The Surprising Truth about the Commodore Amiga A570
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- čas přidán 3. 07. 2024
- In March 1991, Commodore took a brave step into the new world of Compact Discs when they released the CDTV which was superseded by the Amiga CD32, released in April 1994.
These are quite well-known devices. What isn't as well known in the Amiga A570. A single-speed external CD-ROM drive for the Amiga 500 computer, launched by Commodore in 1992.
In this video, I look at exactly what the A570 drive was and demo some of the CDTV discs that I have on it.
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Insert CD to drive with cover box :) So crazy times...
Thanks for the comment! It truly was a crazy time, inserting CDs into drives with those cover boxes. The A570 brought a whole new dimension to the Amiga experience.
If you enjoyed this blast from the past, please consider subscribing to my channel, Retro Games Rediscovered, for more retro gaming stories and insights!
Cheers,
RustyIngles
I have seen the original A570 on the shelf in computer store in Poland around 1995 and 1996. Probably never sold.
Nice video, thanks for sharing. I remember seeing the cd ROM drive in my local computer shop back in the day, but wasn't lucky enough to own one for my 500.
Thank you for your comment and I'm glad you enjoyed the video. It was a great piece of kit!
I had a Zappo CD-ROM drive with pcmcia interface on the A1200. It was a bit flaky but unlocked a lot of PD like aminet on CD. I had a ton of fun going through a lot of those files. Some cover CD disks appeared as well but the 650MB capacity was rarely used and content often disappointing. Can't imagine the A500 and a HDD let alone a CD-ROM, they were really expensive. Not that A1200 CD-ROM was cheap though. At least the pcmcia and A600 and A1200 allowed to use both CD-ROM and HDD to be used at the same time.
and it played cd32 games.
Thanks for sharing your experience! The Zappo CD-ROM drive with the PCMCIA interface on your A1200 sounds like it was a lot of fun, despite being a bit flaky. Unlocking access to a treasure trove of public domain files like those on Aminet must have been a great experience. Cover CDs were hit or miss, but the sheer excitement of exploring 650MB of content was part of the adventure.
It's true, adding a HDD or CD-ROM to an A500 was quite an expensive endeavor back in the day. The A1200 and A600, with their PCMCIA interfaces, made it much easier to use both a CD-ROM and an HDD simultaneously, adding a lot of versatility.
If you enjoyed this trip down memory lane, please consider subscribing to my channel, Retro Games Rediscovered, for more retro computing insights and stories!
Cheers,
RustyIngles
I bought A570 at launch and i still have it.
Thanks for watching the video and your comment. What games do you have for it?
@@RetroGamesRediscovered That's a long list and most isn't games. Prey and Raffles is among the few games. Other titles is Complete Shakespeare, Advanced Military Systems, Norwegian exclusive Caplex Encyclopedia, Psygnosis CDTV Demo, CD Remix II, CDPD 1,2,3,4, 17-Bit Collection among others. I also bought around 100 games for CD32.
I had the A600HD, ram expansion, 40MB HDD, great little box!
The A600HD was a great little machine. I remember a friend having one and I loved how Workbench was pre-installed.
Thanks for your comment and watching the video 🙌
The CDTV actually launched at £599 in the UK, they probably realised even £699 was pushing it! Also btw the CD32 came out in Sep 1993 not March 1994. Commodore did plan to release 3 versions of the A570, the one that came out, a cheaper version for A500+ owners that didn’t need to upgrade their KS etc and a A600 model, all three models were kept being pushed back upto until around Aug/Sep 1992, a year after it was originally due out, this was mainly because the CDTV flopped and they had to sell unsold inventory (hence why they rebranded the CDTV with the Amiga name and sold it with a keyboard and Disk Drive). But yes the whole thing was a big shambles from the start with Commodore trying to grab part of the upcoming CDi market, the CDTV2 would have been FMV and Photo CD compatible unlike the first model.
Thanks for your comments. I didn't realise they had planned 3 models. Definitely bad management by Commodore sadly.
Thanks for watching the video. I'm trying to build my channel, would really appreciate a like and subscribe if possible please 🙌
Heard yes, never seen one in action
They're great bits of kit. Sadly they were just badly timed by commodore.
I would like to suggest you get a microphone so that the audio is higher quality and not as "tinny".
Thanks for the suggestion! Improving audio quality is definitely something I'm working on. I have just bought a new microphone, and I'm committed to enhancing the overall experience for my viewers.
Un buon video
Grazie! 🙌
So it's not compatible with amiga cd 32? I wonder if the a4000 is compatible as it is the big daddy so to speak of the amiga line
The hardware device itself wasn't compatible with A4000 or CD32 but the CD32 was/is capable of running most of the titles developed for the Amiga CDTV/A570 multimedia device, but differences in CPU speed and Kickstart version prevent some of the earlier CDTV titles from running. Thanks for watching the video and your comment
what?! no Peter Rabbit story. on CD aaah. well okay.
;)
I just googled that and saw what you mean! I didn't know there was a CDTV version of that. Great idea for young kids!
Thanks for watching the video, I'm trying to build my channel and would really appreciate a like and subscribe if possible please 🙌
@@RetroGamesRediscovered subbed.
Thank you! 🙌
inaudible video, please boost the sound level next time.
Thanks for your feedback, I always have audio problems in my video and it's something I'm working on.
@RetroGamesRediscovered no problem it is a shame to be let down by that. May be readjust sound level on audacity would help ?