Hardest to Find Classic Computers (Was: RE: Way OT: Just say no t o squirrels & Pascal question)
14 Dec
2001
14 Dec
'01
3:39 a.m.
When OT threads die and then get resurrected under
even
wilder topics, its just not worth it.
Ok, we've had threads similar to this one before, but
maybe not quite...
What are the hardest to find Classic Computers? What should not
be counted:
Systems that never went beyond prototype
Systems that they made only one of
Systems that were custom-designed for a single
customer and were only in limited production
Systems that were not "general purpose" computers
Also not intended as the thrust of the topic:
Systems you most of all want
Rather, the systems I'me talking about would have been
commercially produced, were general-purpose systems,
made in quantity of say at least a baker's dozen.
These systems might be generally available, and might
go for a price you can afford, but you just can't *find*
them where you're at.
Around here for me, it would be PDP-8's and Lisa's.
???
-dq
14 Dec
14 Dec
4:30 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
On Fri, 14 Dec 2001, Douglas Quebbeman wrote:
What are the hardest to find Classic Computers?
Besides intact big iron from the 60s and earlier (i.e. CDC 6600, Univacs,
etc.)?
In my experience:
APF Imagination Machine
The only one I know of that I should have gotten slipped through my hands
in a bulk sale a couple years back. Sales numbers would be interesting to
know. This started out as a video game machine like the Atari 2600 but
could be expanded into a full-blown computer so you could make your own
video games. I have the disk drive for one (bait for the machine).
Lisa (the original with the Twiggy drives)
Bonus points for an original (i.e. un-reverted) unit. Most Lisa's were
upgraded to use the single Sony 3.5" drive when the Twiggy's proved to be
unreliable. Most (%?) users opted for the (as far as I know) free
upgrade, which replaced the front panel and the drive unit. The spare
parts were to be shipped back to Apple.
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
6:46 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers (Was: RE: Way OT: Just say no t o squirrels & Pascal question)
I have allways wanted a full-blown COCO 3 with a hard disk etc. People
just don't let go of them.
Allways wanted an SGI INDIGO.
Allways wanted an Atari 1450xld and:
an Atari 815 disk drive
A trak disk drive
a Corvus hard disk system (atari, I used to have one for Xerox 820-2)
A Corvus Multiplexor
One of those neat British Sinclair boxes fully loaded.
Any Soviet microcomputer. I gather they made Apple and Atari clones of a
sort.
An Apollo guidence computer (BTW, I know where you can get the computer
from a Nike missile..)
An ATARI FALCON 030 - or C-Labs Falcon.
An AMIGA 4000.
Regards,
Jeff
In <7A9BACCEF0171D4FB77019F5104CDD37225B58(a)jeffserver.tegjeff.com>om>, on
12/14/01
at 12:39 PM, Douglas Quebbeman <dhquebbeman(a)theestopinalgroup.com>
said:
Systems that never went beyond prototype
Systems that they made only one of
Systems that were custom-designed for a single
customer and were only in limited production
Systems that were not "general purpose" computers
Also not intended as the thrust of the topic:
Systems you most of all want
Rather, the systems I'me talking about would have
been
commercially produced, were general-purpose systems,
made in quantity of say at least a baker's dozen.
--
-----------------------------------------------------------
Jeffrey S. Worley
Asheville, NC USA
828-6984887
UberTechnoid(a)Home.com
-----------------------------------------------------------
7:31 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
things I would like to find:
Working Metaphor system
Singer system 10 - very weird processoor
(or System 11 - saw the proto of that and had some cards once)
Any SDS system
PDP8-S
(had one once - remember programming the sieve
of Eratosthenes to display primes on the console lights
also remember that transistors failed with fair regularity
but easy to fix with just an Ohmmeter...
Peter Wallace
9:36 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
How about a Sphere 1? Not sure how many were made, but it
certainly wasn't many.
Jeff
--
Home of the TRS-80 Model 2000 FAQ File
http://www.cchaven.com
http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lakes/6757
10:01 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
I remember the first machine I seriously tried to come up with the money
to buy.
Anybody else remember the Compucolor?
I'm not sure I ever learned the technical details of the machine.
Seems like they disappeared from the scene as fast as they came on.
Wouldn't mind adding one of those to my inventory but I'm not sure I could
afford to ship it from Timbuck2....
George Rachor
=========================================================
George L. Rachor Jr. george(a)rachors.com
Hillsboro, Oregon http://rachors.com
United States of America Amateur Radio : KD7DCX
On Fri, 14 Dec 2001, Jeff Hellige wrote:
How about a Sphere 1? Not sure how many were made,
but it
certainly wasn't many.
Jeff
--
Home of the TRS-80 Model 2000 FAQ File
http://www.cchaven.com
http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lakes/6757
12:50 p.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
On Fri, 14 Dec 2001, George Leo Rachor Jr. wrote:
I remember the first machine I seriously tried to come
up with the money
to buy.
Anybody else remember the Compucolor?
I'm not sure I ever learned the technical details of the machine.
Seems like they disappeared from the scene as fast as they came on.
Wouldn't mind adding one of those to my inventory but I'm not sure I could
afford to ship it from Timbuck2....
Is this the same as the Compucolor? I have an Intecolor 8001 which is a
huge beast: integrated CRT but the keyboard was separate (and I am
currently missing it). Definitely a rare beast. This is the only one
I've ever come across.
The only other one I've known anyone to have was the same guy who had that
Sphere 1 I referenced previously (he seemed good at finding rarities). He
said he found it lying at the side of a road. He thought it was just a TV
at first but when he stopped to check it out he found it was a computer.
So let this be a lesson to you: check those "TV"s you find in thrift
stores and flea markets.
Perhaps they are abundant, but we just pass them by out of ignorance? :)
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
15 Dec
15 Dec
2:12 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
The early Intecolor and Compucolor ads use the same photo and the specs are
the same. The Intecolor 8001 and Compucolor 8001 are the same. Compucolor
Corp. seems to have been a separate company located near Intelligent
Systems, which produced the Intecolor. I think it might have been either a
private-label deal or a separate company set up by Intelligent Systems to
sell the system. I'd appreciate any information that anyone on the list
might have on this.
