Jump to content
IGNORED

What is your retro computing most "irrational want?"


rpiguy9907

Recommended Posts

 

Ooooh. That's some prime fap material right there :D

 

That is a special TEMPEST GRiDCASE model that was designed for classified information processing. Was the last model to have the thin film electroluminescent display, and was not sold commercially, but only to the US Govt (and specifically to select departments). By most counts there are about 5 of these left in the whole world, less than 50 were made. (standard procedure was to destroy upon decommission, this one survives because only the tempest hard drive caddy was removed...a replacement disk was bolted directly to chassis to get it working again.)

 

-Thom

Edited by tschak909
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

That is a special TEMPEST GRiDCASE model that was designed for classified information processing. Was the last model to have the thin film electroluminescent display, and was not sold commercially, but only to the US Govt (and specifically to select departments).

 

-Thom

 

Yep. That's what makes it so fapworthy :D

 

Somewhere I have a Newton MP130 that was government-issue. I'll need to dig that out next time I'm near where it is; it has some unusual modifications.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I am looking for a Control Data Viking-721 PLATO terminal. Extremely difficult to find:

 

61552561_10156113940647115_2413647792149

 

This one has a Control Data CDC-110 floppy disk drive and controller, turning the terminal into either a micro-PLATO system or a CP/M system, depending on booted disk.

 

-Thom

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

My most irrational want for a PC would be the Daewoo IQ series comouters, CIB(Not NIB! I actually want to use it!). These are licensed versiona of MSX computers obly sold in South Korea and a broken one in a flea market would cost $200. 

In gaming... Probably a CIB Magnavox Odyssey?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/29/2019 at 7:54 AM, JamesD said:

I fixed my Apple III, got it to boot, then sold it.
The OS, and some of the software was sort of advanced, but not enough to justify keeping the huge beast.
Freakin heavy!!

 

 

lol I do this all the time with system's, I have more fun fixing them than using them 

 

as far as the apple II I grew up with one, and when it left I never looked back, until I did so I had a //c for about 7 years then I sold it a couple years ago, it has its charms, IMO as a productivity computer its one of the best, but now day's im not using it to write papers and keep the budget up to date, I want something goofy and fun like an Atari or Commodore that plays advanced space shooter and demos n shit 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

I want a Sharp x68000 for no other purpose than to play Star Wars: Attack on the Death Star

Yeah I've toyed around with getting an X68000, but they're expensive, hard to find games/accessories for, and require some knowledge of Japanese for a few things.  I thought about emulating one, but if I'm going to emulate an X68000 for arcade quality games then might as well just use MAME.  It's definitely one of the last systems on my want list, but not one I think I'll end up getting.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Flojomojo said:

I want a Sharp x68000 for no other purpose than to play Star Wars: Attack on the Death Star

 

 

I don't know if you are aware of this, but this game was probably the first 3D game in which you can choose between camera angles. The creator of the game, Mikito Ichikawa (a very nice guy by the way), testified about it during a trial because SEGA wanted to patent troll the whole industry about this feature they thought they invented with Virtua Racing.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/30/2019 at 4:38 PM, jdollatari said:

msx and fm towns from japan would be nice to!

This thread is about irrational wants, things you really don't have any reason to want or would know what to do with if you got it. It would seem like at least some of the items you listed are quite the opposite, dear wants you could argue why you're getting them and have use of them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

42 minutes ago, tep392 said:

I was reminded of my irrational want during a Smithsonian visit. While not cost prohibitive, I just dont know what I would do with it. Would probably end up as a display piece. 

There are several computers I've wanted over the years, but reached the same conclusion.  Other than maybe bringing them to shows to show off, they're not something I'd actually use much so they'd just sit on a shelf.  I've got too much stuff like that as is.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 9/4/2019 at 9:47 AM, tep392 said:

I was reminded of my irrational want during a Smithsonian visit. While not cost prohibitive, I just dont know what I would do with it. Would probably end up as a display piece. 

ACB3F038-5DA0-4A25-8BDA-4508100F7D83.jpeg

7536E019-2D19-4B62-ADB9-4A7FFBCB96A9.jpeg

wordperfect and zork with a toggle switch bootloader *yea I know roms n shit but 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, ubersaurus said:

At this stage, probably a Cosmac VIP. I got my Spectrum last visit to the UK, and while an MSX would be neat the VIP is just so weird!

 

 

An Altair 8800 would also be neat if only to run that Space War conversion to it.

The VIP is more like the early single board machines like the KIM 1... but with a really limited video added on. 
I'd love to spend some time programming the CPU, but the rest of the hardware is so limited, it's hardly worth messing with.  
It's cool from a historical standpoint though.

I think I'd skip the Altair and go with a modern equivalent.  There's a work alike machine out of Japan with a Z180 (64180?) that looks pretty cool.
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^^ Perhaps someone could interface the RCA 1802 with a non-RCA graphics chip like the famous TI VDP or why not a VIC-II. I'm aware of the 1869/1870 VIS used in e.g. the Comx 35 but though it has higher resolution and eight colours, it isn't super exciting graphics wise. (But that is a discussion for another thread)

 

Edit:

Oh, there was an obscure Spanish arcade game in 1982 called Night Mare that is driven by two 1802's (one for main logic and one for sound generation) plus two VDP 9928 chips relabeled EFO 90501. While not being a computer, I suppose it could qualify as an irrational want for an arcade game collector.

 

MAME source with some technical details:

https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/master/src/mame/drivers/nightmare.cpp

Edited by carlsson
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...