PeBo

I don't visit the ST forums often, so I hope this is the right place for this question.... What is the best DEDICATED Atari ST emulator out there? (Subjective I know) For years I was completely sold on Steem Engine, but a downgrade to Windows 10 seems to have slowed it down considerably (I also downgraded my PC's GPU when both my SLI cards died, which may have effect emulation speed as well (seems to have killed fullscreen anyway) Steem Engine is getting pretty old now, and the only other dedicated emulator I've tried and liked was WinSTon a gazillion years ago, so I'm wondering if there are any new emulation software out there that I may have missed.

I definitely prefer running software on the real console, but when it comes to programming, Classic99 (luv you Tursi) for testing, and TextPad (from Helios Software Solutions) for editing is the only way to go. Speaking of emulation, what is the best Atari 2600 style USB joystick out there??? I go through the cheap ones in under a month!

Gee and I thought I was the only one that started (then deserted) a spending spreadsheet when I started TI collecting 3 years ago.

My 2 ebay items that I truly regret not having bought were a working 99/4 (with headphone jack, volume slider & overlays), and a sidecar Thermal Printer. The 4 sold for more than I wanted to spend, but I've regretted not putting up the cash ever since, because the only others that have shown up have been in rough shape, or lacked the power supply (which is not 4A compatible). The Thermal Printer sold for under $200, and even came with 2 rolls of Thermal paper, so my butt is very black and blue from kicking myself over that one.

As Ω points out, everything is worth something to someone...sometimes much more that the actual value, other times much less than its rarity would suggest. The thing to always keep in mind is that the TI enthusiast community is a relatively small one, and it probably only takes the existence of maybe 300-400 units of an item for all of us to own one (hoarding aside). I doubt if there are that many Corcomp sidecars out there, and while they do show up from time to time, they are far from common items. What are they worth? Well they are worth exactly what someone is willing to pay for one. I paid $150 (+shipping!) for a Terminal Emulator I module, just to have it in my collection, but I've let Corcomp sidecars units go by a couple times now in the same price range. Now obviously the actual value of a piece of rare hardware should trump the value of rare software (if original retail is the basis), but no one can define personal value. I am still missing 6 TI released cartridges (not including foreign language variations of items I already own), and I would likely pay more for any of them than logic or common sense would dictate. But common sense never has anything to do with "want"

Last month marked the point where I've spent more on my 2016 TI and software than I did back in 1983 when I bought my first one. But the be fair WAY more than 3/4 of that is shipping. If I was an Atari or Commodore enthusiast, that wouldn't be an issue, as their 8-bit computers were wildly popular North of the 49th, but the 4A - not so much. I was lucky enough to find my Extended Basic cartridge and PEB (w/RS232/32K/dual drives/controller) up here, and a few items in Germany and the UK, where shipping is considerably cheaper, but the vast majority has comes from the US, where it is a rare occasion when shipping doesn't double the price (triple or more under the eBay Global Shipping rip-off, where brokerage fees are calculated by final selling price, not on actual trade treaty duty/tax values). I estimate that I've spent about $1500 purchasing, and probably an additional $3000-$4000 just getting stuff here. (and I haven't even factored in the exchange rate, which has been all over the map over the past 3 years, dropping at one point to 65¢ on the US $ (today it sits at 78¢)) A Heroin addiction would have been cheaper, but much less fun.

The original 8K BIN release was probably just missed. (was one of the first games I "stored" on my FR99, loving as I do all DBT games)

Holy poop! Thank You so Much for this. Makes me want to head down to CompuCentre, Marketron, Simpson-Sears or Eaton right now! (Marketron was the best, hidden under Toronto's TD Centre they had an entire wall of TI software, and he'd order any hardware your wallet would allow!)

Games are soooo much cheaper now! I bought my first computer (my beloved 4A) because a friend, who had an Atari 400, had just paid $150 for "Captain Beeble" and "Popeye" in a package "deal"... To which I said " $150??? What's the use if owning a computer instead of an video game machine, if you're not going to make your own games". To which he said "If you think it's so easy to program a computer, why don't you buy one and show me!" Never one to turn down a snooty challenge, he set the ball rolling for me to meet all you fine people over 30 years later!!! (Captain Beeble WAS a kick-a$$ game though!)

