ACML Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 I'm always on the lookout for a mint 1200XL on Ebay. For the last year there seemed to be at least one (no, not mint) on Ebay at any given time. As of the last month, I'm not seeing any 1200XL's. As a matter of fact, not many 8-bit machines (400/800/1200XL). What's up? Is someone cornering the market on 8-bit hardware? Just curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariGeezer Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 (edited) What Search Words are you using and what Categories? I've seen about 4 1200XL's in the past month. I even bought one of them... There's also been quite a few A8's, like at least 20 in the past month... Edited June 7, 2011 by AtariGeezer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carmel_andrews Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Sounds like bob1200 is back buying 1200's again (i thought he'd just let go of an attic full) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACML Posted June 7, 2011 Author Share Posted June 7, 2011 What Search Words are you using and what Categories? I've seen about 4 1200XL's in the past month. I even bought one of them... There's also been quite a few A8's, like at least 20 in the past month... Yes, there are a few 8-bit computers, but for a while you could find 20 800's, 10 400's and 10 800XL's on any given day. Things have dried up. Hey, did the keyboard on your 1200XL work well? I bought one on Ebay that only had ~50% of the keys working. I attempted the trace fix using circuit writer and almost succeeded. I achieved about 95% reliability and made the poor choice of spaying the PCB with aerosol electronics cleaner without completely removing the mylar film. It turned the mylar spacer into goo. Bob1200XL came to the rescue with a working keyboard. I'd attempt it again, but I know now to remove the mylar before cleaning. Santee, CA? I grew up in San Diego and used to buy a lot of Atari 8-bit stuff from a guy named Ray in Santee. I think that's where I bought a 1MB ICD MIO back in the mid 80's. Wow, listen to me, "back in the mid 80's", I'm getting old! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariGeezer Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Yes, there are a few 8-bit computers, but for a while you could find 20 800's, 10 400's and 10 800XL's on any given day. Things have dried up. Hey, did the keyboard on your 1200XL work well? I bought one on Ebay that only had ~50% of the keys working. I attempted the trace fix using circuit writer and almost succeeded. I achieved about 95% reliability and made the poor choice of spaying the PCB with aerosol electronics cleaner without completely removing the mylar film. It turned the mylar spacer into goo. Bob1200XL came to the rescue with a working keyboard. I'd attempt it again, but I know now to remove the mylar before cleaning. Santee, CA? I grew up in San Diego and used to buy a lot of Atari 8-bit stuff from a guy named Ray in Santee. I think that's where I bought a 1MB ICD MIO back in the mid 80's. Wow, listen to me, "back in the mid 80's", I'm getting old! The 1200xl I got said it had "sticky keys", but upon arrival it tested fine. Haven't had to clean a keyboard yet Old?, nah I'm near 52, but don't feel old yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Guitarman Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Santee, CA? I grew up in San Diego and used to buy a lot of Atari 8-bit stuff from a guy named Ray in Santee. I think that's where I bought a 1MB ICD MIO back in the mid 80's. Wow, listen to me, "back in the mid 80's", I'm getting old! Santee/Lakeside here too. Did this "Ray" have a shop down near Magnolia and Prospect?? My first 1200XL I purchased was at Warners Computers down near the sports arena. That was the place to go for upgrades and repair back in the day. I still have that 1200XL, in the box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACML Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 (edited) Santee, CA? I grew up in San Diego and used to buy a lot of Atari 8-bit stuff from a guy named Ray in Santee. I think that's where I bought a 1MB ICD MIO back in the mid 80's. Wow, listen to me, "back in the mid 80's", I'm getting old! Santee/Lakeside here too. Did this "Ray" have a shop down near Magnolia and Prospect?? My first 1200XL I purchased was at Warners Computers down near the sports arena. That was the place to go for upgrades and repair back in the day. I still have that 1200XL, in the box. I can't remember the location, but he (Ray) had a shop in Santee. He specialized in Atari 8-bit then morphed into IBM 8086 AT's in the early 90's. Yeah, I remember Warner Engineering off Roscrans near the Sports Arena. I think at one point in the mid 80's, they were giving away 1200XL's at a time share pitch in San Diego. Remember, in the mid to late 80's the stigma of the 1200XL was still strong, no one wanted them and they were in this case, literally giving them away. I may be confusing him with someone else, but I think his full name was Ray Main. He was retired Navy. In 1990, you buy 1200XLs for ~$25 and populated motherboards for $5 from B&C Computers. It wasn't until the 90's that the 1200XL was seen for what it was and still is, no more incompatible than the 600/800XL and absolutely the best 8-bit computer Atari ever made. I have long sold my vast collection of 8-bit hardware (2004), but when I got interested in obtaining real hardware, I only wanted one machine. It had to be a 1200XL. If the 1200XL did not have the incompatibility issue and Atari was as savvy as Apple (giving every middle & high school computers), history would be different. I used Apple II's in high school (circa 1981), but the 400 was my first computer and it smoked the Apple II's. Edited June 8, 2011 by ACML Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 I'm always on the lookout for a mint 1200XL on Ebay. For the last year there seemed to be at least one (no, not mint) on Ebay at any given time. As of the last month, I'm not seeing any 1200XL's. As a matter of fact, not many 8-bit machines (400/800/1200XL). What's up? Is someone cornering the market on 8-bit hardware? Just curious. There's one there today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Havok69 Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 I'm always on the lookout for a mint 1200XL on Ebay. For the last year there seemed to be at least one (no, not mint) on Ebay at any given time. As of the last month, I'm not seeing any 1200XL's. As a matter of fact, not many 8-bit machines (400/800/1200XL). What's up? Is someone cornering the market on 8-bit hardware? Just curious. There's one there today And it's a steal! A real museum piece, however with a big old scratch next to the 1200XL logo... