Amiga 1500
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Amiga 1500 (A1500)
“The A1500 was our answer to the UK market’s need for a more affordable, yet still expandable Amiga. By taking the A2000’s design and making it more accessible to UK customers, we were able to offer a compelling alternative to the A500 for users who needed more than what the 500 could offer but didn’t require all the expansion of the full 2000. The inclusion of Workbench 1.3 and the enhanced Kickstart made it a great value proposition.” - Dave Haynie, Commodore Engineer
The Amiga 1500 (A1500) was a variant of the Amiga 2000 computer, released exclusively in the United Kingdom in 1990. It was essentially a repackaged Amiga 2000 with a different case design and a lower price point, aimed at the UK home and small business market. The A1500 came with 1 MB of RAM (expandable to 9 MB), Workbench 1.3, and the enhanced Kickstart 1.3 ROM. It was positioned between the popular Amiga 500 and the more expensive Amiga 2000, offering expandability at a more accessible price point for UK consumers.
The UK’s Amiga 2000
The A1500 was Commodore UK’s answer to the demand for a more affordable, yet still expandable Amiga system. It maintained most of the A2000’s capabilities while reducing costs through a simpler case design and targeted specifications.
Key Features
- Motorola 68000 CPU: 7.14 MHz (PAL)
- AmigaOS 1.3: With enhanced Kickstart 1.3
- 1 MB RAM: Expandable to 9 MB
- Expansion Slots: 5× Zorro II, 1× video, 1× CPU
- Dual Floppy Drives: 3.5” (880 KB each)
- UK Keyboard Layout: With £ symbol
Technical Specifications
Technical Specifications
- CPU
- Motorola 68000 @ 7.14 MHz (PAL)
- Memory
- 1 MB Chip RAM (expandable to 9 MB), 256 KB ROM (Kickstart 1.3)
- Graphics
- OCS - 320×200 to 1280×512, 32 colors (from 4,096)
- Sound
- Paula - 4× 8-bit PCM channels, 28 kHz stereo
- Storage
- 2× 3.5" DD floppy drives (880 KB each), optional hard drive
- Ports
- Serial, parallel, 2× mouse/joystick, audio in/out, video out, floppy, expansion
- Operating System
- AmigaOS 1.3 (Kickstart 1.3/Workbench 1.3)
Design and Features
Case Design
- Form Factor: Desktop
- **Dimensions”: 48 × 42 × 15 cm (18.9 × 16.5 × 5.9 in)
- “Weight”: 10.5 kg (23.1 lb)
- “Drive Bays”: 2× external 3.5", 2× internal 5.25"
- “Expansion Slots”: 5× Zorro II, 1× video, 1× CPU
Keyboard and Input
- **Keyboard”: UK 102-key layout
- “Mouse”: Standard Amiga mouse
- “Joystick Ports”: 2× DE-9
Storage
- **Floppy Drives”: 2× 3.5" DD (880 KB)
- “Hard Drive”: Optional SCSI or IDE
- “Tape Backup”: Optional external
The A1500 Experience
For Home Users
- **Gaming”: Thousands of titles
- “Multimedia”: Graphics and sound
- “Education”: Learning software
- “Programming”: BASIC, AMOS, C
For Business
- **DTP”: PageStream, Professional Page
- “Graphics”: Deluxe Paint, Photon Paint
- “Audio”: SoundTracker, ProTracker
- “Video”: Video Toaster (with expansion)
For Developers
- **SDK”: Amiga Developer CD
- “Languages”: C, Pascal, Modula-2
- “Assembly”: 68000 development
- “Cross-Development”: From other platforms
Technical Deep Dive
CPU and Memory
- **68000 Processor”: 7.14 MHz (PAL)
- “Chip RAM”: 1 MB (upgradeable to 2 MB)
- “Fast RAM”: Up to 8 MB via expansion
- “ROM”: 256 KB (Kickstart 1.3)
- “DMA”: Direct Memory Access
Graphics System
- **Chipset”: Original Chip Set (OCS)
- “Resolutions”:
- 320×200 to 1280×512 (interlaced)
- 640×400 to 1280×512 (productivity)
- “Colors”:
- 32 on screen (from 4,096 palette)
- 4,096 colors (HAM mode)
- “Copper”: Programmable video controller
- “Blitter”: Fast graphics operations
Audio System
- **Paula Chip”: 4× 8-bit PCM channels
- “Sample Rate”: Up to 28 kHz
- “Stereo Output”: 2× RCA phono
- “Input”: Stereo audio in
- “Filtering”: Programmable audio filters
The A1500 Legacy
Commercial Performance
- **Release”: 1990 (UK only)
- **Discontinuation”: 1991
- **Price”: £1,299 (without monitor)
- “Markets”: United Kingdom
Why It Was Special
- **UK Market Focus”: Localized for UK
- “Value Proposition”: More affordable than A2000
- “Expandability”: More than A500
- “Dual Floppies”: Convenient for productivity
Collector’s Item
- **Rarity”: Rare outside UK
- **Price Range”: $300-$1,500
- **Sought-After Items”:
- Boxed systems
- Original monitors
- Expansion cards
- Software collections
Notable Software
Productivity
- **WordPerfect”: Word processing
- **Professional Page”: DTP
- **Deluxe Paint IV”: Graphics
- **Final Copy”: Word processing
Games
- **Lemmings”: Puzzle
- “The Secret of Monkey Island”: Adventure
- “Speedball 2”: Sports
- “SWIV”: Shoot ‘em up
Demos
- **State of the Art”: By Spaceballs
- “Nine Fingers”: By Level 16
- “Hardwired”: By Crionics & The Silents
Technical Notes for Enthusiasts
Common Issues
- **Battery Leakage”: Damages motherboard
- “Capacitors”: May need replacement
- “Floppy Drives”: Alignment issues
- “Power Supply”: Aging components
Restoration Tips
- **Recap Motherboard”: Replace capacitors
- “Clean Drive Heads”: For better reliability
- “Battery Removal”: Prevent leakage
- “Case Restoration”: Clean and retrobrite
Modern Upgrades
- **CPU Accelerators”: 68020/68030 upgrades
- “Memory”: SIMM to DIMM adapters
- “Storage”: SCSI to SD/CF adapters
- “Graphics”: RTG cards
- “Networking”: Ethernet cards
The A1500 Today
Emulation
- **WinUAE”: Most accurate emulation
- “FS-UAE”: Cross-platform
- “Amiga Forever”: Commercial package
Community
- **Forums”: Amiga.org, English Amiga Board
- “User Groups”: Local meetups
- “Preservation”: Hardware and software
Uses
- **Retro Computing”: Classic experience
- “Demoscene”: Creative productions
- “Collecting”: Vintage hardware
- “Preservation”: System documentation
Did You Know?
- The A1500 was only sold in the UK
- It was essentially an A2000 in a different case
- Some units were upgraded to A2000 spec
- The A1500 was replaced by the A2000 in the UK
- It’s one of the rarer Amiga models
The A1500 in Popular Culture
- Featured in UK computer magazines
- Appears in British TV shows from the early 1990s
- The subject of YouTube restoration videos
- Mentioned in books about Amiga history