"You mean I have to bring it IN??"

[raudf]

Vic 20. Wow, does that take me back. Our first computer was a vic 20. Could only be on it for a short time cause it got too hot and it didn't come with a monitor so we had to connect it to the tv. Got a commodore 64 next with a monitor.

The Commodore 64, oh that brings back memories. You could use a floppy drive or a cassette tape drive to store data. I only escaped from Castle Wolfenstein once.. and Save New York saw the 8 year old me leveling the city before the aliens could. I'd play Defenders for HOURS and always thought the "people" we were rescuing were actually caterpillars. Hey, that was what they looked at!

They released a very much upgraded version and if it hadn't been so expensive, I'd have bought one for my son. I wish I had kept the old one, gutted it and put in the parts from my XP mini-tower for it. We'd have had a blast just hooking it up to the TV and playing on it again...

[EricKei]

The sucky thing is that when the newer stuff DOES come out, there are those uninformed sellers who still insist on selling their stuff at the previous price when the newer stuff can be had at the same price.

I have always assumed that a certain percentage of those sellers are VERY well informed, and are merely preying upon UNinformed buyers while they can >_<

[Hyndis]

I work at a place that makes high end computer parts. You only get a warranty on it if you buy it through an actual store due to all of the problems with fakes we've had. If you buy it from a store and the expensive parts are missing or switched out with cheaper parts, there is a clear chain of responsibility.

If you instead buy it from Ebay, and you get a weighted down cassette tape instead of the part you paid $600 for, too bad, so sad.

I honestly have no idea why people even buy these things from Ebay. On Ebay its generally more expensive and you get no warranty. People selling stripped down parts is also very common so there are decent odds you won't even get what you intended to buy in the first place.

Buy it from a legitimate store and its both cheaper, and you get a warranty.

[An Haddock]

I have a Vic 20 with original tape drive and an Apple // >>; Maybe not too much from either, but at least they would have some nostalgia value. Linus of Linux got his start on a Vic-20, regardless...

I'd love to pick up an old TRS-80 color computer like we had when I was a kid.

I've tried programming these days and I just don't have the brain for it... but I remember most of the basic commands from the trs-80. I loved that thing.

[EricKei]

the trs-80. I loved that thing.

Same here. Good ol' Trash-80. Taught myself BASIC on it

[Dreamstalker]

I posted an ad for my computer services on CL. I think my hourly rates are reasonable (of course, that means for some people they're too high), and have gotten a few people that only used me to shop around; get me to tell them what part(s) they need and then I never hear from them again. If I say upfront that I won't/can't do more than give an estimate until I have the computer in my hands I never hear anything at all.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I posted an ad for my computer services on CL. I think my hourly rates are reasonable (of course, that means for some people they're too high), and have gotten a few people that only used me to shop around; get me to tell them what part(s) they need and then I never hear from them again. If I say upfront that I won't/can't do more than give an estimate until I have the computer in my hands I never hear anything at all.

This is why many physical shops charge a diagnostic fee.

[MadMike]

Same here. Good ol' Trash-80. Taught myself BASIC on it

I still have mine. My son hooked it up to the TV a few months ago, and the damn thing still works! Even the old floppies! He ended up taking it to the vo-tech to show everyone. They played around with it until the end of the school year. That thing is older than all of the students there, and possibly even some of the teachers.

[Dreamstalker]

This is why many physical shops charge a diagnostic fee.

As do I. Unfortunately I don't think there's a way to enforce it through email; that's the last time I'm posting my services on CL. I've seen a few computer-services posters who do give free diagnostics (or say something like "if I can't fix it you don't pay") and wonder how often they get used for free advice.