I recently purchased a Sam460ex Complete System from AmigaKit and thought I'd write up an extensive review with photos for those who might be interested. You can find Part 1 on my Amiga.org blog.

Part 1 - The Order (Posted)
Part 2.1 - The Hardware (Posted)
Part 2.2 - The Hardware (Posted)
Part 2.3 - The Hardware (Posted)
Part 3.1 - The Software (Posted)
Part 3.2 - The Software (Posted)
Part 4 - The Conclusion (Posted)

I hope you enjoy it. I'll update this thread when the next parts to the review are added.

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@mpiva

Man, that's real love for sure!

I read your review and it is a huge amount of money. I think it's worthy though. I own a Sam440-flex and I enjoy it very much.
Unfortunately, as you said, we're all under our wife's blade!

Best regards

g0blin

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@mpiva

I was going to be one of the first to buy Sam460 because it will be nice upgrade from my microAmigaOne - faster speed, more RAM, SATA controller for bigger hard drives, faster ports, more CPU power, etc The PCI slot of my microAmigaOne is already fitted with network card. But now I am waiting for the bigger upgrade - the AmigaOneX1000. Meanwhile I purchased 1$ IDE to SATA conventor with the hope it will work with the micro, so at least I can use newer and bigger hard drives.

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@mpiva
Be careful with "part 4" because "the conclusion" for you isn't near yet.
Next autumn my 440Flex will make 2 years and I'm still receiving updates for it (with a major one coming) so I haven't used its last ounce of power yet.
All in all when the next update will come (with a little upgrade in the form of a new GFX card)if I'll compare my first experience with the "latest" one, it will be like comparing two different systems, but the good for you is that you won't have to wait like many others for certain features

The 460EX holds a lot of potential, I'm sure you will enjoy it at different levels, from the initial "new toy" effect, to the full fledged experience it'll give you once all of its features will be unleashed.

Enjoy the ride!

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SamFlex Complete 800Mhz System + AmigaOS 4.1 Update 4
Amiga 2000 DKB 2MB ChipRam GVP G-Force040 Picasso 2 OS3.9 BB2
AmigaCD 32

Nice review. Lookfing forward to the next part.

TrevorD

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@mpiva

I want to read more now!


Great review!

@mpiva

congrats on your new Sam460ex As DAX noted & I can confirm, ACube has great support for their Sam range so enjoy the future updates

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Part 2 is now being posted. I've had to break it up into 3 sub-part's due to Amiga.org's 10 image limit on blog posts.

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@mpiva

Nice and detailed rapport, it’s worth reading.

Maybe you should get a Sound Blaster Live Sb100 combo card, while you wait for onboard audio driver; it’s a lot more fun having sound.

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@mpiva

Quote:

Does anybody know if the Sam460ex allows hot-swapping of the SD card?

The correct question is "does OS4 support hot-swapping?".
The answer is yes. I was surprised to discover it does as I always thought it was not possible due to how AmigaOS mounts a disk.

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Sam460 1.10 Ghz
AmigaOS 4 betatester
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@mpiva

A shame to read about the issues with the front of the case. But I guess that in a few weeks time you've forgotten about it, enjoying the new toy .

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@mpiva

Quote:

There were also a couple issues with the Sam460ex motherboard that I’d like to mention. ACube’s description lists “Audio 5.1 Realtek ALC655 codec”, while I’m sure this is technically true, it seems a bit of an exaggeration for what you’ll actually be getting, and I’m not just talking about the fact that the audio drivers aren’t currently available. What really surprised me was that there is only one stereo output jack. So even when the audio drivers come out, and even if those drivers support 5.1 surround sound, you’re only ever going to get stereo audio out of that motherboard.

this was also true on the SAM440ep-flex. it does exist, but it doesn't have connectors. you can wire one, though, easily using the custom audio expansion port on the board.

does seem a waste, though. those connector components are less than $1 bulk.

-- eliyahu

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@mods

whoops! double-posted by accident. please delete.

-- eliyahu

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@NutsAboutAmiga


Quote:

NutsAboutAmiga wrote: Maybe you should get a Sound Blaster Live Sb100 combo card, while you wait for onboard audio driver; it’s a lot more fun having sound.

Yes, I agree it's fun having sound, but it's even more fun having a harddrive. Unfortunately, currently, is difficult to have both on a Sam460.

@mpiva

No problem there updates UBoot and you can use the internal SATA2 connector.
(Its slow because the driver does not yet support DMA)

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@Amiga_3k

I have to say that case looks very cheap, i'd put it in another.. enjoying the review..

@mpiva

Good review so far. The CF card is disappointing, I would have expected the one with the logo on it as on the picture which is kind of cool (reminds you of an original Workbench boot floppy), although I know it's just a sticker, but still...

Question: Why is it a problem to have both an SATA card and a sound card on the Sam460? You could have elaborated on this in the review as I'm sure people will be interested.

@mpiva

"After many, many years of whittling down my wife’s resolve, I finally managed to convince her to let me buy a next generation Amiga system, the Sam460ex. Even after paying a small fortune on this system, I’m sure my wife will continue to make me “pay for it” for several years (guess who’s not getting a birthday and Christmas present from their wife this year)"

Please don't be offended, but why in gods name do men have to continually play second fiddle to their wives.

Surely you must be in a position where you have built up your own small personal fund for a rainy day so if and when you want to get something for yourself you can get it without having to ask permission from your wife...

Boggles the mind!

Q!

"i am home"

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Sorry... double post!

Q!

"i am home"

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@COBRA

Quote:

The CF card is disappointing, I would have expected the one with the logo on it as on the picture which is kind of cool (reminds you of an original Workbench boot floppy), although I know it's just a sticker, but still...

I think you mean SD card, not CF. Anyway, there's recently been an update (I added the update to my blog). AmigaKit contacted me and apologized for the lack of an AmigaOS4 label. Apparently the labels were out-of-stock but they're going to mail me a label for my card. I'm really impressed with their after-sales service.

Quote:

Question: Why is it a problem to have both an SATA card and a sound card on the Sam460? You could have elaborated on this in the review as I'm sure people will be interested.

Sorry, I thought it was pretty common knowledge that the Sam460ex only has one PCI slot.