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Part 2.1 - The Hardware
My Sam460ex had arrived! Naturally I was just itching to get home from work that day and, of course, I had to work the late shift so that meant I wouldn’t be able to get my grubby hands on the thing until about 7:00pm. As soon as I got through the door, I grabbed my camera. I had been thinking about it all day; I was going to photograph the “unboxing”. Okay, personally, I think “unboxings” are a little ridiculous but this is an Amiga (or at least a kind of Amiga) so it’d be cool…… well, maybe not, but I did it anyway. So, whether you like it or not, here’s the “unboxing”.
The package appeared to arrive in relatively good shape. It wasn’t very pretty looking but looked well padded. Slowly I began to peel away the layers, being sure to carefully document the process for future generations. And those future generations were delighted to get their fingers on all that bubble-wrap. $1500 well spent.
Beneath that bubble-wrap I found a small package that read, “Please Open!”
I squealed with glee… er, that was my child who squealed while playing with the bubble-wrap, yah, that’s right, and then I quickly tore open the package. To find…
Okay, I have to admit, I was a little disappointed. This was obviously the 2GB SD card with AmigaOS 4.1 installed, but what I was expecting was this:
See the difference? That’s the image of the SD card that’s displayed on AmigaKit’s website. If I’d known I was getting a plain SD card, I wouldn’t have bothered. I have plenty of spare SD cards lying around home that I could have copied the Sam’s System partition onto. The nice AmigaOS 4.1 label on the SD card, that’s what I really wanted. I probably would have stuck a clear SD card case to the front of the computer so I could keep the AmigaOS SD handy for emergency boot while showing it off at the same time. Now I’ll keep it in the AmigaOS 4.1 box and hope I don’t get it mixed up with another card. Oh well, it was only $10, but I was disappointed none-the-less.
(UPDATE: AmigaKit have informed that they will be sending me an AmigaOS4.1 label for the SD card! Great service AmigaKit!!! I'm looking forward to receiving it.)
Next came the smaller box on the top. This is the SAM460ex motherboard box and inside this was the SAM460ex motherboard manual, the AmigaOS 4.1 box, and my new Micromys V3 PS/2 Mouse Adaptor. I was very pleased that AmigaKit included the SAM’s box; I like having the original boxes to my Amiga items. The AmigaOS 4.1 box is a little flimsy for my liking. It could have used a thin cardboard insert to make it more durable but, honestly, I’m just being picky. Overall, it’s a fairly typical software box. Inside the AmigaOS 4.1 box was the AmigaOS 4.1 Quickstart Guide and Installation Guide and the AmigaOS 4.1 CD. The CD is definitely professional quality, not just a CDR burned in someone’s basement with a sticker slapped on. The CD comes in a plain, thin jewel case; while better than a paper sleeve, I’d rather it be in a labeled jewel case so I could stick it on display in my CD rack right next to my AmigaOS 3.9 CD.
The Guides, on the other hand, are fantastic. They’re made of high quality, glossy paper and are printed very well. The booklets are a nice size to handle; the font is not too small and easy to read; the layout and colors are nice; and they make good use of full-color window snapshots. The Installation Guide is 23 pages long and walks you through the full installation. I can’t say too much about this booklet as I didn’t need it since the installation was all done for me by AmigaKit but what I did skim over seems quite well done. Not only does it walk you through the steps, it also tries to briefly explain the concepts involved. It was also nice to see that the Installation Guide included was specifically made for the Sam460ex.
The Quickstart Guide is 30 pages (but the last two pages are for notes) and begins with a brief overview of Amiga history. The next couple of pages list off some of AmigaOS 4.1’s new features while the section after reviews old features of Amiga OS. Veteran Amiga users won’t find much they don’t already know in this section. I do find it funny that in the “Prefs” section, they mention obvious things like “’Screenmode’ is used to setup your preferred screen resolution” but neglects to explain the cryptically named “AHI” or “Picasso96Mode”. Finally, the remainder, and bulk, of the booklet is mainly a list of various 3rd party software, websites, and magazines.
