Amiga 1200
Encyclopedia
The Amiga 1200, or A1200 (code-named 'Channel Z'), was Commodore International
's third-generation Amiga
computer, aimed at the home market. It was launched on October 21, 1992, at a base price of 399 GBP
in the United Kingdom
and 599 USD
in the United States
.
, the A1200 is an all-in-one design incorporating the CPU
, keyboard, and disk drives (including the option of an internal 2.5" hard disk drive) in one physical unit. The A1200 has a similar hardware architecture to Commodore's Amiga CD32
game console, and is technically similar to the Atari Falcon
, which was the A1200's most direct competitor.
Initially, only A1200s were available at the UK launch. During the first year of its life the system reportedly sold well, but Commodore ran into cash flow problems and filed for bankruptcy. World wide sales figures for the A1200 are unknown but 95,000 systems were sold in Germany before Commodore's bankruptcy.
After Commodore’s demise in 1994 the A1200 almost disappeared from the market but was later re-launched by Escom in 1995. The new Escom A1200 was priced at £399 and it came bundled with two games, seven applications and Amiga OS 3.1. It was initially criticized for being priced 150 pounds higher than the Commodore variant had sold for two years prior. It also came with a modified PC floppy disk drive that was incomptible with some Amiga software titles. The A1200 was finally discontinued in 1996 as the parent company folded.
and has 2 MB of RAM as standard. The AGA
chipset used in the A1200 is a significant improvement. AGA increases the color palette from 4096 colors to 16.8 million colors with up to 256 on-screen colors and an improved HAM
mode allowing 262,144 on-screen colors. The graphics hardware also features improved sprite capacity and faster graphics performance. Additionally, compared to the A600 the A1200 was considered to offer greater expansion possibilities.
failed to repeat the technological advances of the first Amiga systems. The AGA chipset was something of a disappointment. Commodore had initially been working on a much improved version of the original Amiga chipset, codenamed "AAA
", but when development fell behind they rushed out the less improved AGA found on A1200, A4000 and CD32
units. While AGA was not notably less capable than its competition, when compared to VGA and its emerging extensions, the Amiga no longer commanded the lead it had in earlier times. Additionally, the Amiga's custom chips cost more to produce than the increasingly ubiquitous commodity chips utilized in PCs, making the A1200 more expensive. Some industry commentators also felt the 68020 microprocessor was already too outdated and that the new system should have been fitted with a 68030 to be competitive.
The gaming market, which had been a major factor in the A500's popularity, was becoming ever more competitive with the emergence of more advanced and less expensive fourth generation
console gaming systems, and multimedia-enabled
IBM PC compatibles with SVGA graphics. As a result, fewer retailers carried the A1200, especially in North America. The A1200 also received bad press for being incompatible with a number of Amiga 500 game titles. Further criticism was directed at the A1200's power supply which was often inadequate in expanded systems, limiting upgrade options that had been popular with earlier Amiga models.
While Commodore never released any official sales figures, Commodore Frankfurt gave a figure of 95,000 Amiga 1200 systems sold in Germany.
68EC020 CPU
. It is noteworthy that, like the 68000, the 68EC020 has a 24-bit address space; allowing for a theoretical maximum of 16 MB of memory. A stock A1200 has 2 MB of inbuilt Chip RAM (Chip RAM cannot be expanded beyond 2 MB). Up to 8 MB of "fast" RAM can be added in the "trapdoor" expansion slot, which approximately doubles (~2.26×) the speed
of a stock machine. Various CPU upgrades featuring 68020
, 68030
, 68040
, 68060
and even PowerPC
processors were made available by third-party developers. Such upgrades typically utilize faster and greater capacity memory (up to 256 MB).
(AGA). As the name implies, the AGA chipset features improved graphical abilities in comparison to the earlier generations.
However, the sound hardware remains identical to the design used in the Amiga 1000
, though the AGA chipset allows higher sampling rate
s for sound playback, either by using a video mode with higher horizontal scan rate
or by using the CPU to drive audio output directly.
ports for joystick
s, mice
, and light pen
s, a standard 25-pin RS-232
serial port
and a 25-pin Centronics
parallel port
. As a result, the A1200 was compatible with many existing Amiga peripherals, such as external floppy disk drives, MIDI interfaces, sound samplers
and video digitizers
.