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariGeezer Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 What's the item number on that scratched one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Guitarman Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 And it's a steal! A real museum piece, however with a big old scratch next to the 1200XL logo... Steal???? LOL!!! eBay Auction -- Item Number: 320675266257 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Guitarman Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 I can't remember the location, but he (Ray) had a shop in Santee. He specialized in Atari 8-bit then morphed into IBM 8086 AT's in the early 90's. Yeah, I remember Warner Engineering off Roscrans near the Sports Arena. I think at one point in the mid 80's, they were giving away 1200XL's at a time share pitch in San Diego. Remember, in the mid to late 80's the stigma of the 1200XL was still strong, no one wanted them and they were in this case, literally giving them away. I may be confusing him with someone else, but I think his full name was Ray Main. He was retired Navy. In 1990, you buy 1200XLs for ~$25 and populated motherboards for $5 from B&C Computers. It wasn't until the 90's that the 1200XL was seen for what it was and still is, no more incompatible than the 600/800XL and absolutely the best 8-bit computer Atari ever made. I have long sold my vast collection of 8-bit hardware (2004), but when I got interested in obtaining real hardware, I only wanted one machine. It had to be a 1200XL. If the 1200XL did not have the incompatibility issue and Atari was as savvy as Apple (giving every middle & high school computers), history would be different. I used Apple II's in high school (circa 1981), but the 400 was my first computer and it smoked the Apple II's. Ray Main sounds familiar. If it is the same place, I worked there for a short time and took my pay in hardware. I do remember him having the MIO boards. It seems to me he also had the guts to a 815 disk drive. I remember a dual 810 with no case around it. I also spend more money than I made at the time at the Federated store in El Cajon when Atari took them over!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svenski Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 That ebay 1200XL gets re-listed every now and then. Bless it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtm Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 And it's a steal! A real museum piece, however with a big old scratch next to the 1200XL logo... Steal???? LOL!!! eBay Auction -- Item Number: 320675266257 Yeah, stealing from anyone dumb enough to pay that much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Havok69 Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 Yeah, stealing from anyone dumb enough to pay that much Precisely! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qix_maniac Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 (edited) Yeah, stealing from anyone dumb enough to pay that much Precisely! what is a fair value for a 1200xl? I've seen them goobled up quickly when they are listed,usually $200 US , even more if disk drive and some games/disks... Edited June 9, 2011 by qix_maniac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 you could get a re-con from Best Electronics or myatari (B+C) http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/800xl.htm#Wizz http://www.myatari.com/atarixlh.txt or a cheaper one from 4jays (if they have anything left in stock) http://www.4jays.com/atari8bit.html a pimped out one from Atarimax http://www.atarimax.com/forsale/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krslam Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 I'm always on the lookout for a mint 1200XL on Ebay. For the last year there seemed to be at least one (no, not mint) on Ebay at any given time. As of the last month, I'm not seeing any 1200XL's. As a matter of fact, not many 8-bit machines (400/800/1200XL). What's up? Is someone cornering the market on 8-bit hardware? Just curious. There's been a reduction in the number of almost all heavy, expensive to ship items since evilbay started including shipping cost in the final value fee computation. And most that do get listed have horrible BINs as sellers roll the worst-case-scenario shipping costs + fees into the purchase price. Only about 7% of listings are true auctions now (was 15-20% before the fee change). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwalla Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 As of this morning there are a number of Atari computers up for bid on ebay. I have noticed a slowdown over the last couple of months in the overall number of auctions in general though (Atari computers and consoles). Personally, i'm wary of ebay when it comes to vintage electronics - you can get lucky here and there and you can get burned even faster. I've been wanting to get a spare XE game machine and received one yesterday from B&C - $68 delivered in the box and looking and playing as good as new. The first thing I did was play a game of Star Raiders and Rescue on Fractalus! Those guys are so cool and nice to deal with. The way I see it, if you want a 1200XL then call up B&C or Best Electronics and get a mint, clean system ready to use with no worries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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