Anyone Collect Retro Computers?

[Tekdrudge | 126]

I recently delved into the retro computer collecting world. I acquired a Timex Sinclair 1000 CIB, which is the American version of the Sinclair ZX81.  Next on my list is a reasonably priced C64, and ZX Spectrum. Does anyone else here collect such items?

[BortLicensePlate | 652]

I really like the idea of playing some of those old computer games but actually collecting them and trying to get them to work sounds like a nightmare. Emulation will suffice. Jetpac on zx spectrum is dope

[DefaultGen | 5,395]

I wish I had room for rows of desks and CRTs like the crazy enthusiasts. I just have a C64, Athlon, and Pentium II PC set up on a desk. To get deep into it it’s one of those dedicate your life to it type hobbies and I just want to collect/play some good stuff.

[Strange | 1,700]

I had a Commodore 64 but sold it when I needed the cash. I’ve still got an Atari 400. My brother’s wife’s family has got an old Leading Edge they said they would give me, so I’m looking forward to that.

[Link | 2,707]

I keep a few around, but I don’t seek more. I have a DOS / Windows 95 small tower and Win2k Pentium desktop. I also have a P4 desktop on the back burner that I want to use for a MAME rig... some day. 

and an XP tower that I keep offering when people need a computer but it’s not good enough for anyone. 

I got some of them from a job I once had refurbishing old computers. We would take machines decommissioned from public or private entities, wipe or physically destroy the hard drives as requested, and revamp the machines to be functional. The company was a non-profit. We sold a lot of the computers to local families and to public schools for a reduced price. I have a feeling used equipment wouldn’t fly so much today. But I loved that job and had a hell of a good time with it. 

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,011]

11 hours ago, BortLicensePlate said:

I really like the idea of playing some of those old computer games but actually collecting them and trying to get them to work sounds like a nightmare. Emulation will suffice. Jetpac on zx spectrum is dope

I haven't had any real problem getting them to work in my experience. I've had an Apple II, Atari ST, Atari 800XL and a Commodore Vic20 all not give me any real trouble. 

[Deadeye | 1,595]

I don't collect retro computers, but I did build a DOS / Win 98 rig to play the games on.  Has 3-1/2" and 5-1/4" floppy drives.  I did go with a SD card for the hard drive though.  I don't have the space to have multiple CRTs, so I run it on my PVM (with a scaler) that I share with game consoles. 

If I was going to pick up a retro computer, it would be an Apple IIe or IIgs, or Mac (which I did have as a teen). 

[nrslam | 474]

Oh, yeah, I'm big into collecting retro computers. I actually prefer them to old consoles for a variety of reasons, the primary one being you can fairly easily play around with programming them directly on the machine, and the presence of a real keyboard opens up the ability to play text adventures.

Off the top of my head, I've got:
- Commodore VIC-20, C64, SX64, C128, C128D, C16, plus/4, and various PET (2001, 8032, 4032) and Amiga (500,1000,1200, 2000, 2500) models.
- Atari 8-bits (400,800,1200XL,600XL,800XL,65XE,130XE,XEGS) and STs (520ST, 1040ST,Mega ST4, STacy).
- TI-99/4 and TI-99/4A and their cousin the Tomy Tutor
-Tandy/Radio Shack Color Computer, CoCo2, CoCo3, Model 1, Model 3, Model 4P, 100, 102, 200, PC1, PC2, PC3, PC4
-Apple II+,IIe, IIGS and a Laser 128 clone
-Timex/Sinclair 1000, 1500, 2068, ZX80, ZX81
-Mattel Aquarius, Panasonic JR200, IBM PCjr (plus old 286- and 386-DOS machines), and a variety of CP/M luggables (Osborn 1, Kaypro 2,4 & 10, Zorba).

Probably some others I'm forgetting at the moment.

