Banquo

Thanks, that's reassuring. This is the first time I've ever had a problem like this buying something on ebay and I'm a little frazzled.

The power supply is pretty corroded, I don't know if it even works either. I tried to power it on and got nothing. The inside of the case is also completely rusted. Thanks for the offer though

I plugged it in and flipped the power switch, absolutely nothing happened. It's completely dead. They said they powered it on. Also they would not have to have opened it up to know something was wrong, as I said it was full of big chunks of rusted metal and debris rattling around and raining out of it. The bottom of the box was covered with rust. I wasn't sure if I should link it but why not. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-IIGS-2GS-A2S6000-Computer-Monitor-2-5-25-Drives-Keyboard-Software/292184385665 I just don't think what I got matches up with what's advertised in that listing. They didn't send the box of software either. I'm not really sure what to do now. I filed the claim with eBay and they sent me a return label and told me to ship it back to get a refund, but the buyer said no.

They wrote back and said they were sorry but they only go by the outside looks and "We can't warrantee the internal parts or condition". Uh, they said they power tested it though. Besides that there was tons of rust falling out of it and big chunks of metal ratting around inside. I'm going to file a case I guess. Edit: Filed a case with ebay, it says to pack it up and return it to receive a refund. What if the seller doesn't want to pay though? Does ebay cover it?

You're probably right. Kind of hoping they would reply and make things easy. I was so looking forward to playing some Apple II games this evening. I just don't understand how someone could pretend this thing was working and in great shape as if the buyer isn't going to notice. I didn't look at the ROMs to see what they were, I just packed it all back up. From now on if I buy an old computer on ebay I'll make sure to get photos of the inside and of it actually running.

My Apple IIgs system came today, I was so excited! I thought I got a great deal on it too, the auction said it was tested, in very good condition and well taken care of. Well as soon as I lifted it out of the box I knew something was wrong, the metallic sound of rust and destruction met my ears. It was falling out in the box. When I opened it up this is what greeted me: http://imgur.com/a/bQC11 As soon as I opened it up I felt sick. I've contacted the seller and sent photos but so far have not received a response. Hopefully ebay will cover me if need be.

Early this morning I did my usual check of newly listed items in vintage computing and what appeared on my screen but an Atari 1200XL and power supply for around $100 BIN...I couldn't believe it, literally. So I spent the next five minutes looking for the catch, checking his feedback, reading the listing over and over to find out what was wrong with this deal, and of course it sold almost immediately. Doh! I felt like such an idiot; what was I thinking? Have you ever lost a super deal on something due to being overly cautious or just too slow?

I bought an Atarimax SIO2PC a few months ago and searched all over for a case for it but I never could find one that fit. I tried making one out of Lego and it was sort of ok, but then I discovered that an Atari 2600 cartridge was almost exactly the right width and height for it. I dug out an old game that didn't work (Space Caverns by Apollo) and spent the entire morning hacking away at it with a Dremel. It took some work but I finally got it to fit and I have to say I'm very pleased with the result. Now I can keep it in my game case.

It's true, I just checked it out and started a new listing for "Atari 2600" and these are the recommendations ebay gave me. Personally I rarely if ever choose the eBay templates but many people do so that would certainly explain this sudden phenomenon of "launch edition" listings.

That's good to know. I was wondering why so many different sellers had started using it; seems like such an odd description to use.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks it is stupid; things like this really irritate me. Especially when they put "launch edition" on the 2nd or 3rd revision of a console like the Genesis model 2, lol. It doesn't even make sense.

I noticed a while back that a lot of people have started doing this on ebay and it is getting more prevalent all the time. What is it with putting the phrase "launch edition" in their titles for their console auctions? Everything from the Magnavox Odyssey to the Xbox One. Really misleading, and annoying. https://i.imgur.com/I8zzom3.jpg

Thanks everyone, I'll remember to check the POKEY chip the first thing if it ever happens again. I completely disassembled it a while ago (wow that's a lot of shielding) and cleaned all of the edge connectors and reseated all of the chips. I also looked over the capacitors and they all appear fine, no swelling or signs of leaking or corrosion. They are nearly 40 years old though so I'd really feel better having them replaced; perhaps I'll do that someday. I put it all back together and it's working like a champ so I'm hoping that it was just a bad connection on that chip. Thanks again very much for all the advice. I'm really happy to have it working again.

Thanks, that's a good idea. While I have it apart I'll clean all the socketed chip pins and reseat them and clean the edge connectors on the RAM and ROM carts. I should probably inpsect all the capacitors for leakage too, recently had a TRS-80 Model 100 suffer from a leaked cap which destroyed some traces. The 800 is probably my favorite old system I've ever had so I want to keep it in top notch condition.

I have an original Atari 800, a 1050 floppy drive, and a 1010 program recorder all set up and everything has been working great. A friend stopped by today and I wanted to show it off, but much to my dismay it refused to boot any disks, I just kept getting Memo Pad. I was afraid the 1050 drive had failed but I noticed it wasn't even trying to access the drive. I then tried my SIO2PC and I got the same result. It just kept starting up in Memo Pad, except for one time when it gave a Boot Error. I tried a different SIO cable with no success, unhooked everything, hooked it back up, kept messing with it...then suddenly it began working fine again. I've booted half a dozen disks and we played it for an hour and it's fine now. The trouble is I don't know what was wrong or what fixed it. I'm rather concerned about the whole ordeal. Has anyone ever experienced this issue before or know what could have been wrong? I'm going to take it apart again and look it over more carefully, particularly the SIO connector. I'm wondering if it could possibly have a bad solder joint or something like that. While I had the 1050 apart to clean it I also noticed the rails are as dry as a bone, should I lube them with some silicon grease? Anyway I just thought I would ask about it, I'm sure there are much more experienced people here.

