[Closed] Vintage computing - how much would you pay?

i like this question 😀

commodore 64 with all my games that i used to have (and a disc drive this time too/was only for posh kids back then 😉

commodore amiga 500+ 1mb ram with all the games i used to have (i actually have my amiga,but alas is long broken 🙁

pc engine console and games.

speccy 128k and games (to see what all the fuss was about/commodore for the win 😉

some classic arcade machines (pac man/outrun with working hydraulic chair/ditto afterburner/double dragon/space harrier)

will leave it at that (for now 😀

mame.net will be your friend here.
Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator.

Download and install then grab yourself a handful of classic game ROMs. It's not like playing the old games. It IS playing the old games.
Prepare to lose several hours / days / weeks.

If I had the space i would have a BBC B/B+/master - with disk drive and a copy of Elite. I have an old B in the loft and a drive but the cable needs some work and I have no where it set it up.

I think I'd be looking at an RGB > VGA solution rather than an Atari monitor, personally. Which ST do you have?

Me, I bought a Speccy recently. It was on eBay being sold untested by the Red Cross so I figured depending on condition it'd be a) retro computing goodness, b) an ideal fixer-upper project or c) a charity donation. Win-win. Er, -win.

As it happens, it needed a bit of work and still needs a new keyboard membrane. So on my "to get" list is the membrane (you can still buy new ones!) and a modern SD-card expansion pack for loading purposes.

some classic arcade machines (pac man/outrun with working hydraulic chair/ditto afterburner/double dragon/space harrier)

Oh, for a Gauntlet machine to have at home .. I promised myself one of those...

Oh the hours 'wasted' playing Elite.

I have:

Sinclair QL
Atari ST
Spectrum +2

But no power supplies!

In the parents' basement I have:

2 x Commodore 64 with disc drives
1 x Apple II with monitor, twin disc drives
1 x Atari ST
1 x Atari STFM
1 x BBC Master with Winchester hard drive

Perk of being a child of academics, I got the cast-off computers whenever the Uni upgraded.

I have a BBC Micro Emulator somewhere and a copy of all the games I wrote at the time.....

Gobuchul. BBC emulator is on android. Has built in repo for games.

But no power supplies!

Of note if you're getting a third-party replacement is, the Speccy PSU is a different polarity to most other things. Double-check before you plug it in.

Bugger all!

Oh, for a Gauntlet machine to have at home ..

Indeed! Quality gaming. 'Wizard needs food'.

Elite! Pah, boring as ****.

If anyone would like either a 286 or 386 Victor laptop, please ask. I need to clear the attic.

Ooh, in the loft I have :

Spectrum 48k
C64
Atari 800XL
Amiga 500
Atari ST + Megafile 60 hard disk (a whole 60Mb of storage!)
SNES (and development kit)
PC Engine
TurboGrafx (US version of PC engine)
Turbo Express (handheld version of PC engine)
Lots of newer stuff that couldn't be considered vintage.

Used to have a mono ST monitor as well (they were great), but it got lost during various house moves.

I've been a game developer for over 20 years, and have acquired lots of stuff in that time. Not plugged any of it in for ages, it might all still work.

There's a chunk of that commands good money on eBay. PC Engine stuff especially.

The ST can be connected to a vga monitor, provided you can find one with a low enough horizontal scan frequency. And since about 1994 or so, that's not been possible. For the colour modes, that is.

I still have TVs with analogue tuners though, can always use those for now. When my kids are old enough to appreciate how old fashioned it all is.

Oh my ST mouse is bust; anyone have a spare?

Acorn Electron with a copy of Ant Atack, or a Commadore CDTV with Xenon 3 just to see if the music by Bomb the Bass was as awesome as it sounded back then. It would almost certainly be a let down... 🙁

the games I wrote at the time.....

Takes me back to my pièce de résistance: writing a mood engine for a text-based adventure game on my C128. Creatures would change their behaviour/attitude based on how you treated them. Ah, those were the days.

Gauntlet you say?

Commadore CDTV with Xenon 3 just to see if the music by Bomb the Bass was as awesome as it sounded back then. It would almost certainly be a let down...