[BortLicensePlate | 652]

2 hours ago, RegularGuyGamer said:

I haven't had any real problem getting them to work in my experience. I've had an Apple II, Atari ST, Atari 800XL and a Commodore Vic20 all not give me any real trouble. 

I heard floppys were unreliable, but to be honest havent tried much myself

[Strange | 1,700]

I would kill for an Atari 800XL

[zeppelin03 | 314]

The oldest I have is a windows 95 computer.  I recently picked up a free CRT monitor on Craigslist.  Hoping to upgrade that at one point. 

I also have a windows 7 computer from about 10 years ago.  I'm not sure if its worth keeping.  It has an Athlon II 640.  Perhaps I could be a starting point for something to run some elder scrolls games.  I've had mixed luck with Windows 10 on a CRT.

[Tekdrudge | 126]

A great resource I have found for info/history on old computers is Nostalgia Nerd on Youtube. He has a lot of in-depth videos on the history on most computers that many people have never heard about. If you are into that kinda thing I recommend you all check him out.

[Tekdrudge | 126]

12 hours ago, nrslam said:

Oh, yeah, I'm big into collecting retro computers. I actually prefer them to old consoles for a variety of reasons, the primary one being you can fairly easily play around with programming them directly on the machine, and the presence of a real keyboard opens up the ability to play text adventures.

Off the top of my head, I've got:
- Commodore VIC-20, C64, SX64, C128, C128D, C16, plus/4, and various PET (2001, 8032, 4032) and Amiga (500,1000,1200, 2000, 2500) models.
- Atari 8-bits (400,800,1200XL,600XL,800XL,65XE,130XE,XEGS) and STs (520ST, 1040ST,Mega ST4, STacy).
- TI-99/4 and TI-99/4A and their cousin the Tomy Tutor
-Tandy/Radio Shack Color Computer, CoCo2, CoCo3, Model 1, Model 3, Model 4P, 100, 102, 200, PC1, PC2, PC3, PC4
-Apple II+,IIe, IIGS and a Laser 128 clone
-Timex/Sinclair 1000, 1500, 2068, ZX80, ZX81
-Mattel Aquarius, Panasonic JR200, IBM PCjr (plus old 286- and 386-DOS machines), and a variety of CP/M luggables (Osborn 1, Kaypro 2,4 & 10, Zorba).

Probably some others I'm forgetting at the moment.


 

Now that is a list I would love to have someday. And I'm so glad you mentioned Tandy.

I just realized that I need to add a Tandy 1000 to my list of computers to be on the look out for, it was the first computer I ever had. It was the family computer, but I spent a about a hundred hours playing Alternate Reality: The City on that machine. My mom would have to kick me off, just so I would do my homework. She would hide the power cable so I couldn't sneak back on it.

[nrslam | 474]

9 minutes ago, Tekdrudge said:

Now that is a list I would love to have someday. And I'm so glad you mentioned Tandy.

I just realized that I need to add a Tandy 1000 to my list of computers to be on the look out for, it was the first computer I ever had. It was the family computer, but I spent a about a hundred hours playing Alternate Reality: The City on that machine. My mom would have to kick me off, just so I would do my homework. She would hide the power cable so I couldn't sneak back on it.

The Tandy 1000 series is one that's missing from my collection.  I've actually passed on picking one or more up over the years, sometimes for free.  Don't know why, as many people love them.  I guess I was just never a fan of MS-DOS machines.

[Nes Freak | 584]

i used to have a huge c64 collection but i sold it cause i didnt know how to use it plus it took up too much space.   i have a apple IIgs  that still works perfectly.

[VegHead | 127]

I really want to do this eventually, starting with a C64, but I just don't have the room right now.  There are so many good games on vintage computers, though.  I have a couple of D&D gold box games that are IBM compatible and an older game called Challenge of the Ancient Empires on 5 1/4" floppy.   

Is there anything like a 5 1/4" floppy drive to USB?

