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What is your retro computing most "irrational want?"


rpiguy9907

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I just picked up a Coleco Adam and a Vectrex, so those are now squared away. In terms of remaining irrational wants ... hmm.

 

- An Apple Lisa (not much software, and hideously expensive, but so gorgeous)

- An Apple III (the same as above, only a bit less so)

- A Transwarp GS (accelerator for the Apple IIGS)

- A Commodore C128D (irrational because I already have a C64 system that meets all my C= needs)

- A Compaq 386 Portable

- A Sega Master System

 

Just in general, I'd really love one, organized online store with all the cables, hardware, and hobbyist boards (XT-IDE, CFFA3000, all the various multicarts), repro Vectrex overlays, floppy drive parts, all available in one spot, with lots of inventory available, reviews from vintage computer fans, compatibility figured out (for example, buy THIS CF card for use with the CFFA3000!), and offering services like recapping of old Macs, retiming old floppy drives, and retrobriting.

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Fresh pick-ups and testings :

 

IMG_20160417_1505091_zpsg8jq4uti.jpg

Lvov-PC-01, or Львів ПК-01, made in Ukraine around 1988.

Classic (and rather weak at the time) 8088 based system, 64Ko of RAM, a video chip offering 4 colors on screen from a palette of 8.

A sorta cross between a Spectrum and an IBM XT. Game looks fun and inventive.

 

IMG_20160418_2145191_zpssdjwbuxt.jpg

 

And nothing beats in coolness a booting screen with the name of the computer that appears in pixelated 3D.

 

The picture is bad because I tested it quick with the composite output. A stange issue with the video output of this computer is that the RGB values are reversed; if displayed on a SCART or CGA monitor, the green, red and Blue will be "reversed" (think about applying a "negative" filter) so I need to find a simple circuit to reverse the values of the video.

 

And an Orel BC-08, or Орель БК-08

 

Orel%20BK-08%201_zpsagkog3cj.jpg

Unlike the Lvov, the video output is a standard SCART compatible, so it was an easy enough job to do.

 

Unlike most other Soviet clones which have been "russified" and reworked for internal use, this one was modified in a way that left it (mostly) compatible with original Spectrum software. Tho it's not perfect.

 

Orel%20BK-08%20ecran%20jeu_zps8fmaimbg.j

Error, not sure if that's the loading (I was laoding the MP3 from a site, and it's possible that the file stopped loading mere seconds before the end) or an incompatibility issue.

Of course I can't tell because the error message is in Russian. But that give me a nice picture to make anyway.

 

Well, that's one less irrational want down, a Spectrum clone is mine!

Edited by CatPix
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Another irrational want of mine is a Commodore Amiga 2232 serial card - not to run terminals, but to remove the socketed 65CE02 and put it on a breadboard to play around with the extra Z register and 16-bit operations!

 

I very nearly bought one at VCF East for $25 dollars (picture attached below), but the chances of me ever building my own computer from scratch is pretty much nil at this point. So I just drooled over it for several minutes, LOL.

 

 

post-45042-0-51977800-1461119263_thumb.jpg

post-45042-0-18740000-1461119271_thumb.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

I spent $500 bucks on a BRAND NEW (literally) Kay Pro PC-10 8088 computer that had originally been purchased by the Department of Defense, and was then stored away in some warehouse where it sat (air conditioned) for several decades, only to end up on eBay. I haggled the guy down from the $1,000 that he wanted. There was no reason why I needed this... but my original one (which I still had), the battery had failed and ate part of the motherboard. This one was brand new... I had to get it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Sharp MZ-800

Sharp X-1

Sharp X68000

Sinclair Jupiter Ace

Sinclair QL

Acorn BBC B

Enterprise 64 or 128

NEC - PC-6001

NEC PC-8001

NEC - PC8801

NEC - PC98

Fujitsu FM-7

Thomson MO6

Sord M5

Acorn Electron

Dragon 64

Oric Atmos

TRS-80 Model 1 and Model 3

Apple I

Kim - 1

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A TI-99/8. What I would do with it, I have no idea but I want one. I remember reading about them back in 1983 and getting excited and then TI pulled out of the market :(

