website/content/museum/commodore-amiga-1200.md

title, categories, types, origins, years, cpus, params

title	categories	types	origins	years	cpus	params
Commodore Amiga 1200	Computers	Home Computer	U.S.A.	1992	Motorola MC68EC020	name image company company_name specs tabs forum_thread photos hardware connectors emulators links videos related oc_id source Amiga 1200 /media/museum/photos/commodore_amiga1200_system_1.jpg /companies/commodore Commodore label value NAME Amiga 1200 label value MANUFACTURER Commodore label value TYPE Home Computer label value ORIGIN U.S.A. label value YEAR October 1992 label value END OF PRODUCTION 1996 label value KEYBOARD built-in keyboard, 96 keys label value CPU Motorola MC68EC020 + MC68881 FPU label value SPEED 14.18758 MHz (PAL)\ 14.31818 MHz (NTSC) label value CO-PROCESSOR AGA based chipset: 8374 Alice (memory controller and blitter), 4203 Lisa (video control chip), 8364 Paula (sound & I/O), Gayle (I/O, IDE interface), 391425 Budgie (bus controller) label value RAM 2 MB Chip RAM, expandable to 10 MB max (2 MB Chip RAM + 8 MB Fast Ram) label value ROM Kickstart 3.1: 512 KB label value GRAPHIC MODES 320x200 to 1280x512 max label value COLORS Palette: 16.7 million\ On screen: 256 in normal modes, 262144 in HAM-8 label value SOUND 4 channel 8 bit PCM, stereo output label value SIZE / WEIGHT 9.5" deep × 18.5" wide × 3" high / 8 lbs\ 25cm deep x 49cm wide x 7cm high / 3.1 Kg label value I/O PORTS RS-232 serial port, Centronics parallel port, external disk interface, 150 pin local expansion port, Clockport, 2x RCA audio, PCMCIA/JEIDA card interface, IDE hard drive interface, composite video out, RF out, 2x Atari joystick/mouse ports label value BUILT IN MEDIA 3.5'' floppy disk drive label value OS Workbench 3.1 label value POWER SUPPLY External 23 watts PSU, 220-240V/50Hz (PAL), 110 volt/60Hz (NTSC) label value PRICE £399 (UK, 1992)\ £329 (UK, 1995) photos hardware connectors emulators links videos 615 title subtitle text image LEFT SIDE Note the PCMCIA cards slot /media/museum/photos/commodore_amiga1200_leftside_1.jpg title subtitle text image RIGHT SIDE /media/museum/photos/commodore_amiga1200_rightside_1.jpg title subtitle text image KEYBOARD CLOSE-UP #1 /media/museum/photos/commodore_amiga1200_keyboard_1.jpg title subtitle text image KEYBOARD CLOSE-UP #2 /media/museum/photos/commodore_amiga1200_keyboard_2.jpg title subtitle text image REAR CONNECTORS **(1)** Expansions trap door\ **(2)** Mouse or Joystick-1 DB9 connector\ **(3)** Joystick-2 DB9 connector\ **(4)** External disk drive DB23 connector\ **(5)** Serial DB25 connector\ **(6)** Parallel DB 25 connector\ **(7)** Stereo sound output RCA plugs\ **(8)** RGB video output DB23 connector\ **(9)** Composite video output RCA plug\ **(10)** RF/TV modulator output\ **(11)** External power supply unit plug /media/museum/photos/commodore_amiga1200_back_1.jpg title subtitle text image INSIDE A1200 **(1)** A metallic shield prevents magnetic field from being emitted by the computer\ **(2)** 170 MB 2.5" hard disk drive\ **(3)** 512 KB ROM chips holding Kickstart 3.0\ **(4)** 68030 accelerator card\ **(5)** 3.5" internal floppy disc drive /media/museum/photos/commodore_amiga1200_inside_1.jpg title subtitle text image A1200 MOTHERBOARD /media/museum/photos/commodore_amiga1200_motherboard_1.jpg title subtitle text image MOTHERBOARD CLOSE-UP Hard disk connector area.