The A500 Mini

[subcon959]

Yes and no.

If I was buying a gift for family, this would still be preferable because it should be much easier to use and setup.

I’ve given mini consoles (including the C64 Mini) to family and the ‘nice box’, the ‘plug and play’ aspect combined with their smaller size was a plus for them. I doubt an RPi would have gone down as well even if I preconfigured everything.

I agree in principle, but I found the C64 mini a few steps below every other mini in terms of quality. I also gave one as a gift and the person really struggled with the crappy joystick. I really wish it had been a different company tackling these.

 

[tech3475]

I agree in principle, but I found the C64 mini a few steps below every other mini in terms of quality. I also gave one as a gift and the person really struggled with the crappy joystick. I really wish it had been a different company tackling these.

Given the rubbish joysticks my family used to buy back in the day, for them it's probably just adding to the nostalgia .

 

[subcon959]

Given the rubbish joysticks my family used to buy back in the day, for them it's probably just adding to the nostalgia .

Yeah, I went through my share. I eventually got a Zipstick though and never looked back. Still have 3 of them

 

[Wavy]

I would get this, but the pricing compared to the C64 Mini is quite a lot high. I own the C64 Maxi (I love it to bits BTW (no pun intended =P)) and that was $200 AUD. $200 for just the A500 Mini is too much. So no thanks.

Though, I'd be interested if they make a A500 Maxi. I'm curious to see how something like that would turn out.

 

[Foxi4]

Nice idea, but without the physical keyboard it's a bit pricy for an emubox. At this price point I'm more than happy to buy and refurbish an actual AMIGA 500/600, though not everyone is willing to deal with archaic TV hookups. I personally like my real deal better.

 

[subcon959]

Nice idea, but without the physical keyboard it's a bit pricy for an emubox. At this price point I'm more than happy to buy and refurbish an actual AMIGA 500/600, though not everyone is willing to deal with archaic TV hookups. I personally like my real deal better.

My A1200 is hooked up to a Philips CM8833-II which is a heavenly combination.

 

[InsaneNutter]

I should really get my old Amiga 500 setup again, I wonder if it still works. The last time it was powered on is probably 1999 / 2000ish.

It would be fun to re visit it after all this time and install a compact flash card for a hard drive and maybe get an accelerator / more memory for it. Currently its pretty stock with just a ram upgrade to 1mb, however that's all you needed to play all those amazing games from a floppy disk.

And then there was the demo scene that was often even more impressive than the games.

I was a bit young to really appreciate it at the time, however looking back its amazing what people managed to do with so little resources compared to today.

Jesus On E's is really impressive, it would be fun to load that on real Amiga hardware:

 

[Foxi4]

My A1200 is hooked up to a Philips CM8833-II which is a heavenly combination.

I'm a basic composite bimbo - my A600 HD never gave me any trouble in that regard and works like a charm. I even adapted the mini IDE port so I can use full-sized drive caddies, and I'm eyeing up an FDD emulator for rainy days when my magnetic spinning rust kicks the dust (which it will, but I've procured a stack of compatible replacements). I can't say I've ever had any "issues" with upscaling as long as the TV itself isn't bottom tier, maybe I'm just not that big of a snob. Moonstone for life - kids these days don't know the *real* Dark Souls prequel.

 

[ILuvGames]

Ohh. F*ck yeah. Time to sell my A1200 while the prices are still high.

 

[FAST6191]

I should really get my old Amiga 500 setup again, I wonder if it still works. The last time it was powered on is probably 1999 / 2000ish.

It would be fun to re visit it after all this time and install a compact flash card for a hard drive and maybe get an accelerator / more memory for it. Currently its pretty stock with just a ram upgrade to 1mb, however that's all you needed to play all those amazing games from a floppy disk.



I was a bit young to really appreciate it at the time, however looking back its amazing what people managed to do with so little resources compared to today.

Jesus On E's is really impressive, it would be fun to load that on real Amiga hardware:

Various models of Amiga, including various takes on the a500, have a leaky battery that does a number on circuit boards so even if you don't figure out if a modern screen can display it you might want to snip that off at least. If it is leaking you can clean the motherboard to stop things, and there are enough circuit manuals that you can probably repair traces as well (or have someone that can follow along with it and sort it).

 

[Foxi4]

Various models of Amiga, including various takes on the a500, have a leaky battery that does a number on circuit boards so even if you don't figure out if a modern screen can display it you might want to snip that off at least. If it is leaking you can clean the motherboard to stop things, and there are enough circuit manuals that you can probably repair traces as well (or have someone that can follow along with it and sort it).

In all fairness, nowadays there are full-on PCB replacements available on the cheap. If you have a steady hand and functioning donor IC's, you can "rebuild" an AMIGA from the ground up using more modern hardware while maintaining the original core components. Unless the battery leaks on a critical IC that cannot be easily replaced, meaning one of the custom-spun boys and girls (they all have funky names, after all), no AMIGA is a "hopeless" case. It's more a matter of how dedicated you are to having the original, native experience - a lot of people value that over emulation, in spite of its numerous benefits.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

The price is high compared to other mini consoles released in the past few years and how much they offer for less. Well at least Nintendo's offerings.
That said I expect you'll be able to run AmigaOS and load your own disk images and use it like a (mostly) fully fledged Amiga, just like you can with TheC64. So you're not limited to the 25 included games. Most of the target audience for this product are probably tinkerers, hell, an entire generation of tinkerers grew up with the Amiga. So they probably expect most people to load their own disk images on there. Considering that, the game selection isn't of the same importance as it is with the other mini consoles you can't (officially) load your own ROMs on.
Having that ability is nice but you're still paying quite a lot for what is essentially a Raspberry Pi emulation box. $80 would've been a more reasonable price, $100 even would be pushing it but still acceptable. You could build something equivalent with a Pi for less than $80, granted Raspberry Pi is nonprofit and these guys aren't so you'd expect to pay a bit more.
Maybe they aren't selling enough of these things to offset the cost of licensing the games and getting injection molded plastics. They aren't a huge company (afaik) like Nintendo or Sony after all. And retro computers I would guess are considerably more niche these days than the NES or SNES.