--Mike
Michael Nadeau
Editorial Services
603-893-2379
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sellam Ismail" <foo(a)siconic.com>
To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Friday, December 14, 2001 9:50 PM
Subject: Re: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
Festival
On Fri, 14 Dec 2001, George Leo Rachor Jr. wrote:
> I remember the first machine I seriously tried to come up with the money
> to buy.
>
> Anybody else remember the Compucolor?
>
> I'm not sure I ever learned the technical details of the machine.
>
> Seems like they disappeared from the scene as fast as they came on.
>
> Wouldn't mind adding one of those to my inventory but I'm not sure I
could
afford to ship
it from Timbuck2....
Is this the same as the Compucolor? I have an Intecolor 8001 which is a
huge beast: integrated CRT but the keyboard was separate (and I am
currently missing it). Definitely a rare beast. This is the only one
I've ever come across.
The only other one I've known anyone to have was the same guy who had that
Sphere 1 I referenced previously (he seemed good at finding rarities). He
said he found it lying at the side of a road. He thought it was just a TV
at first but when he stopped to check it out he found it was a computer.
So let this be a lesson to you: check those "TV"s you find in thrift
stores and flea markets.
Perhaps they are abundant, but we just pass them by out of ignorance? :)
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
International Man of Intrigue and Danger
http://www.vintage.org
8:54 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
Intecolor was based in Georgia (Norcoss?) if I remember correctly. We
were given some Intecolor parts, but lack a full machine.
On Sat, 15 Dec 2001, Michael Nadeau wrote:
The early Intecolor and Compucolor ads use the same
photo and the specs are
the same. The Intecolor 8001 and Compucolor 8001 are the same. Compucolor
Corp. seems to have been a separate company located near Intelligent
Systems, which produced the Intecolor. I think it might have been either a
private-label deal or a separate company set up by Intelligent Systems to
sell the system. I'd appreciate any information that anyone on the list
might have on this.
--Mike
Michael Nadeau
Editorial Services
603-893-2379
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sellam Ismail" <foo(a)siconic.com>
To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Friday, December 14, 2001 9:50 PM
Subject: Re: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
Festival
M. K. Peirce
Rhode Island Computer Museum, Inc.
Shady Lea, Rhode Island
"Casta est quam nemo rogavit."
- Ovid
On Fri, 14 Dec 2001, George Leo Rachor Jr.
wrote:
> I remember the first machine I seriously tried to come up with the money
> to buy.
>
> Anybody else remember the Compucolor?
>
> I'm not sure I ever learned the technical details of the machine.
>
> Seems like they disappeared from the scene as fast as they came on.
>
> Wouldn't mind adding one of those to my inventory but I'm not sure I
could
afford to
ship it from Timbuck2....
Is this the same as the Compucolor? I have an Intecolor 8001 which is a
huge beast: integrated CRT but the keyboard was separate (and I am
currently missing it). Definitely a rare beast. This is the only one
I've ever come across.
The only other one I've known anyone to have was the same guy who had that
Sphere 1 I referenced previously (he seemed good at finding rarities). He
said he found it lying at the side of a road. He thought it was just a TV
at first but when he stopped to check it out he found it was a computer.
So let this be a lesson to you: check those "TV"s you find in thrift
stores and flea markets.
Perhaps they are abundant, but we just pass them by out of ignorance? :)
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
International Man of Intrigue and Danger
http://www.vintage.org
10:08 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
Compucolor was in Norcross, Georgia, and Intelligent Systems (Intecolor) was
in Duluth, Georgia. They are adjacent to one another just northeast of
Atlanta.
I've only seen one Compucolor 8001 system, in 1981. It was destroyed in
front of a firing squad--long story.
--Mike
Michael Nadeau
Editorial Services
603-893-2379
----- Original Message -----
From: "Merle K. Peirce" <at258(a)osfn.org>
To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Cc: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Saturday, December 15, 2001 5:54 PM
Subject: Re: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
M. K. Peirce
Rhode Island Computer Museum, Inc.
Shady Lea, Rhode Island
"Casta est quam nemo rogavit."
- Ovid
Intecolor was based in Georgia (Norcoss?) if I
remember correctly. We
were given some Intecolor parts, but lack a full machine.
On Sat, 15 Dec 2001, Michael Nadeau wrote:
> The early Intecolor and Compucolor ads use the same photo and the specs
are
> the same. The Intecolor 8001 and Compucolor 8001
are the same.
Compucolor
> Corp. seems to have been a separate company
located near Intelligent
> Systems, which produced the Intecolor. I think it might have been either
a
> private-label deal or a separate company set up
by Intelligent Systems
to
> sell the system. I'd appreciate any
information that anyone on the list
> might have on this.
>
> --Mike
>
>
> Michael Nadeau
> Editorial Services
> 603-893-2379
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Sellam Ismail" <foo(a)siconic.com>
> To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
> Sent: Friday, December 14, 2001 9:50 PM
> Subject: Re: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
>
>
> > On Fri, 14 Dec 2001, George Leo Rachor Jr. wrote:
> >
> > > I remember the first machine I seriously tried to come up with the
money
> > > to buy.
> > >
> > > Anybody else remember the Compucolor?
> > >
> > > I'm not sure I ever learned the technical details of the machine.
> > >
> > > Seems like they disappeared from the scene as fast as they came on.
> > >
> > > Wouldn't mind adding one of those to my inventory but I'm not sure
I
> could
> > > afford to ship it from Timbuck2....
> >
> > Is this the same as the Compucolor? I have an Intecolor 8001 which is
a
> > huge beast: integrated CRT but the keyboard
was separate (and I am
> > currently missing it). Definitely a rare beast. This is the only one
> > I've ever come across.
> >
> > The only other one I've known anyone to have was the same guy who had
that
> > Sphere 1 I referenced previously (he seemed
good at finding rarities).
He
> > said he found it lying at the side of a
road. He thought it was just
a TV
> > at first but when he stopped to check it out
he found it was a
computer.
> >
> > So let this be a lesson to you: check those "TV"s you find in thrift
> > stores and flea markets.
> >
> > Perhaps they are abundant, but we just pass them by out of ignorance?
:)
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer
Festival
17 Dec
17 Dec
3:20 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
I remember the first machine I seriously tried to come
up with the money
to buy.
Anybody else remember the Compucolor?
I'm not sure I ever learned the technical details of the machine.
