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From: dave@cs.arizona.edu (Dave Schaumann)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc
Subject: Re: A500/A1000/A2000/A2500/A3000 differences...
Message-ID: <1489@caslon.cs.arizona.edu>
Date: 4 May 91 00:42:19 GMT
References: <1991May3.205436.20403@rodan.acs.syr.edu>
Organization: U of Arizona CS Dept, Tucson
Lines: 39

In article <1991May3.205436.20403@rodan.acs.syr.edu> dblee@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Dan Lee) writes:
>Hi all,
>
>I am considering buying an Amiga.  But, there are so many kinds of Amigas.

Too true.

>Can anyone tell me the differences/specs of all models of Amiga.
>I am confused about different models, especially within A500/A500P.

Well, the A500's are the lowest-priced models.  I'm not sure what the
differences between the A500 and the A500P are, but I will tell you this:
go for a 2000/3000 unless all you want to do is play games.  Because if you
want to do anything else (programming, graphics/video/desktop publishing/etc)
you're going to want to expand: more memory, a hard disk, maybe a flicker
fixer, and what-not.  And if you have a 500, you're liable to spend more
in the long run than if you invest in a 2000 or 3000.

As for the 1000's, these machines are no longer made new, and have dubious
status in the eyes of Commodore.  Getting parts, upgrading, expanding will
no doubt become increasingly more difficult as the years go by.  For the
True Believer only (IMAO).

>Also, if I get a used Amiga, will it run all softwares?  And will the
>future software support old Amiga?

No, and no.  Specifically, old machines will have varying releases of the
operating system, ranging from 1.1 to 2.0x.  There are plenty of programs
lurking out there that will run under one version that won't under another.
Fortunately, this is usually not a problem, since useful programs are almost
invariably upgraded to work under new releases of the OS.

Also, there are a lot of new goodies in the 2.0 release, and programs released
that take advantage of them.  Naturally, these programs will not work under
previous releases.

-- 
Dave Schaumann      | There is no cause so right that one cannot find a fool
dave@cs.arizona.edu | following it.	- Niven's Law # 16