Thinking of British drama series, I seem to remember knowing EXACTLY how Emma Peel made me feel when I was knee-high to a grass-hopper! Now that I am an adult though, and a fan of Game of Thrones, Dame Enid Diana Rigg doesn't have quite the same effect on my, um... "libido" as she did in thigh high boots and vinyl jump suits. Since my boyhood fantasy was so utterly destroyed, I thought I'd do the same for you (although one must admit they both became stately handsome women, the "OMG" effect is long gone!) And LOVED Blakes 7!! (Actually preferred it to Doctor Who (is that a sin?)) It took 30 years for people to realize what a classic it was!

I bought my PEB used for $650 CAD in 1983. it came with 32K and a SSSD drive & TI controller. If I remember correctly, I believe the RS232 was $200 on top of that. Of course those are Canadian $'s... The bank exchange rate in 1983 was 1.23 so I'm guessing the consumer exchange rate would have been close to 1.29 meaning the total in US $'s would have been around $1096. My original TI remains the most expensive computer I've ever owned (wage/cost ratio). I would have taken home around $1200 a month in '83, and we're just talking about the cost of the PEB...by the time I bought that, I had already parted with a sizeable bit of cash (there were no $99 TI's up here!!)

'twould seem that I have accidentally done my good deed for the day!

Agreed. we have the Marketplace elsewhere in the forums, but 4A'ers tend to get lost in the stormy blast of other systems. I HAVE found things I was looking for in Marketplace, but more often than not, I've received PM's from other members in answer to just regular messages I've posted in the regular TI forum (Is it still OK to call forum sections SIGs or is that just too old school - "the TI SIG" just sounds more correct to old BBS farts like me). A dedicated topic thread would also give some people incentive to finally list some of that hardware they've been thinking about getting rid of, but were looking for the right motivation. (I'm pretty sure schmitzi's got two or three of everything (heck, I think I saw 2 or 3 HUNDRED speech synthesizers in his last man-cave pix! ) Also, lets be frank, we've gotta help Sinphaltimus find an affordable PEB out of pure compassion (and so we can start cashing-in selling him our spare cards!! cha-ching)

Anyone who ever owned an Atari ST will remember the "Atari-Twist" where to reseat certain chips (can't remember which ones were the culprits) one would pick up the ST and "twist" it (grabbing it with a hand on either side of the keyboard and turning one hand forward, and the other back a few times. It was a bizarre fix, but it always worked without fail. I learned quickly that the nanoPEB also has a problem with the memory becoming unseated. I don;t know how many times I've had things start to act wonky, and realized that I suddenly no longer had 32K expansion memory...sometimes in mid-use. Luckily, being an exposed board, the fix isn't quit as weird as fixing the ST, but anytime I've had a problem with the nanoPEB (several times a week with the current heat wave hap'nin up here) it's been that the memory needs a little manual pressure. Not sure if your problem is related Ω, but giving the nanoPEB's memory a little push from time to time, to ensure it's properly seated, always works for me. And as I said, the little bugger is really affected by high environmental temperature.

mickey's??? pshaw...you'll never be a lumberjack if you don't bring a 40 pounder

I've been reading stories from Italy all day, but your post has brought it even closer to home. It may sound "rehearsed" since everyone says this in these cases, but in absolute sincerity, I send my thoughts and prayers out to the residents of Umbria Lazio and Marche - and all the surrounding areas. May God grant everyone affected the courage and strength to overcome their devastating losses and the challenges ahead .

