{"id":20002,"date":"2018-09-15T18:00:40","date_gmt":"2018-09-15T17:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jungsi.de\/?p=20002"},"modified":"2026-06-03T12:39:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T10:39:23","slug":"commodore-amiga-1200-commodore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jungsi.de\/en\/commodore-amiga-1200-commodore\/","title":{"rendered":"Commodore Amiga 1200 [Commodore]"},"content":{"rendered":"

This computer had been on my wish list for quite some time, as it marked the end of the Commodore era while simultaneously representing the crowning achievement of the home computer age. I acquired it in 2018\u2014ironically enough, at a Sinclair gathering. A glance at the nameplate reveals the details: manufactured in May 1993 in the Philippines, during week 21. The accompanying mouse is actually slightly older\u2014November 1992, manufactured in Malaysia\u2014making it a product of the very first production run. It was shipped without a hard drive, but included a mouse, power supply, a set of floppy disks, and the original packaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

History<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was the spring of 1992 when the Amiga 600\u2014the successor to the Amiga 500 and Amiga 500 Plus\u2014turned out to be a flop. Design flaws were to blame: no numeric keypad, an unergonomic keyboard, and a lack of ports. Furthermore, it offered barely better performance specifications than the A500 Plus, as both were equipped with the ECS chipset. The A600 was released in April 1992\u2014and was a troubled product from the very start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The answer arrived that very same year. In October 1992, Commodore introduced the Amiga 1200 in the UK; Continental Europe followed in November and December 1992. Simultaneously, the Amiga 4000\u2014the new flagship for the professional market\u2014was released. Both machines shared the same AGA chipset\u2014the core of this relaunch. On the A1200, the case design\u2014complete with a 3.5\u2033 floppy disk drive\u2014was inspired by the A500. Added to this were an external PCMCIA interface and an AT-IDE header for connecting an internal 2.5\u2033 hard drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AGA chipset\u2014internally referred to from the very beginning as \"AA\" (Advanced Architecture)\u2014was not a rushed development. Work on it had already begun in 1991. Internally, the A1200 temporarily bore the working title Channel Z<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, Commodore lacked sufficient liquid assets to fulfill the pre-orders (200,000 units). Consequently, only 100,000 AGA chipsets could be ordered from HP. The long delivery times frustrated customers, and the A600\u2014produced in large quantities\u2014became a shelf-warmer.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Amiga
Amiga 1200<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In the summer of 1993, the A1200 succeeded in surpassing the sales figures of the A500, and in Europe, Commodore ranked second in market share\u2014behind only MS-DOS-compatible computers. An estimated 500,000 to 600,000 units were manufactured under the Commodore label\u2014a remarkable feat, considering the pressure the company was under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on the same AGA chipset architecture, the CD32 game console was released in September 1993. However, the A1200 remained the last home computer that Commodore ever brought to market. On April 29, 1994<\/strong>, Commodore International filed for bankruptcy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When was my A1200 built?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This can be determined by taking a look at the underside of the device. Located there, next to the nameplate, is a barcode label featuring a 22-digit sequence of numbers. The structure is as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AAA \u00b7 BB \u00b7 CC \u00b7 DDDDDD \u00b7 EE \u00b7 FF \u00b7 GGGGG<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n