\ All the passive components are miniaturized versions\ The Sony chip is a video RGB encoder /media/museum/photos/commodore_amiga1200_mboardcloseup_1.jpg title subtitle text image LAPTOP PROTOTYPE One of the numerous attempts in designing a portable version of the Amiga system. Same design was applied to the Amiga 600 version. Thanks to **Moshe Elmashali** /media/museum/photos/commodore_amiga1200_laptopproto_1.jpg title subtitle text image 3.5" HDD 3 1/2" drives did also fit into an A1200 case.\ **Steve Green** who sent us this photo specifies:\ The harddrive is a 3 1/2" 1.6 GB Samsung drive. It is attached to the main board via a 3 1/2 inch vide cable connected to a 2 1/2 inch ide cable via a convertor. /media/museum/photos/commodore_amiga1200_fdd35_s1.jpg title subtitle text image GVP ACCELERATOR CARD This card is connected to the internal expansion connector of the Amiga 1200. It features: - A Motorola 50 Mhz 68030 microprocessor\ - Up to 16 MB of additional RAM\ - An internal clock with battery back-up\ - A fast SCSI port /media/museum/hardware/commodore_amiga1200_68030board_1.jpg title subtitle text image VIPER ACCELERATOR CARD **Steve Green** who sent us this photo says:\ The Viper card is an 68030 expansion card. This particular model was a 28mhz 68030 with FPU. Also added was a 16 MB dimm (which I bought from the states for 115 dollars in early 96!). Together these quadrupled the speed of a standard A1200. You could also get a 50 mhz 030 card, but this was one of the earliest. /media/museum/hardware/commodore_amiga1200_vipercard_s1.jpg title subtitle text image MIDI GOLD 500 by Golden Hawk Technology This is a MIDI interface for the Amiga 500, 2000, or 3000... It features :\ - one MIDI In\ - two MIDI Out\ - one switchable Out/Thru\ - one MIDI/Serial Switch\ - one Out/Thru Switch /media/museum/hardware/commodore_amiga_golden-hawk-midi-interface.jpg title subtitle text image AMIGA 1300 Genlock /media/museum/hardware/commodore_amiga1000_1300-genlock.jpg title subtitle text image MEMORY EXPANSION BOARD 2 / 4 / 6 / 8 MB expansion card here fitted with 2 MB. /media/museum/hardware/commodore_amiga1500_memboard_1.jpg title subtitle text image VIDEO BOARD This board featured 2 MB of RAM and allowed the Amiga to be connected to a standard VGA monitor. All the video modes could be displayed, including the interlace one. /media/museum/hardware/commodore_amiga1500_videoboard_1.jpg title subtitle text image A570 CD-ROM Thanks to David Griffith for this picture /media/museum/hardware/amiga_cdrom_a570_1.jpg title subtitle text image HARD DISK CARD 40 MB SCSI card from SUPRA CORP. Additional SCSI devices could be connected in chain trough the back connector /media/museum/hardware/commodore_amiga1500_hdboard_1.jpg title subtitle text image PARALLEL PORT CONNECTOR 25 pin D-SUB female 1 - /STROBE OUT : Strobe\ 2 - D0 : Data Bit 0\ 3 - D1 : Data Bit 1\ 4 - D2 : Data Bit 2\ 5 - D3 : Data Bit 3\ 6 - D4 : Data Bit 4\ 7 - D5 : Data Bit 5\ 8 - D6 : Data Bit 6\ 9 - D7 : Data Bit 7\ 10 - /ACK IN : Acknowledge\ 11 - BUSY : Busy\ 12 - POUT : Paper Out\ 13 - SEL : Select (Shared with RS232 RING-indicator)\ 14 - +5V PULLUP OUT : +5 Volts DC (10 mA max)\ 15 - n/c - Not connected.