Thanks for the advice, I'll hold onto it as a spare and maybe fix it up when I get something better to open it with. I checked under one of the feet before trying with a knife, it doesn't have any screws unfortunately. It is model C017945. Hopefully the new one will last me now that I know not to plug it into the computer while the adapter is plugged in.

Yesterday was a sad day, for when I went to play my 800 nothing happened. After some checking I found my power supply was completely dead. I did some reading and it seems a common problem is the fuse blowing when you plug or unplug the connector from the computer while the power cord is plugged in, something I didn't know. So I'm guessing it would be a good idea to make sure I turn off my power strip before plugging into the computer from now on. I tried cutting the power brick open to get to the fuse but all I ended up doing was cutting my thumb on the razor knife. Why did they glue these things up like this? I noticed my spare NES AC adapter puts out the proper 9V AC but the connector is just slightly too small to plug in. I just went ahead and ordered another power supply instead of trying to cut this crazy thing open, so I guess I won't be playing Atari today, or for another week.

My SIO cable came in today. I'm happy to say that the drive works perfectly and again it is in great condition so the missing cable was really the only downside for me. I got a practically new cable for just $5 so it wasn't that big a deal really. It doesn't look like he or she even sells Atari stuff or any electronics usually, just knick-knacks, clothes and things like that. They were also really friendly so I believe it was just an honest mistake, not having experience selling this type of item. I let them know that many collectors want the box in unblemished condition. Anyway in the end I'm very happy with my drive now and I think I got a really great deal on it.

Nice. The Wico joysticks are really great, but I think my favorite is the Suncom TAC-2.

I know, I've never had anyone ship something like that before. I spent about an hour with a hair dryer and fortunately I was able to get the labels off without damaging it. I used a little Goo Gone on a cloth and was able to wipe off the remaining residue also, good thing the box has a glossy finish. I'm still disappointed that the SIO cable and the Atari DOS disk is missing, but on the plus side it had a few extra manuals in the box; one for the 810 disk drive and one for the 1030 modem. The drive is in great shape with no yellowing at all and no scratches on the chrome trim and it still has the shipping cardboard insert in it, so all in all not a bad deal (assuming it works of course). I'm pretty confident that it will though.

Just got my 1050 drive in the mail for my Atari 800. Still in the original box and it was a very nice box, until the guy mailed it. He didn't box it up or wrap it or anything, just stuck big mailing labels all over it and ruined it. Maybe I can get them off with the hair dryer trick. He also listed it as like new never used everything included. Turns out it was not only used but the cables and OS disk are missing and the manual has someone's name written on it. Times like these that I really hate buying stuff online. Oh well, at least the drive itself is in great condition. Just need to order the cables and stuff now even though I thought I already bought them with it. I just hope it actually works.

Last week I bought my very first Atari 800 home computer and nine game cartridges (Asteroids, Centipede, Defender, Donkey Kong, Galaxian, Missile Command, Pac-Man, Space Invaders, and Star Raiders). I had a 2600 and Colecovision as a kid but this is already by far my favorite old system. I love the 70s styling; I've always wanted one. When I first hooked it up I was afraid that I had gotten a dead system. The power light would come on but there was no picture, not even a flicker on the TV. I thought perhaps the RF cable might be shorted so I took it apart intending to swap it with the cable from my 2600 only to discover that the cable wasn't even plugged into the board inside. I don't know if it fell out or if a previous owner had forgotten to connect it but now it works perfectly. I still need to give it a good cleaning, there is a lot of dust in the keys, but I think it's in really good condition. I'm also very glad it survived the trip undamaged; the seller just shipped it in a big box with no padding. Yikes! The RF picture was decent but a bit snowy, then I remembered I had an old busted Zenith ZKB-2 PC keyboard with a DIN-5 connector so I cut off its cable, got out my soldering iron, heat shrink tubing and some RCA connectors and wired up a composite cable (happily I can also use it for my TI-99/4a computer). The picture is crystal clear now but I'll probably buy an S-Video cable for it someday. Anyway that's my latest and greatest purchase, now I'm going to play some Donkey Kong.

Demon Attack (Atari 2600) Dragon Quest III (Super Famicom) Shantae and the Pirate's Curse (Steam)

I think the Master System doesn't get enough credit, at least in the US. I know it was very popular in places like Europe but here everyone seems to put it down unfairly. It certainly didn't have library that the NES did (thanks to Nintendo's strongarm tactics) but it's still a fun little system and has its own unique style. Perhaps the Intellivision also. While the controllers were pretty bad I think it has some great games and is a lot more fun than many people give it credit for. While it is a computer and not a console I think the TI-99 is also often very underrated. It has some really great games including what are in my opinion the very best home ports of Space Invaders and Q*Bert on any classic home system.

Nostalgia primarily; I had the Colecovision as a child, my first console. So today I collect for it. The games are cheap and the library not to massive so that helps too. However if nostalgia is not a factor then for me it comes down to cost of collecting and whether it's a system I enjoy playing. I wouldn't attempt to collect for the SNES for example because it would cost a fortune so I only buy the games for it that I really enjoy and want to play. Also little things like cartridge styles. I never had a 5200 for example but I love the cartridge design. Big and hefty and the large labels allow for some really nice artwork. I started picking those up here and there long before I even bought a 5200 just because I liked how they look. Of course the games are really great too.