Ever give up on a computer hobby?

[Omega-TI]

Have you ever woke up one morning wondering why you've been dumping so much time, or effort or money into a specific classic computer?  Has your interest ever vanished over night? 

 

[jaybird3rd]

Never.

[+save2600]

Yes, lots of them over the past 35 years. Some of the notable machines I had invested a lot of time and money on at one time:

 

ADAM

Apple ][

Atari 8-bit

Atari ST

Bally Astrocade

Vic-20

TRS-80

 

...and the IBM PC platform in general, before I ditched it about 15 years ago and switched to Mac. 

[jhd]

 

I have never been inclined to collect vintage computer hardware (primarily because it is extremely difficult to find at local retail, but also due to the steep learning curve), so I have never abandoned the hobby. 

 

I have technically abandoned collecting for the 2600, but that is because I have not seen any "new" games at retail in a very long time, and also because the bulk of my collection is currently in storage several thousand miles away. 

 

 

[+save2600]

1 hour ago, --- Ω --- said:

Have you ever woke up one morning wondering why you've been dumping so much time, or effort or money into a specific classic computer?  Has your interest ever vanished over night? 

 

Have to ask... you're not starting to feel that way about the TI, are you?

[Omega-TI]

53 minutes ago, save2600 said:

Have to ask... you're not starting to feel that way about the TI, are you?

Fraid so. 

[AtariLeaf]

I was like that with the Tandy coco, a computer I was nostalgic for but didn't actually play too much since I found 90 to 95% of the library of games didn't hold up very well today

[Flojomojo]

You don't have to quit, you can just dial down the intensity for a while. All the good old stuff will still be out there in virtual form. That's how I am with classic Macintosh, DOS, and early Windows. 

[+save2600]

11 hours ago, --- Ω --- said:

Fraid so. 

Like Flojo said, maybe just dial it back a bit. I've had to do that with various systems throughout the years, for fear of getting burned out. And honestly, I'm at a point where sometimes it's more fun just talking about the stuff and reading what others have to share vs. always being hands on anymore. That said, I'm down to a few select choice systems both computer and console wise - and would have a tough time parting with any of them.

 

Nice thing about the TI, is that most of the collectibility side of it isn't worth a ton of money. So the temptation isn't really there to "cash in" and find something else to do with the cash. Can always stuff it in the closet so to speak, and revisit when you get the itch. And if that never happens after so long, can always sell later. 

 

 

[DragonGrafx-16]

I gave up on my Gatewsy 2000 P590 because the motherboard died. I replaced it with an AT tower with a Socket 7 board and I now use that for all of my DOS gaming.

[Cepp]

I lost inteest in the Amiga but it wasn't overnight.

 

I still love my late 90s PC though.

[amiman99]

I did try to collect for Ti computers, got the PC, some games, but in the end it did not click with me. Was sitting in the box mostly, so I sold it and did not look back.

[Arnuphis]

Necessity forced me to unload a few of my items but it did get me thinking about what I really wanted to hang on to. So much stuff just sat there. I lost interest in the Amiga too and sold all my Amiga stuff. Ended up getting a MiST which scratches that itch if I ever get one since all I did was play games on it. Not interested in the modern 'Amiga' at all either. Got rid of my Pet, Apple stuff etc. I'm now just down to my C64s/Sx64/128/Vic, Atari 800 and BBC Master. My hobby room is still full but it's not 'hoarder' full like it was before. Plus I work in there so I needed to clear some space.

 

Like most I enjoy seeing people talk about these old machines and see some of the cool things that are being produced but I don't want to get anything else any more. The machines I have will be the last things I hang on to I expect. Retro collecting and restoration is so popular know I no longer feel any of these older machines are in any danger of becoming extinct. Plus the emulators are getting so good these days.

 

Saying that, I always wanted a Sharp MZ-80B back in the day so if ever one of those crosses my path.....

[Grimakis]

Apple II is the only retro computer that has sustained my interest. I think the good quality keyboard, 80-col display, and internal slots, just provide a good experience. Having my setup out doesn't take up much space, it's easy to use, etc.

 

I don't use it every day, but when I am bored I like to fire it up and pop from BBS to BBS.

