Boy... I've tried to buy all sorts of neat stuff lately but the sellers have been really failing me. I normally don't have too many problems but in the last two weeks I've had:

1. A listing with a couple of unobtainium items (one never pictured before on the internet) which the seller simply has not shipped after 10+ days and has only replied to a single message. Probably never going to get these. After I get my refund the seller will probably randomly relist the lot without saying a word to me and it'll sell and ship to someone else with no problem. It has happened before...

2. A small lot of parts sold as good condition, not as scrap. Before purchasing, I specifically asked if they'd sell one card in the lot... seller said they wanted to keep them together but offered to sell the lot for a lower price, so I bought it. It arrived today with NO PACKAGING in an oversized box, so the parts spent several days bouncing around and smashing each other... the one item I wanted has at least half a dozen SMD components broken off the back now.

3. Saw a nice item in a scrap lot, asked the seller if they'd sell it separately for a fair price. No reply. Many hours later I see they took down the listing because there was an error. I figured they looked up the item I wanted and decided to try to sell it for a better price... which is totally within their rights to do, so that's fine. I checked their sold listings the next day and I see that 12 hours after I sent my message they listed and sold that item for the price I offered them without ever even replying to me. 😵

4. Not retro PC related, but I bought a used music CD that is very hard to find (because I like to own physical media). It was listed as good condition, no skipping. It arrives and the CD has gouges in the disc surface that are so bad I can actually feel them with my finger.

Bleh. This stuff is taking the joy out of collecting. People just seem to be getting dumber and more careless by the day...

On a more positive note, I picked up another lot for a very low price and ended up with:

FIC SD11 Slot A board, seemingly intact
Tyan S2466 Dual Socket A board, mostly intact
Intel DX58SO with bent pins, but maybe repairable
Asrock B560M-C, probably dead since it's only a few years old and was in a scrap lot, but looks intact
Assorted cards, including a couple of Netgear gigabit ethernet PCI cards, which I don't think I had any of before

The latest project arrived today. A huge gamble for me since the listing (from a US seller) was vaguer than vague. And as someone who prefers to choose each part and build from scratch, a proprietary NEC beast is very intimidating.

It came with the keyboard, manuals, and boot / demo disks at least. Awaiting RGB monitor from Japan. I’m excited but very nervous to peer inside but the exterior is in great shape so I’ll optimistically take that as a good sign.

sunkindly wrote on Today, 06:27:

The latest project arrived today. A huge gamble for me since the listing (from a US seller) was vaguer than vague. And as someone who prefers to choose each part and build from scratch, a proprietary NEC beast is very intimidating.

It came with the keyboard, manuals, and boot / demo disks at least. Awaiting RGB monitor from Japan. I’m excited but very nervous to peer inside but the exterior is in great shape so I’ll optimistically take that as a good sign.

The attachment IMG_7112.jpeg is no longer available

The type of pc I started with: dual 5.25.
Nostalgia 😀

Ozzuneoj wrote on Today, 03:18:

Boy... I've tried to buy all sorts of neat stuff lately but the sellers have been really failing me. I normally don't have too many problems but in the last two weeks I've had:

Quite the opposite for me, sellers not listing stuff and offering it as is for laughable prices, turning out to be 100% working.

sunkindly wrote on Today, 06:27:

The latest project arrived today. A huge gamble for me since the listing (from a US seller) was vaguer than vague. And as someone who prefers to choose each part and build from scratch, a proprietary NEC beast is very intimidating.

It came with the keyboard, manuals, and boot / demo disks at least. Awaiting RGB monitor from Japan. I’m excited but very nervous to peer inside but the exterior is in great shape so I’ll optimistically take that as a good sign.

The attachment IMG_7112.jpeg is no longer available

BEAUTIFUL !

sunkindly wrote on Today, 06:27:

The latest project arrived today.

GOSH, that looks AMAZING!

I got them from the local surplus store for really cheap. Both pair of speakers were a quarter each. For 50 cents this was really a good haul and the altec lansing set even has working audio and a power cable. However I was not able to get a 12 V DC power cable for the Creative speakers.

Ozzuneoj wrote on Today, 03:18:

4. Not retro PC related, but I bought a used music CD that is very hard to find (because I like to own physical media). It was listed as good condition, no skipping. It arrives and the CD has gouges in the disc surface that are so bad I can actually feel them with my finger.

I used to think CD-ROM caddies were stupid until I started buying used CDs. When a disc isn't in the player it should be in the jewel case. Not placed on a sandstone table. Not inserted into a book of sandpaper samples. To think it was once an audiophile medium.