The Amiga 500 is an important step in computing history: it helped popularise the up-take of the home personal computer. The Amiga 500 made computing accessible and fun, and although it was certainly not the only home PC on the market at the time, it was definitely one of the most affordable and advanced gaming consoles.

The Amiga 500 was released onto the market in 1987. Its edge over competitors, chiefly Atari, was that the Amiga 500 had advanced graphic capabilities for the time, enabling much more sophisticated games to be developed and sold for the Amiga 500, and more realistic game-play for gamers.

Commodore was founded in the mid 1950s. It was a small company that sold and repaired typewriters; though did not manufacture typewriters. The company then began to sell calculating machines. By the 1970s Commodore was manufacturing calculators using Texas Instruments microchips. As the market increased, Commodore purchased MOS-Tech - a company that produced microchips. The first personal computer Commodore marketed was the Commodore PET, in 1977.

Damian McDonald, Curator
October 2011

Both units were designed and manufactured by Commodore Business Computers Inc, Japan 1987 - 1991.

The Commodore Amiga 500 was purchased by the donor for his son so the young teenager could learn about computers, and entertain himself and gain skills. He used it to play games - the Amiga being one of the most advanced gaming consoles available in Australia at the time - and develop a knowledge of personal computing. As he became more savvy, the type of games he purchased became more advanced and strategic.

Commodore Amiga 500 computer, monitor, external disk-drive, comtputer mouse, plastic / glass / metal / electronic components, Commodore Business Machines Inc, Japan, 1987-1991

The Commodore Amiga 500 unit is a tan moulded plastic shell, with a QWERTY keyboard at the front, and five function keys. The right side of the unit features the power input and power switch; the rear features the input and output ports.

The external disk-drive is of rectangular plastic construction, with a loading mechanism at the front of the unit for inserting disks, and ports at the rear for connection to the computer.

The monitor is a glass tube screen mounted in a tan plastic shell.

The mouse is a rectangular plastic shell with two buttons on the top surface, a plastic sphere situated on the underside and held in place by a system which allows the sphere to roll freely on a surface, and a lead from the rear of the object for connection to the computer.

Made: 1987 - 1991

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1987 - 1991