Like the earlier Amiga 600
the A1200 features a PCMCIA
Type II slot and an internal 44-pin ATA interface both most commonly seen on laptop
computers. The A1200 has internal housing for one 2.5" internal hard disk drive connecting to the ATA controller, though it is also possible to accommodate slim 3.5" drives with suitable cabling and fixings. The 16-bit PCMCIA Type II interface allows use of a number of compatible peripherals available for the laptop market, though only 16-bit (Type II) PCMCIA cards are hardware compatible, newer 32-bit PC Card or CardBus peripherals are incompatible. The PCMCIA implementation is almost identical to the one featured on the earlier A600. A number of Amiga peripherals were released by third-party developers for this connector including SRAM
cards, CD-ROM
controllers, SCSI
controllers, network cards, sound samplers and video digitizers. Later, a number of compatible laptop peripherals have been made to operate with this port including, serial modems, wired and wireless network cards and CompactFlash
adaptors.
In addition the A1200 features a 32-bit CPU/RAM expansion slot and a feature unique to the A1200, the so called 'clock port
'. The clock port is a remnant of an abandoned design feature for addition of internal RAM and a real time clock. Later, third-party developers put it to use by creating an array of expansions for the A1200, such as, I/O cards, audio cards and even a USB
controller. Several CPU boards also have integrated SCSI controllers or even the option to add a graphics card.
One problematic factor for expanding the A1200 is the rather limited 23 watt power supply. Hard disks and even external floppy drives can stress the power supply leading to system instability. The problem can be mitigated by replacing the stock power supply with a higher rated supply, such as the one supplied with the A500.
The A1200 became a popular machine for 'modding
'. If one is willing to forgo the A1200's form-fitting desktop case in exchange for further expansion options it is possible to re-house the hardware into alternative casing. Several third-party developers built and supplied popular kits to 'tower up' the A1200 and in essence convert it to a 'big box' Amiga. These expansion kits allow use of PC AT Keyboards, hard disk bays, CD-ROM drives, and Zorro II, Zorro III and PCI
expansion slots. Such expansion slots made it possible to use devices not originally intended for the A1200, such as, graphic, sound and network cards.
The revision of the A1200 manufactured by Escom was fitted with PC-based 'high density' floppy disk drives that had been downgraded to double density drives. This resulted in some software incompatibility (PC style drives do not supply a "ready" signal, which signals if there is a floppy in the disk drive.) Escom released a free circuit upgrade to correct this issue.
3.0 (revision 39.106), which together provide standard single-user operating system functionality and support for the built-in hardware. The later Amiga Technologies/Escom models shipped with Workbench 3.1 and Kickstart 3.1 (AmigaOS 3.1), though earlier A1200 models can be upgraded by installing compatible Kickstart 3.1 ROM chips. The later AmigaOS 3.5 and 3.9 releases are A1200 compatible as a software update requiring Kickstart 3.1.
AmigaOS 4
, a PowerPC
native release of the operating system, can be used with the A1200 provided Blizzard PPC PowerPC board is installed. Likewise, MorphOS
, an alternative Amiga compatible operating system can be used with this hardware.
Variants of platform-independent operating systems such as Linux
and BSD
can also be used with the A1200.
IV AGA (2D image and animation editor) and Final Copy (word processor). The Amiga Technologies/Escom
version was bundled with applications such as, Scala (multimedia authoring software) and Wordworth (word processor
) and games like Pinball Mania and Whizz.
Commodore International
Commodore is the commonly used name for Commodore Business Machines , the U.S.-based home computer manufacturer and electronics manufacturer headquartered in West Chester, Pennsylvania, which also housed Commodore's corporate parent company, Commodore International Limited...
's third-generation Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
computer, aimed at the home market. It was launched on October 21, 1992, at a base price of 399 GBP
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and 599 USD
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
History
Like its predecessor, the Amiga 500Amiga 500
The Amiga 500 - also known as the A500 - was the first “low-end” Commodore Amiga 16/32-bit multimedia home/personal computer. It was announced at the winter Consumer Electronics Show in January 1987 - at the same time as the high-end Amiga 2000 - and competed directly against the Atari 520ST...
