Wanted: A3000

[craig_read]

Hi,

I appreciate I am not a regular poster on this forum but I would like to purchase an A3000, preferably one in working order that has had the battery issues resolved already.

I’ve looked at a number of options and seen two on sale on eBay.. I’ve also looked a crjmicros too... (if anyone has other suggestions those would be welcome too)..

I was hoping I could purchase from an enthusiast... hence posting here... I have fond memories of the machine (well it was a friends, I never owned one), chocks away, saloon cars, etc... also the nostalgia of the OS itself... I’ve tried emulation but it doesn’t feel the same...

If you are considering selling yours and want to talk, please let me know...

Thanks for reading...

Craig

[craig_read]

Is this anyone on the forum?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Acorn-Archim ... 3352597135

Thanks..

[daveejhitchins]

Looks in good condition . . . it all depends how much you're willing to spend on you A3000? At the moment it's at £100 - so may be worth a punt! A good time to buy, just after Christmas . . .

Keep us informed on you venture and its outcome . . .

Dave H.

[IanJeffray]

Looks in good condition . . . it all depends how much you're willing to spend on you A3000? At the moment it's at £100 - so may be worth a punt!

A3000 in that nick, with 4MB, IDE and ARM3 with FPA socket is going to go for £500 or more (c.f. the other basic A3000 on eBay just now with bids over £300 for some reason).

[craig_read]

That's what I was thinking.. but for an A3000 I think that's probably a good buy.... I guess from an advice perspective... Does everything think this is the right arch for me?

I'm not going to be a super power user... I want authenticity... I don't mind a bit of 'fixer upper' work.. but I'm not super confident when it gets deep technical...

I had looked at the A4000.. but... games on those run very quick... I was wondering if this A3000 with its upgrade might have the same problem... Although this is about wanting an A3000... if anyone has any advice for me I'd really apprecaite it..

Thanks

Craig

[craig_read]

Looks in good condition . . . it all depends how much you're willing to spend on you A3000? At the moment it's at £100 - so may be worth a punt!

A3000 in that nick, with 4MB, IDE and ARM3 with FPA socket is going to go for £500 or more (c.f. the other basic A3000 on eBay just now with bids over £300 for some reason).

Yeah I'm not convinced by that other A3000.. has not floppy drive either... so that would need sorting.. all extra cost... and you can get one for £400 from cjmicros with all that sorted... this A3000 is tempting though... even at £500... am I crazy? lol

[flaxcottage]

Yes, that one will go for a bomb! Interesting to see just how much it will make as mine is almost exactly the same spec.

[IanJeffray]

This A3000 is tempting though... even at £500... am I crazy? lol

A little crazy. But here, we all are. That's a nice spec/condition machine - and no battery damage, which IME is rare.

Every model has its pro's and cons really - A3000 is handy dandy as an all-in-one, and with the rare ARM3 it's got 'useful' performance - minor niggle is the IDE taking up the only internal podule slot, meaning no network capability, which I personally consider a "must have". A3000's external podule port is hella-ugly, but is very useful for quickly testing podules, if nothing else, and I do use it for quickly/temporarily adding a network card when required.

You will be able to get hold of an A3020 for less - it's only ARM250 and "can't" be upgraded to ARM3, but is cheaply upgraded to 4MB and has built-in IDE and a dedicated NIC slot, so you can have a hard disc, network card and still space for a mini-podule. It's also a slightly smaller machine to move around and doesn't have the mouse socket in a completely stupid place that the A3000 does. A3020 also has a HD floppy drive, and can run a, iomega Zip drive on the parallel port which is really handy for moving big files around if you don't have a network card.

I still favour full size Archimedes though and "daily drive" a 36MHz/8MB A410 (because I've not found an A540...)

[craig_read]

This A3000 is tempting though... even at £500... am I crazy? lol

A little crazy. But here, we all are. That's a nice spec/condition machine - and no battery damage, which IME is rare.

Every model has its pro's and cons really - A3000 is handy dandy as an all-in-one, and with the rare ARM3 it's got 'useful' performance - minor niggle is the IDE taking up the only internal podule slot, meaning no network capability, which I personally consider a "must have". A3000's external podule port is hella-ugly, but is very useful for quickly testing podules, if nothing else, and I do use it for quickly/temporarily adding a network card when required.

You will be able to get hold of an A3020 for less - it's only ARM250 and "can't" be upgraded to ARM3, but is cheaply upgraded to 4MB and has built-in IDE and a dedicated NIC slot, so you can have a hard disc, network card and still space for a mini-podule. It's also a slightly smaller machine to move around and doesn't have the mouse socket in a completely stupid place that the A3000 does. A3020 also has a HD floppy drive, and can run a, iomega Zip drive on the parallel port which is really handy for moving big files around if you don't have a network card.

I still favour full size Archimedes though and "daily drive" a 36MHz/8MB A410 (because I've not found an A540...)

