VOGONS


Retro Hardware Collecting rants

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Reply 261 of 934, by darry

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imi wrote on 2020-06-24, 02:26:

rant: when you buy something really expensive, and now that you've done that you need to follow up and spend even more money on it to make it really worthwhile x3

That's more of a rant against oneself and it's definitely something I can identify with . One (usually expensive) purchase turns into another and another... until you find the "perfect" solution. Then, you change your own goal posts an start all over again . I have been that path many times. I have always learned a lot, but have always spent (too) much .

Reply 262 of 934, by SodaSuccubus

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darry wrote on 2020-06-24, 03:18:
imi wrote on 2020-06-24, 02:26:

rant: when you buy something really expensive, and now that you've done that you need to follow up and spend even more money on it to make it really worthwhile x3

That's more of a rant against oneself and it's definitely something I can identify with . One (usually expensive) purchase turns into another and another... until you find the "perfect" solution. Then, you change your own goal posts an start all over again . I have been that path many times. I have always learned a lot, but have always spent (too) much .

That's me except il often stop midway through after a bunch of expensive purchases, go with a "cheaper" solution and end up spending twice as much as I would have just staying the path.

EX: Buying into a few VLB motherboards, getting all the VL cards, the right CPU, Then realizing I have a bunch of better PCI cards lying around and could make a faster system with less Hassel...so I go about buying a PCI board and ignoring my new VL boards I just got.

Reply 263 of 934, by darry

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SodaSuccubus wrote on 2020-06-24, 03:34:
darry wrote on 2020-06-24, 03:18:
imi wrote on 2020-06-24, 02:26:

rant: when you buy something really expensive, and now that you've done that you need to follow up and spend even more money on it to make it really worthwhile x3

That's more of a rant against oneself and it's definitely something I can identify with . One (usually expensive) purchase turns into another and another... until you find the "perfect" solution. Then, you change your own goal posts an start all over again . I have been that path many times. I have always learned a lot, but have always spent (too) much .

That's me except il often stop midway through after a bunch of expensive purchases, go with a "cheaper" solution and end up spending twice as much as I would have just staying the path.

EX: Buying into a few VLB motherboards, getting all the VL cards, the right CPU, Then realizing I have a bunch of better PCI cards lying around and could make a faster system with less Hassel...so I go about buying a PCI board and ignoring my new VL boards I just got.

I can identify with that too . My current thing obsession is VGA to HDMI scalers . First I was "happy" with 60Hz under DOS, then wanted to upgrade monitor, then I got 70Hz to work, then I grew tired of soft Nvidia scaling, then I turned my attention to using a Voodoo 3 with an external scaler, then went looking for a better scaler, then got a great one that only did 60Hz, then got an OSSC for 70Hz output support (but it does not allow "proper" 4:3 with my current monitor), then I got a scaler to complement OSSC and allow 4:3 at 70Hz , then I got a better one to complement OSSC and allow 4:3 at 70Hz (but it is not perfect), then I ordered another VGA to HDMI scaler that may for better or not work at all for me. Finally, I realize my issue with OSSC may get fixed in future software release and, if not, I will likely "not have choice" to order an OSSC Pro .

I sometimes question my sanity through this question for perfection .

Reply 264 of 934, by hwh

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Fujoshi-hime wrote on 2020-06-24, 02:11:

Never let a seller know how interested you REALLY are in something. You should just be 'willing to take it off their hands'. You can avoid giving out too much information without lying.

IMO, sellers have a way of not delivering items in the condition they advertise them in. Acting like the item is trash doesn't help that situation.

Reply 265 of 934, by amadeus777999

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pixel_workbench wrote on 2020-06-23, 16:55:

About raising prices, a few times I had a relatively uncommon item item for sale at a fair price, and there were like 10 watchers but no buyers for months. So I raised the price, and it eventually sold anyways. Why raise the price? Because the hardware is not getting more common by the day, and I'm not going to lower the price just because someone wants to get it as cheaply as possible.

