Amiga 1200

"A1200 -The AGA Graphics Powerhouse"

Released in October 1992, the Amiga 1200 was sold for £399 in the UK and $599 in the United States. A1200 was one of the best home micros of all time featuring 24-bit graphics, a 32-bit architecture, and the new 3.0/3.1 operating system. The computer was in production even after Commodore’s demise, until 1996.

The Commodore A1200 was released a few months after the A600. Initially, the system sold well, especially in the UK and Germany. Before Commodore's bankruptcy, about 95,000 systems were sold only in Germany. After Commodore’s bankruptcy in 1994, the A1220 was relaunched in 1995 by Escom. Priced at £399, the new Escom A1200 was almost the same as the Commodore A1200. However, the Escom A1200 came with AmigaOS 3.1 and a modified PC floppy disk drive. The A1200 was finally discontinued in 1996.

A1200 AT A GLANCE

• 68EC020 processor @ 14.28 MH / 32-bit architecture
• GUI and preemptive multitasking
• AGA graphics (24-bit color / 16.8 million colors)
• 4 PCM sound channels (27 kHz)
• 2 MB Chip RAM and up to 256 MB Fast RAM
• 512 KB Kickstart ROM
• 3.0/3.1 Amiga Operating System
• Compatible with old Amigas (OCS & ECS)
• Highly expandable computer (inside and outside)

Colors & Graphic Modes

The A1200 features 24-bit graphics, and more specifically, Commodore's Advanced Graphics Architecture chipset (AGA). This means it offers the same graphics as the CD32 console and the A4000  desktop computer.

• 24-bit (16.8 million colors), up to 256 on-screen colors
• 262,144 on-screen colors in HAM-8 mode
• Resolutions from: 320×200 to 1504x576 overscan (PAL)
• Improved hardware sprites and scrolling compared to OCS/ECS Amigas

A1200 Resolutions:

• 320×200 to 1280×400, 1504x484 overscan (NTSC)
• 320×256 to 1280×512, 1504x576 overscan (PAL)
• 640×480 (VGA)

Sound Capabilities

A1200 offers the same sound chipset as other Amigas.

• 2 stereo channels (4 × 8-bit PCM)
• 28 kHz DMA sampling rate, and up to 57 kHz
• The hardware channels have independent volumes (65 levels)
• Software controllable low-pass audio filter

I/O Ports

• 2 × Mouse/Gamepad 9-pin ports
• RGB monitor output
• Mono video out
• Audio out Left & Right (2 × RCA)
• Standard 25-pin RS-232 serial port
• Centronics parallel port (25-pin)
• External disk drive
• Internal 44-pin ATA interface (for 2.5" internal hard disk)
• Trap-door expansion slot (underneath)
• PCMCIA Type II slot (on the left)

Suitable Monitors

• Commodore monitors (1084, 1942, etc.)
• Other RGB monitors (Philips CM 8833, etc.)
• 15 kHz VGA monitors with an RGB to VGA adapter (monitors such as BenQ) 
• TVs via SCART cable (RGB to SCART cable)
• Modern VGA/HDMI monitors via video upscaling hardware

A1200 Expansions & Upgrades

By adding an 8MB Fast RAM and an SD card hard drive you can use the Amiga WHDload software. WHDload enables access to thousands of Amiga games and apps.

• Internal SD/CF hard disk (44-pin ATA interface)
• 8MB Fast RAM (expansion slot) and a mathematical co-processor (MC68881/ MC68882)
• A wide variety of 68030/68040/68060 accelerators with up to 256 MB memory
• Vampire 1200 V2 (expensive and powerful upgrade)
• Indivision AGA MK3 flicker fixer (improves VGA output)
• Internal Gotek drive replacing the built-in 3.5 disk drive
• PCMCIA flash drive (file transferring from Windows PCs)
• Many other upgrades, as A1200 is a highly upgradable home computer

■ Amiga 1200

G.P. for Binaryvalue.com (c)