Vintage Commodore Amiga A500 Computer W/ Memory Module
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:44422732 | Model: Amiga 500+ |
| Vintage: Yes | Modified Item: No |
| MPN: A500 | Custom Bundle: No |
| Brand: Commodore | Type: Home Computer |
Vintage Commodore Amiga A500 Computer w/ Memory ModuleDescriptionVintage item. Untested.Unithas not been tested. The expansion covers are missing and the keyboard ismissing a few keys. Cosmetic condition is otherwise good with some light yellowing, scuffs, scratches and signs of use.This is a vintage item. It was inspectedat time of listing and shown to be in the condition described above. However, due to the age of this item, we cannot guarantee continued functionality and itis being ...sold “as-is.”What’s Included:1x Vintage Commodore Amiga Computer1x Memory ModuleDoes not include any additional cables, parts or accessories.
DescriptionOutwardlyresembling the Commodore 128 and codenamed "Rock Lobster" duringdevelopment, the Amiga 500 houses the keyboard and CPU in one shell, unlike theAmiga 1000. It utilizes a Motorola 68000 microprocessor running at 7.15909 MHz(NTSC) or 7.09379 MHz (PAL). The CPU implements a 32-bit model, has 32-bitregisters and 32-bit internal data bus, but it has a 16-bit main ALU, uses a16-bit external data bus and 24-bit address bus, providing a maximum of 16 MBof address space.Theearliest Amiga 500 models use nearly the same Original Amiga chipset as theAmiga 1000. So graphics can be displayed in multiple resolutions and colordepths, even on the same screen. Resolutions vary from 320×200 (up to 32colors) to 640×400 (up to 16 colors) for NTSC (704×484 overscan) and 320×256 to640×512 for PAL (704×576 overscan.) The system uses planar graphics, with up tofive bitplanes (four in high resolution) allowing 2-, 4-, 8-, 16-, and 32-colorscreens, from a palette of 4096 colors. Two special graphics modes are alsoavailable: Extra HalfBrite, which uses a 6th bitplane as a mask to cut thebrightness of any pixel in half (resulting in 32 arbitrary colors plus 32 morecolors set at half the value of the first 32), and Hold And Modify (HAM) whichallows all 4096 colors to be used on screen simultaneously. Later revisions ofthe chipset are PAL/NTSC switchable in software.Thesound chip produces four hardware-mixed channels, two to the left and two tothe right, of 8-bit PCM at a sampling frequency of up to 28 kHz. Each hardwarechannel has its own independent volume level and sampling rate, and can bedesignated to another channel where it can modulate both volume and frequencyusing its own output. With DMA disabled it's possible to output with a samplingfrequency up to 56 kHz. There's a common trick to output sound with 14-bitprecision that can be combined to output 14-bit 56 kHz sound.Thestock system comes with AmigaOS version 1.2 or 1.3 and 512 KiB of chip RAM (150ns access time), one built-in double-density standard floppy disk drive that iscompletely programmable and can read 720 KiB IBM PC disks, 880 KiB standardAmiga disks, and up to 984 KiB using custom-formatting drivers.Despitethe lack of Amiga 2000-compatible internal expansion slots, there are manyports and expansion options. There are two DE9M Atari joystick ports forjoysticks or mice, stereo audio (RCA connectors 1 V p-p). There is a floppydrive port for daisy-chaining up to three extra floppy disk drives via a DB23Fconnector. The then-standard RS-232 serial port (DB25M) and Centronics parallelport (DB25F) are also included. The power supply is (+5V, +/-12V). The systemdisplays video in analog RGB 50 Hz PAL or 60 Hz NTSC through a proprietaryDB23M connector and in NTSC mode the line frequency is 15, 750 Hz HSync forstandard video modes, which is compatible with NTSC television and CVBS/RGBvideo, but out of range for most VGA-compatible monitors, while a multisyncmonitor is required for some of the higher resolutions. This connection canalso be genlocked to an external video signal. The system was bundled with anRF adapter to provide output on televisions with a coaxial RF input, whilemonochrome composite video is available via an RCA connector (also coaxial).There is also a Zorro bus expansion on the left side (behind a plastic cover).Peripherals such as a hard disk drive can be added via the expansion slot andare configured automatically by the