# Commodore Amiga 500

20 Hacker News commenters recommended Commodore Amiga 500 and 5 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 38 years (4 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended for responsive multitasking, a large software library and good value in its era, with many fond memories. Critics say windows redraw slowly and the 50Hz display flickers.

## Why people recommend it

- Fond memories and learning (4 comments): "I had fun times around 1985 with zx81, ZX spectrum, Commodore 64, and Amiga 500." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48257376)) "I really learnt a lot about computers using that" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49544284)) "fond memories of my Amiga 500+ (full meg, woo!)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46705442))
- Fast, responsive multitasking (3 comments): "I still remember the day teenage me got an Amiga 500 with a whopping 512K of RAM, and witnessed the power of multitasking" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46091032)) "Even a powerful 9800x3d doesn't feel as tight as my pretty basic Amiga 500 does." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49020527)) "could resize windows without lag on a ~7.1 mhz 68000 and 512K of RAM" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47662257))
- Large software library, good value (2 comments): "You could do a lot with an Amiga, and there was a lot of software available to do all of it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48168905)) "Amigas gave great value for money between the mid 80s and early 90s" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49024758))
- Usable for work and home (2 comments): "a plain Amiga 500 would be good enough for what many folks do at home" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46868133)) "It was very usable for work." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46176381))

## What people warn about

- Slow performance when moving windows (2 comments): "it takes a second just to redraw a moved window" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47563379)) "You could really feel the slow performance" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49848126))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Commodore 64](https://hackerapproved.com/p/commodore-64.md): 121 recommend
- [Commodore Amiga](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amiga.md): 60 recommend
- [ZX Spectrum](https://hackerapproved.com/p/zx-spectrum.md): 31 recommend
- [TI-99/4A](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ti-99-4a.md): 26 recommend
- [Sinclair ZX81](https://hackerapproved.com/p/sinclair-zx81.md): 18 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Commodore+Amiga+500+computer&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Commodore Amiga 500", https://hackerapproved.com/p/amiga-500/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).