Poly 1

[YetiSeti]

Jesus Christ on a (memory)stick! Now, I've never profaned or taken the Lord's name in vain before, but then there's a first time for everything. Another first time is spending $1300 on a vintage computer, which is only about five times the price of the most expensive computer I've ever bought (after being bid up at the last minute by an old, never used account which then was closed after auction).

The $500 start was over-priced if anything such as previous sales history, typical very rare computer prices, international market values, obscurity, working condition, etc etc so it's a struggle to feel the love for this computer now. And what nutter paid $1K for the Mac 128K?

All it takes is two foolish anomalous bidders to throw reason out the window and motion in the emotion and end up with $1260+post. You could get an Altair or Imsai for that kind of money and at least you'd know there would be any number of other buyers for it. Not sure I'll be able to afford to have children now

If anything is to be said, this computer surely wins top prize in the Yellow category and carry handles on both sides is a handy innovation carried over from the funeral casket industry. That must be worth something.

Speaking of fools. Time to listen to a soothing favourite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgYhVnmeWrk
'Altair 8800b Fool on the Hill Demo'

[tezza]

LOL Clinton, your posts always crack me up!

Do you intend to get it up and running? You are in the right place, given that Otago museum has a preservation project going.

[EmulatorCoder]

The price is still sick not 'sic'

[YetiSeti]

Do you intend to get it up and running? You are in the right place, given that Otago museum has a preservation project going.

Hi, yes, I'd love to see this machine running. One of my only surviving artifacts from my early computing days is one of my type-in listings for a class assignment for the Poly (a rather basic program that would run on any computer which just had print statements and animated a rocket ship up the screen).

The PPP is in the Comp Sci Dept at Otago Uni and I will have to make contact with Andrew Trotman there. Thanks for the other contact as well in the PM. Hopefully between them all I will get some assistance in resurrecting this computer.

[Carcenomy]

What the hell you two! $1260?!

You're starting to make me think I should go heckle the local museum and find out what they're doing with their non-functional Poly...

[YetiSeti]

What the hell you two! $1260?!

I know, I know. I just had this flash thought of a scene from Dune after thinking of the name matsondawson as a verb on trademe - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9a4K3481B0

Roly thinks it's worth heaps though if it went to ebay for some international investor to buy it. I can't convince him that it's not worth much as non-working, with a huge international postage, along with the fact that it's not a known computer and doesn't have any significance off-shore to generate a demand or value.

You're starting to make me think I should go heckle the local museum and find out what they're doing with their non-functional Poly...

Now you've let the cat out of the bag you should probably try buy/trade for it before someone else sharp decides to (or edit this post).

My Poly should arrive over the next week or so. I just pray to the (DEC) Rainbow God that this yellow computer in all it's yellow splendour arrives undamaged. It's a pity the guy didn't keep the computer as 'Roly Poly' invites so many ways to express and show off such a piece.

[Carcenomy]

I'm 99% certain the local machine is beyond repair. To the best of my knowledge it was... could have... should have been ex-SGHS. Apparently it turned up recently on a fishing boat and nobody could figure out how it got there or some such? They've put it in a case with that same old schpeal about Polys that you read everywhere and the picture of the two kids hiking one along. It's in really rough condition and has had a 5.25" drive bolted to the top of it for some reason.

I guess time will tell, arjoll should totally check it out at some point.

[arjoll]

I'll have to have a look. From memory (I would have been 8 or 9!) SGHS had two Polys with a shared dual 8" disk system. Not a 5.25" disk in sight