Standard Specifications
NOTE: The specifications here are specific to the A500 and do not necessarily apply to the A500+
| Case Type: |
Computer in a keyboard |
| Processor: |
68000@7.14Mhz |
| MMU: |
None |
| FPU: |
None |
| Chipset: |
OCS (more common) or ECS |
| Kickstarts: |
V1.2 (Single 40pin DIL)
V1.3 (Single 40pin DIL) |
| Expansion Slots: |
1 x 86pin Side Expansion slot
1 x 56pin Trapdoor Slot |
| Standard CHIP RAM: |
512K |
| RAM sockets: |
None |
| Hard Drive Controllers: |
None |
| Drive Bays: |
1 x Custom Floppy Drive Bay |
| Expansion Ports: |
1 x 25pin Serial
1 x 25pin Parallel
1 x 23pin RGB Video
1 x 23pin External Floppy
2 x 9pin Joystick/Mouse
2 x RCA Audio (Left/Right) |
| Floppy Drive: |
1 x Internal 880K Floppy Drive |
| Motherboard Revisions: |
Rev 3.x (Very buggy, avoid if possible)
Rev 5.x (8370 Agnus (NTSC), 8371 Agnus (PAL))
Rev 6A (8372A Agnus)
Rev 6.x (8372A Agnus)
Rev 8
For later revisions, see the A500+ |
| Battery Backed Up Clock: |
No |
The A500 was one of the most popular Amiga models ever made, partly because it was extremely cheap in comparison to the big box models and partly because it was targetted almost exclusively at gamers. Although the A500+ looks almost identical to the A500, there are considerable differences between the two models. The A500 was usually supplied with the A520 to allow it to be connected directly to a standard television. The A500 was supplied with 512K of CHIP RAM by default. Earlier revisions of the A500 could only address 512K of CHIP but later revisions containing the 8372 Agnus could address 1MB (but were still supplied with 512K). Early versions of the A500 had a red power LED and a green floppy drive LED, whenever the audio filters were activated the power LED would switch off. This was later changed to a green power LED and amber floppy LED and again the power LED would be switched off whenever the audio filters were activated. In hind-sight this was probably not considered a sensible indication of the audio filters because the machine could appear to be switched off, even though it wasn't, so Commodore finally changed it so that the power LED was only dimmed when the audio filters were activated and this remained with the A500+. Later A500's may use the same motherboard revisions that the A500+ used, including the ECS chipset. This was probably during a transition period when moving from the standard A500 to the standard A500+. Commodore often used 'old stock' to save money. Apparently you can spot Rev 8/ECS based A500s my checking the logo near the LEDs. If it's an A500 logo instead of a commodore logo, then it's a newer A500.