\ 16 - /RESET OUT : Reset\ 17 - GND : Signal Ground\ 18 - GND : Signal Ground\ 19 - GND : Signal Ground\ 20 - GND : Signal Ground\ 21 - GND : Signal Ground\ 22 - GND : Signal Ground\ 23 - GND : Signal Ground\ 24 - GND : Signal Ground\ 25 - GND : Signal Ground /media/museum/connectors/commodore_amiga1200_parallel-db25.jpg title subtitle text image DISK DRIVE PORT CONNECTOR 23 pin D-SUB female (at the Amiga) 1 - /RDY : Disk Ready\ 2 - /DKRD IN : Disk Read Data\ 3 - GND : Ground\ 4 - GND : Ground\ 5 - GND : Ground\ 6 - GND : Ground\ 7 - GND : Ground\ 8 - /MTRXD OC : Disk Motor Control\ 9 - /SEL2 OC : Select Drive 2\ 10 - /DRES OC : Disk Reset\ 11 - /CHNG IN/OUT : Disk Removed From Drive-Latched Low\ 12 - +5V OUT : +5 Volts DC (250 mA max)\ 13 - /SIDE OUT : Select Disk Side (0=Upper, 1=Lower)\ 14 - /WPRO IN/OUT : Disk is Write Protected\ 15 - /TKO IN/OUT : Drive Head position over Track 0\ 16 - /DKWE OC : Disk Write Enable\ 17 - /DKWD OC : Disk Write Data\ 18 - /STEP OC : Step the Head-Pulse, First low, then high\ 19 - DIR OC : Select Head Direction (0=Inner, 1=Outer)\ 20 - /SEL3 OC : Select Drive 3\ 21 - /SEL1 OC : Select Drive 1\ 22 - /INDEX OC : Disk Index Pulse\ 23 - +12V OUT : +12 Volts DC (160 mA max, 540 mA surge /media/museum/connectors/commodore_amiga1200_dd-port.jpg title subtitle text image JOYSTICK / MOUSE PORT 9 pin D-SUB male (at the computer) **MOUSE :**\ 1 - V-Pulse\ 2 - H-Pulse\ 3 - VQ-Pulse\ 4 - HQ-Pulse\ 5 - Button 3(M)\ 6 - Button 1(L)\ 7 - +5v\ 8 - GND\ 9 - Button 2(R) **DIGITAL JOYSTICK :**\ 1 - /FORWARD\ 2 - /BACK\ 3 - /LEFT\ 4 - /RIGHT\ 5 - n/c\ 6 - Button 1\ 7 - +5v\ 8 - GND\ 9 - Button 2 /media/museum/connectors/commodore_amiga1200_db9.jpg title subtitle text image SERIAL I/O PORT CONNECTOR 25 pin D-SUB Male (at the computer) 1 - SHIELD : Shield Ground\ 2 - TXD OUT : Transmit Data\ 3 - RXD IN : Receive Data\ 4 - RTS OUT : Request to Send\ 5 - CTS IN : Clear to Send\ 6 - DSR IN : Data Set Ready\ 7 - GND : System Ground\ 8 - CD IN : Carrier Detect\ 9 - +12V OUT : +12 Volts DC (20 mA max)\ 10 - -12V OUT : -12 Volts DC (20 mA max)\ 11 - AUDO OUT : Amiga Audio Out (Left)\ 12 - n/c : Speed Indicate\ 13 - n/c\ 14 - n/c\ 15 - n/c\ 16 - n/c\ 17 - n/c\ 18 - AUDI IN : Amiga Audio In (Right)\ 19 - n/c\ 20 - DTR OUT : Data Terminal Ready\ 21 - n/c\ 22 - RI IN : Ring Indicator\ 23 - n/c\ 24 - n/c\ 25 - n/c /media/museum/connectors/commodore_amiga1200_serial-connector.jpg title subtitle text image VIDEO PORT 23 pin D-SUB male (at the Amiga) 1 - /XCLK IN : Extern Clock\ 2 - /XCLKEN IN : Extern Clock Enable (47 Ohm)\ 3 - RED OUT : Analog Red (75 Ohm)\ 4 - GREEN OUT : Analog Green (75 Ohm)\ 5 - BLUE OUT : Analog Blue (75 Ohm)\ 6 - DI OUT : Digital Intensity (47 Ohm)\ 7 - DR OUT : Digital Red (47 Ohm)\ 8 - DG OUT : Digital Green (47 Ohm)\ 9 - DB OUT : Digital Blue (47 Ohm)\ 10 - /CSYNC OUT : Composite Sync (47 Ohm)\ 11 - /HSYNC OUT : Horizontal Sync (47 Ohm)\ 12 - /VSYNC OUT : Vertical Sync (47 Ohm)\ 13 - GNDRTN : Digital Ground (for /XCLKEN) Don't connect with pin 16-20.