Commodore Amiga 4000
Released:September 1992
Price:US $3,699
CPU:Motorola 68040 @ 25MHz
RAM:2MB - 18MB onboard
Display:256 colors at 1280 x 400
256,000 colors in HAM-8 mode
Ports:parallel, serial, floppy
RGB video, audio
Storage:1.76M 3.5-inch floppy
120MB IDE HD
OS:AmigaDOS 3.1
"Workbench" GUI




The last of the Amiga line, the Amiga 4000 boasts new features and capabilites, surpassing all other Amiga system capabilities.

The 32-bit Motorola 68040 central processor screams along at 25MHz, making the Amiga 4000 3 to 6 times faster than the older Amiga 3000. The new powerful AGA graphics co-processor chips are capable of displaying 256 colors from a pallete of 16.7 million at 800x600 resolution. Using the special HAM-8 display mode, over 262,000 colors can be display, although with some artifacting.

For IBM PC and MS-DOS compatibility, PC video monitors are now supported in hardware and software, and the new high-density floppy drive and the included "CrossDOS" application allows the A4000 to read and write MS-DOS high density floppy disks.

Additionally, a built-in IDE hard drive controller is now standard, allowing the use of cheaper PC-style IDE hard drives instead of the more expensive SCSI hard drives of the Amiga 3000. Unfortunately, the 16-bit IDE controller is not nearly as fast as the 32-bit SCSI controller.


The Amiga's Motorola 68040 Central Processor Unit (CPU) is not part of the motherbord, but instead on a independant board of it's own, with a few additional support chips. This board then plugs into the processor slot on the Amiga motherboard, as seen here on the right.

To correct the slow hard drive access and other shortcomings of the Amiga 4000, numerous options and upgrades were developed by third party companies, independent of Commodore.

Such a fine computer system - unfortunately, Commodore couldn't compete with the IBM PC trend, was bought-out by a few other companies, but eventually filed for bankruptcy and went out of business.





Related Links

  • Amiga 4000 Hardware Guide
  • Amigas at NASA
  • Amigas at NASA
  • Amiga Hardware Database (amiga.resource.cx)
  • "old-computers.com"
  • The Unofficial Eric Schwartz Web Site
  • Workbench Nostalgia
  • Amiga auctions
  • Lemon Amiga

    • History of the Amiga Computer

    • 1982: Hi-Toro Incorporated is formed by a group of midwest investors trying to cash in on the video game craze. The name was later changed to Amiga, Incorporated after being confused with the lawn-mower manufacturer, Toro.
    • 1983: Information is leaked about an incredible computer codenamed Lorraine featuring unheard of graphics and sound capabilities, multitasking, 80 column display, 5+ megs of RAM and MORE!
    • 1984: August - Commodore purchases Amiga Corporation.
    • 1985: July - Commodore unveils the new Amiga 1000 in New York, for US$1300.
    • 1986: Commodore releases Transformer software for the Amiga, which, along with the Commodore 1020 5 1/4-inch disk drive, provides limited MS-DOS compatibility.
    • 1987: January - Commodore announces the Amiga 500.
    • 1987: January - Commodore announces the Amiga 2000.
    • 1988: December - Commodore announces the A2286D Bridgeboard for the Amiga 2000. The A2286D contains an 8-MHz Intel 80286 and a 1.2MB 5 1/4-inch disk drive.
    • 1988: Commodore introduces the Amiga 2000HD.
    • 1988: Commodore introduces the Amiga 2500.
    • 1989: January - Commodore announces that 1 million Amiga computers have been sold.
    • 1989: November - Commodore announces the Amiga 2500/30. It is essentially an Amiga 2000 with a 2630 Accelerator Board (25-MHz 68030 and 68882 math coprocessor).
    • 1990: April - Commodore offers Amiga 1000 owners US$1000 to trade in their Amiga on a new Amiga 2000.
    • 1990: June - Commodore ships the Amiga A3000 computer.
    • 1990: September - NewTek ships the Video Toaster, a hardware/software real-time video effects tool for the Amiga 2000, for US$1600.
    • 1990: Commodore announces the Amiga 3000. Prices start at US$4100 with a monitor.
    • 1991: January - Commodore releases the CDTV package. It features a CD-ROM player integrated with a 7.16-MHz 68000-based Amiga 500. List price is US$1000.
    • 1991: Commodore unveils the Amiga 3000UX. Cost is US$5000, without a monitor.
    • 1992: March - Commodore introduces the Amiga 600 for a base price of $500.
    • 1992: September - Commodore introduces the Amiga 4000.
    • 1992: December - Commodore introduces the Amiga 1200.
    • 1994: Commodore International and Commodore Electronics (two of the many international components of Commodore Business Machines) file for voluntary liquidation.
    • 1995: April - At an auction in New York, ESCOM buys all rights, properties, and technologies of Commodore.
    • 1997: Gateway buys bankrupt Amiga.
      Source: Chronology of Events in the History of Microcomputers



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