Seems like they disappeared from the scene as fast as they came on.
Wouldn't mind adding one of those to my inventory but I'm not sure I could
afford to ship it from Timbuck2....
I have a Compucolor II in my inventory, but have never seen (in person) its
predecessor. From the specs I've seen, the two models seem identical as far
as processor and max memory go. Maybe the II was added in response to Apple's
success.
Eric
6:11 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
On Sat, 15 Dec 2001, Michael Nadeau wrote:
I've only seen one Compucolor 8001 system, in
1981. It was destroyed
in front of a firing squad--long story.
We have time :)
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
6:10 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
On Sat, 15 Dec 2001, Merle K. Peirce wrote:
Intecolor was based in Georgia (Norcoss?) if I
remember correctly.
Correct.
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
5:58 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
On Sat, 15 Dec 2001, Michael Nadeau wrote:
The early Intecolor and Compucolor ads use the same
photo and the
specs are the same. The Intecolor 8001 and Compucolor 8001 are the
same. Compucolor Corp. seems to have been a separate company located
near Intelligent Systems, which produced the Intecolor. I think it
might have been either a private-label deal or a separate company set
up by Intelligent Systems to sell the system. I'd appreciate any
information that anyone on the list might have on this.
My Intecolor 8001 has an ISC (Intelligent Systems Corp) badge on it.
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
15 Dec
15 Dec
2:05 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
There was one on sale on Ebay last year...it was located in Australia.
It went for more than $500.
-Chandra
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
[mailto:owner-classiccmp@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of George Leo Rachor
Jr.
Sent: Friday, December 14, 2001 7:02 PM
To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
Subject: Re: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
I remember the first machine I seriously tried to come up with the money
to buy.
Anybody else remember the Compucolor?
I'm not sure I ever learned the technical details of the machine.
Seems like they disappeared from the scene as fast as they came on.
Wouldn't mind adding one of those to my inventory but I'm not sure I
could
afford to ship it from Timbuck2....
George Rachor
=========================================================
George L. Rachor Jr. george(a)rachors.com
Hillsboro, Oregon http://rachors.com
United States of America Amateur Radio : KD7DCX
On Fri, 14 Dec 2001, Jeff Hellige wrote:
How about a Sphere 1? Not sure how many were made,
but it
certainly wasn't many.
Jeff
--
Home of the TRS-80 Model 2000 FAQ File
http://www.cchaven.com
http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lakes/6757
14 Dec
14 Dec
12:03 p.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
Here are a few that while not so hard to find... WHen they are on eBay, the
price goes very high:
Commodore 128D
1581
and ..
the
Vectrex
Bryan
P.S. Why oh why won't some enterprising soul bring out a colour vector
gaming console.. There *has* to be some sort of niche market for it! It
would be a breath of *fresh* air compared to the game consoles out now.
1:03 p.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
As a collector of Apple II clones, I find these hard to find. They turn up
on ebay but for some reason, the prices go higher than seems reasonable to
me but what can you do? Apple clones do turn up on ebay but trying to find a
specific clone is very tough. All I can do is pick up whatever clones turn
up. I've given up looking for specific computers.
E.
3:58 p.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
Here are a few that while not so hard to find... WHen
they are on eBay, the
price goes very high:
Commodore 128D
1581
Now these I can see some justification for (not merely because I'm a Commodore
freak). 128Ds are nice units, especially with the built-in disk drive; and
they're very sturdy and well-built. They're also very stylish units, probably
the best looking computers of the 8-bit Commodore line.
The 1581 is also comparatively uncommon and they unfortunately have a 'neat'
factor since few people know Commodore released a 3.5" drive. For this
reason alone they get slapped with R@RE and command a high price, which
so far has held up. I paid $100 for mine about 4 years ago, which was an
absolute steal then.
--
----------------------------- personal page: http://www.armory.com/~spectre/ --
Cameron Kaiser, Point Loma Nazarene University * ckaiser(a)stockholm.ptloma.edu
-- The superfluous is very necessary. -- Voltaire -----------------------------
16 Dec
16 Dec
6:15 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
On Fri, 14 Dec 2001, Cameron Kaiser wrote:
A C-128D was my main machine before I got my Amiga 2000. I was planning
on unboxing it again soon, but before I stopped using it, the drive seemed
to be going out of alignment. It needed a little gentle pressure on the
disk sometimes to get 'er going.
Now, when I bring it back out - for someone w/o a whole lot of experience
with working on disk drives - what's a good approach for getting it back
up to snuff. (I currently have no o-scope or other 'fancy' test gear, so
I'm looking for the basics here...)
thanks-
- Dan
--
Dan Linder / dlinder @ uiuc.edu
Graduate Student, College of Engineering, Dept. of Computer Science
- Dept. of Computer Science Teaching Assistant
- DRES Computer Accessibility Researcher
Here are a few
that while not so hard to find... WHen they are on eBay, the
price goes very high:
Commodore 128D
Now these I can see some justification for (not merely because I'm a Commodore
freak). 128Ds are nice units, especially with the built-in disk drive; and
they're very sturdy and well-built. They're also very stylish units, probably
the best looking computers of the 8-bit Commodore line.
7:43 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
Now, when I bring it back out - for someone w/o a
whole lot of experience
with working on disk drives - what's a good approach for getting it back
up to snuff. (I currently have no o-scope or other 'fancy' test gear, so
I'm looking for the basics here...)
If you mean failure to get the disk drive to read disks initially, 1571s
sometimes like to have the disk 'tapped in' once or twice, i.e., insert the
disk, close the door and then tap the disk in a couple times. Occasionally
the 1571 fails to note the change of disk. I now have a habit of this with
my 128D.
Also, they are known to have grounding issues from time to time, so make
sure that the unit is properly earthed or you'll get weird disk errors.
Failing that, for alignment, look for a used *original* of Vorpal Toolkit
by Epyx which is sometimes up for sale and let it take a whack at the drive.
It must be an original, since Vorpal aligns the drive to the waveform
generated by its host disk. This is probably the easiest way and I've
aligned several drives with this utility.
--
----------------------------- personal page: http://www.armory.com/~spectre/ --
Cameron Kaiser, Point Loma Nazarene University * ckaiser(a)stockholm.ptloma.edu
-- FORTUNE: Today is an excellent day to have a totally rotten day. -----------
8:24 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
On Sun, 16 Dec 2001, Cameron Kaiser wrote:
Ah, yes, this is the same symptom in mine. I guess when I head back to
the Familial Lodge (parents' house), I must bring down my 128D. I miss it
so.