, the A1200 is an all-in-one design incorporating the CPU
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
, keyboard, and disk drives (including the option of an internal 2.5" hard disk drive) in one physical unit. The A1200 has a similar hardware architecture to Commodore's Amiga CD32
Amiga CD32
The Amiga CD32, styled "CD32" , was the first 32-bit CD-ROM based video game console released in western Europe, Australia, Canada and Brazil. It was first announced at the Science Museum in London, United Kingdom on 16 July 1993, and was released in September of the same year...
game console, and is technically similar to the Atari Falcon
Atari Falcon
The Atari Falcon030 Computer System was Atari Corporation's final computer product. Codenamed Sparrow, the machine was based on a Motorola 68030 main CPU, and had a Motorola 56000 digital signal processor, a feature which distinguished it from most other microcomputers of the era.-History:The...
, which was the A1200's most direct competitor.
Initially, only A1200s were available at the UK launch. During the first year of its life the system reportedly sold well, but Commodore ran into cash flow problems and filed for bankruptcy. World wide sales figures for the A1200 are unknown but 95,000 systems were sold in Germany before Commodore's bankruptcy.
After Commodore’s demise in 1994 the A1200 almost disappeared from the market but was later re-launched by Escom in 1995. The new Escom A1200 was priced at £399 and it came bundled with two games, seven applications and Amiga OS 3.1. It was initially criticized for being priced 150 pounds higher than the Commodore variant had sold for two years prior. It also came with a modified PC floppy disk drive that was incomptible with some Amiga software titles. The A1200 was finally discontinued in 1996 as the parent company folded.
Design Improvements
The A1200 offers a number of advantages over earlier budget Amiga models. Specifically, it is a 32-bit design, the 68EC020 microprocessor is faster than the 68000Motorola 68000
The Motorola 68000 is a 16/32-bit CISC microprocessor core designed and marketed by Freescale Semiconductor...
and has 2 MB of RAM as standard. The AGA
Advanced Graphics Architecture
Advanced Graphics Architecture is the third generation Amiga graphic chip set, first used in the Amiga 4000 in 1992. AGA was codenamed the Pandora chipset by Commodore International internally....
chipset used in the A1200 is a significant improvement. AGA increases the color palette from 4096 colors to 16.8 million colors with up to 256 on-screen colors and an improved HAM
Hold-and-Modify
Hold-And-Modify, usually abbreviated as HAM, is a display mode of the Commodore Amiga computer. It uses a highly unusual technique to express the color of pixels, allowing many more colors to appear on screen than would otherwise be possible....
mode allowing 262,144 on-screen colors. The graphics hardware also features improved sprite capacity and faster graphics performance. Additionally, compared to the A600 the A1200 was considered to offer greater expansion possibilities.
Popularity and Criticism
Although it was a significant upgrade, the A1200 did not sell as well as the earlier Amiga 500 and proved to be Commodore's last budget model before filing for bankruptcy in 1994. This was partly because the A1200 and Amiga 4000Amiga 4000
The Commodore Amiga 4000, or A4000, is the successor of the A2000 and A3000 computers. There are two models, the A4000/040 released in October 1992 with a Motorola 68040 CPU, and the A4000/030 released in April 1993 with a Motorola 68EC030....
failed to repeat the technological advances of the first Amiga systems. The AGA chipset was something of a disappointment. Commodore had initially been working on a much improved version of the original Amiga chipset, codenamed "AAA
AAA chipset
The AAA chipset was intended to be the next-generation Amiga multimedia system designed by Commodore International. Initially began as a secret project, the first design discussions were started in 1988, and after many revisions and redesigns the first silicon versions were fabricated in 1992-1993...
", but when development fell behind they rushed out the less improved AGA found on A1200, A4000 and CD32
Amiga CD32
The Amiga CD32, styled "CD32" , was the first 32-bit CD-ROM based video game console released in western Europe, Australia, Canada and Brazil. It was first announced at the Science Museum in London, United Kingdom on 16 July 1993, and was released in September of the same year...
units. While AGA was not notably less capable than its competition, when compared to VGA and its emerging extensions, the Amiga no longer commanded the lead it had in earlier times. Additionally, the Amiga's custom chips cost more to produce than the increasingly ubiquitous commodity chips utilized in PCs, making the A1200 more expensive. Some industry commentators also felt the 68020 microprocessor was already too outdated and that the new system should have been fitted with a 68030 to be competitive.
