# Commodore Amiga Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/amiga/ 41 people recommended Commodore Amiga in Hacker News comments, 15 had mixed feelings and 12 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 12 months, in 34 threads. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Loved for its graphics, multitasking and video features; critics say it cost too much at launch and its custom chips limited it. Summary written by Claude from 50 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 45 of those comments still count. ## Why people recommend it - Advanced graphics and video capabilities (6 comments in the sample): "The Amiga's graphics were ahead of its time, but the tradeoffs they chose proved very unsuitable for video playback applications" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48918422)) "The Amiga distinguished itself by being easily genlockable to video and having a 4096 colour palette" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49849545)) "There were video and multimedia applications at the time that could ONLY be tackled by an Amiga" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46850218)) - Strong hardware and software combo (5 comments in the sample): "The Amiga could run the Mac OS better than any Mac could, even with the same CPU because of the Amiga custom chips." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47382987)) "It was a big hit and set a really high bar for expectations of what an inexpensive home computer could do." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47520510)) "The Amiga had a superior and hardware and software combo, the total package was extremely good." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49028553)) - Formative first computer for many (4 comments in the sample): "captured my imagination (and at just the right age) like nothing else" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45990124)) "I grew up with C64 and Amiga and I still hold it dear in my heart" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49179541)) "an amazing introduction to the possibilities of computing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49017961)) - Creative machine for artists (2 comments in the sample): "The Amiga was a much more affordable art-making machine, so many artists made graphics ON the Amiga FOR the Amiga." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47815138)) "the Amiga was the truly magical machine, where endless creative possibilities suddenly opened up" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48946584)) ## What people warn about - Custom chips aged poorly (5 comments in the sample): "the Amigas, that had to preserve compatibility with what was, at that point, hardware getting less competitive" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49021644)) "Amiga was too tightly designed around its chips, which were too tightly designed around NTSC timings." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49403410)) "Amigas were stuck on 68K chips and used a slower bus after Macs had moved on to the PPC." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47383092)) - Little RAM and slow hardware (2 comments in the sample): "it didn’t have enough RAM to load the advertised features of AmigaBASIC and the speech synthesizer at the same time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49396560)) "All that shit was super slow, you were begging for +5Mhz or +25KB of cache." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46869004)) - Interlaced display limited video (2 comments in the sample): "Wasn't the Amiga essentially limited to interlaced video?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48917972)) "interlaced display and 6 bitplanes were a compromise to allow color graphics in 1985" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47718174)) ## Other home computers people recommend - [Commodore 64](https://hackerapproved.com/p/commodore-64/): 98 recommend, 21 mixed, 17 criticize - [ZX Spectrum](https://hackerapproved.com/p/zx-spectrum/): 21 recommend, 8 mixed, 8 criticize - [Commodore Amiga 500](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amiga-500/): 18 recommend, 1 mixed, 4 criticize - [TI-99/4A](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ti-99-4a/): 15 recommend, 11 mixed, 7 criticize ## The badge A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged. ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Commodore Amiga", https://hackerapproved.com/p/amiga/ (41 recommend, 15 mixed, 12 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.