$6200 Apple II

[cbmeeks]

So, which one of you bought the $6200 original Apple II on eBay this week?  I don't have the link in front of me at the moment but could find it.

Now that's $6200 actual purchase price!

 

If you're on this forum, I'd be happy to trade you $12 and a kidney for it.  LOL

 

 

[Keatah]

Ain't worth it bro. The regular II (not+) is like an incomplete and unfinished II+. The II+ is when the II series starting coming into its own and really took off with the //e. The backward compatibility and enhancements offered by the II+ and //e trump the standard II left and right.

 

The people that go after I's and II's are big on chip numbers and provenance and crap like that. By locking themselves into old hardware that can't really be repaired (unless you match date codes) you're eliminating all the fun and enjoyment that is the II series. And if they have multiple machines aside from the pride-n-joy to play with, well, the expensive stuff is now collecting dust or is just packed away. Whooptydooo!

 

 

[The Usotsuki]

And the ][+ is about literally just a ][ with different firmware.

[Byte Knight]

19 hours ago, cbmeeks said:

So, which one of you bought the $6200 original Apple II on eBay this week?  I don't have the link in front of me at the moment but could find it.

Now that's $6200 actual purchase price!

 

If you're on this forum, I'd be happy to trade you $12 and a kidney for it.  LOL

Make it both kidneys and you've got a deal!

 

J/K - I would never spend that much on a computer.  And the guy will probably never even turn it on...

[Bruce Tomlin]

On 10/19/2019 at 7:48 AM, The Usotsuki said:

And the ][+ is about literally just a ][ with different firmware.

I think there was also an update to the hi-res graphics for more colors. This seems to be the same as the mod in a Byte article from June 1979, which used the 8th bit to shift the pixel color of the other seven bits, adding blue and orange.

[The Usotsuki]

2 hours ago, Bruce Tomlin said:

I think there was also an update to the hi-res graphics for more colors. This seems to be the same as the mod in a Byte article from June 1979, which used the 8th bit to shift the pixel color of the other seven bits, adding blue and orange.

The earliest Integer ][s did have only 4 colors in hi-res mode.  But that was an update within the model (like DHGR support on the //e).

Edited October 22, 2019 by The Usotsuki

[Keatah]

Models with S/N typically less than 6000 support only 4 colors, black, white, green, violet. And there is no color-killer circuit so all text is fringed. This is a revision 0 board.

 

Revision 1 boards gave you two more colors, blue and orange. A total of 8 hi-res colors in all if you counted "black 2" and "white 2". Black 2 and White 2 allowed for more artifacting and such, but at the cost of resolution.

[cbmeeks]

The only way I would drop that kind of cash is if I was super wealthy and $6200 was peanuts to me.  And that would be after I donated tons of money to charities, etc.

 

I will admit, however, that my Apple II+ (which I am assembling from parts) is my most expensive retro computer.  I don't have the grand total as I bought several pieces from different auctions.  But it's probably well north of $300.  And that's not counting the monitor and disk drives.

 

That was a hard pill to swallow but I "cheated" a little.  One, I spread it out over about a year or so.  Meaning, I bought the motherboard first ($69 IIRC) that is near mint and works.  Then I bought a near mint case for $49.  Next, I bought a complete Apple II +(case, motherboard, PSU, keyboard, disk controller and language card) for $140 or so.  I plan on using the PSU and keyboard out of it.  The case is severely gouged (school initials burned into the top) and holes drilled into it.  Finally, I bought a PSU kit from Reactive Micro for $70.

 

What's that?  $69 + $49 + $140 + $70 = $328.  There's probably another $30 or so in there for shipping that I am forgetting.

 

No one ever said collecting computers was cheap.  ?  What's funny is that even in the 40 year old retro world, Apple is still the most expensive!  HAHAHAHA

 

So yeah.  I paid up a little but at the end of the day, I will have pretty much a show-piece Apple II+ that I will actually USE.  Plus, I will have another motherboard as backup.  Or, I could sell it to recoup a little cost.

 

I hope to make that my everyday Apple but I might be a little disappointed when it comes to the expanded features the IIe gives you.

 

 

[Keatah]

The high-reliability low chip count Platinum //e seems to be the best balance of cost, features, ease of use and repair, nostalgia, and functionality. The best of any of the II series. Forget the GS, it internal architecture is loaded patches and hacks and isn't truly of the II series lineage.

 

It has been said in classic computing circles that the Enhanced //e ROM is the finest firmware of any vintage rig.

 

But, when I had my II+ I was quite thrilled with it and didn't mind the limitations. Some can be overcome with addons for like 80-columns, lowercase and shift-key mod, and memory expansion beyond 64K.

 

300 sounds about right for a II+, though it is approaching the higher end of the scale for a bare console.

Edited October 22, 2019 by Keatah

[cbmeeks]

Keep in mind when I first started *really* wanting a II+ (I had several IIe's), they were going for $400+ for bare unit with not much else.  But, I kid you not, after I bought my motherboard and case I noticed they started dropping considerably.  ?

 

Oh well...not the first time that's happened to me.

 

One saving grace for all of my patience and cost is that this machine looks like it just came off the assembly line.  FWIW (apparently $300+ for me...lol)