The gaming market, which had been a major factor in the A500's popularity, was becoming ever more competitive with the emergence of more advanced and less expensive fourth generation
History of video game consoles (fourth generation)
In the history of computer and video games, the fourth generation began on October 30, 1987 with the Japanese release of Nippon Electric Company's PC Engine...
console gaming systems, and multimedia-enabled
Multimedia PC
The Multimedia PC, or MPC, was a recommended configuration for a PC with a CD-ROM drive. The standard was set and named by the "Multimedia PC Marketing Council", which was a working group of the Software Publishers Association . The MPMC comprised companies including Microsoft, Creative Labs,...
IBM PC compatibles with SVGA graphics. As a result, fewer retailers carried the A1200, especially in North America. The A1200 also received bad press for being incompatible with a number of Amiga 500 game titles. Further criticism was directed at the A1200's power supply which was often inadequate in expanded systems, limiting upgrade options that had been popular with earlier Amiga models.
While Commodore never released any official sales figures, Commodore Frankfurt gave a figure of 95,000 Amiga 1200 systems sold in Germany.
Processor and RAM
The A1200 has a MotorolaMotorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
68EC020 CPU
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
. It is noteworthy that, like the 68000, the 68EC020 has a 24-bit address space; allowing for a theoretical maximum of 16 MB of memory. A stock A1200 has 2 MB of inbuilt Chip RAM (Chip RAM cannot be expanded beyond 2 MB). Up to 8 MB of "fast" RAM can be added in the "trapdoor" expansion slot, which approximately doubles (~2.26×) the speed
Instructions per second
Instructions per second is a measure of a computer's processor speed. Many reported IPS values have represented "peak" execution rates on artificial instruction sequences with few branches, whereas realistic workloads typically lead to significantly lower IPS values...
of a stock machine. Various CPU upgrades featuring 68020
Motorola 68020
The Motorola 68020 is a 32-bit microprocessor from Motorola, released in 1984. It is the successor to the Motorola 68010 and is succeeded by the Motorola 68030...
, 68030
Motorola 68030
The Motorola 68030 is a 32-bit microprocessor in Motorola's 68000 family. It was released in 1987. The 68030 was the successor to the Motorola 68020, and was followed by the Motorola 68040. In keeping with general Motorola naming, this CPU is often referred to as the 030 .The 68030 features on-chip...
, 68040
Motorola 68040
The Motorola 68040 is a microprocessor from Motorola, released in 1990. It is the successor to the 68030 and is followed by the 68060. There was no 68050. In keeping with general Motorola naming, the 68040 is often referred to as simply the '040 ....
, 68060
Motorola 68060
The Motorola 68060 is a 32-bit microprocessor from Motorola released in 1994. It is the successor to the Motorola 68040 and is the highest performing member of the 680x0 family. Two derivatives were produced, the 68LC060 and the 68EC060....
and even PowerPC
PowerPC
PowerPC is a RISC architecture created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM...
processors were made available by third-party developers. Such upgrades typically utilize faster and greater capacity memory (up to 256 MB).
Graphics and sound
The A1200 shipped with Commodore's third-generation Amiga chipset, the Advanced Graphics ArchitectureAdvanced Graphics Architecture
Advanced Graphics Architecture is the third generation Amiga graphic chip set, first used in the Amiga 4000 in 1992. AGA was codenamed the Pandora chipset by Commodore International internally....
(AGA). As the name implies, the AGA chipset features improved graphical abilities in comparison to the earlier generations.
However, the sound hardware remains identical to the design used in the Amiga 1000
Amiga 1000
The A1000, or Commodore Amiga 1000, was Commodore's initial Amiga personal computer, introduced on July 23, 1985 at the Lincoln Center in New York City....
, though the AGA chipset allows higher sampling rate
Sampling rate
The sampling rate, sample rate, or sampling frequency defines the number of samples per unit of time taken from a continuous signal to make a discrete signal. For time-domain signals, the unit for sampling rate is hertz , sometimes noted as Sa/s...
s for sound playback, either by using a video mode with higher horizontal scan rate
Horizontal scan rate
Horizontal scan rate, or horizontal frequency, usually expressed in kilohertz, is the frequency at which a CRT moves the electron beam from the left side of the display to the right and back, and therefore describes the number of horizontal lines displayed per second...
or by using the CPU to drive audio output directly.
Peripherals and expansion
Like earlier models, the A1200 features several Amiga compatible connectors including two DE9MD-subminiature
The D-subminiature or D-sub is a common type of electrical connector. They are named for their characteristic D-shaped metal shield. When they were introduced, D-subs were among the smaller connectors used on computer systems....
ports for joystick
Joystick
A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or...
s, mice
Mouse (computing)
In computing, a mouse is a pointing device that functions by detecting two-dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface. Physically, a mouse consists of an object held under one of the user's hands, with one or more buttons...
