TI 99/4A white model value

[Jess Ragan]

Does anyone know how much the all white model of the TI 99/4A (presumably manufactured much later than its silver and black cousin) is worth? I've got both but I've rarely seem a while TI outside my own house. Also, what's this I've heard about a lock out chip that prevents third party software from running?

[+Ksarul]

There is generally no difference in price between the two versions of the case. Note I said case--as the case could contain two different versions of the motherboard. Some will have the older style motherboard, and will run any cartridge you put into them. Others will only run cartridges with at least one GROM chip, which effectively locks out most third-party cartridges (except Parker Brothers and Funware, which usually worked). The easiest way to see if you have one of the later motherboards is to look at the title screen and see if it shows the operating system as V2.2. Lastly, the case (with either motherboard), is worth about the same as a black and silver machine.

[Jess Ragan]

Thanks for the information!

 

Man, there were a heckuva lot of typos in my first post. I've got to watch that!

[boxpressed]

Unfortunately, the TI doesn't have the widespread collector appeal of the A8 or C64. If you're patient, you can score a CIB unit for $50-$60 shipped. Even NIB examples have sold for less than $100, I believe. Part of the problem, I think, is that setting up a disk drive usually requires a giant PEB and controller card. But there are lots of great games for it that don't require a disk drive. TI remains a bargain at these prices.

[Jess Ragan]

Yeah, here in Michigan, the TI 99/4A has not been a difficult machine at all to find. I haven't seen them in garage sales lately (so little classic gaming stuff turns up these days; it's sad) but I had the presence of mind to scoop up a few back in the 1980s and 1990s, when they were plentiful. I've got the silver and black model, and the more recent white model, both with plenty of software.

 

I'll be honest with you, though... I don't think the TI is as attractive a game machine as the Atari 8-bit series, the Commodore 64, or even the VIC-20 in some cases. Its games strike me as stiff and coarse, relying too heavily on character graphics and not enough on sprites. Those joysticks sure weren't doing it any favors, either, although it's my understanding that these can be replaced with standard Atari 2600 sticks with an easily built adapter.

[boxpressed]

I agree that in general the games for the TI aren't as good as those for the A8 or C64. I think TI locked out a lot of third party development to keep control of the software. Bad move, in hindsight. You're right that the joysticks are terrible. I think they used the same carbon point technology that plagued the 5200 controller. But there are still a lot of fun games that are also inexpensive. Tunnels of Doom, Parsec, Munchman, TI Invaders, and most of the Atarisoft and Parker Bros. titles are personal favorites.

[JamesD]

Never mind

Edited August 22, 2013 by JamesD

[ApolloBoy]

relying too heavily on character graphics and not enough on sprites

I think a lot of that has to do with earlier TI-99 games being developed with the TI-99/4 (no "A") in mind, which used an older VDP that lacked the bitmap graphics mode found in the TI-99/4A.

[slab0meat]

Press fire to begin.