@t2,10 @^@f04@t1@cThe demise of the Amiga 500 @f00@t4 This is infact a review/opinion of the new Amiga A600, but let's first take a look at what Commodore have done as far as the A500 is concerned. Because of the failure of the A500 Plus, they have decided to scrap the A500 range all together, while we agree that the "Plus" was a waste of time from the start, Commodore seem to have forgotten the 1,000,000 or more V1.3 Amiga users out there who have supported them for quite some time, and brought Commodore in quite a lot of money over the years since the birth of tha Amiga A1000. Well I'm sorry, but in my view, Commodore have made a grave mistake. The Amiga V1.3 has now become a "Kult" @^ machine, very much like the "V.W.Beetle" and as long as the parts are available for "Amy" 1.3 it will never go away, it will remain as a reminder to Commodore of just what a stupid mistake it was to think that they could dictate to Amigans all over the world which machine they should buy. Anyway, let's have a look at the "New Wonderful A600" (HA!HA!HA!) Here are some af the draw backs:- @t5PRICE-459:00 @t4(From Computer City) This is for the basic machine. Let's have a look at this 459.00 package. It looks like a rather sad @# @t2,10 @^@f00@t4Amiga A500 or A500+, it's had it's end chopped off and now looks rather more like the C64. The main board inside has 'A300' stamped on it so it looks as though Commodore intended it to be something else instead. The internal Disk Drive gets so hot that I'm told it could very well damage disks if they were left in too long. There is no port at the side, so you won't be able to use such things as Scanners, hard drives, Side Car type up-grades etc. The memory is only expandable to 2 MEGS. When you load Workbench, you will find that there is only 504K left to work with, and this is hardly enough for a decent size letter. It has an expansion slot into which you can plug all the add-ons if and when they become available (If the A600 is a flop,then there wont be any add-ons). My view is as follows:- If you buy @^an A600, it will cost between 450 and 500 pounds for the basic model, if you bought the model with built in 20 Meg Hard Drive, this would cost You about 720.00 and having bought either of these two, you would not have enough memory to do a great deal with so you would then need a Ram upgrade. The Ram upgrade that will fit the A600 is not like the ones that fit into the A500:- 1- It is much smaller than usual because the trap door is smaller too. 2- The pins are on the side instead of the end. 3- The board on which it is built is only available from one supplier, and Commodore have the EXCLUSIVE rights to this board I'm told so I would think that the price that it sells at will be quite high, let's say about 150.00, it could be more, but I don't think it will be less, if you can only get it from Commodore, why should it be... @# @t2,10 @^@f00@t4So what have we got.. An A600 at 450.00 + A Ram upgrade at 150.00 giving a total outlay of 600.00 for the Basic model, or an A600 with 20 Meg Hard Drive at 720.00 + A Ram upgrade at 150.00 giving a total price of 870.00. So you are going to spend between 600 and 900 pounds on a machine that will only run about 35% of programs available for the Amiga (just like the Plus) and that will probably not get much support from software houses and companies that make 'Add-Ons' because there is every chance that the A600 will do even worse than the A500 Plus. One other point that I have just noticed,the A570 CD Rom Drive won't work on the A600 either, so if you have one, then you will have to sell it (If you can) and buy an A670 Drive when Commodore make one. @^@t1What Should You Do? @t4FIRST, if you were one of the unfortunate people that listened to all the talk about the A500 Plus being "The Best Amiga Yet", and as a result you went out and bought one, then I would think that you would have every right to write to Mr.KELLY SUMNER who is Retail Product Sales Director for the U.K. part of Commodore, and give him a rather large piece of your mind. The place you will have to send your letter to is the same place that you sent your warranty card to, I don't know of any other address. I would suggest that you mark your letter for the attention of Mr.Sumner, other wise you are wasting your time writing, I have written to Commodore at that address and as yet I have NEVER had a reply. SECOND,If you are thinking of buying an Amiga Computer in the near future, make @# @t2,10 @^@f00@t4 EVERY effort to get a V1.3 KICKSTART Model, you will probably be told that this model is no longer available, but there are still some about, I know of three places where there are some left. If you can't get a new one, then look in the computer mags for a second hand one, make sure it works OK before you buy it and then you should have no problems, after all, with over 1,000,000 other users of this model in this country alone and millions more in other countries, all companies who's products are aimed at the Amiga part of the Home Computer Market will, I would think, be making whatever it is for a long time to come, as I said at the begining of this article, the Amiga 1.3 has become a 'Kult' machine now (You can still get parts for the V.W.Beetle, and that came out in about 1934!!!!) @^ I have run out of things to say, I'm sorry if I have gone on a bit, but I feel strongly about the way in which Commodore have treated 'Amigans' all over the World, and I think it's about time we stood up to be counted. If there is any way in which I can help you with a problem regarding an Amiga, please get in touch with me via the editor of this Magazine... @t5THE AMIGA V1.3 GOES ON FOR EVER @t7RM 067 @t1 Turn page for note -> @# @t2,10 @^ @f00@t1Note @t4The above article was written using information I have gathered from Magazines and conversations with people who have had dealings with this machine. I, as yet have not touched an A600, I saw one in a shop and I thought it was a C64. I am not advising you not to buy an A600, I am just giving my opinion based on my experience as an Amiga User since 1984/5 and as president of a rather large Amiga User Group. You must check it out, and then make your own decision, and I hope whatever you decide works out for you.. @t5The V1.3 will expand to 9 Megs @t7RM 067 @@