Too low a price tag conveys something fishy to many people and the price indirectly projects some of its worth/uniqueness.
Albeit I think somebody would definitely buy something like a pristine SS7 board for 1 dollar it would most likely take more time than it obviously should.

Reply 266 of 934, by imi

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darry wrote on 2020-06-24, 03:18:
imi wrote on 2020-06-24, 02:26:

rant: when you buy something really expensive, and now that you've done that you need to follow up and spend even more money on it to make it really worthwhile x3

That's more of a rant against oneself

of course x3

tl;dr: I bought an Amiga.

Reply 267 of 934, by EvieSigma

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imi wrote on 2020-06-24, 11:52:
darry wrote on 2020-06-24, 03:18:
imi wrote on 2020-06-24, 02:26:

rant: when you buy something really expensive, and now that you've done that you need to follow up and spend even more money on it to make it really worthwhile x3

That's more of a rant against oneself

of course x3

tl;dr: I bought an Amiga.

I've had an Amiga 1200 for like three years and I never use it because it's a PAL 1200 and I don't want to pay 180 dollars for a flicker fixer or take my chances that I can find a compatible LCD monitor to use with an adapter.

Reply 268 of 934, by darry

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EvieSigma wrote on 2020-06-24, 13:40:
imi wrote on 2020-06-24, 11:52:
darry wrote on 2020-06-24, 03:18:

That's more of a rant against oneself

of course x3

tl;dr: I bought an Amiga.

I've had an Amiga 1200 for like three years and I never use it because it's a PAL 1200 and I don't want to pay 180 dollars for a flicker fixer or take my chances that I can find a compatible LCD monitor to use with an adapter.

Why not get one of those inexpensive Gonbes GBS-8200 converters ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3J4QJsn0ig
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqlrOcGZx38

Reply 269 of 934, by Tetrium

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Fujoshi-hime wrote on 2020-06-24, 02:11:
x0zm_ wrote on 2020-06-21, 22:38:

I don't want to lie to people - I tell them I collect and archive it for future generations and hobbyists to be able to access something that might otherwise be lost to time. As soon as they hear collect, it's like a switch goes off and something that was listed for $5-$30 is now worth $200+ in their eyes.

Never let a seller know how interested you REALLY are in something. You should just be 'willing to take it off their hands'. You can avoid giving out too much information without lying.

This is true. Obviously you want the item or you wouldn't even be interested in it.

Whats missing in your collections?
My retro rigs (old topic)
Interesting Vogons threads (links to Vogonswiki)
Report spammers here!

Reply 270 of 934, by Tetrium

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Btw this thread was in my mind never supposed to be (mostly) a rant thread about buying and selling on (mostly) ebay.

Is this really all that matters anymore these days when it comes to collecting? I mean we used to have a couple ebay threads that were thankfully closed and there's heaps more when it comes to collecting and actually using this stuff.

Whats missing in your collections?
My retro rigs (old topic)
Interesting Vogons threads (links to Vogonswiki)
Report spammers here!

Reply 271 of 934, by imi

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I mean, it's pretty much the only thing left to rant about ^^

everything esle about this hobby is pretty enjoyable 😁

thinking about it, there's one thing I could rant about... and that is running out of space x3

Reply 272 of 934, by Tetrium

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imi wrote on 2020-06-24, 14:25:

I mean, it's pretty much the only thing left to rant about ^^

everything esle about this hobby is pretty enjoyable 😁

thinking about it, there's one thing I could rant about... and that is running out of space x3

Lol, that is kinda true at least 😜
But there can also be stuff like certain other people not enjoying the way you use (or fill up 😁 😜 ) the living space or how perhaps people don't like you dumpsterdiving for parts.