Edited October 4, 2019 by Grimakis

[Keatah]

To answer the OP's question. Not quite. I'm sure I'll always like playing around with the systems I had years ago. There's more to it however.

 

On 9/29/2019 at 6:52 PM, save2600 said:

Like Flojo said, maybe just dial it back a bit. I've had to do that with various systems throughout the years, for fear of getting burned out. And honestly, I'm at a point where sometimes it's more fun just talking about the stuff and reading what others have to share vs. always being hands on anymore. That said, I'm down to a few select choice systems both computer and console wise - and would have a tough time parting with any of them.

Something like that. It's always best to be involved with a coupla 2 or 3 systems at most. It is also important not collect tons of junk and filler material for any of your chosen systems. It just gets in the way, distracts you, bogs you down, takes away from the memories of the fun you had with the systems when you were a kid.

 

I also don't know where the notion, the need, the drive, to have to have, many/multiple systems comes from in the first place. Some things I can think of is preservation and peer-competition. Maybe even bragging rights & peer acceptance. A need to feel important and such. But I think there's more to it still.

 

 

On 9/29/2019 at 7:06 PM, DragonGrafx-16 said:

I gave up on my Gatewsy 2000 P590 because the motherboard died. I replaced it with an AT tower with a Socket 7 board and I now use that for all of my DOS gaming.

I spent a lot of time this year and last fixing up, cleaning, polishing, and buttoning up all the odds and ends for my Gateway 486 DX2-50. Would I do another one? No. Did I have fun doing it? Absolutely thrilling! Great nostalgia digging through things and reliving old times.

 

I am looking forward to giving my P3 the same TLC treatment sometime real soon.

 

[+save2600]

16 hours ago, Keatah said:

I also don't know where the notion, the need, the drive, to have to have, many/multiple systems comes from in the first place. Some things I can think of is preservation and peer-competition. Maybe even bragging rights & peer acceptance. A need to feel important and such. But I think there's more to it still.

 

For me and the people I know, it's about obtaining systems that were out of your reach BITD. To learn something new. Discovering and exploring the ins and outs of a particular system. 

 

Same goes for the audio hobby I enjoy. Was fun tracking down gear I coveted, couldn't afford or didn't have the room for BITD. In pursuit of "that sound" or recapturing the fun you had playing whatever. I gain the most enjoyment from restoring game/computer systems and audio gear to use for a while, and maybe sell or trade later to make way for something different. Turning "junk" into something pretty and useful that I or someone else will enjoy. And yes, it's nice when peers come over to listen or play - but hardly for bragging rights. It's all about the experience of the share.  

[Lord Thag]

Yeah. I used to be into TI-99, ADAM, Spectrum, CoCo etc. Over time I realized I never played any of them that much, and sold what I had for each. These days, it's my original love, the Atari XL line and the C-64.

it's true of consoles as well. 5 years ago I sold everything I wasn't actively using/playing. Best decision I made. My room isn't overcrowded now, and I love everything I have.

[Keatah]

The issue I had was having to learn like 10 different kinds of DOS like TRS-DOS, AtariDOS 2.5, MS-DOS, C-64 & CBM DOS, and more..for their respective machines. Not forgetting the various replacement versions and hacker-improved versions. Fastloaders.. and all.. Now extend that to BASIC and even other languages. A lot of clutter in the head. A lot of minutiae. Definitely a lot of cross-confusion ensued.

 

But make NO mistake. I did thoroughly enjoy the "mystery" of "how'd they do that?!?" when I got a new DOS for the Apple II. A new command, like TLIST, to display a text file right to the screen was near-magic. And that was so because I learned DOS at an early age way before I understood what an upgrade was. So I was of the mindset that DOS 3.3 was it and that was that. It was fixed in place, unchanging, unwavering. So imagine my even greater surprise when the same thing was done to ROM commands like from BASIC. Today I understand they're redirects/interceptions via the "&" command. But to a kid? WHOAAA!!

 

Anyhow. You can begin to see how too many and too similar protocols/methods/languages contribute to the overload which saps fun and tempers enjoyment of the hobby. Doing this on one or two machines can be a fun intimate and exciting activity, but instantly becomes a chore when you need to make a chart to remember the same command across 10 platforms. 10 different ways of formatting and prepping a disk? Ughh..

