VOGONS


First post, by Bancho

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Today i was looking through my boxes of hardware and the space where I store my PC's and it dawned on me that most of this stuff I don't use and it just sits in boxes doing nothing or collecting dust. I've been having an internal dialogue with myself over the past weeks also about starting to move stuff on. I look at the stuff and say just move it on.. get some money for it free up some space (not that we have a lot in the house anyways) but another part of me says.. ohhh but you might need that at a later date. I don't have anywhere near some of the collections people have but i still think i have far too much.

I know one thing i know i can't sell on will be my sound card collection.. i do actually think those are one component that are very unique (especially ISA cards) and get ever increasingly difficult to source.

I'm interested to hear any stories or peoples thoughts on the subject and has anyone got rid of their collections and later regretted it or found it was the right thing for them, and did anyone shrink their machine collection down to a smaller number..or even just one machine?

Reply 1 of 45, by derSammler

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I sold a large part of my collection when I moved about a decade ago. I thought the extra money and space may become handy - but I regret it to this day. I'm still trying to re-buy all the things I sold back then. Still missing some stuff that I'll probably never find again (for a good price), like a mint CIB Atari Lynx II, Sega Nomad, and CD-i 350.

When it comes to x86 PCs, however, things are a bit different. I sold many rare units and don't regret it at all. In the end, a 486 is a 486. I keep selling parts that I don't use or plan to use for future builds.

Reply 2 of 45, by Doornkaat

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I haven't gotten rid of large parts of my hoard collection, only a few items I never cared about to begin with and stuff I had quadruples of. But I guess the first step is admitting I have a problem going through the boxes and making an inventory list. That way I could determine what parts are best of their category or most interesting and what would most likely have stayed in its box until I die.
Also keep in mind prices are still on the rise so you'll likely be a little mad at yourself in a year or two but on the other hand you got it over with and had the space back earlier which is probably better than a bit more money.

Reply 3 of 45, by cyclone3d

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I really need to get rid of some of my stuff. I have a bunch of things that I have multiples of.. not really by choice.. most of them came in larger lots and I just happened to accumulate multiples of some things that I don't really need that way.

Years ago I did give away a bunch of stuff... my CPU collection, multiple AWE32 cards, some 3dfx cards, and some other stuff.

The AWE32 cards are what I regret getting rid of but I wasn't really into retro/vintage computing back then and I had no use for them.

I have one copy of all the different AWE32 cards now.. .except for the value cards as I have 0 interest in those. It would have been nice to not have to repurchase them though even though the ones I gave away were given to me.

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Reply 4 of 45, by Salient

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I might slightly regret selling my boxed AdLib Gold card some 10 years ago or so for around 150 euros.
I regret selling my near-mint condition Commodore SX-64 more though.

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Reply 5 of 45, by will1384

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I worked in computer repair in the early to mid 2000s, what I regret is all the working computers I scraped and recycled, and all the working parts I threw away, on top of that what I did save got damaged by moisture, condensation, and stuff like the battery on the motherboard going bad and eating up the case and motherboard, I lost a lot of parts and computers that I thought were safe.

If you have old computers remove the batteries from them, even the motherboard battery, and if the place you store your computer parts is not climate controlled and you have high humility expect a lot of rust.

Reply 6 of 45, by imi

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of course I regret having sold anything in the past today, but back then I was just in a different situation, if I wanted to upgrade my PC I had to sell the old parts... not much of a choice ^^

I haven't really sold anything I collected in the last decades... but I was forced to throw away a sizable part of my collection by my parents at one point because it "was taking up too much space", was mostly complete systems at the time. I do still regret that a lot even if it is not my fault apart from not being more vocal about it.
missing a lot of parts I was very sentimental about, like the case of the first computer I bought for myself.

Reply 7 of 45, by blurks

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This topic comes up regularly. I just recently sold some items of my 3dfx collection to make room in my cabinet for more games and to make use of the current price inflation. My appartment isn't that large so I constantly need to set priorities. At this moment I'm enjoying boxed retro software and pc bigbox games more than my excessive boxed graphics card collection. I'm planning to keep a few beloved items but to get rid of others. There is a significant chance that I'm going to regret some of my current decisions but that's the way it goes...

As I don't have a retro system anymore (sold my last 486 half a year ago) I'm getting more kicks out of my games collection which I can at least run on DosBox or in a Win9x VM while my 30 year old boxed graphics cards just collect dust (while looking gorgeous on the shelf admittedly).

Reply 8 of 45, by aha2940

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I regret having sold or given away three motherboards (with their CPUs and memory) I had back in the day:

- Intel SE440BX-2 (with a Pentium III @550MHz and 128MB RAM)
- Intel VC820 (with 512MB RDRAM memory and an 866MHZ Pentium III)
- Intel D850EMV2 (with a Pentium 4 @ 2.4GHz and 1GB RDRAM)

Also, the Acer 486 I had, with an AWE32 soundcard. Thse are all the parts I miss now.

Reply 9 of 45, by Cga.8086

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everything practically. from my first 2 computers that were given for charity because they were really old at the end of the 90s, strange models that i will neer see again. for example my first 8086 computer was a Panasonic with CGA monitor. there are no pictures online of that machine. nor i remember the exact model

my third computer was also sold really cheap. and i was able to buy it without the monitor and mouse last year, a presario 4120.

from the 2000s i regret selling my geforce3 siluro.

Reply 10 of 45, by boxpressed

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I have to keep most of my collection in my home office and a small storage room, so I tend to prioritize getting rid of large items that I'm iffy about. If I have a mini tower, for instance, I have to love it because it's so bulky.