And the buying thing used to be less of an issue since parts were abundant and when buying parts it was easy to buy more parts to save on shipping, so you would have more spare parts and thus needed to make less single purchases, thereby decreasing the amount of buying encounters to rant about 😜

Whats missing in your collections?
My retro rigs (old topic)
Interesting Vogons threads (links to Vogonswiki)
Report spammers here!

Reply 273 of 934, by EvieSigma

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darry wrote on 2020-06-24, 13:48:
Why not get one of those inexpensive Gonbes GBS-8200 converters ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3J4QJsn0ig https://www.youtub […]
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EvieSigma wrote on 2020-06-24, 13:40:
imi wrote on 2020-06-24, 11:52:

of course x3

tl;dr: I bought an Amiga.

I've had an Amiga 1200 for like three years and I never use it because it's a PAL 1200 and I don't want to pay 180 dollars for a flicker fixer or take my chances that I can find a compatible LCD monitor to use with an adapter.

Why not get one of those inexpensive Gonbes GBS-8200 converters ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3J4QJsn0ig
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqlrOcGZx38

I...forgot about those, honestly...

My other problem is that I have no idea how to easily get files from my main computer onto the CF card in the A1200, as of course my main computer does not run AmigaOS and cannot recognize Amiga-formatted CF cards outside of running WinUAE, and I...do not enjoy running WinUAE at all.

Reply 274 of 934, by darry

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EvieSigma wrote on 2020-06-24, 18:04:
darry wrote on 2020-06-24, 13:48:
Why not get one of those inexpensive Gonbes GBS-8200 converters ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3J4QJsn0ig https://www.youtub […]
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EvieSigma wrote on 2020-06-24, 13:40:

I've had an Amiga 1200 for like three years and I never use it because it's a PAL 1200 and I don't want to pay 180 dollars for a flicker fixer or take my chances that I can find a compatible LCD monitor to use with an adapter.

Why not get one of those inexpensive Gonbes GBS-8200 converters ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3J4QJsn0ig
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqlrOcGZx38

I...forgot about those, honestly...

My other problem is that I have no idea how to easily get files from my main computer onto the CF card in the A1200, as of course my main computer does not run AmigaOS and cannot recognize Amiga-formatted CF cards outside of running WinUAE, and I...do not enjoy running WinUAE at all.

TBH, I have only used Amiga Forever in recent years as a frontend, but I would imagine that either WinUAE or WinFellow would allow mounting an Amiga formatted CF card .

Reply 275 of 934, by EvieSigma

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darry wrote on 2020-06-24, 18:43:
EvieSigma wrote on 2020-06-24, 18:04:
darry wrote on 2020-06-24, 13:48:

Why not get one of those inexpensive Gonbes GBS-8200 converters ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3J4QJsn0ig
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqlrOcGZx38

I...forgot about those, honestly...

My other problem is that I have no idea how to easily get files from my main computer onto the CF card in the A1200, as of course my main computer does not run AmigaOS and cannot recognize Amiga-formatted CF cards outside of running WinUAE, and I...do not enjoy running WinUAE at all.

TBH, I have only used Amiga Forever in recent years as a frontend, but I would imagine that either WinUAE or WinFellow would allow mounting an Amiga formatted CF card .

It does! But I hate setting it up and using it. I'd rather not have to get an entire emulated Amiga up and running just to do file transfer.

Reply 276 of 934, by will1384

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I just got a full tower Dell GX260 in today, they put this large computer into the smallest box it would fit into, with a very small amount of padding at the top and bottom of the box, the padding was made up of a few pieces of waded up paper, the side of the case was broken off during shipping and the large and heavy aluminium CPU heat-sink was lose inside the case rolling around during shipping, on top of that, I ordered this computer about the middle of last month and just got it today, the day I ordered the computer I got tracking numbers, but you can see that they did not send the computer until earlier this week.

I had no idea how much damage was done to the computer, but I am so angry right now, that I don't want to even look at the computer, out of fear that I will damage the computer even more.