- Dan
--
Dan Linder / dlinder @ uiuc.edu
Graduate Student, College of Engineering, Dept. of Computer Science
- Dept. of Computer Science Teaching Assistant
- DRES Computer Accessibility Researcher
Now, when I
bring it back out - for someone w/o a whole lot of experience
with working on disk drives - what's a good approach for getting it back
up to snuff. (I currently have no o-scope or other 'fancy' test gear, so
I'm looking for the basics here...)
If you mean failure to get the disk drive to read disks initially, 1571s
sometimes like to have the disk 'tapped in' once or twice, i.e., insert the
disk, close the door and then tap the disk in a couple times. Occasionally
the 1571 fails to note the change of disk. I now have a habit of this with
my 128D.
9:57 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
On Fri, 14 Dec 2001, Cameron Kaiser wrote:
A C-128D was my main machine before I got my Amiga 2000. I was planning
on unboxing it again soon, but before I stopped using it, the drive seemed
to be going out of alignment. It needed a little gentle pressure on the
disk sometimes to get 'er going.
Now, when I bring it back out - for someone w/o a whole lot of experience
with working on disk drives - what's a good approach for getting it back
up to snuff. (I currently have no o-scope or other 'fancy' test gear, so
I'm looking for the basics here...)
Centisible software (http://www.centisible.com) is the distributor for
Free Spirit Software's 1541/71 Drive Alignment. They sell it new for $19.95
Cheers,
Bryan
Here are
a few that while not so hard to find... WHen they are on eBay, the
price goes very high:
Commodore 128D
Now these I can see some justification for (not merely because I'm a Commodore
freak). 128Ds are nice units, especially with the built-in disk drive; and
they're very sturdy and well-built. They're also very stylish units, probably
the best looking computers of the 8-bit Commodore line.
14 Dec
14 Dec
12:46 p.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
On Fri, 14 Dec 2001, Jeff Hellige wrote:
How about a Sphere 1? Not sure how many were made,
but it
certainly wasn't many.
Ah yeah. Good pick. That is definitely a rare beast. I've only ever
known one person who had one (I forgot his name, he used to be on the list
a few years ago). He sold it off to someone else and then got out of
collecting computers.
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
1:11 p.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
On Fri, 14 Dec 2001, Jeff Hellige wrote:
There are quite a few mentions of it, most seemingly using
just about the same short blurb, but few pictures. I talked with
Michael Sphere (I think that's the correct name) a little a few years
ago and thought the machine sounded interesting enough.
Jeff
--
Home of the TRS-80 Model 2000 FAQ File
http://www.cchaven.com
http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lakes/6757
How about a Sphere 1? Not sure how many were
made, but it
certainly wasn't many.
Ah yeah. Good pick. That is definitely a rare beast. I've only ever
known one person who had one (I forgot his name, he used to be on the list
a few years ago). He sold it off to someone else and then got out of
collecting computers. 
1:33 p.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
If anyone has a GE 635 (from the early 60s) cluttering up their closet,
I'll take it. Even though I'm not actively collecting much right now...
the 635 was the first computer I ever saw (at age 12, in 1964) and I'd be
tempted to sink a lot of money into restoring one, just to be able to hear
it and smell that smell, once again.
But I'm not holding my breath... ;}
Cheers and Best of the Season!
John
8:29 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
John Lawson wrote:
If anyone has a GE 635 (from the early 60s) cluttering up their closet,
I'll take it. Even though I'm not actively collecting much right now...
the 635 was the first computer I ever saw (at age 12, in 1964) and I'd be
tempted to sink a lot of money into restoring one, just to be able to hear
it and smell that smell, once again.
But I'm not holding my breath... ;}
Cheers and Best of the Season!
John
I think it is time to package TTY oil and paper chad smell in a
easy to use spray can. :)
--
Ben Franchuk --- Pre-historic Cpu's --
www.jetnet.ab.ca/users/bfranchuk/index.html
2:35 p.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
On Fri, 14 Dec 2001, Ben Franchuk wrote:
John Lawson wrote:
Or in an atomizer... TTY-Oil/Paper-Chad Cologne! Coming soon to a store
near you!
Peace... Sridhar
If anyone has a GE 635 (from the early 60s) cluttering up their closet,
I'll take it. Even though I'm not actively collecting much right now...
the 635 was the first computer I ever saw (at age 12, in 1964) and I'd be
tempted to sink a lot of money into restoring one, just to be able to hear
it and smell that smell, once again.
But I'm not holding my breath... ;}
Cheers and Best of the Season!
John
I think it is time to package TTY oil and paper chad smell in a
easy to use spray can. :) 
6:15 p.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
On Fri, 14 Dec 2001, Boatman on the River of Suck wrote:
Or in an atomizer... TTY-Oil/Paper-Chad Cologne!
Coming soon to a
store near you!
Just think... if a female picked up on that scent and then was attracted
to me, there would be *absolutely* *no* *need* for further verification of
her suitability. No more of "please state the Fundamental Theorem of
Calculus" and such. What a good idea!
--
Jeffrey S. Sharp
jss(a)subatomix.com
17 Dec
17 Dec
5:22 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
On Fri, 14 Dec 2001, Jeff Hellige wrote:
There are quite a few mentions of it, most seemingly
using just
about the same short blurb, but few pictures. I talked with Michael
Sphere (I think that's the correct name) a little a few years ago and
thought the machine sounded interesting enough.
Mike Wise. He was a speaker at VCF 3.0:
http://www.vintage.org/vcf99/mw-bio.htm
He makes a claim that the Sphere 1 was the "first integrated PC". He also
claimed that Steve Wozniak got inspiration for the Apple ][ from the
Sphere.
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
7:23 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
Mike Wise. He was a speaker at VCF 3.0:
Well, I recalled the first name correctly!
He makes a claim that the Sphere 1 was the "first
integrated PC". He also
claimed that Steve Wozniak got inspiration for the Apple ][ from the
Sphere.
Yes, I remember some of that. Unfortunately I can't find the
email's from our exchange. My email archives only go back to '99 on
this machine and it was likely before that.
