AlphaServers?

[Sean Caron]

I've often wondered that myself ... I wonder if someone out there is still
using Alpha machines in a mission-critical application ... of if it's just
kind of the storied history of the CPU, and the strong collector market for
anything that's DEC ... Nice stuff from the later years really seems to
hold value ... look at the VAXstation 4000! It seems like any Alpha system
commands rather high prices ... I've only got one left myself that I was
ever able to find for less than an arm and a leg ... an old DEC 3000/400
... I did have a DECpc AXP 150 once upon a time as well, unfortunately that
machine has been lost ... but yeah, I'm as curious as you; I wouldn't mind
taking on a few more Alphas but the prices are just too far out of my
ballpark on what I'm willing and able to pay for retrocomputing stuff these
days... I just got into amateur radio not too long ago and that's been
sucking up most of my disposable income lately :O

Best,

Sean


On Fri, Jun 19, 2015 at 10:51 AM, Benjamin Huntsman <
BHuntsman at mail2.cu-portland.edu> wrote:

> Does anyone here know why certain AlphaServers are worth such seemingly
> high prices on eBay still?
>
> Particularly the DS15's seem to be worth their weight in gold, and the
> DS10's still sell for quite a bit.  I see DS25's and ES47/ES80's get listed
> all the time for fairly high prices, but never sell.  I'm just wondering
> why the difference.
>
> Given that the Alphas have been end-of-life and kind of dead-end for a
> while now, I'd have thought some of the more recent ones would have fallen
> into the realm of hobbyist affordability by now.  Especially since I can
> buy a much newer IBM Power6 for less than a DS15 these days...
>
> Does anyone here do Alpha gear, especially the newer stuff?
>
> Thanks!
>
> -Ben
>