Amiga's AutoConfig standard, so that multipledevices do not conflict with each other. Up to 8 MB of so-called "fastRAM" (memory that can be accessed by the CPU only) can be added using theside expansion slot. This connector is electronically identical with the Amiga1000's, but swapped on the other side.TheAmiga 500 has a "trap-door" slot on the underside for a RAM upgrade(typically of 512 KiB). This extra RAM is classified as "fast" RAM, but is sometimes referred to as "slow" RAM: due to the design of theexpansion bus, it is actually on the chipset bus. Such upgrades usually includea battery-backed real-time clock. All versions of the A500 can have theadditional RAM configured as chip RAM by a simple hardware modification, whichinvolves fitting a later model (8372A) Agnus chip. Likewise, all versions ofthe A500 can be upgraded to 2 MB chip RAM by fitting the 8372B Agnus chip andadding additional memory. TheAmiga 500 also sports an unusual feature for a budget machine, socketed chips, which allow easy replacement of defective chips. The CPU can be directlyupgraded on the motherboard to a 68010; or to a 68020, 68030, or 68040 via theside expansion slot; or by removing the CPU and plugging a CPU expansion cardinto the CPU socket (though this will require opening the computer and voidingany remaining warranty). In fact, all the custom chips can be upgraded to theAmiga Enhanced Chip Set (ECS) versions.Thecase is made from ABS plastics which may become brown with time. This may bereversed by using the public-domain chemical mix "Retr0bright", though without a clearcoat to block oxygen, the brown colouring will return.
Payment
Payment via PayPal is expected within 2-days after the winning bid.We only accept bids from US bidders with confirmed PayPal addresses and only accept PayPal as the form of payment.Returns
Items sold as New, Tested and/or Working may be returned within 30 days of receiving if you are not satisfied with your purchase. Restocking fee may apply. Buyer is responsible for return shipping costs.
Please review all photos carefully as they are part of the description per eBay policy.Shipping
ARG-Tech directly only ships to the United States. All international shipments are processed through eBay's Global Shipping Program.
We take pride in packing items carefully to ensure safe arrival. We ship promptly, usually same or next day after PayPal confirmation.
If you have any special requirements or questions regarding shipping, please contact us before buying.
Our business hours are Monday – Friday 7AM-4:30PM EST
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DescriptionOutwardlyresembling the Commodore 128 and codenamed "Rock Lobster" duringdevelopment, the Amiga 500 houses the keyboard and CPU in one shell, unlike theAmiga 1000. It utilizes a Motorola 68000 microprocessor running at 7.15909 MHz(NTSC) or 7.09379 MHz (PAL). The CPU implements a 32-bit model, has 32-bitregisters and 32-bit internal data bus, but it has a 16-bit main ALU, uses a16-bit external data bus and 24-bit address bus, providing a maximum of 16 MBof address space.Theearliest Amiga 500 models use nearly the same Original Amiga chipset as theAmiga 1000. So graphics can be displayed in multiple resolutions and colordepths, even on the same screen. Resolutions vary from 320×200 (up to 32colors) to 640×400 (up to 16 colors) for NTSC (704×484 overscan) and 320×256 to640×512 for PAL (704×576 overscan.) The system uses planar graphics, with up tofive bitplanes (four in high resolution) allowing 2-, 4-, 8-, 16-, and 32-colorscreens, from a palette of 4096 colors. Two special graphics modes are alsoavailable: Extra HalfBrite, which uses a 6th bitplane as a mask to cut thebrightness of any pixel in half (resulting in 32 arbitrary colors plus 32 morecolors set at half the value of the first 32), and Hold And Modify (HAM) whichallows all 4096 colors to be used on screen simultaneously. Later revisions ofthe chipset are PAL/NTSC switchable in software.Thesound chip produces four hardware-mixed channels, two to the left and two tothe right, of 8-bit PCM at a sampling frequency of up to 28 kHz. Each hardwarechannel has its own independent volume level and sampling rate, and can bedesignated to another channel where it can modulate both volume and frequencyusing its own output. With DMA disabled