\ 14 - /PIXELSW OUT : Genlock overlay (47 Ohm)\ 15 - /C1 OUT : Clock out (47 Ohm)\ 16 - GND : Video Ground\ 17 - GND : Video Ground\ 18 - GND : Video Ground\ 19 - GND : Video Ground\ 20 - GND : Video Ground\ 21 - -12V OUT : -12 Volts DC (10 mA max) (A500/A600/A1200),\ -5V OUT : -5 Volts DC (10 mA max) (A1000/A2000/A3000/A4000)\ 22 - +12V OUT : +12 Volts DC (100 mA max)\ 23 - +5V OUT : +5 Volts DC (100 mA max) /media/museum/connectors/commodore_amiga1200_videoport.jpg title url platform text Amiga Forever http://www.amigaforever.com/ Windows Complete but commercial Amiga emulator title url platform text AMIthlon & AmigaXL http://amigaosxl.haage-partner.de/index-e.html Windows Powerful commercial emulators title url platform text WinFellow HTTP://FELLOW.SOURCEFORGE.NET Windows Probably better at some games than UAE, but not as versatile. title url platform text WinUAE http://www.winuae.net/ Windows The best Amiga emulator ? :-) title url platform text Max UAE http://maxuae.de/ Apple UAE for Mac OS X title url platform text AmigaSYS http://amigasys.fw.hu/ Unix / Linux AmigaSYS is a pre-installed full Amiga OS for WinUAE title url platform text Pocket UAE http://pocketinsanity.sourceforge.net/ Other platform Amiga Emulator for Pocket PC title url platform text Experimental UAE http://www.rcdrummond.net/uae/ Multiplatform Standard UAE enhanced with features from WinUAE. title url platform text MESS http://www.mess.org Multiplatform MESS now emulates the Commodore Amiga title url platform text UAE http://www.freiburg.linux.de/~uae/ Multiplatform (Ubiquitous Amiga Emulator) for BeOS, Mac OS, Linux, NextStep, MSDOS, OS/2 and Win95/NT : Homepage. title url text Amiga animations http://www.randelshofer.ch/animations/ A collection of Amiga Animations. This is the only site where you can see them online! title url text Amiga Interactive Guide http://amiga.emugaming.com/ Excellent site ! A lot of very interesting infos there. title url text Amiga Island http://www.virtualpast.de/ Excellent site with ROMs to download! title url text Amiga Web Directory http://www.cucug.org/amiga.html title url text AMIGART.COM http://www.amigart.com Nice site with Amiga news title url text Back to the Roots HTTP://WWW.BACK2ROOTS.ORG/ Amiga culture, guides, huge collection of legally downloadable software, and much more. title url text Lex Site - Amiga Hardware Database http://amiga.multigraph.com/ The website title says it all! title url text NetBSD-Amiga http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/amiga/index.html title url text Old Computer Mags http://www.old-computer-mags.com/ Scans of old computer and videogames magazine title url text Recorded Amiga Games http://www.recordedamigagames.org Speedrun, longplay and misc videos of Amiga games and more. title url text RetroPack http://www.retropack.co.uk/ Website dedicated to selling original Amigas, CD32s and Amiga/CD32 Games. title url text The Amiga Monitor http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/MikeWebb/amhome.html title url text The Big Book of Amiga Hardware http://www.amiga-hardware.com/ Pics & info (pinouts, jumpers etc.) for just about every piece of Amiga related hardware there is title url text The English Amiga Board http://eab.abime.net/ Community site for Amiga fans title url text World-Wide Amiga - Online!! http://www.amiga.org/ title url text Web Wiz CAPTCHA http://www.webwizcaptcha.com Reviews of Amiga software, hardware title url text Commodore Amiga commercial - EXIT http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=8721405286052618769&hl=fr Length: 41 s title url text Commodore Amiga 500 commercial http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=5737538578208665725&hl=fr