How much are old computers worth to you?

[computerdude92]

I wouldn't pay over $100 for any beige retro box minus the shipping cost, but that's just me. To me they are toys, I can play old games on them. Or they can be something I can use to run specific software I can't run well on an emulator or a modern PC. Or if they have a nice sound card, I can have fun with MIDI synth. How much do you think old computers are worth to you? Any era of computers applies.

[KC9UDX]

I wouldn't pay $10 for a "PC" clone. Well, that's not entirely true. I need one to bootstrap a computer that normally boots from tape, but the tape doesn't work anymore. So until someday when I can write my own software, I need a clone with a real RS232 port and MS-DOS to keep that running. So that one I might pay $100 for if I have to again.

[ClassicHasClass]

Depends on the computer, doesn't it?

[ngtwolf]

Depends on the computer, doesn't it?

Yeah, I think the more accurate question is 'Whats the MAX you'd pay for any vintage computer'. For me, that number is about $100. I'm not counting some crazy thing like I stumbled across an Imsai or an original Apple 1 or something for crazy low price, but for realistic purchases. Both my Tandy 1000 SX and my backup Atari ST were each around $100. I felt guilty spending $100 on the Tandy even though it was a good price and a nice computer. The ST was only purchased to help me fix my childhood ST, and I justified that by telling myself I'd sell it again after. I never did because my childhood one was so flaky that I really need the backup one. Obviously I wouldn't spend $100 on a C64 or a TI99 or Timex 1000 or something like that, though. Everything else I have was significantly less or free.

[Unknown_K]

Depends, there are a couple machines I still want that I would probably spend $100 on.

Over the last 18 years I don't think I have spend more then $100ish on any one individual vintage item (and that was rare), but many thousands on machines and parts over that time in upgrades and cards.

[VERAULT]

I paid $300 for a Commodore pet 2001-8 from 1977. I do feel I over paid, but I really wanted that machine and I never see those come up for sale. Most things I try and get for the $50 to $75 mark. Commodore 64's I tell people to just give them to me as I wont pay at this point.

But again these things don't really have any value. Its value is what its worth to you the buyer.

[Caleb Hansberry]

I value paying less for a collection piece. Makes me somehow more attached to it. That price tends to top out at about $60. But yeah I'd pay more for pieces I particularly want like an Amiga, Lisa, or Panasonic CF-480.

[Malc]

I paid $300 for a Commodore pet 2001-8 from 1977. I do feel I over paid, but I really wanted that machine and I never see those come up for sale. Most things I try and get for the $50 to $75 mark. Commodore 64's I tell people to just give them to me as I wont pay at this point.

But again these things don't really have any value. Its value is what its worth to you the buyer.

Yep, At the end of the day it's worth what somebody is willing to pay, In all the years i've been in this hobby i've paid between £10 - £50 for my stuff, Though just over a year ago i paid £100 for my 5155 because i wanted it, There's still a couple of computers i'd like to get and will likely have to pay more to get them as prices have gone up a fair bit since i started.

[Caluser2000]

I'll pay as much as $NZ150 for a system I dearly would like for example an Acorn RiscPC, Amiga or maybe an Apple. Payed as little as nothing for a working system such as my XT Turbo system complete with EGA monitor, but spent $NZ75 with upgrades. As for x86 systems in general the most nostalgic for me is 286-SuperSocket7 systems. Have a thing for OEM slimline systems. Have a few P4s but nothing newer except my wifes Win10 laptop.

[computerdude92]

Seeing the prices on Ebay, I'd pay around $100 for a vintage motherboard, but only if I really wanted it. Computer towers get $60+ for shipping to AK.. so it's easier for me to buy individual parts. If I lived in the lower 48, I'd be more willing to spend more on the item price if the shipping was low enough or there was free local pickup, well, you still have to count the gas cost. These days I can still find vintage towers sometimes at the recycle centers locally and it's all free. I would buy specific, special, or rare parts online. But yeah, in short, it's all up to my budget limits and how much I want the item.

I used to be a big fan of Pentium III machines, but now I am willing to spend considerably more on a Pentium 1 or Pentium II system. I don't use Windows 98 anymore due to it being too frustrating to use, so now I value 100% compatible Windows 95 systems the most, and that means anything pre-SSE1, such as Athlon Classic and T-bird, due to the SSE1 bug(s) in Windows 95. And to me, it seems, vintage machines began to lose their shine, their soul, in the later part of the 90's as the PC market boomed. Intel used to make metal CPU stickers in 1997-1998 for the P-MMX and PII, that is one of the things representing the cutoff for the end of that magical era.

Back to those late-late 90's to early 2000's era PIII systems I mentioned: today I find them nostalgic, but because I would only run XP on them, they are mainly just slower machines to me. They're nice, I'd keep a few, but I enjoy an Athlon 64 or Phenom II system more. I can do a lot more with them. Pretty much the same games I run on the slower XP machines will run on the faster XP machines. Windows XP stuff is the other continent of retro that I live on! I'm going to avoid the mistakes of my youth by collecting the newer XP-supported stuff now... before it's rare and expensive.