The Retrocomputing Thread

[Paul]

@Bells: complex they are... complex, heavy, dusty, ungrateful, tape-eating power hogs XD

[Nichi]

Most of the problems I had with Windows came from poorly maintained PCs; that's where a lot of stability issues arise in my experience. When well cared for, even ME is surprisingly stable

[Bella]

There's a guy in town who wants to trade his two TRS-80 systems for some Commodorestuff; I'm offering a part trade/part cash deal involving a VIC-20, beat-to-hell C-128 and an unspecified amount of money. : |

[Bella]

UPDATE~

TRS-80 Dude says he's interested in doing that deal. So here's the question: how much are a pair of working TRS-80s worth, anyway? Is it even possible to pin down a value, since the value of a computer is often determined by the person buying it? One's a Model III, the other's a Model 4p; I was going to start by offering $75 and a VIC-20 and work up from there.

[NejinOniwa]

I have not a single idea, really. >_>

It all comes down to a level of how much you consider your VIC's to be valued versus your personal reserves, etc.

[stewartsage]

I paid fifty for my Model I, which is in excellent condition with all sorts of other stuff and that was a steal.  It was probably worth about double that.  For two late models, and with a VIC in the equation I'd say $75 is a good starting point.

[Bella]

Time for another installment of Adventures in Small-Game Computer Hunting!

Today I gathered up my second VIC-20 (the newer, and better-conditioned one, "Victor") and working, but in-need-of-repairs C=128 ("Sweet Pea" - since TRS-80 dude was very interested in it, broken parts and missing pieces be damned), loaded them in the car, and set off with my dad across town to meet aforementioned TRS-80 Dude. (I could ask a friend or my brother to go with me, but dad seems to especially enjoy going on these trips to meet old computer collectors; he has a fascination with "those weirdoes" and enjoys marveling at their accumulations of old tech, sort of like a technological Muggle looking in on a world that he can never fully understand.)

I was surprised to discover that TRS-80 Dude was a kid - and a rather shaggy, snowboarder/skater-ly looking kid at that - who's just about my age. (I'm always expecting these people to be crotchety old coots, and they always end up being much younger - and agreeable - than I imagine.) Out in the parking lot he looked the Commodores over, gave them a thumbs up, and invited us into his family's apartment.

His mom and dad did not seem pleased that more retrocomputers were coming home.

He led us up a flight of narrow stairs to his computer room/bedroom - it looked approximately like this:



...but with less loli. And virtually no free floorspace. There was a giant stack of Mac and Apple ][ stuff, another Apple ][ setup on a desk along with a Color Classic, a 1984 128k Mac that he found in a box in the basement at the town library (its floppy drive is dead, sadly), and a closet full of more Applestuff (and some clothes). And a stack of Ataris, a collection of vintage PDAs (including a working Apple Newton!) and old monitors/tv sets. There was a bed, on the ground, somewhere in all this, and stacks and stacks of milk crates that he uses as shelving (I'm going to remember that trick. Stolen milk crates = free shelving.)

So he had to literally dig the TRS-80s out of a stack of Macs; my dad saw the Model 4P and exclaimed "Oooh! It looks like your Osborne 1!" and then he pulled the Model III out of behind a stack of Ataris and dad exclaimed "Oooh! An all-in-one!" and when the 5mb external HDD that's the size of a suitcase showed up, dad reacted with similar wondrous glee. He then directed me to the collection of software and manuals, which took up several layers in his milk-crate shelving-unit, while he set up the computers.

They run, BUT - and it's a rather big caveat - their floppy drives are not in good condition. They need to be cleaned, which is gonna be tough, since it's not like there are tons of 5'' floppy drive cleaning systems floating around out there. Then came the bartering; I wasn't sure what I wanted to offer, considering the issues they had; he didn't have any ideas ether.

He said: "You know, I'm going to have to buy drives for them and fix up the C-128."
I said: "I'm going to have to clean/fix/buy replacement drives for them, too."