it's possible to output with a samplingfrequency up to 56 kHz. There's a common trick to output sound with 14-bitprecision that can be combined to output 14-bit 56 kHz sound.Thestock system comes with AmigaOS version 1.2 or 1.3 and 512 KiB of chip RAM (150ns access time), one built-in double-density standard floppy disk drive that iscompletely programmable and can read 720 KiB IBM PC disks, 880 KiB standardAmiga disks, and up to 984 KiB using custom-formatting drivers.Despitethe lack of Amiga 2000-compatible internal expansion slots, there are manyports and expansion options. There are two DE9M Atari joystick ports forjoysticks or mice, stereo audio (RCA connectors 1 V p-p). There is a floppydrive port for daisy-chaining up to three extra floppy disk drives via a DB23Fconnector. The then-standard RS-232 serial port (DB25M) and Centronics parallelport (DB25F) are also included. The power supply is (+5V, +/-12V). The systemdisplays video in analog RGB 50 Hz PAL or 60 Hz NTSC through a proprietaryDB23M connector and in NTSC mode the line frequency is 15, 750 Hz HSync forstandard video modes, which is compatible with NTSC television and CVBS/RGBvideo, but out of range for most VGA-compatible monitors, while a multisyncmonitor is required for some of the higher resolutions. This connection canalso be genlocked to an external video signal. The system was bundled with anRF adapter to provide output on televisions with a coaxial RF input, whilemonochrome composite video is available via an RCA connector (also coaxial).There is also a Zorro bus expansion on the left side (behind a plastic cover).Peripherals such as a hard disk drive can be added via the expansion slot andare configured automatically by the Amiga's AutoConfig standard, so that multipledevices do not conflict with each other. Up to 8 MB of so-called "fastRAM" (memory that can be accessed by the CPU only) can be added using theside expansion slot. This connector is electronically identical with the Amiga1000's, but swapped on the other side.TheAmiga 500 has a "trap-door" slot on the underside for a RAM upgrade(typically of 512 KiB). This extra RAM is classified as "fast" RAM, but is sometimes referred to as "slow" RAM: due to the design of theexpansion bus, it is actually on the chipset bus. Such upgrades usually includea battery-backed real-time clock. All versions of the A500 can have theadditional RAM configured as chip RAM by a simple hardware modification, whichinvolves fitting a later model (8372A) Agnus chip. Likewise, all versions ofthe A500 can be upgraded to 2 MB chip RAM by fitting the 8372B Agnus chip andadding additional memory. TheAmiga 500 also sports an unusual feature for a budget machine, socketed chips, which allow easy replacement of defective chips. The CPU can be directlyupgraded on the motherboard to a 68010; or to a 68020, 68030, or 68040 via theside expansion slot; or by removing the CPU and plugging a CPU expansion cardinto the CPU socket (though this will require opening the computer and voidingany remaining warranty). In fact, all the custom chips can be upgraded to theAmiga Enhanced Chip Set (ECS) versions.Thecase is made from ABS plastics which may become brown with time. This may bereversed by using the public-domain chemical mix "Retr0bright", though without a clearcoat to block oxygen, the brown colouring will return.
Payment
Payment via PayPal is expected within 2-days after the winning bid.We only accept bids from US bidders with confirmed PayPal addresses and only accept PayPal as the form of payment.Returns
Items sold as New, Tested and/or Working may be returned within 30 days of receiving if you are not satisfied with your purchase. Restocking fee may apply. Buyer is responsible for return shipping costs.
Please review all photos carefully as they are part of the description per eBay policy.Shipping
ARG-Tech directly only ships to the United States. All international shipments are processed through eBay's Global Shipping Program.
We take pride in packing items carefully to ensure safe arrival. We ship promptly, usually same or next day after PayPal confirmation.
If you have any special requirements or questions regarding shipping, please contact us before buying.
Our business hours are Monday – Friday 7AM-4:30PM EST
Thanks for viewing!
Please check out our other items!