 

The other one would be an Acorn A5000. I had one (again back in the day) and loved it and would love to have one again. I actually Sold it and bought a DX2-66 PC (Damn you DOOM). Even though I know it would be a real hassle to get it working here in the USA with the voltage(240v) and it's strange display requirements (15khz or get the **** out) I would do it just to have one more go on 'Chocks Away'.

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A TI-99/8. What I would do with it, I have no idea but I want one. I remember reading about them back in 1983 and getting excited and then TI pulled out of the market :(

 

The other one would be an Acorn A5000. I had one (again back in the day) and loved it and would love to have one again. I actually Sold it and bought a DX2-66 PC (Damn you DOOM). Even though I know it would be a real hassle to get it working here in the USA with the voltage(240v) and it's strange display requirements (15khz or get the **** out) I would do it just to have one more go on 'Chocks Away'.

I never heard of a 99/8 so I looked it up. They are a fortune on eBay!

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/131831647887

 

Crazy!!!

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  • 2 weeks later...

After getting a Vectrex and a BBC Micro I'd say it's a DAI Personal Computer and maybe a Jupiter Ace.

 

I only ever saw the DAI during a vacation in the window of a closed shop in a town I don't remember and found the specs on the sheet next to it as well as the design interesting. With the Jupiter Ace it's the sheer "being-other-ness" that intrigued me.

 

(An internal 80col-card for my Atari 800 is probably as irrational as they seem to have vanished from the face of the earth - probably all tucked away by collectors but at least I could pretend I "need" it or actually use it.)

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The topic is irrational wants, right?

 

Well, I want to travel back in time with all these cool and groovy modern gadgets that can now be connected to vintage rigs, and get a chance to enjoy them "back-in-the-day". Imagine going back with a lotharek drive (and a healthy supply of pre-filled SD's - since they'd be a tad difficult to find in 1982)

 

Of course being in my 20's again would be an added bonus.

 

Unfortunately, I know for a fact (don't ask me how) that the time travel card (that will connect to a TI 99/4A's expansion port) won't be released until 2027.

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I would really like a full-blown ADAM setup. Like, that giant BOX full o' stuff from back in the day, with a pristine white original setup. Not the Expansion Module 3, mind you, although I'd take that in a pinch, lol, but the good ol' monster that brought down Coleco.

 

I wouldn't use it for anything, I doubt I'd play games on it and I'd have to find a period specific CRT to go with it, but I'd like to add that to my CV collection. I've always wanted one, and the closest was around 25 or so years ago when you could buy the pieces of the system separately out of the back pages of computer mag advertisers.

 

Totally stupid want, but an irrational want nonetheless!

 

 

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/142018855187?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&fromMakeTrack=true

 

 

...well...egad.

Edited by atarilovesyou
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I have close to 70 vintage computers and 30 vintage consoles yet I want more.

 

My short list of things I want but cannot buy (can't justify cost for a hobby):

 

Apple Lisa

Apple III

Commodore 65 (yes, 65)

Atari Falcon

Spectrum 128 (shipping is killer)

MSX 1/2/3 (any brand)

Apple IIc

Apple II+

ORIC-1

BBC Micro

Amstrad (can't remember model)

Many more....

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I want modern upgrades for my retro machines to cost what the Arduino and similar things cost. Those are made for a much larger audience, and they tend to use small boards with few components, so it's easy to make them $5-50 each or less in quantity, depending on what they do.

 

But even a small board with half a dozen chips for retro machines cost in the neighborhood of $60-200 or even $300, even if the chips themselves are often nowadays the same ones you see in other low-cost devices. I understand the economies of scale, but still.

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