Bullpoop brother. We're simply running out of software to convert. As Ω stated earlier, we're approaching 200 FR99 compatible programs...there were only 150ish carts released by TI and maybe 100 (+/-) 3rd party carts, so the thread was bound to slow down. With the 32k limit and no GROM emulation, I never thought we'd reach a full SD, but here we are. Anyway, makes little sense kicking yourself when you've done nothing but instruct and assist. Perhaps JediMatt42 and Mantadoc were the mad rippers that kept the party going until the wee small hours, you brought the mix and munchies! (I brought the doobs, but that's just what Canadians do)

Grazie amico! I will wait until a 9900 shows up at a more wife-friendly price. No real rush anyway, my stock TI controller works just fine for now. (if I get a Lotharek, I will want larger partitions than 90k, so I'll look at an alternative controller then...and who knows what alternative storage options we'll have in a few months)

Ya, but the shipping is only $3.00, so there's that. This guy also posts on ebay all the time (never reasonable, but usually a helluva lot less than this one), but never includes an actual photo. Not I don;t know about others, but I can't see spending $2000 on a used book without seeing the actual book (to ensure that it comes with a platinum cover, and gold-leaf pages).

I didn't bother with both halves, I just carved a space for the SD on the bottom half of the shell, cut the nipple of plastic that fits into a standard cart board (the screw hole) at the point where it become wide, and shaved a bit off each side (I thank the Gods every morning for air, water, food and Dremel accessories). This gave the FR99 board a 'snug' fit (not really the right word....lets just say it stays in position when inserting or removing it from the cartridge port, and gives it a firm base when hitting the reset button.) The top I just left exposed (I kinda like that anyway). I will admit though that I have been eyeing one of my Navarone carts that comes in a Romox shell, since that looks like it might just fit it with very little cutting. Just hate to destroy the Navarone cart to get the shell, so I think I'll just stick with it being half-nekkid or break down and buy one of the 3D printed shells.

I remember the one from Blaine Crandell for $95 it was the only one I had ever seen on the US or Canadian ebay (then again I've only been looking for a couple years). It also came with the manual and other documentation...from what I can tell the one currently listed for $300 CAD is just the coupler and box. It's also what I based my rejected offer on. Just seems crazy that someone would pay more than $100 (or heck $300) for something that's just going to sit there and look pretty. btw, how much is a corcomp 9900 worth in the real world. Another toy I'd like to get, but £280 translates to $470 CAD ($365 US) which seems high to me. (But in this case I'm less certain since I've NEVER seen one on ebay before) Not that she would EVER let me spend nearly $500 on something that isn't women's size 7, leather and contained in a shoe box.

Tried $99...guess that's below his minimum acceptable bid, because it was rejected automatically. Guess I'll have to see if reality catches up with him in the next 29 days when the ad expires. Maybe he'll put it up for auction (although that's still useless if he adds a reserve of over $99, which seems likely in this case) He's also got a PEB (empty except for Firehose and card) for $249US a full height TI drive for $200US and a TI controller for $100US, so I doubt if he's going to reconsider his prices unless stuff simply doesn't move for a long time. Then again, I've seen consoles (not even NIB) stay listed at over $200 for months and months even after they've been told by multiple people that the price should be closer to $50. Hope rings eternal I guess.

Two of my favorite next-generation games are Jet Pack and Darkstar (I have lost so much sleep with this one!), both of which require Turbo Forth, and while not being quite what you describe (requiring TurboForth to be on the FR99 rather than a custom FR99 version of the games themselves), they are two examples of using discs with the FR99. I would be lost without E/A5 II and TurboForth on my FR99 because of the great disc based games I continue to play (finally made it onto the WarZone II high score screen - hell ya! God bless every coder that adds/added high score disc-saves to their proggies!!!!!)

Have wanted one of these since re-entering the world of TI-fandom after a 35 year hiatus, but seeing as this is an item that serves absolutely no purpose beyond being a nostalgic dust collector (at least I can see no other purpose) the price seems way out of whack with reality. At nearly $300 CAD it is about double what I paid for my PEB (with firehose/32k/RS232/DSSD drives and controller!). So I'd like to make an offer, but wanted some opinions on what would constitute low-balling in this case, because I find it hard to imagine going above $99 (US).

I found my original french TI-Basic Reference Card a few months ago...a somewhat lesser find than yours, but it is all that remains of my original era TI hobby (and was kept by accident - found between unrelated documents), so it was still a cool discovery at the time. Nowadays, if I go looking for stashed treasures, I open the closet door, and stand there for a few minutes trying to figure out why the heck I opened the closet door, then just say "screw-it" and close it again. I can remember 40 years ago like it was yesterday, but don't ask me what I was doing 10 minutes ago!