Xenon 2, ITYF. Megablast. (Also I discovered later, that music is [i]very[/i] similar to John Carpenter's Precinct 13 theme tune.)

Yes, but would you pay £80 for a monitor?

No.

So do you know of an adapter that'll connect it to vga?

You need something called a scandoubler. You'll need one specifically for the ST, they're not generic.

That new Gauntlet reboot looks a bit meh.

dANDy was where it was at, the game Atari copied.

We need a remake of Dandy, oids and dungeon master. Of to fire up Steem and Automation 97.

PS dandy was Atari 800 not St.

I flogged my old St on eBay for quite a bit sometime back.

You wait - time passes.......

Thorin sits down and starts singing about gold 😀

An Atari 2600.

It was my first console

Would be fun to play it for a little while and see just how far we've come.

Most of the games would be utter bobbins quite a lot of the retro stuff just isn't very good but it would at least be nostalgic.

Gauntlet reboot - I like. On Steam too, so thats this evening sorted, ta.

Most of the games would be utter bobbins

I have an excellent Oric 1 emulator, and I can confirm that the games are crap.

I had an Oric 1 and can confirm it was crap.

Personally, for nostalgic purposes, I'd go for MAME as Ironnigel suggests. Playing Double Dragon again was fantastic. Karate Champ and that bloody bull - back kick to the head or drop on one knee and thump him in the forehead! The list goes on and on and on...

MAME for sure, if you want a trip down memory lane without the expense.

All my old kit got sold off, but I got me a boxed ZX81 and Spectrum off ebay some years back. About £50 each I think. Not pristine condition boxes but still boxed and all the bits, fully working.

Only thing I'd advise with old boxed stuff is watch the poly packing inside. I find as it ages it degrades and cables stick to it.

Likewise if I had the space I'd have a BBC B or Master and an Archimedes. Still, can emulate them.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/deadkenny/albums/72157622429915815

No vote for the Sharp MZ80K yet.

'Orb of Zot' anybody?

I still have a Psion 5MX. Somewhere. Looks cool. Is rubbish. Need rid. I would spend zero pence on old computers.

I still have a Psion 5MX. Somewhere. Looks cool. Is rubbish.

Ah, I loved my Psion 5. Seriously dated now of course, but best form factor ever. Used to link it to my phone for web access via IR, back when GPRS was in short pants. If they came out with a modern version I'd rip their arms off.

I had an Oric 1 and can confirm it was crap.

It did have the laser sound accessible from BASIC so it was easy to set up a little loop in Tandy's then run away.

ironnigel - Member
No vote for the Sharp MZ80K yet.

Never had one myself but the school did. I liked the way everything was all in the one machine including monitor and tape deck and keyboard with all kinds of graphics symbols. I recall you had to load the OS from tape.

Most of the games would be utter bobbins quite a lot of the retro stuff just isn't very good but it would at least be nostalgic.

just downlowded another world on ios looks good upto now

The Another World remaster is tremendous, they've done an excellent job with it. Got the original programmer involved to tidy it up IIRC.

What about an Osborne 01 for some retro (not really) portable computing?

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I had an Oric-1. I was too impatient to wait for a Spectrum so ordered a 16k Oric on a "please allow 28 days for delivery." I ordered it in September 1983 and received it in January 1984! They were having problems with the 16k so I got a 48k version for £99.95 instead of £129.95. I was well chuffed. Until I tried a few games. Oric Trek, supposed to be related to Star Trek was absolute arse.

And ZAP, SHOOT, PING, EXPLODE got very tedious, very quickly.

I think I'd like a Jupiter Ace so I could learn Forth.

I plugged our Oric into my parent's hifi. EXPLODE became a lot more entertaining then.

Oric was good for programming, the BASIC was nice to use (made by some tiny company called Microsoft or something). Wasn't bad for games either except there weren't as many titles, the Speccie was just more popular which killed it.

What about an Osborne 01

I've got an early Compaq 'portable', which, like the Osborne, was just a small real monitor and keyboard stuffed in a large plastic case.

I think I'd like a Jupiter Ace so I could learn Forth.

I had the Forth ROM in my BBC Micro so could swap between Basic and Forth.

I had Forth for the Oric too.