HanSolo wrote on 2023-01-02, 22:56:
lon3heart wrote on 2022-12-30, 14:23:
But it could be that this is just because I live in Germany and the parts are just rarer here?
I would say Germany is a pretty good place to be for this hobby. Just like with every other hobby some basic investment is required, but it's still pretty inexpensive to get into it compared to other activities. ..unless you want the more rare stuff (like Voodoo) of course. But a capable Win98-system doesn't cost a lot. The most expensive part will be the mainboard.
Definitely. I live next door in NL and the grass is much greener on your side of the fence 😉
DE is a big market, affluent enought that people in the early days of computing could actually afford computers. Full of little old ladies with things in their attic that their late husbands used until their untimely demises. There's a lot of stuff on regular eBay, sometimes even for decent prices, but the one specifc DE resource is eBay-Kleinanzeigen. I see a lot of good stuff come by there for far less inflated prices (for those not familiar with it: it's an eBay-hosted Craigslist-equivalent in Germany). I also second Amibay as a great place for good deals on specific stuff.
Then there's the question of what to get. Which era/target hardware you're looking for is up to you, but a couple of tips:
- the prices you see when you search for a given component on eBay are *NOT* the going rates, they are precisely the prices no one is willing to pay. Cheaper stuff gets offered all the time, but gets picked up quickly, leaving only the overpriced ones. So if you dedicate time and attention to spotting the good deals, you can get things much cheaper, even on eBay - but the principle applies everywhere.
- if you have more money than time, by all means splurge on the expensive stuff.
- unless your pockets are infinitely deep, try not to focus on very specific parts. If you need a motherboard with i440BX chipset that supports Coppermine CPUs there are a lot more options out there than the Asus P3B-F rev 1.06. Being satisfied with one of the other options will save a lot of money and time.
- a big component of price is the amount of knowledge the seller is adding. You pay more for tested than untested. You pay more for "Asus P3B-F rev 1.06" than "some old computer part I found upstairs". Depending on your own knowledge and abilities, you can save a lot of money by going for the "big pile of old crap" adverts. I have literally filled my (7-seat) car from top to bottom with 25-30 year old stuff for nothing more than 400km's worth of LPG doing that, and once bagged a very sought-after Roland MPU-401AT in a "assorted crap EUR 10" ad. If you can do this (both in terms of knowledge and time/patience required to hunt down, pick up and test the stuff - and offloading all the other things you don't need afterwards - oh, and you need space to store it all and if you have a significant other they need to not freak out too much), it's a very good way to reduce costs and increase your familiarity with how everything works.
- if you're not familiar with old hardware, KEEP IT SIMPLE for your first build(s). Get 'boring' parts that are easily found, combine them in ways that were supported and common when new, running software from the same age too. Even doing that, the learning curve with an AT-style motherboard that can't boot from CDRom will be steep. Don't complicate it with hugely complex hardware setups, trying to run hardware way out of what was normal or run software much too new (or old!) for it. All of that can be great fun later, but don't try to run before you can walk. In fact, I'd suggest to go for an early ATX system for your first retro machine. That lets you use modern peripherals, cases and power supplies. Only when you're happy with that take the step backwards into AT era.
Finally, never underestimate keeping your eyes open for stuff dumped with rubbish. Where I live, bulky rubbish is picked up from the kerbside once a week. I always keep my eyes open when cycling my children to school the day before for interesting stuff. I've picked up a few little gems. I realize this is a rare luxury, but even if electronic waste like this must be taken to a municipal depot, and you're formally not allowed to take stuff others have dumped with you, there are option. I've yet to meet the first depot operator who's not willing to turn a blind eye to your dragging off that ancient case that would be destroyed anyway in exchange for a beer or similar 😉
