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Amiga 1000

A1000 · 1985–1987 · desktop

Specifications

Cpu: Motorola 68000, 7.16 MHz (NTSC) / 7.09 MHz (PAL)
Ram: max: 512 KB chip RAM on-board (via the "Fat Agnus" upgrade many units received), plus up to 8 MB addressable via the side expansion port on the earliest boards before Kickstart moved to ROM · base: 256 KB chip RAM
Ports: RGB analog video · Composite video · RF TV output · External floppy drive port · 2x DB-9 joystick/mouse ports · Centronics parallel (printer) · RS-232 serial · Stereo RCA audio out · Keyboard/mouse-style expansion port (side connector, used for the Kickstart boot ROM sled on early units)
Display: Original Chip Set (OCS: Denise, Paula, Agnus), 4096 color palette, up to 640x400 interlaced or 320x200 with HAM mode; RGB and composite/RF output
Storage: base: Internal 3.5" 880 KB floppy drive · options: External Commodore 3.5" floppy drives (daisy-chained via the external drive port)
Os Support: latest: Kickstart/Workbench 1.3 commonly installed; later boards added a Kickstart ROM socket so the disk-load step was no longer required · shipped: Kickstart 1.0 loaded from floppy into RAM at boot (earliest units had no boot ROM, hence the "Writer Initials" Kickstart disk), AmigaDOS 1.0, Workbench 1.0
Release Price: $1,295 (with 256 KB and a 13-inch RGB monitor bundled in the original package)

Variants

Models

A1000 NTSCA10001985, US/Canada region

A1000 PALA10001985, European/Australian region

Upgrade paths

RAM

512 KB chip RAM via a socketed "Fat Agnus" swap, plus external side-expansion RAM boards from third parties · The A1000's side expansion port (used for RAM and accelerator boards) was unique to this model and not compatible with the 500/2000 expansion bus, which limited third-party support compared to later Amigas.

~$200-$400 for a Fat Agnus/RAM expansion kit at the time

HARD

storage

Additional external 3.5" floppy drives daisy-chained off the rear port · No internal hard drive option existed for the A1000; hard drives came via the side expansion port and were rare and costly.

~$300 for a Commodore A1010 external drive

EASY

CPU

68010 or early 68020 accelerator boards via the side expansion connector · Few accelerators targeted the A1000's unique connector, so most upgraders instead moved on to a 500 or 2000 for expansion headroom.

~$500+ at the time

HARD