And we stared awkwardly at each other for a bit; all the while dad ogling the really huge external hard drive. 

"How's $25 sound?"
"Deal!"

Then there was the task of getting everything down the stairs and to the car... his parents seemed glad to see some retrocomputers leaving the house.

So, yeah. He's going to send me any info on parts he can find; I'm going to send him some links to various VIC-20 and C-128 manuals. He says if he comes across any Apple ][ systems he'll let me know (since he has enough of them) and I invited him to check out the basement computer museum when it's set up.

[Dr. Kraus]

@bella:
Lol, I've used the old milk crate trick with my dad's old stereo before! Milk crates are almost indestructible, put some wood planks in between and you got yourself a shelf! $25 is a steal in my opinion, good job!

[Nichi]

I'm currently working on doing some long overdue upgrades to the oldest member of my fleet; The Yeti. Well, Minefield is much older hardware wise, but I've had the Yeti since 1996, so I consider it the oldest.

Once I'm done with this side project, I'll take it from the state it's been in hardware wise since roughly 1997 (75Mhz Pentium, 40MB RAM) and bring it to the same level as my old laptop, but with a lot more RAM (200Mhz Pentium MMX, 128MB RAM). At the moment, I'm just waiting on the OverDrive processor to arrive...

[Bella]

Today is the one year anniversary of the beginning of my vintage computer collecting hobby!

Exactly one year ago, THIS was considered an exotic find:

The future Lakes Region Museum of Computing History's first artifacts. xD

...NOW, I consider those more or less "modern" and completely uninteresting. (They're from 1994, 98 and 99.) Amazing how in a year I was able to move from the late 1990s, to the early 90s, then to the late 80s, and now, my oldest machines are circa early 80s. I'm still trying to break the 1979 barrier, but at some point I'm not gonna be able to go back any farther. (I'm guessing 1976-77 is gonna be the limit, since before then there weren't any microcomputers, and minis and mainframes from before then are RARE AND EXPENSIVE AND TOO BIG TO FIT IN A SEDAN.)

[stewartsage]

I will have you assassinated before you break my age record.

[Nichi]

Well, the project to upgrade the Yeti didn't go quite as planned; while the OverDrive processor worked, it somehow caused the USB ports I added a few years back to become nonfunctional until I put the original processor back in (Doing anything with USB with that processor in it, like plugging in a mouse, resulted in an inescapable BSOD unlike anything I've seen in 15+ years using Windows). The person I bought it from has shipped out a replacement (A normal 200Mhz Pentium with some kind of adapter to allow the Yeti's motherboard to support a processor faster than 100Mhz), so hopefully it'll work this time.

[Paul]

not exactly retro, but I'm currently messing around with the AIX 4.3.3 box (loading SSH and other fun stuff on it, I plan to use it as a login server)

The AS/400s are currently sitting in a corner unless I get a cheap tape drive that DOESN'T munch tapes :/

[Chocofreak13]

i just found out that the oldest computer part i have is this mouse from 1987, meaning it's as old as my sister. :3

i feel accomplished. ^^

[Bella]

I now own a trackball-mouse from 1990, found it at an antique store for $5. It's new in the box (unopened), with all the original manuals and install floppies. It's a Logitech and "Built for IBM PC, AT, XT and compatible computers." d:

I asked the shop keeper if he had any other other old tech items - he said he had an old printer out back, "and some vacuum tubes too."

Me: "VACUUUUUUUM TUUUUUUUBES!"

He directed me to a basket of old lightbulbs, wherein I found a clutch of several vacuum tubes - I picked two of the best-looking, a matching pair, and he let me buy them for $5.

Dad: "What are YOU going to do with vacuum tubes?!"
Me: "CONVERSATION PIECE!"
Dad: "...You could make earrings out of them."
Me: *thinks of Whirlwind-tan*
*wonders where dad got the idea of vacuum-tube jewelry*
*slow head tilt*

It's not a really a retrocomputer-based find, but it's still an interesting piece of technological history. ^^