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Another 1979 800


Colleton

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So, I found another 1979 800 earlier this week on eBay and snapped it up.  $39.85 + S/H.  It was dirty and some of the grille work on the bottom case was broken, but it looked okay.

 

S/N: 947 2392  (47th week, 1979)

 

Well, it arrived today.  The left side of both case halves are shattered, just shards and pieces.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

 

After removing the remains of the case I fired it up, and it works like a champ.  OS Rev A, and it has an 8K memory card.  I'd never seen one before and expect that they aren't that common.  Anyone know what they're worth?

 

I guess that I need to find a new case for it.  Anyone have a complete case set they'd be willing to part with?

 

 

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Awesome (1979 unit, not that it's smashed). IMO it's worth more and is more special with the original case.  Please consider repairing the case.  Yes that is probably weeks of work but it is so cool to have original.  Retro Recipes repaired a smashed 800XL case and it turned out nicely.  Maybe I have a spare case top. I did but I misplaced the box last year.

Edited by Sugarland
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Why is it no one seems to tell the seller how to pack and ship these... since one bad experience in many many years... as a buyer EVERY 800 I have ever bought since through ebay arrives safely because I explain how to pack them... if they don't want to do it correctly... the deal is off. If it arrives not packed as specified it's a refund/return/ or charge back... EOS

 

I'd try a repair, since all the pieces are there.

Edited by _The Doctor__
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2 minutes ago, _The Doctor__ said:

Why is it no one tell the seller how to pack and ship these...

 

I did.  I sent him the same "these are very fragile, please use extra care" email I send every seller when I buy one of these old machines.  Apparently, he had better things to do than spend an extra 15 minutes packing this up. 

 

FWIW, this is the 7th 800 I've bought and is the 1st that arrived broken.  The seller has given me a full refund already.

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6 minutes ago, Sugarland said:

Awesome. IMO it's worth more and is more special with the original case.  Please consider repairing the case.  Yes that is probably weeks of work but it is so cool to have original.  Retro Recipes repaired a smashed 800XL case and it turned out nicely.  Maybe I have a spare case top. I did but I misplaced the box last year.

I agree, but I think it will be extremely difficult to do, let alone do a good job putting it all back together.  I'll start sifting parts tomorrow.

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2 minutes ago, Sugarland said:

It has the hi-tek keyboard? That alone is worth the price, if the plungers are good and the keyboard works.

Yes, it's a Hi-Tek keyboard.  It doesn't have a connector at the end of the ribbon cable, it's just bare stiff wires sticking out.  My other 1979 800 is like this as well.

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Invincible.

 

That's all I could say, after such relentless beating (if owners are not instructed on how to pack these, they will end up destroyed)

 

Just like this old one who was also brutalized (although yours had no mercy). I did get a full refund, though:

 

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Edited by Faicuai
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I bought  a 800 from Ebay couple months ago, told the seller to pack well as the plastic is very fragile. It came with a broken front corner. It was packed horrible. I was lucky it was easy to glue back together and hardly noticeable unless you really look for it. Hate to see all these broke 800 cases because the sellers are to lazy to pack them well.

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Oh, man ... crushed the fragile brown plastic case like priceless vase ! I feel bad when I see your 800 case. Yes, need to packing really good packing peanuts, bubble wrap around the computer ! MUST have a lot of packing peanut inside the shipping box !!  

 

Edited by Caterpiggle
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Luckily, my 1979 800, given to me by @Timothy Kline a couple years back, was well packed...that's an understatement, it was packed to survive a drop from a plane. With an 810 and power packs all in the same box, which was the size of a small electric car, with great distances between parts filled with packing material. I came home and there was this huge box blocking my doorway and I had no idea what it contained.:cool:

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5 hours ago, Colleton said:

So, I found another 1979 800 earlier this week on eBay and snapped it up.  $39.85 + S/H.  It was dirty and some of the grille work on the bottom case was broken, but it looked okay.

I can't believe you found one going for that price!  I check often (more out of curiosity than actual thoughts of getting another) and haven't seen one go for less than $100 in months.

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2 hours ago, jamm said:

I can't believe you found one going for that price!  I check often (more out of curiosity than actual thoughts of getting another) and haven't seen one go for less than $100 in months.

 

Yeah, I was pretty pleased, saw the listing shortly after it was listed Sunday evening.  It was a "Buy It Now" at a very good price.

 

Well, I've been working on the case, trying to piece it back together with acetone.  It's working fairly well, but it's never going to be what it was.  Will probably have to use some filler in places and then paint it.

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5 hours ago, Colleton said:

 

Yeah, I was pretty pleased, saw the listing shortly after it was listed Sunday evening.  It was a "Buy It Now" at a very good price.

 

Well, I've been working on the case, trying to piece it back together with acetone.  It's working fairly well, but it's never going to be what it was.  Will probably have to use some filler in places and then paint it.

If you could get the case back together reasonably well it would certainly have an interesting story to tell!  I've seen enough rebuilding videos to know that it's possible.  The amount of effort, materials, and patience required are another thing -- I'm pretty sure I couldn't do it...  But I'm hoping you succeed and have some good pictures to share!

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3 hours ago, BillC said:

At least try to save the bottom half of the case with the original serial number & production date stamped into it.

There are only 2 earlier production machines listed in the Calling All 800s! thread. 

 

I started working on it last night. The bottom half of the case is in two large pieces, with a bunch of smaller shards where it was smashed.   I have the smashed side mostly put back together, but still need to reassemble the grille and weld the two large pieces back together.  I think it will turn out pretty well in the end.

 

I'm using acetone to weld the plastic back together and it's working pretty well.

 

 

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6 hours ago, Colleton said:

 

I started working on it last night. The bottom half of the case is in two large pieces, with a bunch of smaller shards where it was smashed.   I have the smashed side mostly put back together, but still need to reassemble the grille and weld the two large pieces back together.  I think it will turn out pretty well in the end.

 

I'm using acetone to weld the plastic back together and it's working pretty well.

 

Fighting the good fight, Colleton! I fear that we are losing more 800s to clueless eBay shippers than we are to landfills these days. Long live Colleen!

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