, and light pen
Light pen
A light pen is a computer input device in the form of a light-sensitive wand used in conjunction with a computer's CRT TV set or monitor. It allows the user to point to displayed objects, or draw on the screen, in a similar way to a touch screen but with greater positional accuracy...
s, a standard 25-pin RS-232
RS-232
In telecommunications, RS-232 is the traditional name for a series of standards for serial binary single-ended data and control signals connecting between a DTE and a DCE . It is commonly used in computer serial ports...
serial port
Serial port
In computing, a serial port is a serial communication physical interface through which information transfers in or out one bit at a time...
and a 25-pin Centronics
Centronics
Centronics Data Computer Corporation was a pioneering American manufacturer of computer printers, now remembered primarily for the parallel interface that bears its name.-The beginning:Centronics began as a division of Wang Laboratories...
parallel port
Parallel port
A parallel port is a type of interface found on computers for connecting various peripherals. In computing, a parallel port is a parallel communication physical interface. It is also known as a printer port or Centronics port...
. As a result, the A1200 was compatible with many existing Amiga peripherals, such as external floppy disk drives, MIDI interfaces, sound samplers
Sampling (signal processing)
In signal processing, sampling is the reduction of a continuous signal to a discrete signal. A common example is the conversion of a sound wave to a sequence of samples ....
and video digitizers
Video capture
Video capture is the process of converting an analog video signal—such as that produced by a video camera or DVD player—to digital video. The resulting digital data are computer files referred to as a digital video stream, or more often, simply video stream...
.
Like the earlier Amiga 600
Amiga 600
The Amiga 600, also known as the A600 , is a home computer that was introduced at the CeBIT show in March 1992. The A600 was Commodore International's final model based on the Motorola 68000 CPU and the ECS chipset. It is essentially a redesign of the Amiga 500 Plus, with the option of an internal...
the A1200 features a PCMCIA
PC Card
In computing, PC Card is the form factor of a peripheral interface designed for laptop computers. The PC Card standard was defined and developed by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association which itself was created by a number of computer industry companies in the United States...
Type II slot and an internal 44-pin ATA interface both most commonly seen on laptop
Laptop
A laptop, also called a notebook, is a personal computer for mobile use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device and speakers into a single unit...
computers. The A1200 has internal housing for one 2.5" internal hard disk drive connecting to the ATA controller, though it is also possible to accommodate slim 3.5" drives with suitable cabling and fixings. The 16-bit PCMCIA Type II interface allows use of a number of compatible peripherals available for the laptop market, though only 16-bit (Type II) PCMCIA cards are hardware compatible, newer 32-bit PC Card or CardBus peripherals are incompatible. The PCMCIA implementation is almost identical to the one featured on the earlier A600. A number of Amiga peripherals were released by third-party developers for this connector including SRAM
Static random access memory
Static random-access memory is a type of semiconductor memory where the word static indicates that, unlike dynamic RAM , it does not need to be periodically refreshed, as SRAM uses bistable latching circuitry to store each bit...
cards, CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
controllers, SCSI
SCSI
Small Computer System Interface is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices. The SCSI standards define commands, protocols, and electrical and optical interfaces. SCSI is most commonly used for hard disks and tape drives, but it...
controllers, network cards, sound samplers and video digitizers. Later, a number of compatible laptop peripherals have been made to operate with this port including, serial modems, wired and wireless network cards and CompactFlash
CompactFlash
CompactFlash is a mass storage device format used in portable electronic devices. Most CompactFlash devices contain flash memory in a standardized enclosure. The format was first specified and produced by SanDisk in 1994...
adaptors.
In addition the A1200 features a 32-bit CPU/RAM expansion slot and a feature unique to the A1200, the so called 'clock port
Clock port
The clock port is a commonly used term for the real-time clock interface of the Amiga 1200 computer. The port is a remnant of an abandoned design feature for addition of internal RAM and a clock for time keeping. However, it was later widely used as a general purpose expansion port by third-party...
'. The clock port is a remnant of an abandoned design feature for addition of internal RAM and a real time clock. Later, third-party developers put it to use by creating an array of expansions for the A1200, such as, I/O cards, audio cards and even a USB
Universal Serial Bus
USB is an industry standard developed in the mid-1990s that defines the cables, connectors and protocols used in a bus for connection, communication and power supply between computers and electronic devices....
controller. Several CPU boards also have integrated SCSI controllers or even the option to add a graphics card.