I'm also trying to stabilize the number of loose video and sound cards I have. Right now, I keep them most of the small to regular sized ones individually boxed in three 54-quart storage containers. I have about 50 per container, and I told myself that I would not start a new container. So if I want some new cards, I have to sell old ones. Helps to prioritize.

Reply 11 of 45, by boxpressed

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Accidentally double posted and couldn't delete. But I wanted to add that I haven't really regretted getting rid of anything because I got into the hobby relatively recently (six years ago). Maybe those three cheap V3 3500s I returned to the seller but probably could have got working, 🤣.

Last edited by boxpressed on 2020-05-28, 02:20. Edited 3 times in total.

Reply 12 of 45, by viper32cm

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My big regrets are to loss. I threw away my first IBM compatible, a 386SX/20, because the barrel battery started leaking. It was like 20 years ago, and I didn't know anything about anything. Back then maybe none of us knew, but I wish I still had it.

I've actually started thinking about selling some of the valuable pieces of my collection that I know I'll never use. For instance, I have an AGP version of the HD3850. It's a nice card, but I have no interest in building an AGP system for that card and I'd rather have more 3dfx equipment.

Reply 13 of 45, by Horun

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Back in the late 1990s had to move across state and sold a bunch of older stuff that I wish I could have kept. But did keep some things. Then in early 2000's was able to get a bunch more for near nothing, mostly around 2003 and figured would never get rid of the good stuff (of course that is subjective, depends on the person). Today the majority of stuff I have I got from mid 2000's and got lucky as most still works. Regrets ? Yes the Commadore stuff I sold back in late 90's but ended up with a good batch of PC stuff later that I may have never collected if it were not for that first big sell off. Ok you must know am old enough to be father to many of you (and grandfather to some others here) so you collecting is not a what you did today but what you do for decades.

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 14 of 45, by EvieSigma

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It's not particularly retro but I've really grown to regret selling my Dell XPS 720. I miss that beast.

As for retro stuff...I mostly regret not knowing how to fix systems properly when I got into this hobby four years ago and so scrapping a lot of stuff I probably could have fixed with the skills I have now.

Reply 15 of 45, by Intel486dx33

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I got rid of most of my stuff back in 2010 to the recycle center.
Wish I didn’t.
But it was not that great of stuff.
I have better stuff today and I am not going to get rid of any of it because I know if I do I will just go out and buy more stuff to tinker with.
So as long as I have a garage full of stuff it can keep me busy.

Reply 16 of 45, by candle_86

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Nah I'm even thinking of selling some more. Like my super7, I use my Pentium mmx or athlon 700 and can't find a good use for my k6-3. It's taking up space.

I'm thinking of keeping a few systems that compliment certain eras but my k6 is just as fast as my mmx233 in games.

Reply 17 of 45, by SETBLASTER

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for me it was in 2016 where i saw that many user groups in facebook got created for retro consoles in my country,and prices went up like crazy, people wanted retro consoles when before they didnt care about them.

so i saw that there was no such move yet for retro pc hardware so i started buying like crazy all good stuff for cheap. motherboards, cpus, cases, memory, and specially video cards like 3dfx, old ati and geforce cards.

a year later i saw the wave for retro hardware started, nothing was left, all the good stuff is gone and its hard to find even a good SB16, and when one appears the price is crazy.

i was able to get almost everything i always wanted in my life, except a lianli pc-60 ; an inwin a500, a AWE32 ,and a yamaha midi wavetable, and the short model m keyboard spacesaver, but i was able to buy a MU50 and also a MU80, mt32 and sc-55, I was very lucky in these 4 years.

i was even able to buy a thermaltake xaser3 all alluminum case. and a thermaltake lanfire case wich i use everyday on my ryzen build.

Reply 18 of 45, by cyclone3d

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SETBLASTER wrote on 2020-05-28, 04:40:
for me it was in 2016 where i saw that many user groups in facebook got created for retro consoles in my country,and prices went […]
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for me it was in 2016 where i saw that many user groups in facebook got created for retro consoles in my country,and prices went up like crazy, people wanted retro consoles when before they didnt care about them.

so i saw that there was no such move yet for retro pc hardware so i started buying like crazy all good stuff for cheap. motherboards, cpus, cases, memory, and specially video cards like 3dfx, old ati and geforce cards.

a year later i saw the wave for retro hardware started, nothing was left, all the good stuff is gone and its hard to find even a good SB16, and when one appears the price is crazy.

i was able to get almost everything i always wanted in my life, except a lianli pc-60 ; an inwin a500, a AWE32 ,and a yamaha midi wavetable, and the short model m keyboard spacesaver, but i was able to buy a MU50 and also a MU80, mt32 and sc-55, I was very lucky in these 4 years.

i was even able to buy a thermaltake xaser3 all alluminum case. and a thermaltake lanfire case wich i use everyday on my ryzen build.

I got a lot of my retro hardware before prices went crazy as well. Now it is usually a lot harder to get good stuff for cheap unless you get really lucky.

If I would have gotten into retro stuff a few years before that I could have gotten good stuff for almost free.

Yamaha modified setupds and drivers
Yamaha XG repository
YMF7x4 Guide
Aopen AW744L II SB-LINK

Reply 19 of 45, by imi

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I got a lot of my retro hardware after prices went crazy 😦 hence why I largely relied on scrap lots and don't have any V4 or V5s

so in that regard... I greatly regret not having bought more when I started to occasionally buy old hardware some 10-15 years ago.