Trying to decide between buying an X5000 and an A1222+

My main application would be MIDI but the quote I'm getting for an X5000 is well over 3000 Euros whereas the A1222+ is advertised for half that.

I'm not a gamer, so I don't need a high-speed Amiga. What does the X5000 have that the A1222+ doesn't that I might need?

However, I'm told that the A1222+ doesn't support MIDI

Anyone have an experience to share?

@mdcatdad

I don’t see why it can’t support MIDI, can’t it be connected using USB, perhaps rs232,
if rs232 you can use a adapter.

(you can't buy anthing that needs a windows driver)

Even if you not a gamer, 3d developer or anything of that sort: x5000 with no doubts. And the main issue even not about slower cpu, but an incompatibly fpu, causing making an emulator in the kernel, which in some, not that rare cases, at best slow things down, and at worse simple crashes. With x5000 -everything- will runs, while with a1222 many apps will works, but some will uber slow, some will crash. A good example are amigaamp on a12222 - taken up so much cpu, that this made me cry. Yes, if special version for a12222 will be done, it will be ok, but.. there no guaranties that developers who still here will ever create a1222 build of their apps, taking aside old apps out of question if they refuse to work or slow like hell. Even some MIDI app can give you bad surprises on a1222 if usage of incompatible fpu will be involved.

X5000 cost more, but its faster amigang ever, and have no such problems

@LiveForIt

By "it" did you mean the A1222+

On this subject I was told this about it by AmigaKit.fr:


- [the X5000 has] A better sound card Audigy FX, compatible with USB midi interface and CAMD.library instead of the integrated sound chipset on the A1222 motherboard (not compatible with CAMD.library for Midi usage for the moment),

Yeah, I'd recommend getting an X5000 if you can afford it.

Counterpoint - get a new SAM instead of the A1222+.

X5000 for sure. MIDI will also benefit from faster speed. Additionally if you need to encode or decode mpeg streams, the speed will come very handy.

Please note with target midi
if you require rs232 the system to go
for (if you can get it anywhere) would
be x1000. The rs232 versions of camd
all only support x1000, not x5000 or a1222.

If you can use usb for the midi hardware you
have then x5000 will be fine too.

As to a1222 in this regards principially with
Usb should be fine too but you should get
verification that the midi software actually runs on
A1222 (the problems kas mentioned).

@mdcatdad

There is a driver for USB MIDI devices here.

I've never used it myself, so I can't tell you if it does or doesn't work on the A1222 (or any other machine, for that matter).

Hans

@kas1e

Спасибо большое за Ваше суждение

Gary (ex-ATO Russian section)

@mdcatdad

And why not a Sam460 which doesn't have the problem of the A1222 and remains less expensive than the X5000?

@mdcatdad

I have both and I use both daily. If you can afford it the X5000 is the better choice in terms of performance, but the downside is the size. My X5000 almost never moves off of my desk, but the A1222 travels with me quite nicely.

For most things the A1222 is perfectly sufficient, but I'm not a "gamer" and don't tend to play 3D games often, which is really where the A1222 has a noticeable weakness. But for video playback, audio streaming, email, spreadsheet work, use of Digital Universe, and the other tasks I do mostly, the A1222 works well for me.

Where I prefer the X5000 is for games and web browsing, but in truth, as time goes on and our web browsers continue to stagnate, the latter gets less useful over time. And it doesn't have the issues with FPU emulation, so I don't have to consult lists of what works well and what doesn't (http://eliyahu.org/tabor/).

The A1222 is a fine choice, as is a SAM460, and if you want something small, go for it. The X5000 is no doubt a better system; it comes down to cost vs benefit for you personally.

-- eliyahu

@sinisrus

SAM 460 seems to be just a motherboard.

I want a turnkey system.

@mdcatdad

Full SAM460 system:
https://www.amedia-computer.com/en/acc ... ration-slim-sam460le.html

@emeck

€20 cheaper and with better specifications.

https://amigastore.eu/en/981-sam-460le ... ured-complete-system.html

@Rob

Not sure it has better specifications Sam460 has only DDR2 memory, it also has a cache coherence problem, this causes a performance problem, something A1222 does not have.

the Sam460 issue is perhaps not as critical, but A1222 issue can be overcome, I find hard to say what system is better or worse.

My biggest problem with A1222, is not the hardware, in the sense its not faulty, its different.
the hardware specifications is not that bad, if you do not consider compatibility.

The difference is the problem, developers must spend time making special version of their software for it, wasting time, they can be using on other things.
And I’m sure users of system will find it a bit annoying, seeing one program running really well, while another being really slow.

Sam460 problem will never improve, you never get DDR3 in software update, or the cache coherence problem fixed, but the A1222 problems will grandly improve as software is released.

@Rob

Thanks for the link. I'm considering it.

@eliyahu

I just realized that neither AmigaStore.eu, AmigaKit.fr, or Alinea mention anything about warranty, especially warranty service. If someone goes wrong, do I have to ship the entire computer back to Europe?

Current owners: what does your documentation say on this subject?

@mdcatdad
EU guarantee is 2 years minimum at no cost for the customer, which includes that the seller has to pay shipping costs in case you have to return the computer for repair, replacement or refund.
Check https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/ ... tees-returns/index_en.htm

@mdcatdad

I haven't tested Midi on the A1222 myself and I'm not sure if it works.

For me, gaming with the A1222 is not a top priority and I didn't buy this machine for that, of course I also play smaller games in between to pass the boredom, most SDL1/SDL2 games work very well.

The x5000 is a very good and fast machine, but as you have already recognized, this system is very expensive to run Doom3 with not even 30FPS, it just doesn't make sense. Of course it should be a bit faster than other machines, so if you want the non plus ultra you should go for the x5000.

As some have already reported, the Sam460 is good, but uses really very old hardware components (DDR2) and there are also some hardware problems. The x1000 is unfortunately no longer available and would have been the perfect solution for them.

So I opted for the A1222 which is relatively small (ITX) and doesn't take up too much space, plus the system is very quiet, similar to my MacStudio. The Tabor is best suited for the old daily things with AmigaOs4.1. As already mentioned, most of the stuff works well up to se, but there are also the first optimized applications that use the SPE (Signal Processing Engine) directly and I find it really impressive how things can run optimized.

If you decide on the A1222 you can find some example videos on my YouTube channel, here I only show the use of this system including SPE optimized software/games.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUTJOGYJxS1Ggx4foQTklXw

@joerg

Thank you Joerg! Not being in the EU I didn't know
any of that, although I suspected there existed
EU-wide consumer protections.

Regards
Gary