One problematic factor for expanding the A1200 is the rather limited 23 watt power supply. Hard disks and even external floppy drives can stress the power supply leading to system instability. The problem can be mitigated by replacing the stock power supply with a higher rated supply, such as the one supplied with the A500.
The A1200 became a popular machine for 'modding
Modding
Modding is a slang expression that is derived from the verb "modify". Modding refers to the act of modifying a piece of hardware or software or anything else for that matter, to perform a function not originally conceived or intended by the designer...
'. If one is willing to forgo the A1200's form-fitting desktop case in exchange for further expansion options it is possible to re-house the hardware into alternative casing. Several third-party developers built and supplied popular kits to 'tower up' the A1200 and in essence convert it to a 'big box' Amiga. These expansion kits allow use of PC AT Keyboards, hard disk bays, CD-ROM drives, and Zorro II, Zorro III and PCI
Peripheral Component Interconnect
Conventional PCI is a computer bus for attaching hardware devices in a computer...
expansion slots. Such expansion slots made it possible to use devices not originally intended for the A1200, such as, graphic, sound and network cards.
The revision of the A1200 manufactured by Escom was fitted with PC-based 'high density' floppy disk drives that had been downgraded to double density drives. This resulted in some software incompatibility (PC style drives do not supply a "ready" signal, which signals if there is a floppy in the disk drive.) Escom released a free circuit upgrade to correct this issue.
Operating System
The first incarnation of the A1200 shipped with Workbench 3.0 and KickstartKickstart (Amiga)
Kickstart is a commonly used term for the bootstrap firmware of the Amiga computers developed by Commodore.Most Amiga models were shipped with the Kickstart firmware stored on ROM chips...
3.0 (revision 39.106), which together provide standard single-user operating system functionality and support for the built-in hardware. The later Amiga Technologies/Escom models shipped with Workbench 3.1 and Kickstart 3.1 (AmigaOS 3.1), though earlier A1200 models can be upgraded by installing compatible Kickstart 3.1 ROM chips. The later AmigaOS 3.5 and 3.9 releases are A1200 compatible as a software update requiring Kickstart 3.1.
AmigaOS 4
AmigaOS 4
AmigaOS 4, , is a line of Amiga operating systems which runs on PowerPC microprocessors. It is mainly based on AmigaOS 3.1 source code, and partially on version 3.9 developed by Haage & Partner...
, a PowerPC
PowerPC
PowerPC is a RISC architecture created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM...
native release of the operating system, can be used with the A1200 provided Blizzard PPC PowerPC board is installed. Likewise, MorphOS
MorphOS
MorphOS is an Amiga-compatible computer operating system. It is a mixed proprietary and open source OS produced for the Pegasos PowerPC processor based computer, PowerUP accelerator equipped Amiga computers, and a series of Freescale development boards that use the Genesi firmware, including the...
, an alternative Amiga compatible operating system can be used with this hardware.
Variants of platform-independent operating systems such as Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
and BSD
Berkeley Software Distribution
Berkeley Software Distribution is a Unix operating system derivative developed and distributed by the Computer Systems Research Group of the University of California, Berkeley, from 1977 to 1995...
can also be used with the A1200.