 

Edited October 4, 2019 by Keatah

[DragonGrafx-16]

13 hours ago, Keatah said:

To answer the OP's question. Not quite. I'm sure I'll always like playing around with the systems I had years ago. There's more to it however.

 

Something like that. It's always best to be involved with a coupla 2 or 3 systems at most. It is also important not collect tons of junk and filler material for any of your chosen systems. It just gets in the way, distracts you, bogs you down, takes away from the memories of the fun you had with the systems when you were a kid.

 

I also don't know where the notion, the need, the drive, to have to have, many/multiple systems comes from in the first place. Some things I can think of is preservation and peer-competition. Maybe even bragging rights & peer acceptance. A need to feel important and such. But I think there's more to it still.

 

 

I spent a lot of time this year and last fixing up, cleaning, polishing, and buttoning up all the odds and ends for my Gateway 486 DX2-50. Would I do another one? No. Did I have fun doing it? Absolutely thrilling! Great nostalgia digging through things and reliving old times.

 

I am looking forward to giving my P3 the same TLC treatment sometime real soon.

 

If I could find a modern motherboard that would fit in my Gateway 2000... would be a cool build. I mean I could probably stick the innards of my AT tower into it but I don't want to mess with a system that works great.

[wierd_w]

You will find that modern motherboards are no good for retrogaming under DOS, because the adapter rom region has strange things in it, (So poor ability to get UMBs), modern processors do strange things with v86 mode and real mode (Since they are optimized for 64bit flat mode), in addition to being just too fast for most old games without using something like MoSlow, and if you use something like UMBPCI to give yourself hardware UMBs, you will find strange behaviors concerning lack of DMA (because the systems are not made for realmode use.)

 

A REAL period board will be a much better experience.  For real.  (But if you want to do a 486, Get a DX-50.  Yes-- They DID exist. I will NOT be pulled into this argument. They were real, I have owned one in the past. [So many times when I mention this chip, people assume I mean a DX2-50, No, I mean DX-50. As in, no internal clock multiplier, native bus of 50mhz-- then they argue with me. Similar story with 386 DX-33. I have seen that hardware in person, and used one. It existed.])

Edited October 5, 2019 by wierd_w

[The Usotsuki]

I've heard of the 486DX/50. Also of 386s clocked as high as 40 MHz.

 

If I were to do a 486 again, though, I'd go for 486DX5/133 (yes, THAT existed too, and I had one).

Edited October 5, 2019 by The Usotsuki

[wierd_w]

Genuine intel, or an AMD chip?  AMD made some interesting chips in that era... 

[The Usotsuki]

Intel made 486DX/50s and 386DX/33s.

 

386/40s, 486/40s and 486/133s were AMD exclusives.

[ClausB]

Gave up on my ST, early enough that it still had some value on the used market. Just couldn't invest enough time and money into it as I did with the 8-bit.

[DragonGrafx-16]

11 hours ago, wierd_w said:

You will find that modern motherboards are no good for retrogaming under DOS, because the adapter rom region has strange things in it, (So poor ability to get UMBs), modern processors do strange things with v86 mode and real mode (Since they are optimized for 64bit flat mode), in addition to being just too fast for most old games without using something like MoSlow, and if you use something like UMBPCI to give yourself hardware UMBs, you will find strange behaviors concerning lack of DMA (because the systems are not made for realmode use.)

 

A REAL period board will be a much better experience.  For real.  (But if you want to do a 486, Get a DX-50.  Yes-- They DID exist. I will NOT be pulled into this argument. They were real, I have owned one in the past. [So many times when I mention this chip, people assume I mean a DX2-50, No, I mean DX-50. As in, no internal clock multiplier, native bus of 50mhz-- then they argue with me. Similar story with 386 DX-33. I have seen that hardware in person, and used one. It existed.])

No you misread me... I already have a DOS machine... my AT tower... I was thinking it would be cool to stick in a modern motherboard and have a modern Gateway 2000 (but in a classic case).  Currently the Gateway 2000 is just sitting gutted.