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intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Sat Feb 27, 2016 2:46 pm

Got an old and aging Amiga 1200 with a jaundiced, yellow case and keys? You’re not alone - since the final Amiga was manufactured nearly 20 years ago, all of these machines have grown to become technological antiques.

While the community has grown a bit older and smaller, the machines, too, have slowly dwindled in stock. A blown motherboard here, and few broken off keys there.

In September of 2015, a Kickstarter was launched to offer new cases to the Amiga faithful by Phillippe Lang. The goal was to create new A1200 cases with an estimated delivery date of March, 2016 (right around the corner!). These cases, with Amiga, Inc.’s blessing, are to be built from brand new molds, and feature several enhancements (see the Kickstarter description for complete details).

To be clear, the Kickstart campaign met its financial goals and has already ended. However, you can still pre-order your own new case from AMIGAstore.eu for about 80 Euros.

There are 12 different color options to choose from, if you want something to really visually grab some attention on your desk.

In terms of the internals, there are several options there, to. You can use your own machine’s guts and keyboard as it is “100% compatible with all Amiga motherboards revisions.”

In addition, the case:
  • [is] Raspberry Pi Ready – All models with mounting holes (From A to Pi 2 B)
  • [is] Mist FPGA Board Ready
  • also supports the Keyrah /V2 interface board, so the original Amiga 1200 keyboard can be used in the Pi and MiST boards.
Or, if you’re patient, some time later this year, the case will be:
  • 100% Compatible with Individual Computers new Reloaded Amiga 1200 motherboards which is going to be available in 2016.
This board has a lot of interesting enhancements, but to be sure whoever goes this route will need to be in the mood to do a bit of hobbyist work to get the entire system in place. Ideally a pre-existing A1200 and it’s parts would be removed and reinstalled in the new case. Assuming you still have one.

I personally don’t need one - my current A1200 is already brand new. But that dark gray case with LED readout is definitely intriguing.





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