Actually, this is the Apollo 1260, but the 1220 is pretty much the same.
The Apollo 1220 is a trapdoor based processor and memory expansion for the A1200, from the same people who brought you the Apollo 1230 and 1240.
The 1220 provides you with a new processor, an FPU and either a one or four megabyte memory expansion.
As you might guess from the name, it still contains a 68020 as was in your A1200 already, but this one is rated twice at fast, at 28Mhz. I'm not sure if it's clocked, which might reduce its life-span, but I've had my 1220 for a year now, and have encountered no problems yet.
Since the difference between the 68020 and 68030 is really negligible, it probably helps keep the cost down, and this can only be a good thing. However, this does mean that the 1220 has no MMU, essential for virtual memory.
Also, the board doesn't feature Kickstart remapping, whereby the computer's ROM is relocated into your new fast memory and the operating system is sped up no end.
Physically, the board is the same size as any other accelerator card - it's quite surprising how small it really is upon seeing it for the first time - and this brings us to the installation.
This is the one problem I have with the Apollo - there have been numerous letters about problems and advice on the installation of this board in the magazine Amiga Format, and having tried to fit it personally, I can see why.
The main problem lies in the fact that the rear of the board - that is the side without the chips - is not insulated at all, and will cause short circuits with the 1200's RF metal shield, leaving you with a very disconcerting black screen upon first try.
On phoning my supplier, they were very helpful and told me that this this was a common problem, and that the solution was to put some insulation tape on the rear of the board (the side without the chips). This worked perfectly, and I've had no problems since.
The only other problem I have was that, having not fitted a card before, we didn't know how far to push the 1220 into the CPU slot, I presume this was partly our fault and a problem with every card, but it should have been mentioned in the instructions.
( Had we, the night of receiving the Apollo, not tried to fit it again after spending the whole day at it, and discovering that it did indeed go in that little bit further, we would have sent back a perfectly healthy board - how embarrassing. )
These are areas that the skimpy documentation definitely did not tell us about, although our supplier was very helpful.
Lastly, the board is slighly higher than it should be and the trapdoor cover won't fit back on properly, so cover it with some cling film to avoid dust.
Apart from all this, installation was no problem!
After this initial pitfall, I was very pleased indeed with the Apollo.
This being the first accelerator card I had used, it was a joy to see the Workbench menu bar change from :
1,373,282 graphics mem 0 other mem
to :
1,764,264 graphics mem 3,682,288 other mem
Marvellous!
As well as freeing up chip mem for graphics and sound, it will increase literally every area of the computer, from applications to your hard drive.
Most importantly of all, the extra memory enables you to run several programs at once, and to finally take advantage of the Amiga's multitasking capabilities.
Now, you can run a copy (or three) of Directory Opus, Vistalite, Blitz Basic, and still have some left over for playing a music module, all at once.
Previously, I could only run one (two if I was lucky) at a time, and had to exit from one program to the other constantly - horrible.
For some examples of the speed increase, if you're a Settlers fan then you simply have to get this card - a size seven world (if you've never played Settlers, that's big), and all the sound effects.
Also, the frame rate in Grand Prix is improved. If you get the Grand Prix editor, you can then increase the frame rate to 25 frames per second, (perfectly smooth) and has to be seen to be believed.
For some serious examples, printing is sped up enormously - believe it or not, it can take Final Writer nearly an hour to print a page of graphics on 300x300 printer in colour. With your new card, this can be done in minutes.
Also, dithering in Personal Paint and any other graphics programs like ImageFX and Photogenics is massively increased.
Speaking of graphics programs, you can now use the FPU version of programs such as Vista Pro and Art Effect, both of which are sped up far more than most other programs.
In addition, you can now run Spectrum Emulators at the right speed - the standard A1200 struggles to get two-thirds the speed.
In short, the Apollo 1220 will triple every operation of a standard A1200 - in both terms of memory and speed.
The 1220 is actually no longer in production - I got one of the last ones produced.
However, if you can get a second-hand or new one for under a hundred pounds, I'd snap it up.
The difference that it makes to a standard 1200 is astonishing - there is no way that these Amiga pages would have been possible without mine.
However, if you're not stuck for the money, you're better off getting one of the newer Apollo 1230s, which features an MMU, a higher clock speed, and 8Mb of memory, and the all important 68030.
But, if you see one going cheap, there's no reason why you shouldn't get it, as it's perfect for the ordinary user, who plays the odd game, and some word processing, and maybe the odd bit of programming.
