a, System-80/Video Genie/PMC-80, IBM-5150 (IBM-PC), ZX-81, TRS-80 Colour Computer 1, Vic-20, Epson HX-20, BBC-B, ZX-Spectrum, Kaypro II, Eaca Colour Genie, RX-8800, Apple IIe, Atari 800XL, Tandy Model 100, Commodore 64, Commodore 64C, Commodore SX-64, Spectravideo 318, Mattel Aquarius, Sinclair QL, Atari 130XE, Apple IIe Platinum, IBM PS/2 30-286, Compaq SLT/286, Amiga 500, Atari 1040ST, Mac SE/30, Mac Classic II, Mac Powerbook 145B, Generic 386DX-40

Commodore Amiga 500

Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) were an up and coming concept in the 1980s. The Amiga 500, cheapest in the line of Amiga models from Commodore, introduced this in style to the home market in 1987.

With a full-blown professional keyboard, a Motorolla 68000 32/16 bit chip, graphics rivaling the VGA standard in PC business machines, custom multimedia chips and stereo sound, the Amiga 500 was soon making friends.

A full set of documentation and a small library of software came with this unit. Given the bytes needed for a GUI, the lack of a hard drive is somewhat of a handicap for the Amiga 500, but it is compensated for a little in this particular one by a 1MB memory upgrade and an external 3.5 inch floppy drive. The latter accessory has proved to be unreliable though and sometimes the computer doesn't recognise it even when attached. A replacement may need to be sought.

This machine was quite popular in New Zealand. As far as history goes it one of the last examples of the "home computers", a line that became extinct once multimedia MS-DOS machines fell in price AND people started to buy video dedicated game consoles again, like the Sega master system and Nintendo.

The Amigas were notable for being real alternatives the Mac and PC lines that were dominant in the late 1980s. To bad they weren't taken more seriously by the mainstream.

Want to know more about this micro? Google is your friend.

This page last edited 10th August, 2008

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