--- NOTE: Apparently there is a 10 image limit on messages. I'll have to split Part 2 into three sub-parts. Sorry. ---
My Sam460ex had arrived! Naturally I was just itching to get home from work that day and, of course, I had to work the late shift so that meant I wouldn’t be able to get my grubby hands on the thing until about 7:00pm. As soon as I got through the door, I grabbed my camera. I had been thinking about it all day; I was going to photograph the “unboxing”. Okay, personally, I think “unboxings” are a little ridiculous but this is an Amiga (or at least a kind of Amiga) so it’d be cool…… well, maybe not, but I did it anyway. So, whether you like it or not, here’s the “unboxing”.
The package appeared to arrive in relatively good shape. It wasn’t very pretty looking but looked well padded. Slowly I began to peel away the layers, being sure to carefully document the process for future generations. And those future generations were delighted to get their fingers on all that bubble-wrap. $1500 well spent.
Beneath that bubble-wrap I found a small package that read, “Please Open!”
I squealed with glee… er, that was my child who squealed while playing with the bubble-wrap, yah, that’s right, and then I quickly tore open the package. To find…
Okay, I have to admit, I was a little disappointed. This was obviously the 2GB SD card with AmigaOS 4.1 installed, but what I was expecting was this:
See the difference? That’s the image of the SD card that’s displayed on AmigaKit’s website. If I’d known I was getting a plain SD card, I wouldn’t have bothered. I have plenty of spare SD cards lying around home that I could have copied the Sam’s System partition onto. The nice AmigaOS 4.1 label on the SD card, that’s what I really wanted. I probably would have stuck a clear SD card case to the front of the computer so I could keep the AmigaOS SD handy for emergency boot while showing it off at the same time. Now I’ll keep it in the AmigaOS 4.1 box and hope I don’t get it mixed up with another card. Oh well, it was only $10, but I was disappointed none-the-less.
(UPDATE: AmigaKit have informed that they will be sending me an AmigaOS4.1 label for the SD card! Great service AmigaKit!!! I'm looking forward to receiving it.)
Next came the smaller box on the top. This is the SAM460ex motherboard box and inside this was the SAM460ex motherboard manual, the AmigaOS 4.1 box, and my new Micromys V3 PS/2 Mouse Adaptor. I was very pleased that AmigaKit included the SAM’s box; I like having the original boxes to my Amiga items. The AmigaOS 4.1 box is a little flimsy for my liking. It could have used a thin cardboard insert to make it more durable but, honestly, I’m just being picky. Overall, it’s a fairly typical software box. Inside the AmigaOS 4.1 box was the AmigaOS 4.1 Quickstart Guide and Installation Guide and the AmigaOS 4.1 CD. The CD is definitely professional quality, not just a CDR burned in someone’s basement with a sticker slapped on. The CD comes in a plain, thin jewel case; while better than a paper sleeve, I’d rather it be in a labeled jewel case so I could stick it on display in my CD rack right next to my AmigaOS 3.9 CD.
The Guides, on the other hand, are fantastic. They’re made of high quality, glossy paper and are printed very well. The booklets are a nice size to handle; the font is not too small and easy to read; the layout and colors are nice; and they make good use of full-color window snapshots. The Installation Guide is 23 pages long and walks you through the full installation. I can’t say too much about this booklet as I didn’t need it since the installation was all done for me by AmigaKit but what I did skim over seems quite well done. Not only does it walk you through the steps, it also tries to briefly explain the concepts involved. It was also nice to see that the Installation Guide included was specifically made for the Sam460ex.
The Quickstart Guide is 30 pages (but the last two pages are for notes) and begins with a brief overview of Amiga history. The next couple of pages list off some of AmigaOS 4.1’s new features while the section after reviews old features of Amiga OS. Veteran Amiga users won’t find much they don’t already know in this section. I do find it funny that in the “Prefs” section, they mention obvious things like “’Screenmode’ is used to setup your preferred screen resolution” but neglects to explain the cryptically named “AHI” or “Picasso96Mode”. Finally, the remainder, and bulk, of the booklet is mainly a list of various 3rd party software, websites, and magazines.
--- NOTE: Apparently there is a 10 image limit on messages. I'll have to split Part 2 into three sub-parts. Sorry. ---
Total Comments 1
Comments
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Awesome read, thank you so much for posting all of this!
BTW: the fact that OS4.1 comes with as nice as documentation as this is quite surprising in this day and age. I'd expect much shottier packaging and would assume there are tons of explanations and details left out - such as the AHI and Picasso96mode examples you gave. I wonder how the online or built-in help documentation is.Posted 04-11-2011 at 10:32 AM by save2600 
