Amiga A570

Lore & Background

The Amiga A570 was originally designated the A690, and pre-production devices under that name were delivered to developers. The A690/A570 used a proprietary Mitsumi CD-ROM interface and contained a header for an internal fast memory expansion, but this proprietary memory module was never put into production; only a few rare developer examples exist today. By the time of the A570's launch, the A500 computer had already been discontinued. The Amiga 600 and the later A1200 were incompatible with this external drive, leaving Commodore in the position of having launched a CD-ROM drive for a discontinued machine while a similar device was unavailable for their current low-end Amiga. This move could be justified by the millions of A500 systems already in existence and considerable demand for a more advanced data storage solution.

The device had no through connector, so it was not possible to connect both an A590 hard disk drive and an A570 to the computer at the same time. The A590, despite having an XT IDE hard disk, also carried a SCSI interface that allowed third-party hard disks and CD-ROM drives to be fitted. While these drives did not carry CDTV emulation, the lack of success of the CDTV format made this a null disadvantage for most users. CDs could not be inserted directly into the A570 and needed to be put in a caddy before being inserted into the reader slot. The A570 had no need for drivers; it was automatically recognized as a standard Amiga expansion card by the Amiga Zorro bus Autoconfig feature. Programs for playing Audio CDs were available on a bundled 'A570 Tools' floppy disk, public domain software disk collections, and on Aminet.

Reader's Guide

The Amiga A570 represents a notable but awkward chapter in Commodore's storage history. It was a single-speed external CD-ROM drive launched for the Amiga 500, a computer that had already been discontinued by the time of the drive's release. This created a situation where Commodore offered a CD-ROM solution for a legacy machine while their current low-end Amiga models—the Amiga 600 and later the A1200—were incompatible with it. The decision was likely driven by the large installed base of Amiga 500 systems and user demand for advanced storage. The A570's design included a proprietary Mitsumi interface and a header for a 2 MB RAM expansion that never reached production. Its lack of a through connector prevented simultaneous use with the A590 hard disk drive, though the A590's SCSI interface could accommodate third-party CD-ROM drives. The A570's reliance on caddies for disc insertion and its automatic recognition via Autoconfig simplified operation. Ultimately, the A570's significance lies in its role as Commodore's attempt to bring CD-ROM capability to the Amiga platform, albeit with limited compatibility and timing that reflected the company's broader challenges.

Did You Know?

• The A570 contained a header for an internal 2 MB fast memory expansion, but the proprietary memory module was never put into production.
• The A570 had no through connector, making it impossible to connect both an A590 hard disk drive and the A570 to the Amiga 500 at the same time.