Specifications
| Attribute | Specification |
|---|---|
| Processor Central processing unit The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in... |
Motorola 68EC020 at 14.32 MHz (NTSC NTSC NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as... ) or 14.18 MHz (PAL PAL PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system... ) |
| RAM | 2 MB Megabyte The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000... Amiga Chip RAM Upgradeable by further:
|
| ROM Read-only memory Read-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only... |
512 kB Kilobyte The kilobyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Although the prefix kilo- means 1000, the term kilobyte and symbol KB have historically been used to refer to either 1024 bytes or 1000 bytes, dependent upon context, in the fields of computer science and information... Kickstart Kickstart (Amiga) Kickstart is a commonly used term for the bootstrap firmware of the Amiga computers developed by Commodore.Most Amiga models were shipped with the Kickstart firmware stored on ROM chips... ROM |
| Chipset | Advanced Graphics Architecture Advanced Graphics Architecture Advanced Graphics Architecture is the third generation Amiga graphic chip set, first used in the Amiga 4000 in 1992. AGA was codenamed the Pandora chipset by Commodore International internally.... (AGA) |
| Video | 24-bit color palette (16.8 Million colors) Up to 256 on-screen colors in indexed mode 262,144 on-screen colors in HAM-8 Hold-and-Modify Hold-And-Modify, usually abbreviated as HAM, is a display mode of the Commodore Amiga computer. It uses a highly unusual technique to express the color of pixels, allowing many more colors to appear on screen than would otherwise be possible.... mode Resolutions from:
|
| Audio | 4 × 8-bit PCM channels (2 stereo Stereophonic sound The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective... channels) 28–56 kHz maximum DMA Direct memory access Direct memory access is a feature of modern computers that allows certain hardware subsystems within the computer to access system memory independently of the central processing unit .... sampling rate Sampling rate The sampling rate, sample rate, or sampling frequency defines the number of samples per unit of time taken from a continuous signal to make a discrete signal. For time-domain signals, the unit for sampling rate is hertz , sometimes noted as Sa/s... (dependent on video mode in use) |
| Removable storage | 3.5" DD Double density Double density, often shortened DD, is a capacity designation on magnetic storage, usually floppy disks. It describes the use of an encoding of information, which can encode on average twice as many bits per time unit compared to single density... floppy disk Floppy disk A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles... drive (880 kB capacity) |
| Internal storage | Housing for 2.5" hard disk drive |
| Audio/video out | Analog RGB video out (DB-23M D-subminiature The D-subminiature or D-sub is a common type of electrical connector. They are named for their characteristic D-shaped metal shield. When they were introduced, D-subs were among the smaller connectors used on computer systems.... ) Composite video out (RCA RCA connector An RCA connector, sometimes called a phono connector or cinch connector, is a type of electrical connector commonly used to carry audio and video signals... ) RF RF connector A coaxial RF connector is an electrical connector designed to work at radio frequencies in the multi-megahertz range.RF connectors are typically used with coaxial cables and are designed to maintain the shielding that the coaxial design offers. Better models also minimize the change in transmission... audio/video out (RCA) Audio out (2 × RCA) |
| Input/output ports | 2 × Mouse/Gamepad ports (DE9) RS-232 RS-232 In telecommunications, RS-232 is the traditional name for a series of standards for serial binary single-ended data and control signals connecting between a DTE and a DCE . It is commonly used in computer serial ports... serial port Serial port In computing, a serial port is a serial communication physical interface through which information transfers in or out one bit at a time... (DB-25M) Centronics style parallel port Parallel port A parallel port is a type of interface found on computers for connecting various peripherals. In computing, a parallel port is a parallel communication physical interface. It is also known as a printer port or Centronics port... (DB-25F) Floppy disk Floppy disk A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles... drive port (DB-23F) 44-pin ATA controller supporting PIO-0 Programmed input/output Programmed input/output is a method of transferring data between the CPU and a peripheral such as a network adapter or an ATA storage device.... transfer mode (internal) 16-bit Type II PCMCIA slot |
| Expansion slots | 150-pin local expansion port (trapdoor) 22-pin clockport |
| Operating system Operating system An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system... |
AmigaOS AmigaOS AmigaOS is the default native operating system of the Amiga personal computer. It was developed first by Commodore International, and initially introduced in 1985 with the Amiga 1000... 3.0/3.1. (Kickstart 3.0-3.1/Workbench 3.0-3.1) |
| Physical dimensions | 24.1 cm deep × 47.0 cm wide × 7.62 cm high (9.5" × 18.5" × 3") 3.6 kg (8 lb). |
| Other | Integrated keyboard with 96 keys (including 10 function keys) |
Bundled Software
Some software officially bundled with the A1200 included Deluxe PaintDeluxe Paint
Deluxe Paint is a bitmap graphics editor series originally created by Dan Silva for Electronic Arts .The original version was created for the Commodore Amiga and was released in November 1985...
IV AGA (2D image and animation editor) and Final Copy (word processor). The Amiga Technologies/Escom
Escom
ESCOM, previously Schmitt Computer Systems Ltd., was a German computer company, best known in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and the Netherlands as the successful purchaser of Commodore International in 1995....
version was bundled with applications such as, Scala (multimedia authoring software) and Wordworth (word processor
Word processor
A word processor is a computer application used for the production of any sort of printable material....
) and games like Pinball Mania and Whizz.