Jeff
--
Home of the TRS-80 Model 2000 FAQ File
http://www.cchaven.com
http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lakes/6757
16 Dec
16 Dec
10:10 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
Ah yeah. Good pick. That is definitely a rare beast.
I've only ever
known one person who had one (I forgot his name, he used to be on the list
a few years ago). He sold it off to someone else and then got out of
collecting computers.
Was that me? I have/had three, but they are promised to go out West. One of
those deals that seems to be taking a very long time, mostly due to me
trying to unearth it all and boxing the stuff up.
Anyway, Sphere aparently was one of the early bad guys. The computers they
sold (many as kits, I think) basically did not work. Unlike Altair, Sphere
was trying to break into the business sector, so there really was not much
of an excuse for the crapiness. They all needed a huge number of hacks to
get them to function (my favorite is a a few-mH coil made of telephone
wire kludged onto one of the oscillators, in order to keep the thing
going. Basically, wrap some wire around a pencil, and tack solder it into
place, and adjust accordingly).
William Donzelli
aw288(a)osfn.org
12:22 p.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
I stumbled upon a link some time ago belonging to a
very bitter former owner of Sphere. The gist of his
article was that Byte Magazine destroyed Sphere with a
very bad review, and, that most computers of that era
took some hacking to work anyway (example: the "clock"
- and I use the term clock charitably - of the
original Altair 8800).
--- William Donzelli <aw288(a)osfn.org> wrote:
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Check out Yahoo! Shopping and Yahoo! Auctions for all of
your unique holiday gifts! Buy at http://shopping.yahoo.com
or bid at http://auctions.yahoo.com
Ah yeah. Good
pick. That is definitely a rare
beast. I've only ever
known one person who had one (I forgot his name,
he used to be on the list
a few years ago). He sold it off to someone else
and then got out of
collecting computers.
Was that me? I have/had three, but they are promised
to go out West. One of
those deals that seems to be taking a very long
time, mostly due to me
trying to unearth it all and boxing the stuff up.
Anyway, Sphere aparently was one of the early bad
guys. The computers they
sold (many as kits, I think) basically did not work.
Unlike Altair, Sphere
was trying to break into the business sector, so
there really was not much
of an excuse for the crapiness. They all needed a
huge number of hacks to
get them to function (my favorite is a a few-mH coil
made of telephone
wire kludged onto one of the oscillators, in order
to keep the thing
going. Basically, wrap some wire around a pencil,
and tack solder it into
place, and adjust accordingly).
William Donzelli
aw288(a)osfn.org
1:19 p.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
I stumbled upon a link some time ago belonging to a
very bitter former owner of Sphere. The gist of his
article was that Byte Magazine destroyed Sphere with a
very bad review, and, that most computers of that era
took some hacking to work anyway (example: the "clock"
- and I use the term clock charitably - of the
original Altair 8800).
I have to side with Byte - Spheres really are junk. I obtained mine from
an old time micro hacker (one of those that had to buy one way back in
1975) from the 6800 side of the tracks. He really had nothing good to say
about Sphere - crappy construction, crappy engineering, crappy
salesmanships, crappy software. Apparently there was a fair amount of
empty promises from Sphere as well.
He did think reasonably highly of SWTPCo and the Motorola Exorsizor,
however. I have to agree with him - the SWTPCo box is a reasonably decent
cheap design that needed "minimal" hacking to get to work.
William Donzelli
aw288(a)osfn.org
3:18 p.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
Anyone familiar with the Sierra? Altos Z-80 based clone produced in
San Diego that came in a single user version and a multiuser/processor
version - presumably for business.
- don
10:26 p.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
Stan Veit's History of the Personal Computer has a detailed account of the
Sphere's design flaws and other issues, including kits being sent out
incomplete. Veit was a retailer who sold the Sphere when new. Veit stopped
selling the Sphere and admits that the company might have fixed some of the
problems after that.
Do you remember the issue in which the review that the former owner refers
to appeared? The earliest Sphere coverage in BYTE is positive, almost
fawning.
Maybe if the Sphere had been on the cover of Popular Electronics instead of
the Altair people would have been more forgiving of its flaws.
--Mike
Michael Nadeau
Editorial Services
603-893-2379
----- Original Message -----
From: "Loboyko Steve" <sloboyko(a)yahoo.com>
To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2001 9:22 PM
Subject: Re: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
I stumbled upon a link some time ago belonging to a
very bitter former owner of Sphere. The gist of his
article was that Byte Magazine destroyed Sphere with a
very bad review, and, that most computers of that era
took some hacking to work anyway (example: the "clock"
- and I use the term clock charitably - of the
original Altair 8800).
--- William Donzelli <aw288(a)osfn.org> wrote:
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Check out Yahoo! Shopping and Yahoo! Auctions for all of
your unique holiday gifts! Buy at http://shopping.yahoo.com
or bid at http://auctions.yahoo.com
Ah yeah.
Good pick. That is definitely a rare
beast. I've only ever
known one person who had one (I forgot his name,
he used to be on the list
a few years ago). He sold it off to someone else
and then got out of
collecting computers.
Was that me? I have/had three, but they are promised
to go out West. One of
those deals that seems to be taking a very long
time, mostly due to me
trying to unearth it all and boxing the stuff up.
Anyway, Sphere aparently was one of the early bad
guys. The computers they
sold (many as kits, I think) basically did not work.
Unlike Altair, Sphere
was trying to break into the business sector, so
there really was not much
of an excuse for the crapiness. They all needed a
huge number of hacks to
get them to function (my favorite is a a few-mH coil
made of telephone
wire kludged onto one of the oscillators, in order
to keep the thing
going. Basically, wrap some wire around a pencil,
and tack solder it into
place, and adjust accordingly).
William Donzelli
aw288(a)osfn.org
17 Dec
17 Dec
7:28 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
On Sun, 16 Dec 2001, Loboyko Steve wrote:
I stumbled upon a link some time ago belonging to a
very bitter former
owner of Sphere. The gist of his article was that Byte Magazine
destroyed Sphere with a very bad review, and, that most computers of
that era took some hacking to work anyway (example: the "clock" - and
I use the term clock charitably - of the original Altair 8800).
That was probably Mike Wise. He's the only one that still seems to be
trying to wrest some glory from the 70s.
