What are the differences between an Amiga 500 and Amiga 1200?

Join RustyIngles on a nostalgic journey back in time as he pits two legendary Commodore Amigas against each other - the Amiga 500 and the Amiga 1200. 🚀 In today's epic showdown, we'll explore everything from their technical prowess to their quirky Easter eggs. Which machine was the true king of its era? 🏆
Dive deep into the world of retro computing with detailed comparisons of their specs, graphics capabilities, and much more. Discover which model dominated the markets in Europe and the USA. Whether you're a lifelong Amiga fan or new to the scene, this video is packed with information and a hefty dose of nostalgia.
Don't forget to like, comment with your thoughts, and subscribe for more retro gaming content! Let us know which Amiga model you think deserves the crown and why. 👑
Stay tuned to Retro Games Rediscovered for more comparisons, deep dives, and retro fun. Thanks for watching! 🕹️🎮

[@off1k]

01:17 Amiga500 (OCS) could also display EHB (ExtraHalfBrite) mode which is 64 onscreen colours. It's basically a 32 colour mode but then it's cloned and they half the brightness of each cloned colour. Example of games using this are: Pinball Dreams and Fantasies, Black Crypt, Fightin' Spirit and I'm pretty sure Ruff 'n' Tumble. A500 could also use the Copper Chip to interrupt the scanline to add many more onscreen colours. eg: Lionheart, Fire and Ice, Turrican 2, Jim Power. The Copper chip could display 2 (and many more) different resolutions with their own palette on 1 screen at the same time, a number of games do this. Then there was HAM mode which could theoretically display all 4096 colours. 01:22 Paula sound wasn't technically 4 channel stereo sound. It was 4 mono channels connected to a stereo output, 2 for left and 2 for right speaker. 02:10 AGA had a palette of 16.7 million. 256 onscreen colours and 262,144 colours in HAM mode. 02:25 A1200 CPU was clocked at 14.18Mhz PAL and 14.32Mhz NTSC. 02:56 The Sound chip in the A1200 is exactly same as Paula in the A500, one difference they did however was remove one of the low pass filters for the A1200 giving it a slightly "brighter" sound. I have a couple of comparison videos on my channel, one for Battle Squadron hi-score music and another for a Hoffman track where I compare a real A500+ and A1200 to emulated Amiga filters using Protracker Clone for PC.

[@RetroGamesRediscovered]

Thank you for sharing the information, I stand corrected!

[@vertigoz]

you can see a test from saimo where he gets superior 14bit quality out of an AGA machine. Search for "Hertz Overload / v1.0"

[@alexanderwingeskog758]

Amiga 500 (4096 color mode) was called HAM and the A1200 was called HAM8 (but sure it was the same thing, but with a bigger selections of colors). The low pass filter on A1200 could be turned on and off as I remember it... A500+ (which I had) maybe had the possibility also, but as I remember it you had to do a hardware modification?

[@supergrafxengine4620]

I remember when I passed from A500 plus to A1200. Just to be able to install Workbench magic and boot into it like a PC in win 3.1 was so great. Also to hook up IDEs ( it cost a month salary for a 1.5 giga quantum fireball hdd at that time ) made the Amiga a super fast computer. Some month later I got a Blizzard 030 expansion card. All 3D games worked at 60 FPS or more with no lags, loading time almost none existent, theme park, syndicate run super smooth. Truly amazing days. What killed it was there was no more Amiga stores and friends moved to PCs. Soon later the N64 and PS1 came. The rest is history.

[@RetroGamesRediscovered]

Thanks for your comment, the 1200 was a massive jump from the 500 (or 500 plus in your case). I bet your 1200 flew when you had the 030 expansion card in it!

[@moregamemusic]

The Amiga 1200 is a great machine but it was too little too late. I know components very expensive in 1992, such as ram and hard drive. I do believe Commodore tried to keep the prices down for more sales, but the 020 with 2 MB of ram was not enough even at that time.

[@RetroGamesRediscovered]

Thanks for your comment and for watching the video, yes I agree it was sadly too late to save a failing Commodore.

[@rayeasom]

The A1200 is what the A600 could have been, it could have saved Commodore. Just another in a long line of bad decisions.

[@RetroGamesRediscovered]

Thanks for your comment! You're right, the A1200 had the potential to be what the A600 should have been and possibly could have helped save Commodore. It's a classic example of how a series of unfortunate decisions can impact a company's fate. If you enjoyed this discussion, please consider subscribing to my channel, Retro Games Rediscovered, for more retro computing insights and content! Cheers, RustyIngles

[@mick2d2]

Saddest day, when I had to sell my A500 to get an A1200! Got my A500 in 1988. What a wonderful machin it was The first time you could play arcade style/quality games at home. Saved me loads of 10ps! Still got my A1200 and it works perfectly.

[@RetroGamesRediscovered]

Thanks for your comment, I bet it was a sad day when you sold you A500 but I guess it was bittersweet if you were picking up an A1200

[@mick2d2]

@@RetroGamesRediscovered It was! I used the A1200 in my transition from gaming to working. Used it for all my advertising leaflets using Pagestream 2 and a Star LC 20 impact printer (printing graphically). I then photocopied the prints which were “jaggy” free! Pretty amazing really.

