My new 6128 purchase .. not bad for £10! (*)

[Gryzor]

I wonder how many people went from the CPC to the ST instead of the Amiga. It'd be an interesting research...

[MugUK]

I picked up my Amstrad 6128 TV kit from the sorting office today and it's looking nice on my 19" LCD TV.  Nice .. so long as you like a B & W output only.  Time to look for a spare TV for the Amstrad but at least I can now use it with the original monitor as it was the 12V power to the drive from the monitor that was knackered.

Got another 40-50 original disks to test plus a load more to examine the contents of and see what goodies are on there - but of the few I've tried so far Rick Dangerous is already one of the casualties as is Hard Driving (generic read errors coming up).

So I'm there .. kind of.  I'd say about 95% towards a working set-up after more than a few months of hassles, repairs, lack of spare cash etc

[Ynot.zer0]

I wonder how many people went from the CPC to the ST instead of the Amiga. It'd be an interesting research...

I did...and still have both of them in working condition too.  I never used a C64 or even saw an Amiga during the 80s/90s, I didn't really know about an Amiga until I was given one by an ex-work friend.  I've got it in the loft somewhere, one day I might dig it out and see what the fuss was about?... but maybe not 

[Badstarr]

I too moved straight from the CPC to an Atari ST, I still have the first Atari and an original ST FM, the one without an internal FDD. I bought it years ago and judging by all the dev stuff that came with it, I would say it was originally used by a software developer so may very well have been one of the first around back in the day.

[Carnivius]

I wonder how many people went from the CPC to the ST instead of the Amiga. It'd be an interesting research...

You know all those times where you bought a CPC game and it turned out to be a cheap-looking Spectrum port?  I had that same feeling again when I'd buy an Amiga game and it turned out to be a cheap-looking Atari ST port.  So in that way the CPC and Amiga felt similar to me.  By the time I was wanting to move on from the CPC, the Amiga was the only option.  The ST had already looked and sounded dated for a long time.

[Gryzor]

@Badstarr: I don't think it was an STFM then, probably an ST or a (short-lived) STM. AFAIK all STFMs came with internal drives...


@Carnivac: while games on my friends' Amigas looked better, the ST(e) was far from dated in the late 80s/early 90s. In fact my Amiga friends would come over to my place and play on my ST just as happily (could happen if you weren't a fanboy!).

[Carnivius]

@Carnivac: while games on my friends' Amigas looked better, the ST(e) was far from dated in the late 80s/early 90s. In fact my Amiga friends would come over to my place and play on my ST just as happily (could happen if you weren't a fanboy!).

It certainly was dated for my purposes even compared to the Amiga 500.  The ST wasn't a bad machine but the Amiga just had better graphics (when it wasn't just a quick and identical ST port) and sound/music and support from publishers.  And not just the games either.  The CPC got me into making little graphics and sprites and all that but it was the Amiga's capabilities and Deluxe Paint that really got me hooked.

Did you refer to me as a 'fanboy'?

[Badstarr]

@Gryzor I will have to have a look at the badge on the machine, but I'm fairly certain it says STFM but it has been a while since I even looked at the machine lol! If it does say FM on it I will post a picture.

[Badstarr]

You are quite right Gryzor it does say STM on the back of the machine just ST on the front. I must be thinking of the other ST machine I have. Shame I don't have all the software that originally came with it, it had been stored in a garage and after a break in it was all stolen. I have always wondered what the reaction of the thieves would have been when they discovered that their impressive haul was 17 year old software that they wouldn't have had much luck selling at the time!

[beaker]

My STf has an in built drive.... I was thinking about removing the existing drive and putting my spare HxC in hole after I try fix the slight discolouration issue 

[TotO]

My STf has an in built drive....

It's why it was called STf and not ST. (for floppy)

[beaker]

Do'h! 
You're right; it even says so on the old-computers.com website http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=25. Thanks for letting me know 

[Gryzor]

@Carnivac: no, of course I didn't call you a fanboy, I was talking about my friends -if you read the whole sentence.


@Badstarr: got a few STxx's, but not that one. A shame! Oh, also I gotta find that 4096 STe sticker I had bought from Canada, it's long lost now But yeah, I was thinking about thieves yesterday: I was thinking of renting some storage space and I thought, what if thieves get it? What will they do with all those machines? You never know...


@Beaker: are those photos taken from a 80's soft-porn movie?