It was generally acknolwedged that the Sphere was crap, as evidenced by
the fact that not many were made and the stories about them are pretty
negative (and a bad review in Byte was probably deserved).
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
7:23 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
On Sun, 16 Dec 2001, William Donzelli wrote:
Was that me? I have/had three, but they are promised
to go out West.
One of those deals that seems to be taking a very long time, mostly
due to me trying to unearth it all and boxing the stuff up.
No, I didn't know you had any (or maybe I did but have since forgotten).
I forgot the guy's name. He was in New Jersey.
Anyway, Sphere aparently was one of the early bad
guys. The computers
they sold (many as kits, I think) basically did not work. Unlike
Altair, Sphere was trying to break into the business sector, so there
really was not much of an excuse for the crapiness. They all needed a
huge number of hacks to get them to function (my favorite is a a
few-mH coil made of telephone wire kludged onto one of the
oscillators, in order to keep the thing going. Basically, wrap some
wire around a pencil, and tack solder it into place, and adjust
accordingly).
I've read many stories about how poor Sphere's were, which is why they
didn't last very long. Stan Veit's book has a good account of their
kludgy nature and vapory marketing.
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
14 Dec
14 Dec
2:42 p.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
I'm interested in extremely early micros, so, my
votes:
Mike computers from Martin Research (esp. 8008 based)
Scelbi-8H
Qwint Systems terminals (Z-80 based)
Intel 4004, 8008, 4040 development systems
I worked for Martin Reasearch (when its name was
changed to Qwint) and there were Mike parts all over
the place as junk, damnit. OTOH, if I listed the stuff
I threw out in the 80's, people on this list would
probably cry...
I wanted a Scelbi so bad I got the prints and manual;
with these, I'm building an 8008 machine that will
combine the best parts of the designs of the Scelbi,
Mark-8, and Mike computers. I have also resurrected
the SCELBAL computer language and have modified it to
be ROMMable. I've written a Windows-based 8008
emulator/debugger for it that runs SCELBAL on a
virtual TTY on the screen or out a serial port.
Interestringly, even a stock, fully loaded Scelbi-8H
didn't have enough address space to run SCELBAL!
A few people (on this list) are (hopefully) beta
testing the emulator/debugger. Combined with a
completely restored ADM-3A and some paper tape
punches/readers, I hope to have a maintainable,
demonstratable, working model of a 70's home
computing setup.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Check out Yahoo! Shopping and Yahoo! Auctions for all of
your unique holiday gifts! Buy at http://shopping.yahoo.com
or bid at http://auctions.yahoo.com
9:33 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
Loboyko Steve wrote:
I wanted a Scelbi so bad I got the prints and manual;
with these, I'm building an 8008 machine that will
combine the best parts of the designs of the Scelbi,
Mark-8, and Mike computers. I have also resurrected
the SCELBAL computer language and have modified it to
be ROMMable. I've written a Windows-based 8008
emulator/debugger for it that runs SCELBAL on a
virtual TTY on the screen or out a serial port.
Interestringly, even a stock, fully loaded Scelbi-8H
didn't have enough address space to run SCELBAL!
Ok what is the SCELBAL computer language?
Got milk^H^H^H^Hsource?
--
Ben Franchuk --- Pre-historic Cpu's --
www.jetnet.ab.ca/users/bfranchuk/index.html
15 Dec
15 Dec
1:22 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
Anyone know where we could find a Quotron 801?
On Fri, 14 Dec 2001, Loboyko Steve wrote:
I'm interested in extremely early micros, so, my
votes:
Mike computers from Martin Research (esp. 8008 based)
Scelbi-8H
Qwint Systems terminals (Z-80 based)
Intel 4004, 8008, 4040 development systems
I worked for Martin Reasearch (when its name was
changed to Qwint) and there were Mike parts all over
the place as junk, damnit. OTOH, if I listed the stuff
I threw out in the 80's, people on this list would
probably cry...
I wanted a Scelbi so bad I got the prints and manual;
with these, I'm building an 8008 machine that will
combine the best parts of the designs of the Scelbi,
Mark-8, and Mike computers. I have also resurrected
the SCELBAL computer language and have modified it to
be ROMMable. I've written a Windows-based 8008
emulator/debugger for it that runs SCELBAL on a
virtual TTY on the screen or out a serial port.
Interestringly, even a stock, fully loaded Scelbi-8H
didn't have enough address space to run SCELBAL!
A few people (on this list) are (hopefully) beta
testing the emulator/debugger. Combined with a
completely restored ADM-3A and some paper tape
punches/readers, I hope to have a maintainable,
demonstratable, working model of a 70's home
computing setup.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Check out Yahoo! Shopping and Yahoo! Auctions for all of
your unique holiday gifts! Buy at http://shopping.yahoo.com
or bid at http://auctions.yahoo.com
M. K. Peirce
Rhode Island Computer Museum, Inc.
Shady Lea, Rhode Island
"Casta est quam nemo rogavit."
- Ovid
8:28 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers (Was: RE: Way OT: Just say no t o squirrels & Pascal question)
What are the hardest to find Classic Computers?
I have had a serious drought on Tomy Tutors. Granted, I have two, which is
more than my fair share, but that's just tough for the rest of you :-)
I'd like a Commodore 900, though strictly speaking that's a prototype.
Not too many NeXTs around here. I also can't find many of the 'big'
Solbournes (I myself only have an IDT S4100/36, tip of the hat to Mike).
--
----------------------------- personal page: http://www.armory.com/~spectre/ --
Cameron Kaiser, Point Loma Nazarene University * ckaiser(a)stockholm.ptloma.edu
-- The optimum committee has no members. -- Norman Augustine ------------------
11:31 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers (Was: RE: Way OT: Just say no t o squirrels & Pascal question)
> What are the hardest to find Classic Computers?
You know, I always wanted to find (or at least play
with) a Cogent STM, or
a Linn Rekursiv.
Were Rekursivs ever in production? I thought it was just a prototype, and
not even a totally completed one at that.
--
----------------------------- personal page: http://www.armory.com/~spectre/ --
Cameron Kaiser, Point Loma Nazarene University * ckaiser(a)stockholm.ptloma.edu
-- Conceit causes more conversation than wit. -- LaRouchefoucauld -------------
7:26 p.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers (Was: RE: Way OT: Just say no t o squirrels & Pascal question)
> What are
the hardest to find Classic Computers?