This is really useful and has put the A3000 on ebay in a bit more perspective for me... my knowledge is definitely building (slowly)... there are some A3020's on there so I will investigate those... out of interest.. if you were to recommend a full size arch... what would you look towards... bearing in mind my use case might be more limited than yours..

[flaxcottage]

A metal case machine using RISCOS 3.11 - has to be an A5000. But then I am biased.

If you can find the 33MHz version they fairly whizz along for the retro stuff. (If you want faster, go for a Raspberry Pi with RISCOS.)

I have basic 25MHz one with 4Mb RAM, two floppy drives a silent PSU fan and a Whizzo IDEFS chip that allows me to have 4x500Mb hard disks from a single 2Gb SD card. (Why I need 4xhard drives is another matter.) It is also connected to my Econet and has a scanner attached.

Metal cased machines take up a lot of desk space, though. For neatness the A3020 takes a lot of beating. I use one to run my Econet at ABUG meets and WROCC shows as it has such a small footprint.

[johnha]

This is really useful and has put the A3000 on ebay in a bit more perspective for me... my knowledge is definitely building (slowly)... there are some A3020's on there so I will investigate those... out of interest.. if you were to recommend a full size arch... what would you look towards... bearing in mind my use case might be more limited than yours..

Worth watching from back in the day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKTa54UikgE

My experience with an original A310 (1Mb RAM, ARM 2, RISC OS 2 without a backplane*) suggests upgrading it is more expensive than buying an A4xx. As I understand it, upgrading an A3xx to 4Mb RAM is a lot of work. Without a backplane you're limited to one podule slot that limits you to those that don't need access to (or lining up with) the removable plates on the back. The 4Mb upgrade and backplanes are hard to find and expensive, suggesting the most versatile starting point would be an A4xx.

* I have one of IanS's IDE podules to install when I get the chance.

John.

[IanJeffray]

[if you were to recommend a full size arch... what would you look towards...

A4xx/1 with RISC OS 3.1x. 4MB RAM. Arm3. Simtec IDE podule (Or IanS's). Anything else is 'use case' really.
John is right about 4MB on an A300... it's more hassle than an A400 which has sockets for the chips already (ditto RISC OS 3 whcih needs a carrier board on an A300 and the original A440).

A5000 has faster RAM, HD floppy, Arm3 standard, onboard IDE, but looks very ugly IMO.

Above that, you're stepping in to RiscPC land, and it's only worth doing that if you're getting one with a StrongARM, and bear in mind many (most?) old games won't run on it.

And don't underestimate how much fun you can have with an emulator such as Arculator.

[IanJeffray]

Another contender enters the ring:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174596386100
Retrobrittled, only RO2, standard ARM2. Gotek to make it ugly. 3rd party mouse. Bleh.

[flaxcottage]

Another contender enters the ring:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174596386100
Retrobrittled, only RO2, standard ARM2. Gotek to make it ugly. 3rd party mouse. Bleh.

BLEH! is the word. Only a Gotek in there limits the machine so much - as a second drive maybe, as long as it is external.

[trixster]

I’m not a fan of having goteks installed into old machines, they look so out of place. They’re are really useful bits of kit but I always try and have them in external enclosures

[IanJeffray]

I’m not a fan of having goteks installed into old machines, they look so out of place. They’re are really useful bits of kit but I always try and have them in external enclosures

Definitely agree. They're not "as bad" in an A3000 since the drive is somewhat hidden, but in an A400 series, they look horrific, IMO - really spoil the look of the machine and look so out of place.

[IanJeffray]

Yes, that one will go for a bomb! Interesting to see just how much it will make as mine is almost exactly the same spec.

Went for £660. Ouch.

[thecellartroll]

Went for £660. Ouch.

That’s not the most ouchy A3000 sale of the last couple of days!

[IanJeffray]

Went for £660. Ouch.

That’s not the most ouchy A3000 sale of the last couple of days!

Yeah, I saw that basic spec (IIRC) A3K+monitor that went for over a grand ... someone's either just stupid, or going to be very disappointed when it arrives.

[ash73]

I can't understand why people pay so much for these things, emulators are free and better... you can play with multiple configurations, copy and paste stuff into them, less clutter and they don't go up in smoke!

I just wish Raspberry would make a Pi400 in Beeb colours, like this:

[IanJeffray]

I can't understand why people pay so much for these things, emulators are free and better...

I can't understand why people waste their time with ugly emulators when genuine hardware is still available.

[daveejhitchins]

I can't understand why people pay so much for these things, emulators are free and better...

I can't understand why people waste their time with ugly emulators when genuine hardware is still available.

Strokes and Folks . . .

Dave H.

[IanJeffray]

Another contender enters the ring:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174596386100
Retrobrittled, only RO2, standard ARM2. Gotek to make it ugly. 3rd party mouse. Bleh.

Went for £400 + huge postage. Wow. There's no consistency to prices on eBay.