On the verge of selling my 1200XL...

Good to hear the 1200 has found a good home Andy.
If you had the choice in the future, would you get another or have you scratched that itch now so to speak?

 

Yeah, that'll do now, Al.

I'm done with these "exotic" micros.

It's like my insatiable urge to get a Commodore PET - they look great, make a great display piece but cost a packet and I never had one back in the day so chances are I'd bust my balls to buy one and then sell it a few months later... i'm getting too old for that malarkey now.

I need to pack that game in and just concentrate on those machines which will always be nearer to my heart and so more cherished and appreciated.

I must stop being a "butterfly collector", bud.

 

Congrats, Baz. I'm happy you could find a new good home to the 1200XL.
Keep us informed about the Orics too, it's always interesting to know that these little babies have been adopted by new good "parents".

This is my last buy, and sort of a XMas gift to myself, technically not retro-gear, but I couldn't resist the damned Black Friday discount.

 

Hi, Daz.

Is that one of those "mini" C-64s? It seems to have a "full size" keyboatd though...and 64 games on-board for the VIC-20 and C-64 - I get confused with the multitude of 'clones' and 'hybrids' and heaven only knows what else gets launched these days - it's not the original hardware, I take it?

It looks the biz all the same and clearly you've earned a treat or two so why the hell not, eh?

Both Orics have gone and I'm pleased to say the Atmos stayed close and went to a chap just 3-4 miles away (Shaun) who every now and again gets in touch and once supplied Paul with an X-Box full of games, I believe. He has an amazing man cave which fills his entire attic - inside there are at least half a dozen C-64s, a couple of VIC-20s (he started off with a VIC), a C-16 and a Plus 4; again, half a dozen or more Spectrums, plus: ZX81, Dragon (boxed), A1200, A600. He did have a TRS80 - he still might and in addition he has lots of Gameboys, a Philips Videopac, a Colecovision, Atari 2600, Amstrad GX(7000?), an Intellivision and ... now an ATMOS!

The Oric-1 sold to someone elsewhere in UK who was naturally a retro fan so all in all I have done tremendously well and still have the majority of my collection intact.

Thanks again, Daz, for all your very significant help and support and enjoy that Black Friday bargain, mate.

 

Hey Bazza, I always like to hear stories about old computers, their collectors, their collections. Very glad that the little Oric babies are in the hands of retrofans. They certainly will take care of those machines. But most of all I'm happy you did succeed with your sales in a satisfying manner, so all the bad clouds are gone, aren't they?

TheC64 is a SoC board similar to RPI and I believe it mounts a Bare Metal version of VICE, so it can emulate the 64, the ViC-20 and possibly (I have to get deep into this) the 128, Plus/4. There's even a way to run an Atari XL/XE emulator, I heard (Atari800) but I still have to give it a try.

Yes, the keyboard is full size (I don't like the MINI version of ANY computer or console) and it's totally usable in BASIC mode or you can run D64, PRG, and CRT games from a console screen. I will tell you more once I find the time to turn it on... ;-)

 

Andy, I'm in the same sort of position as you now (and probably quite a few of us). Between funds, time and space you need to curate your collection and focus on what you really enjoy sometimes.

There are a few consoles like the SNES, NES, Pc Engine etc where I only like a couple of games. Same with Speccy and C64. For all those I tend to emulate on my pc now. Okay, it's not the same but with an authentic USB comp pro joystick or retro-bit gamepad it can get pretty close. The only thing I'm not so keen on is how pixelated some of the games display on the pc monitor. I'm thinking about getting a smaller display and using that as a second monitor to give the 'feels' better.

My original hardware now is the 800, 2x800XL, 600XL, Amiga 500 and Atari 1040STFM. All machines I owned growing up (well apart from the 800 and 600XL) so have a real connection to them. Also got a Megadrive, PS/2 and original XBOX modded. Surprisingly I have tallied up my PS2 games and have around 100 originals. Mainly racing games and retro/arcade compilations.

Two machines I would like though are a Sega Saturn as I really regret selling mine a while back because of the great arcade racers on it, and my pal has a Plus/4 in great condition but I don't have the funds for it at the moment. Again, the Plus/4 is a machine I owned when younger.

The main vice now is retro computer and console books. I've built up a nice wee collection

Think I'll have to do a photo gallery at some point, what do you think lads?

 

Hope you enjoy TheC64 Alex. Having a microswitched joystick makes a big difference with it and the keyboard has a nice feel. As you say much better than the mini products.

The new Amiga version coming out next March is tempting but it's only a mini system which is a bit of a pain. Tempting though as it can do WHDload files.

Please let us know how you get on with your new toy once you have the chance to use it

 

I was tempted for a Mini c64 but preferred the real beast instead, as for the other mini's of other consoles, I'll stick with emulation, for the machines I would like to have (Saturn & PC Engine) the emulation will do as it's not something I play on a big TV in the front room. All playing is done in my mini Bat Cave where I'm surrounded by 11 real machines (not all plugged in at same time). I'd imagine that the 1 or 2 machines coming will be it. The only machine I regret going was the Amiga 1200 with the HD and ram upgrade, was in lovely condition but didn't get the time it deserved.

 

Saturn and PC Engine are both great machines Paul, good choices. What emulators do you use for them?
I have Mednafen (Saturn) and Turbo Engine. Just started playing around with BlueMSX today which plays a mean game of Arkanoid

 

Yep I use Mednafen for Saturn but Ootake for PC Engine..Probably the best emulator since Magic Engine.

 

Hmm, I'll give that a look. Thanks Paul

 

Photo gallery and photo shoot away, Al - I always lurve to view members' collections to see the "lurve" you guys clearly have for your beauties and as they say - a picture says a thousand words... ;-)

 

Yay, pics are always welcome, well except from me, my desk is such a mess it would put people off. Anyone with a tidiness OCD tick would freak out at my desk

Odd, my office desk was the picture of efficiency, all in proper place and in and out trays most empty, my own desk here, a nightmare..

I have bits of computers, flash drives, soldering stuff, external HD's and just about everything else in a horrible mess across the desk..

Only just room for the often needed mug of tea

 

Thanks for the extra details on the modern version of the C-64 you treated yourself to, Daz. A lovely looking set-up which ticks lots of boxes for you Commodorians. Yes, finances an awful lot brighter now with the sales of the x2 Orics and the 1200XL. The money has plugged all the gaps in the repayments and my overdraft. Without these sales I would have been in serious trouble. Once more, thank you so much for your help and that of the other guys on here - everyone's been seriously helpful and I shan't forget the support received. (A little something winging its way over to Monterotondo and of course Pregassona-Lugano). Check those letterboxes, lads...