[@RetroGamesRediscovered]

I had a Star LC 20, crikey I'd forgotten all about that printer. Great times. Seems a distant memory now!

[@vinmangob8555]

yup, love my amiga 1000, waited got a 1200, all the games looked the same. One year later I got a IBM 486/33, never looked backed. Commodore had it , but dam got lazy or dumb.

[@dusanpiscevic6213]

A1200 was touted in 1992 as next big thing and succesor to A500, but truth to be told 1992-1994(95) were A500's best games years (Turrican II, Toki, Lionhart, Megalomania, Settlers, Dune II, Sensible soccer, etc.)! A500 was everywhere (I still wonder how only about 4.5 million were sold) and I haven't seen A1200 untill much later when Playstation was already a household name and I was dissapointed. All the games I saw were already old news, I have already played then in A500 and I could not spot the any difference on CRT! Even while A1200 versions contained larger number of colors, it all looked the same to me, since I had only my (fading) visual memory of A500 vesrsions to compare it with! The fact that A500 market was during A1200's life was much larger, made developers develop games with A500 as main target and just upscale color number for A1200. Even still to this day of retro gaming, I prefer A500 versions when I play! A1200 was laging behind SNES and even Mega Drive from inception which is mostly visible on Street Fighter II versions which A1200 could not handle. When 3D stuff appeared, we have alredy seen much better stuff on PC and even for that you had to have much more upgraded A1200, so better invest that money into PC. And leaving same sound chip as A500 was major omission. A500 already had problems playing music and effects in game simoultaneously in 4 chanels, so additional a chanel or 2 was very missing. Also, real stereo would help. Commodore was in mess all the way through 80s and 90s and it just shows on botched and compromised design of 1200.

[@RetroGamesRediscovered]

The A1200 did have a tough time living up to the A500's legacy, despite being a better machine. Maybe it needed a bit more 90s pizzazz. It was sadly too little too late. Thanks for your comment and for watching the video.

[@rayeasom]

I had both of these machines and still have my A1200 (still white too); albeit with some modern twists, modern caps, the newest kickstarts, memory card hard drive adaptor, gotek drive and memory upgrade. I haven’t went for any of the updated accelerator cards. I have a raspberry pi running Chris Edward’s excellent images; thusly saving my original hardware for “best”. I went from the A500 with 1MB to an A1200 with 8mb ram upgrade and an adaptor to run a 300mb IDE hard drive. The difference was night and day.

[@RetroGamesRediscovered]

Thanks for sharing your experience! It's fantastic that you still have your A1200 in such great condition with modern upgrades. The A1200 with 8MB RAM and a 300MB IDE hard drive must have been a huge leap from the A500 with 1MB. The night-and-day difference in performance and capability must have been incredible. Using a Raspberry Pi with Chris Edward’s images to preserve your original hardware is a smart move. It’s great to see enthusiasts like you keeping the Amiga spirit alive with both original and modern setups.

[@retrom8442]

Found your channel from the Amiga Addict Magazine. I really like the Amiga coverage. Where did you get that amazing T-Shirt from, do you sell them?

[@RetroGamesRediscovered]

Thank you for your comment and for coming from the magazine! I got the tee from an independent shop, but I am going to start selling them in my online store. I'll keep you updated!

[@fradd182]

I prefer 1200, mostly because of easier expandability and IDE interface.

[@impactsuit9871]

Both greatmachines but the A500 enjoyed the Amiga golden years while the far superior A1200 had to face its sad demise... Sad story...

[@RetroGamesRediscovered]

You're right, completely bad timing from Commodore, but they badly managed the Amiga project I think

[@Hovado_Lesni]

I used to have a500 as a child. Realy thinking of buying it again but after this video im not sure if a1200 would be a better buy

[@RetroGamesRediscovered]

Thanks for your comment and for watching the video. I had an A500 as a child but never had the A1200 but always wanted one. As an adult, I've got both. Whilst the 1200 is a better machine, the 500 will always hold a special place for me. Shop around for a machine though, as the prices are always rising

[@wimwiddershins]

Had both, the A500 is still my favourite for gaming. The A1200 was fun for a while.

[@rayeasom]

Raspberry Pi running Chris Edward’s brilliant and Free images are a very good substitute for the real thing. And a fraction of the price.

[@RetroGamesRediscovered]

You're absolutely right-Raspberry Pi running Chris Edward’s brilliant and free images is an excellent and cost-effective way to relive the classic Amiga experience. It’s amazing how much functionality you can get at a fraction of the price of original hardware.

[@RetroGamesRediscovered]

Thanks for your reply, the A500 is indeed a classic favourite for gaming with its iconic library of titles. The A1200 offered some exciting advancements, but there's something timeless about the A500.

[@SeeWildlife]

700?

[@RetroGamesRediscovered]

🤣 very clever

[@naviamiga]

That really shouldn't have made me laugh, but it did.