[Tekdrudge | 126]

26 minutes ago, epiclotus said:

I really want to do this eventually, starting with a C64, but I just don't have the room right now.  There are so many good games on vintage computers, though.  I have a couple of D&D gold box games that are IBM compatible and an older game called Challenge of the Ancient Empires on 5 1/4" floppy.   

Is there anything like a 5 1/4" floppy drive to USB?

I haven't seen a 5 1/4, but I have a 3 1/2 with USB. There could be some work around with SCSI to USB though.

[Tanooki | 4,929]

I don't have one, but I have been considering a Toshiba Satellite Pro CDT(CDT=TFT screen) as I've been wanting a device around the P100 level that can hack it with DOS 6.22/Win98se era stuff to run some classic things as they were intended.

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

On 6/30/2020 at 10:06 AM, nrslam said:

Oh, yeah, I'm big into collecting retro computers. I actually prefer them to old consoles for a variety of reasons, the primary one being you can fairly easily play around with programming them directly on the machine, and the presence of a real keyboard opens up the ability to play text adventures.

Off the top of my head, I've got:
- Commodore VIC-20, C64, SX64, C128, C128D, C16, plus/4, and various PET (2001, 8032, 4032) and Amiga (500,1000,1200, 2000, 2500) models.
- Atari 8-bits (400,800,1200XL,600XL,800XL,65XE,130XE,XEGS) and STs (520ST, 1040ST,Mega ST4, STacy).
- TI-99/4 and TI-99/4A and their cousin the Tomy Tutor
-Tandy/Radio Shack Color Computer, CoCo2, CoCo3, Model 1, Model 3, Model 4P, 100, 102, 200, PC1, PC2, PC3, PC4
-Apple II+,IIe, IIGS and a Laser 128 clone
-Timex/Sinclair 1000, 1500, 2068, ZX80, ZX81
-Mattel Aquarius, Panasonic JR200, IBM PCjr (plus old 286- and 386-DOS machines), and a variety of CP/M luggables (Osborn 1, Kaypro 2,4 & 10, Zorba).

Probably some others I'm forgetting at the moment.


 

Interested in an original Macintosh with pretty much everything except the digitizer pad?

[nrslam | 474]

12 hours ago, arch_8ngel said:

Interested in an original Macintosh with pretty much everything except the digitizer pad?

Actually, no, but thanks.  I really enjoy the 8-bit era of personal computing the most, what with the very different capabilities and design philosophies of the various machines.  When the 16-bit era got going, things started to homogenize and I kinda lost interest.  I chose to follow only the evolutionary dead-ends of that era, Amiga and Atari ST, and even they don't get much attention from me.

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

1 hour ago, nrslam said:

Actually, no, but thanks.  I really enjoy the 8-bit era of personal computing the most, what with the very different capabilities and design philosophies of the various machines.  When the 16-bit era got going, things started to homogenize and I kinda lost interest.  I chose to follow only the evolutionary dead-ends of that era, Amiga and Atari ST, and even they don't get much attention from me.

Understand the interesting in the old 8-bits.

Though I wouldn't really call the 1984 Macintosh "homogeneous" with the offerings of its time.

[nrslam | 474]

"Homogenize" was probably the wrong word.  In the mid 90s, it felt (to me anyway) that 16 bit machines were really down to 2 choices: a DOS driven IBM or compatible on one side, or a GUI based Mac/Amiga/ST on the other even though I knew those 3 were not that similar.

I only started picking up Amiga and ST machines, when they become cheap and plentiful at the thrifts, because of my earlier interest in Commodore and Atari's machines.  At the time, I didn't even have an Apple II so the Mac didn't have any nostalgic appeal to me.

Edited July 4, 2020 by nrslam

[PII | 1,883]

I've just got my OG Commodore 64 and Apple IIc.  Kinda on the fence about lookin' for an Atari of one variety or another.  Would love to get more into it - at some point, some day ...

Maybe.  Fingers crossed.