You know, I always wanted to find (or at least
play with) a Cogent STM, or
a Linn Rekursiv.
Were Rekursivs ever in production? I thought it was just a prototype, and
not even a totally completed one at that.
9 p.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers (Was: RE: Way OT: Just say no t o squirrels & Pascal question)
> What are the hardest to find Classic Computers?
> You know, I always wanted to find (or at least play with) a Cogent STM, or
> a Linn Rekursiv. I believe some Rekursiv boards surfaced in a surplus
store in Lakewood,
Colorado a wile back.
A followup:
According to a posting in alt.folklore.computers, March 15 1993, by one of
the Rekursiv team, around 30 were sold. I wonder if any working examples
still exist?
--
Cheers,
Stan Barr stanb(a)dial.pipex.com
The future was never like this!
12:41 p.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers (Was: RE: Way OT: Just say no t o squirrels & Pascal question)
On Fri, 14 Dec 2001, Cameron Kaiser wrote:
I used to have three, then Hans whined a bunch. Now I just have two ;)
What carts do you have for yours? I've got about 6-8, plus the paddles
and the joystick and some other nifty doohickey.
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
What are the
hardest to find Classic Computers?
I have had a serious drought on Tomy Tutors. Granted, I have two,
which is more than my fair share, but that's just tough for the rest
of you :-)
4:06 p.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers (Was: RE: Way OT: Just say no t o squirrels & Pascal question)
> > What are the hardest to find Classic
Computers?
> I have had a serious drought on Tomy Tutors.
Granted, I have two,
> which is more than my fair share, but that's just tough for the rest
> of you :-)
I used to have three, then Hans whined a bunch. Now I
just have two ;)
What carts do you have for yours? I've got about 6-8, plus the paddles
and the joystick and some other nifty doohickey.
Let's see. I have 14 total, seven boxed and seven loose, plus the Data
Recorder which I had to repair over the weekend, joystick and joypads.
Paddles? I didn't know there were paddles available; are they actually
real potentiometer paddles, or do you mean the twin joypad set? And what's
the doohickey?
The agonisingly "common" domestic cartridge I'm still missing is Torpedo
Terror. There's a few other domestic cartridges I haven't found yet, but
those are much more uncommon.
Of the seven loose, five are some Japanese imports that a fellow Tomy fan
found and sold to me at a comparatively inexpensive price. Alas, the rest
were spoken for to the tune of several hundred dollars. The imports are
kind of fun, and (not so?) surprisingly, most of them are in English. I have
one in Japanese, but since American Tutors don't have the characters in ROM,
there's just unmapped random garbage where the characters should be.
--
----------------------------- personal page: http://www.armory.com/~spectre/ --
Cameron Kaiser, Point Loma Nazarene University * ckaiser(a)stockholm.ptloma.edu
-- TRUE HEADLINE: Teacher Strikes Idle Kids -----------------------------------
17 Dec
17 Dec
5:50 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers (Was: RE: Way OT: Just say no t o squirrels & Pascal question)
On Fri, 14 Dec 2001, Cameron Kaiser wrote:
Let's see. I have 14 total, seven boxed and seven
loose, plus the Data
Recorder which I had to repair over the weekend, joystick and joypads.
Paddles? I didn't know there were paddles available; are they actually
real potentiometer paddles, or do you mean the twin joypad set? And
what's the doohickey?
I meant joypads I guess. And I have the data recorder as well. I think I
have an additional doohickey unit though (or I may be thinking of the data
recorder). I don't know what it is I'm thinking of, just that I have it
:)
The agonisingly "common" domestic cartridge
I'm still missing is
Torpedo Terror. There's a few other domestic cartridges I haven't
found yet, but those are much more uncommon.
I'll catalog what I have and report back.
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
14 Dec
14 Dec
10:19 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers (Was: RE: Way OT: Just say no to squirrels & Pascal question)
Douglas Quebbeman wrote:
> Rather, the systems I'me talking about
would have been
> commercially produced, were general-purpose systems,
> made in quantity of say at least a baker's dozen.
> These systems might be generally
available, and might
> go for a price you can afford, but you just can't *find*
> them where you're at.
> Around here for me, it would be
PDP-8's and Lisa's.
> ???
> -dq
digital Alphabook. Not exactly Rare, just hard-to-find
-nick
11:40 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers (Was: RE: Way OT: Just say no to
digital Alphabook. Not exactly Rare, just hard-to-find
I'd love an Alphabook, but when they are available, they are
expensive. Once the VMS IPF port is finished and IPF laptops
are available I'll finally have a native VMS laptop.
--
Eric Dittman
dittman(a)dittman.net
Check out the DEC Enthusiasts Club at http://www.dittman.net/
9:40 p.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers (Was: RE: Way OT: Just say no to
At 07:40 PM 14/12/2001 -0600, Eric Dittman wrote:
Why wait? You can get a pay for VAX simulator to run on your Intel Laptop
today (Charon-VAX http://www.charon-vax.com) and the SIMH
http://simh.trailing-edge.com/ family of free simulators (including PDP-11
and PDP-10) has a VAX emulator that's almost working (VMS boots but crashes
shortly thereafter).
Huw Davies | e-mail: Huw.Davies(a)kerberos.davies.net.au
| "If God had wanted soccer played in the
| air, the sky would be painted green"
digital
Alphabook. Not exactly Rare, just hard-to-find
I'd love an Alphabook, but when they are available, they are
expensive. Once the VMS IPF port is finished and IPF laptops
are available I'll finally have a native VMS laptop.
15 Dec
15 Dec
2:32 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers (Was: RE: Way OT: Just
At 07:40 PM 14/12/2001 -0600, Eric Dittman wrote:
Why wait? You can get a pay for VAX simulator to run on your Intel Laptop
today (Charon-VAX http://www.charon-vax.com) and the SIMH
http://simh.trailing-edge.com/ family of free simulators (including PDP-11
and PDP-10) has a VAX emulator that's almost working (VMS boots but crashes
shortly thereafter).
The commercial VAX simulator is extremely expensive, and the SIMH and TS10
aren't there yet. Even so, the keyword was "native". I don't want the
performance hit that comes with running an emulation.