Length: 29 s title url text Commodore Amiga 1000 commercial http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=5356507595228759374&hl=fr Length: 32 s title url text Commodore Amiga 600 italian commercial http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-768109352967297990&hl=fr Length: 19 s title url text Commodore Amiga packs commercial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdaMq8JLyHA Length: 21 s title url text Commodore Amiga TV Ad - Celebrities https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEFoj6sbDjU Length: 29 s title url text Commodore Amiga 500 promotional video http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=9038863557655975739&hl=fr Length: 15 min 06 s title url text Computer Chronicles: Amiga & Atari (1985) http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=8978343825632445107&hl=fr Length: 29 min 18 s /museum/commodore-amiga-1000 /museum/commodore-amiga-1500 /museum/commodore-amiga-2000 /museum/commodore-amiga-2500 /museum/commodore-amiga-3000 /museum/commodore-amiga-4000 /museum/commodore-amiga-500 /museum/commodore-amiga-500-plus /museum/commodore-amiga-600 /museum/commodore-amiga-600hd /museum/commodore-cdtv 628 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230329001433/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=628 2023-03-29

In October 1992 the Amiga 1200 was launched. This machine took the A500 approach to computing with the "distinct" Commodore case, but including the AGA chipset present in the A4000, 2 MB RAM, and the PCMCIA slot from the A600.

At the price of £399 it sold like hot cakes and is seen as one of the best Amigas to date. It appears to have been rushed to launch for the Christmas period with manuals claiming to give you the opportunity to upgrade from 1mb to 2mb chip ram with FPU. It is, however, a darn fine machine that can be easily upgraded for most of your needs.

After Escom bought the Amiga during 1995 it was relaunched to mass outrage. The machine still cost £399, £150 more than it had done a year previously and was not enhanced in any dramatic fashion. It was released in two versions- the Amiga Magic pack and the Amiga Surfer bundle. Unfortunately, the former was never released due to Escoms financial situation. The Escom Amigas were also struck by incompatibility problems due to a different disk drive being used, it was actually a PC high-density drive mechanism that had been altered to allow compatibility with the Amiga file system. Unfortunately, some games that hit the hardware directly would not run. A circuit upgrade was released free of charge that allowed users to fix the drive problem.

Source: Amiga Interactive Guide

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More information from Chris Green:
We got our A1200 in about 1995.It was part of a part exchange deal I think from Escom. You had to bring in an old A500 and then you got the A1200 for £199. I think it was the Magic pack (it had a spaceman on the box). The hard drives you could add were internal 2.5" drives as the 3.5" were too big for the case. You could also add any amount of external floppy drives, we had 2. We had a Reno 2X cd rom which fitted onto an SCSI adapter. You could also have an ATAPI-IDE drive if you threaded the IDE cable out the back of the case.