[beaker]

@Beaker: are those photos taken from a 80's soft-porn movie?

heh, oh yeah, sorry I didn't realise the lads left the soft focus filter on the camera we're using to make some still shots of the adult film I'm involved with where Georgia Salpa buys this hot tub and is transported back to the 80's. I play the pizza guy with an awsome moustache... 
Next time I'll remember to check - I was just a bit shagged out at the time. 

[Bryce]

Next time!?? Next time who cares about the filter, just make sure I get a part in the movie!!

I've just started growing my handlebar moustache

Bryce.

[MaV]

I've just started growing my handlebar moustache

* MaV reminds himself to grow a mustache ... and possibly even sideburns to give himself an edge during the castings.

[Bryce]

Aaarrrggghhh, I forgot the sideburns! There goes my chances... unless of course I can manage a "Magnum P.I." chest toupé.

Bryce.

[MugUK]

Luckily I have these requirements already ... cue the wah-wah pedal soundtrack ;-)

[arnoldemu]

My STf has an in built drive.... I was thinking about removing the existing drive and putting my spare HxC in hole after I try fix the slight discolouration issue 

I like the ST. A friend had one.

nice keyboard, nice cpu... hardware was ok. yeah you had to work to get it to display what you wanted... maybe that's why I like it more than the amiga.

[woody.cool]

Quite a few CPC owners I know went to the ST, but I went from CPC to Amiga.
Both machines are decent, I preferred the Amiga at the time (and still do to an extent) but there's a few titles that run better on the ST ..... not to mention, the ST seems to be far more reliable than the Amiga (this is based on my own experience of using them, no scientific tests were done)

[TFM]

There are also some points where the CPC is quite superior to Amiga and ST. But I don't want to start a flame war

[endangermice]

Woody I agree with you, as someone who like you went from the CPC to the Amiga - I found that the A500s were very unreliable! I went through four - they kept crashing randomly in Workbench making it an absolute PITA to do any programming. In the end the store (the now defunct Runberlows) exchanged my faulty A500s for an A1200 (that's how long I had the problems for) and I have to say from that point onwards I had no problems whatsoever! In fairness, the power supply to our house in the middle of the countryside wasn't the best and I think the older A500 supplies just couldn't cope with the current/voltage variations. Oddly my CPC never experienced any trouble whatsoever.....

TFS/FS please start a flame war - it will be fun . After all these years, it's the CPC that I keep coming back to, that must mean something!

[TFM]

TFM is enough ;-)
Yes, a nice flame war... that would be something... but I guess Gryzor is pretty alergic to that 

[Gryzor]

@beaker: Two likes for you, one for referencing a great movie (really, I loved it!) and the other for mentioning Georgia who appears to be getting the forum's mascot. Maybe we should do a logo with her. Oh, and invite her to CPCWiki HQ for a formal introduction? Money for her ticket would come out of the Wiki fund, of course, but it's fair and for a good reason.


@There are actually a few really nice pr0n soundtrack collections out there; perfect for summer evening driving and whatnot

[woody.cool]

Woody I agree with you, as someone who like you went from the CPC to the Amiga - I found that the A500s were very unreliable! I went through four - they kept crashing randomly in Workbench making it an absolute PITA to do any programming. In the end the store (the now defunct Runberlows) exchanged my faulty A500s for an A1200 (that's how long I had the problems for) and I have to say from that point onwards I had no problems whatsoever!

I always had two problems with my A500+ from back in the day:

   
• I went through about 4 internal floppy drives in about 3 years
• I also went through as many keyboards: the A500/A500+ keyboard had it's own CPU onboard, and the problem I had was that the onboard CPU would crash - this would cause the Caps Lock light to repeatidly flash on and off - the keyboard would not work (but the rest of the machine was still running) - sometimes this was also caused by the Gary chip onboard dying.

I never had any of these problems with my CPC 6128 (I'm still on the same 6128 I've owned since 1986)
I've never been a fanboi as such, I do prefer the machines that I had when I was younger (CPC, Amiga, PC) but will quite happily play on other machines (Speccy, ST etc.)

Now that I'm an adult (I'll be 30 in September), I can afford to own CPC, Spectrum and C64 - and because of this, I can pick the best version of each of my favourite games.
I now own a few different STs as well as Amigas.

(the now defunct Runberlows)

Now that name is a blast from the past