 

[Cyan]

I thought "oh, I could use my useless floppy disk collection again!" and then I see even the keyboard is fake....

 

[Luz Noceda]

Introducing THEA500 Mini, a compact reimagining of the Amiga 500 home computer. Featuring perfect emulation of not only the original A500 but also the Advanced Graphics Architecture (AGA) of the A1200.

Play one of the included 25 classic Amiga games, selected from a simple to use carousel, including all-time greats like Alien Breed, Another World, Chaos Engine, Simon the Sorcerer and Worms.

Or load your own games via USB stick with WHDLoad support and an array of options to choose from.

Plus save and resume your game at any time to help you finish those punishingly difficult classics.

THEA500 Mini comes with the original style 2-button mouse and newly engineered 8-button precision gamepad.

• Emulates A500, A600 & A1200 (ECS/OCS/AGA)
• Save & resume your progress at any time
• Add your own games
• 720p HD display, at 50 Hz (Europe) or 60 Hz (USA)
• Multiple scaling options and CRT filter
• Virtual keyboard, and USB keyboard support
• Upgradable firmware

THEA500® Mini will hit the shops in March 2022 with a suggested retail price of GBP£119.99/ EUR€129.99/ USD$139.99/ AUD$199.99

https://retrogames.biz/thea500-mini

Current game list (12 of 25)

• Alien Breed 3D
• Another World
• ATR: All Terrain Racing
• Battle Chess
• Cadaver
• Kick Off 2
• Pinball Dreams
• Simon The Sorcerer
• Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe
• The Chaos Engine
• Worms: The Director’s Cut
• Zool

THIS LOOKS NICE I'm looking out for this one fs

 

[subcon959]

I thought "oh, I could use my useless floppy disk collection again!" and then I see even the keyboard is fake....

I don't think anyone would be crazy enough to put a floppy drive on a new console in 2021 lol. But I do think they will release a Maxi version with working keyboard.

Personally, I would've designed this one as a CD32 Mini instead of an A500 and put a $99 price on it. Then sold a proper A500 Maxi with working keyboard separately.

Considering how it's almost impossible to get a real CD32 these days I would've definitely bought it.

 

[Foxi4]

I don't think anyone would be crazy enough to put a floppy drive on a new console in 2021 lol. But I do think they will release a Maxi version with working keyboard.

Personally, I would've designed this one as a CD32 Mini instead of an A500 and put a $99 price on it. Then sold a proper A500 Maxi with working keyboard separately.

Considering how it's almost impossible to get a real CD32 these days I would've definitely bought it.

Really? I've never seen a particular shortage of CD32's, there's pages upon pages of offers on eBay. A1200 or higher though, now that's a pickle to get at a reasonable price. In the end I settled for a non-AGA model myself, but one day I'll upgrade and cherish it for life.

 

[subcon959]

Really? I've never seen a particular shortage of CD32's, there's pages upon pages of offers on eBay. A1200 or higher though, now that's a pickle to get at a reasonable price. In the end I settled for a non-AGA model myself, but one day I'll upgrade and cherish it for life.

Yeah, I meant getting one for a fair price. I guess it's because I still see the CD32 as a cutdown Amiga (albeit with CDROM) and not worth as much. I just can't wrap my head around £300+ for it. At least with the A1200 you're getting some tangible benefits.

 

[Foxi4]

Yeah, I meant getting one for a fair price. I guess it's because I still see the CD32 as a cutdown Amiga (albeit with CDROM) and not worth as much. I just can't wrap my head around £300+ for it. At least with the A1200 you're getting some tangible benefits.

In all honesty, the CD32 *is* an A1200, with reduced expansion options - the hardware is effectively identical (AGA-based), so it's actually an "affordable" way to get into that side of the AMIGA ecosystem. With the advent of modern accelerator cards (TF330, Vampire etc.) a lot of the removed expansion capabilities have been restored, and new features were added in, so if you're looking for a compact unit, it's not bad value. I'm just a bit of a snob and would prefer the all-in-one or, better yet, the tower, but I'm also not willing to lose my shirt to get one. In any case, you can get a CD32 in the neighbourhood of £180 if you're willing to take your time bargain hunting, which is "alright" for this kind of "flopped" hardware that never sold particularly well and as such is rather rare compared to the more mainstream models.

 

[Magnus87]

Again with a fake keyboard? I thought they learned their lesson, people want a real keyboard.

I love these "Mini" products but it seems absurd to have more than one model.Surely I ended up buying an A500 "MAXI"

 

[hippy dave]

Pretty sure my A1200 is still in my mum's loft. It had an annoying hardware problem, where the 2nd joystick port would work fine with a joystick, but not with a mouse (pointer wouldn't move). Wonder how hard that is to repair.