--
Eric Dittman
dittman(a)dittman.net
Check out the DEC Enthusiasts Club at http://www.dittman.net/
digital
Alphabook. Not exactly Rare, just hard-to-find
I'd love an Alphabook, but when they are available, they are
expensive. Once the VMS IPF port is finished and IPF laptops
are available I'll finally have a native VMS laptop. 
7:30 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers (Was: RE: Way OT: Just
On Sat, 15 Dec 2001, Eric Dittman wrote:
The commercial VAX simulator is extremely expensive,
and the SIMH and TS10
aren't there yet. Even so, the keyword was "native". I don't want
the
performance hit that comes with running an emulation.
I agree that Charon-VAX is expensive but seeing how well SIMH has gone
with the other emultations I would expect that it will provide a bootable
VAX environment shortly.
The problem with the Alphabook was that it's not exactly fast and
the battery life is short. They are also hard to find and expensive
should you find one. I suspect that a 1GHz laptop will run a VAX
emulation faster than the Alphabook with better battery life too.
Huw Davies | e-mail: Huw.Davies(a)kerberos.davies.net.au
| "If God had wanted soccer played in the
| air, the sky would be painted green"
16 Dec
16 Dec
9:08 p.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers (Was: RE: Way OT: Just
The commercial
VAX simulator is extremely expensive, and the SIMH and TS10
aren't there yet. Even so, the keyword was "native". I don't want
the
performance hit that comes with running an emulation.
I agree that Charon-VAX is expensive but seeing how well SIMH has gone
with the other emultations I would expect that it will provide a bootable
VAX environment shortly. The problem with the Alphabook was that it's not
exactly fast and
the battery life is short. They are also hard to find and expensive
should you find one. I suspect that a 1GHz laptop will run a VAX
emulation faster than the Alphabook with better battery life too.
I'm guessing the Alphabook will still be faster than an emulated VAX
on a 1GHz laptop, since that will probably be about the equivalent
to a MV3600 (that's what the Charon emulator claims, IIRC). The
Alphabook was a bit faster.
Still, once the IPF port is done, we should be able to take any
standard IPF laptop and load OpenVMS IPF on it.
--
Eric Dittman
dittman(a)dittman.net
Check out the DEC Enthusiasts Club at http://www.dittman.net/
24 Dec
24 Dec
8:53 p.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers (Was: RE: Way OT: Just
At 05:08 AM 17/12/2001 -0600, Eric Dittman wrote:
I'm guessing the Alphabook will still be faster
than an emulated VAX
on a 1GHz laptop, since that will probably be about the equivalent
to a MV3600 (that's what the Charon emulator claims, IIRC). The
Alphabook was a bit faster.
I'll do some performance comparisons when SIMH runs OpenVMS and no,
before you ask, I don't have an AlphaBook but I do have other Alpha
hardware that is likely to have similar performance.
Still, once the IPF port is done, we should be able to
take any
standard IPF laptop and load OpenVMS IPF on it.
Indeedy, one of the best surprises of the IPF port but I suspect
the IPF laptops will be a) heavy, b) expensive, c) hot and d) have
a short battery life when run at full speed....
Huw Davies | e-mail: Huw.Davies(a)kerberos.davies.net.au
| "If God had wanted soccer played in the
| air, the sky would be painted green"
25 Dec
25 Dec
4:24 a.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers (Was: RE: Way OT: Just
I'm
guessing the Alphabook will still be faster than an emulated VAX
on a 1GHz laptop, since that will probably be about the equivalent
to a MV3600 (that's what the Charon emulator claims, IIRC). The
Alphabook was a bit faster.
I'll do some performance comparisons when SIMH runs OpenVMS and no,
before you ask, I don't have an AlphaBook but I do have other Alpha
hardware that is likely to have similar performance. Still, once the
IPF port is done, we should be able to take any
standard IPF laptop and load OpenVMS IPF on it.
Indeedy, one of the best surprises of the IPF port but I suspect
the IPF laptops will be a) heavy, b) expensive, c) hot and d) have
a short battery life when run at full speed.... 
14 Dec
14 Dec
1:41 p.m.
New subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers
In no special order I would like to find a Commodore Amiga CD32, Philips
CD-1350, SOL, Sony Data Discman, Vectrex, Mark-8 and the list goes on.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Douglas Quebbeman" <dhquebbeman(a)theestopinalgroup.com>
To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Friday, December 14, 2001 11:39 AM
Subject: Hardest to Find Classic Computers (Was: RE: Way OT: Just say no
to squirrels & Pascal question)
When OT
threads die and then get resurrected under even
wilder topics, its just not worth it.
Ok, we've had threads similar to this one before, but
maybe not quite...
What are the hardest to find Classic Computers? What should not
be counted:
Systems that never went beyond prototype
Systems that they made only one of
Systems that were custom-designed for a single
customer and were only in limited production
Systems that were not "general purpose" computers
Also not intended as the thrust of the topic:
Systems you most of all want
Rather, the systems I'me talking about would have been
commercially produced, were general-purpose systems,
made in quantity of say at least a baker's dozen.
These systems might be generally available, and might
go for a price you can afford, but you just can't *find*
them where you're at.
Around here for me, it would be PDP-8's and Lisa's.
???
-dq
19 Dec
19 Dec
3:53 a.m.
New subject: CD32 and CD-TV (was Re: Hardest to Find Classic Computers)
--- "John R. Keys Jr." <jrkeys(a)concentric.net> wrote:
In no special order I would like to find a Commodore
Amiga CD32...
I still have mine that I bought new. I use it to play CD+G discs and
not much else. Wish I had the MPEG cart - got some VCDs that would
be fun to play on it. I have an SX-1 adapter that turns a CD32 into
sort of an A1200, but I haven't had the time to check it out and put
it together. Does anyone have any docs for that? The jumpers are
labelled, so there's not much guesswork, but any docs are more than
I have now.
The other thing I wouldn't mind getting is a replacement CD-TV. I
had one that I bought new for $800 that was stolen when my house was
burglarized 9 years ago - they got my A500 (with WEDGE XT drive adapter)
and a couple of PETs. Fortunately for me at the time, they didn't have
time to grab my over-expanded A1000 (Rejuvinator, Spirit InBoard, etc.).
-ethan
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