ID #2861

Commodore: A500


A500 (Danish/Scandinavian keyboard layout)
A500 (Danish/Scandinavian keyboard layout)

A500 (UK keyboard layout)
A500 (UK keyboard layout)

A500 (US keyboard layout)
A500 (US keyboard layout)

Rear of A500
Rear of A500

Left side of A500
Left side of A500

Right side of A500
Right side of A500

Designed by Stefanie Tuecking of the German Radio Station SWR3 to commemorate a million Amigas sold.
Designed by Stefanie Tuecking of the German Radio Station SWR3 to commemorate a million Amigas sold.

Special edition German A500 with a
Special edition German A500 with a "Tiger" theme

Special edition German A500 with a
Special edition German A500 with a "Boing Ball" theme

Special edition A500 with the
Special edition A500 with the "Artist Series" theme

Special edition A500 with a
Special edition A500 with a "Golden" theme, celebrating 2 years of Amiga

Early A500, note the Commodore key
Early A500, note the Commodore key

A500 Motherboard Rev. 5, Typ4 - 3008K
Hi Res Version, A500 (Danish/Scandinavian keyboard layout) - 233K
Hi Res Version, A500 (UK keyboard layout) - 363K
Hi Res Version, A500 (US keyboard layout) - 254K
Hi Res Version, Rear of A500 - 122K
Hi Res Version, Left side of A500 - 86K
Hi Res Version, Right side of A500 - 75K
Image inside A500 - 554K
Hi Res Version, A500 'Tiger' Theme - 48K
Hi Res Version, A500 "Boing Ball" theme - 87K
Hi Res Version, A500 'Artist Series' Theme - 34K
Hi Res Version, A500 'Golden' Theme - 294K
Hi Res Version, Early A500, note the Commodore key - 124K
A500 Rev 5 Motherboard, Type 1 - 1505K
A500 Rev 5 Motherboard, Type 2 - 1474K
A500 Rev 5 Motherboard, Type 3 - 1176K
A500 Rev 6A Motherboard, Type 1 - 1522K
A500 Rev 6A Motherboard, Type 2 - 1479K
Hi Res Version, A500/+ Swedish Keyboard, Image 1 - 409K
Hi Res Version, A500/+ Swedish Keyboard, Image 2 - 508K
Image of A500 PSU 1 - 271K
Image of A500 PSU 2 - 201K

Standard Specifications

NOTE: The specifications here are specific to the A500 and do not necessarily apply to the A500+

Case Type: Computer in a keyboard
Processor: 68000@7.14Mhz
MMU: None
FPU: None
Chipset: OCS (more common) or ECS
Kickstarts: V1.2 (Single 40pin DIL)
V1.3 (Single 40pin DIL)
Expansion Slots: 1 x 86pin Side Expansion slot
1 x 56pin Trapdoor Slot
Standard CHIP RAM: 512K
RAM sockets: None
Hard Drive Controllers: None
Drive Bays: 1 x Custom Floppy Drive Bay
Expansion Ports: 1 x 25pin Serial
1 x 25pin Parallel
1 x 23pin RGB Video
1 x 23pin External Floppy
2 x 9pin Joystick/Mouse
2 x RCA Audio (Left/Right)
Floppy Drive: 1 x Internal 880K Floppy Drive
Motherboard Revisions: Rev 3.x (Very buggy, avoid if possible)
Rev 5.x (8370 Agnus (NTSC), 8371 Agnus (PAL))
Rev 6A (8372A Agnus)
Rev 6.x (8372A Agnus)
Rev 8
For later revisions, see the A500+
Battery Backed Up Clock: No

The A500 was one of the most popular Amiga models ever made, partly because it was extremely cheap in comparison to the big box models and partly because it was targetted almost exclusively at gamers. Although the A500+ looks almost identical to the A500, there are considerable differences between the two models. The A500 was usually supplied with the A520 to allow it to be connected directly to a standard television. The A500 was supplied with 512K of CHIP RAM by default. Earlier revisions of the A500 could only address 512K of CHIP but later revisions containing the 8372 Agnus could address 1MB (but were still supplied with 512K). Early versions of the A500 had a red power LED and a green floppy drive LED, whenever the audio filters were activated the power LED would switch off. This was later changed to a green power LED and amber floppy LED and again the power LED would be switched off whenever the audio filters were activated. In hind-sight this was probably not considered a sensible indication of the audio filters because the machine could appear to be switched off, even though it wasn't, so Commodore finally changed it so that the power LED was only dimmed when the audio filters were activated and this remained with the A500+. Later A500's may use the same motherboard revisions that the A500+ used, including the ECS chipset. This was probably during a transition period when moving from the standard A500 to the standard A500+. Commodore often used 'old stock' to save money. Apparently you can spot Rev 8/ECS based A500s my checking the logo near the LEDs. If it's an A500 logo instead of a commodore logo, then it's a newer A500.

Contributions to this page by:
Greg Scott (National Amiga), Iggy Drougge, Jan Pedersen, Jonas Jansson, Marcus Neervoort, Marius Lauritzen, Markus Nyman, Matthias Latocha, Orjan Lindgren, RiWa & Friends, Simon Vergauwen, Takahasi Kasiko

Letzte Änderung des Artikels: 2009-01-24 18:49
Revision: 1.0

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