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krslam

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Posts posted by krslam

  4. Posted

    11 hours ago, ToddL said:

    If it's based on the buyer's location, why is it that sometimes eBay charges me sales tax and other times not (I'm in Illinois by the way)? And I can't seem to figure out if sales tax will be charged until I put something in my cart--which means I don't know for auctions until after I've won.

     

    I just checked the last 15 items I've purchased on eBay, and I was charged sales tax only once. I looked at that particular listing--seller is from another state and I couldn't find any indication in the listing that sales tax would be charged. It just says "Taxes may be applicable at checkout" but it says the same thing for the items for which I didn't pay sales tax.

     

    I recall at least one other item last year that I was charged sales tax unexpectedly so it's not just this one seller.

    According to ebay's tax page, they only started collecting sales tax on shipments to Illinois on Jan 1 2020, so you'll likely see it on all purchases going forward.

  5. Posted

    They weren't cost competitive.  As Microsoft showed, the real money in computers is in the OS and other software.  IBM tried to grab that slice of the pie with OS/2 but was unsuccessful, and PC clone makers undercut them on price. They were always a business machine company, like thier name says, and have pretty much gone back to those roots. Selling to home users, except the failed Pcjr, was never thier market.

     

    • Like 4

  6. Posted

    10 hours ago, Tanooki said:

    Phoenix look I agree with you entirely in principle as it would be pretty stupid and awful not to, taxes sucking or not, in a crude sense keep the lights on and you relatively safe.  But, where I was nitpicking is that I bought from a Japanese ebay member living in Japan and paid US tax to what??? whom??? exactly.  They don't need to collect American tax, same thing happened also with another item I picked up in Canada too, same bs, and I'm really sure ebay sent Canada a nice tax check right along with Japan.  They pocketed it as far as I'm concerned.

     

    No, the sales tax collected gets paid to the state where YOU live.  What state or country the seller lives in has nothing to do with it.

     

    • Like 2

  10. Posted · Edited by krslam

    13 hours ago, AtariLeaf said:

    A local facebook marketplace post has various older computer equipment with what looked like a coco 1. I asked how much and he said $20 so i said sure. He posted close up pics and it turned out to be a kind of rare TRS-80 Videotex which was a terminal for accessing CompuServe or the Dow, things like that.

     

    20191211_191524.jpg

    20191211_191531.jpg

    That's pretty cool.  Rat Shack made a bunch of variants of the CoCo1, but this is one I hadn't seen before.  Does it boot straight to the Videotex screen?  Can you get to the normal BASIC screen?

     

  15. Posted · Edited by krslam

    It's not so much that PriceCharting is useless, but it can be misleading, especially for common titles.  For example, your listing shows a value of $6.64 for Space Invaders.  That's a title that would go unsold in the $1 bin at most game stores.  And you've got 2 of them, for a total claimed 'value' of over $13. 

     

    There's a lot of things that can throw off the pricecharting algorithm: shipping costs, condition, completeness, etc.  A game that sells for $4 with free shipping isn't a $4 game, but the algorithm will think it is.

     

    You're right that Atari collecting has slowed down.  You might be better off waiting for the next wave of nostalgia.  You might also consider selling the lot locally through Craigslist, OfferUp, Kajiji, facebook, or whatever.  Sometimes people will pay more if they can see the item in person and don't have to pay shipping, plus you save the fees, the hassle of packing and shipping and avoid the risk of a chargeback.  I've found this to be a much better way of selling larger items.

    • Like 2

  17. Posted

    Congrats on getting the azimuth adjusted.

     

    There's no way to erase a single file on a tape. Tapes don't have a directory or random access, so the only thing you can do is record a new file over the old one.  Be careful doing that because if the new file is longer than the old one, it may overwrite not just the file you're replacing but also the next file on the tape.  If the intent is to erase an entire tape, both sides and all files, a magnetic bulk eraser can be used.

     

     

  19. Posted

    Bio Compatibilty is not a game.  It will determine your 'biorhythms' based on your birthdate and you can then compare those with your potential sweeties birthdate to see if you're compatible.  It's about as scientifically valid as Astrology, but these were in vogue back in the 70s/80s.  Haven't tested it but I don't think the program is Y2K compliant.  More info on biorhythms at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biorhythm

     

    This YT video might explain Blue Meanies

     

    • Like 1

  20. Posted

    It's not so much region locked, which wasn't really a thing back then, but the system runs at different speeds and outputs different video formats depending on where it was intended to be used.  These differences can make some software not run correctly so generally the only way to know for sure is to try.

     

    There's an adjustment knob inside the VIC (inside the metal can on the board) that'll tweak the video signal.  This youtube video shows it.  Depending on your modulator (several models were used), there may be adjustments inside there as well but they are a pain to pry open.  I recommend you get a composite video cable and ditch the modulator entirely.

     

     

    • Like 1

  21. Posted

    There wasn't much software released on disk for the VIC.  Most of it was tape or cartridge, so if you want to stick with original hardware and software, the C2N will be more useful than a 1541.  If you're going to explore writing your own, you'll soon find the tape drive to be intolerably slow so a disk drive could be useful.  As much as I like the 1702, any CRT monitor or TV with composite inputs will work just fine.  You didn't mention a joystick, but I'd strongly recommend NOT searching out any of the Commodore-branded ones as they're all cheaply made. Get a Wico, Epyx 500XJ, Suncom, or any of the other fine 3rd party sticks instead.

     

    For games, I always enjoyed Omega Race, Gorf, and most of the Atarisoft titles.  You might consider getting a Behr_Bonz multicart (127 games on one cart).  Not sure if this link is still good:

    http://c64os.com/buyersguide/behrbonz

     

    Have fun with the VIC!

     

     

     

    • Like 1
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