Reply 277 of 934, by cyclone3d

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will1384 wrote on 2020-06-24, 22:14:

I just got a full tower Dell GX260 in today, they put this large computer into the smallest box it would fit into, with a very small amount of padding at the top and bottom of the box, the padding was made up of a few pieces of waded up paper, the side of the case was broken off during shipping and the large and heavy aluminium CPU heat-sink was lose inside the case rolling around during shipping, on top of that, I ordered this computer about the middle of last month and just got it today, the day I ordered the computer I got tracking numbers, but you can see that they did not send the computer until earlier this week.

I had no idea how much damage was done to the computer, but I am so angry right now, that I don't want to even look at the computer, out of fear that I will damage the computer even more.

And that is when you ask for a full refund.

On top of that, even if it wasn't damaged, you had better hope that the motherboard was replaced during the huge recall due to cheap Chinese capacitors. When I did Dell onsite warranty repair, the replacement motherboards on the GX260-GX280 systems took up most of our time for a few months. I replaced 10 motherboards in under an hour at one business one of the days.

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

Reply 278 of 934, by x0zm_

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Tetrium wrote on 2020-06-24, 14:23:

Is this really all that matters anymore these days when it comes to collecting? I mean we used to have a couple ebay threads that were thankfully closed and there's heaps more when it comes to collecting and actually using this stuff.

Space.

I am sure for a lot of people, it comes to the point where you're seemingly approaching something regarding reasonable storage capacity being reached.

The shelves are filled, the boxes in the garage are getting cramped. The significant other is giving you funny looks.

One of the saddest parts of collecting is deciding at what point you've reached that capacity. It's obviously different amounts for different people, but I suspect the feeling is the same regardless of whether it's a shelf or an entire room.

It's the point where you have to take a hard look at everything you have collected, and decide what you are willing to part with in order to make space for something new.

I've found it becomes both easier and harder as time goes on.

Easier because you're used to moving items by this point. You know how to pack and ship efficiently and securely, where to sell or who to trade with. You know the values

Harder because over time, you're likely acquiring more and more things you are genuinely interested in and not just collecting for the sake of collecting like many do when you're starting out. It becomes harder to figure out what you're willing to part with when your collection becomes focused and items in it are more and more the end result of long waits, searches and negotiations.

Such is life when you are looking for new hardware experiences to try out, I guess.

Reply 279 of 934, by will1384

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cyclone3d wrote on 2020-06-24, 22:37:
will1384 wrote on 2020-06-24, 22:14:

I just got a full tower Dell GX260 in today, they put this large computer into the smallest box it would fit into, with a very small amount of padding at the top and bottom of the box, the padding was made up of a few pieces of waded up paper, the side of the case was broken off during shipping and the large and heavy aluminium CPU heat-sink was lose inside the case rolling around during shipping, on top of that, I ordered this computer about the middle of last month and just got it today, the day I ordered the computer I got tracking numbers, but you can see that they did not send the computer until earlier this week.

I had no idea how much damage was done to the computer, but I am so angry right now, that I don't want to even look at the computer, out of fear that I will damage the computer even more.

And that is when you ask for a full refund.

On top of that, even if it wasn't damaged, you had better hope that the motherboard was replaced during the huge recall due to cheap Chinese capacitors. When I did Dell onsite warranty repair, the replacement motherboards on the GX260-GX280 systems took up most of our time for a few months. I replaced 10 motherboards in under an hour at one business one of the days.

I looked the computer over, and the side plastic panel was broken off, the face plate was broken and later fell off, the metal cadge that holds the CD-ROM and hard drive was bent and warped, but surprisingly the computer still works, the capacitors are all good, and the lose heat-sink that was rolling around inside the case during shipping seemed to have done no damage that I can see, however the eBay description said "Condition: For parts or not working" and I had expected a dead motherboard, or something like that, that I would replace or fix, and I needed the case more than anything else, and the images showed a computer that was in very good shape, but the poor shipping basically left me with nothing but parts, I am just going to count this has a loss and move on.