Yes. ;) -- ---------------------------------- personal: http://www.armory.com/~spectre/ -- Cameron Kaiser, Floodgap Systems Ltd * So. Calif., USA * ckaiser at floodgap.com -- What you don't mean, can't hurt you. -- Firesign Theater -------------------

Randy McLaughlin wrote: Same here. Almost everything I ever bought on eBay cost a lot more than the same item that "came to me" - given by somebody who knows I "collect computer stuff" or found at live auctions or garage sales. However, if I need a part or a gadget and I don't want to wait some indeterminate time till fate drops it in my lap, ebay is perfect. For example, I picked up several Maxtor 786MB ESDI drives for next to nothing at Goodwill last winter. I have a PDP-11/53 that's using an ailing RD52 for storage, so I last week eBayed up a Dilog ESDI controller. Not something I'm likely to happen into, and it makes two legitimate "found" items - the 11/53 which was free, and the cheap ESDI storage - come together in a very satisfying manner. Now the only problem is that I'm on the road for the next 3 weeks, and can't test any of it yet. :( Doc

----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Brain" <brain at jbrain.com> To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 9:23 PM Subject: Re: knowledgebase request I would like to see an article that shows the best avenue for deals with respect to time and travel invested. One end would be buying widget A for $100 on average sitting on your ass and bidding on ebay compared to driving 200 miles and hitting 5 computer shows to get the same widget for $20 ( or maybe hitting up 5 usergroups you spend allot of time in and seeing what is available). This hobby is probably like a few others I was in where the amount of time you put into networking, learning about the collectable items, and hitting shows/swapmeets pays off with better deals and better equipment. The thing is some people have allot of time on their hands and have decent people skills while others don't have the time or are too introverted to mingle at shows. If time is money to you and you enjoy being alone in your computer lab working on your machines maybe ebay is the best way to go, others might like the hunt or the friends they made during the hunt more then sitting alone at the workbench.