| I'm just curious - have any of you (with the possible exception of the | apple I) ever seen anyone selling these models at these prices much less | purchased one for so much? Do any of these warrant such a price for | you? $400 for an Apple II? $300 for an Osborne? I bought an Apple II+ | with 3 Disk IIs, color monitor, and box of accessories for $50 - | in 1988! Well... here are my thoughts: Unverified, the only high-dollar example I know of is the Computer Bowl auction unit. I know someone who actually has two Apple I's, and since I actually have more than one Altair, I'm trying to talk him into our becoming about the only two people with one of each. Wish me luck! Highly dubious, since I have never seen, and probably will never see, one of these for sale. Heck, it wasn't even a genuine production machine, it was mostly just instructions on how to build one from scratch. Who knows what it would even look like? Every one was different. Since most if not all of the period's TTL stuff is still available, you could build something today and call it a Mark 8. Most people looking for an Altair would say "A Mark what?" Why this should be lower priced than the Mark-8 considering that it came out earlier ('73 vs. '74, according to Byte), is beyond me. The same comment as for the Mark-8 applies. The Mark-8 and Scelbi are sort of like the guy who almost got credit for inventing the telephone. It's doubtful that history will ever be rewritten sufficiently for there to be a significant interest in these machines. Not that _I_ wouldn't buy one, mind you... not for these dollars of course, but for a goodly sum. This might actually be a bit low, considering the amount of 'Altair Fever' around today. You should see the number of 'Altair Wanted' posts on various sections of Usenet. Geez! Is it worth it? I'd say, sure it is! My dad's '57 fuelie 'Vette is just as primitive by today's standards, but just like the Altair, it looks fantastic and it's a piece of history. It darn well deserves its more-than-a-new-one price tag. Of course, my dad restored it himself, since he always wanted one when he was a kid... sure sounds like his son's relationship with antique computers! This is accurate, perhaps a bit low as well. They're pretty rare (one less in circulation as of this weekend - thanks Tim!) Well, we all know this is a joke. The highest price I've seen for a plain // is about $60. I'd probably pay $200+ for a pristine one in the original box with manuals, etc. but I don't think that's what they mean. Of course, I haven't been able to find a nice one myself, so... Tough call. It's reasonably, but certainly not vanishingly, rare (I've owned three at various times) and I'm sure there are folks in the world that would pay this, but I generally see them going for around $100, and more like $15 at swap meets or thrift stores. Kai