Looking for a non-yellow working NTSC A1200, paying $150

[gdanko]

yetihw wrote:
Welcome back, I like you a lot already.  You are definitely honest and will speak your mind.....Bravo.

Anyway I've spent a small fortune on my Amiga 2000 and have not succeeded in getting it to run consistently or right for that matter.  I spent the money to learn the OS and the hardware, whatever.......

My advice for you to consider is to stay with emulation for now then look at one of two options

1. The Efika running morphos with as I understand a relatively seemless Amiga emulator for nearly all old programs.

2. One of the trillions of promised Amiga OS4 boards that also has a somewhat seemless Amiga "classic" emulator.  It looks like the Sam board or samatha may actually materialize.

I too love the old machines and the "feel" of running Native  but having gone down that road myself through Ebay I wouldn't recommend it to anybody.  I mean as far a nostalgia goes you can get many 8 bit computers for 20 bucks and other 16 bit machines  for 100 or so.  The Amiga market is nuts plain and simple in fact I've seen several Amiga 2000 video toasters go on ebay for next to nothing but the same boards in those machines go for 130 dollars and up.  Its become a fool or be fooled market with bits of information and compatibility fragments scattered throughout the web, which leaves us the newbies or the outta touch till now at the guru's mercy.

Don't do it.  Start over with a new product and go from there.

My 2 cents

Neil

Amen, brother. I wouldn't pay an arm and a leg for 20 year old hardware that could die at any momemt. The most expensive Amiga I have I paid 475 for and it was a brand new 4000T demo unit from a local dealer who still happened to be in business.

I also paid 275 for a NIB A1200 "Magic Pack" setup but that is only because I sold a 1200 for that very same price a week before. The one I sold came in a garage sale lot: two 1200s and four 500s for $50. So yeah if you're diligent you will find them!

[Chubbyrain]

Thank you for the support and responses. I will respectfully agree to disagree with some of you over what I feel is an overinflated sense of actual market value for this old hardware.

I will say this though. Never underestimate the power of a yard sale. I've found many interesting things. Recently I got a CBM Pet 2001 and TRS-80. Both in working order.

Never underestimate the power of a dumpster either. I've recovered three Powermac 7300s, one IBM Model 95 server and an Amiga 500 sans cables and PSU. I also found an ST but I left that behind.

As for the 1200, my offer stands. The way I see it, my money is earning interest whilst the yellowing hardware is gathering dust. I said I would go a little higher, but to put things in context, if I can get the  A1200 you are selling for the same price from Amigakit AND get a warranty, then maybe you are asking too much for it. As rightly stated above, this is old kit and the next power on could be it's last.

Time is on my side and I can always use an emulator in the meantime. I just want an actual unit for those moments of nostalgia that demand a 'hands on' tactile experience.

[Homer]

Chubbyrain -

I also found an ST but I left that behind.

 :banana:  :banana:  :banana:  :banana:  :banana:  :banana:

Yup, I like Chubbyrain too  :lol:

[gdanko]

Shush! I would have grabbed the ST! Man I like STs! I have a 520, a 1040, a TT and Falcon!

[Ross1]

There are deals to be had in the Amiga market. I got my second A4000D 040 with Toaster Flyer for $150US just recently. Now thats a rare deal but still if your patient (I waited a long time) they can be found.
But no mater how hard you want to think that paying $150 for a nice 1200 you may just be dreaming.

[Damion]

I dunno... $150 seems realistic, I found a NIB NTSC unit from a dealer in Cali, cost me $125 shipped. That was a few years ago now, but I'm sure you'll find one for under $200 if you keep looking. I searched off and on for about two weeks before finding one.

[Ral-Clan]

I will fall on the side of the original poster and say that expecting to pay $150 for an Amiga 1200 is not really unreasonable.  If he'd offered $50 or even $75 I would have dismissed him.

You won't find this price on Ebay or from a dealer, though.  There is *always* a buyer on Ebay who has bottomless pockets and will outbid you.  Ebay has made all sorts of obscure hardware easily available, but unfortunately the competition from buyers has really driven up prices.

However, if you perservere and advertise locally in the "buy and sell" papers, look in thrift stores and go to flea markets and garage sales you *might* find an Amiga for a really good price.

I picked up an Amiga 500 for $2.99 Canadian once at a Goodwill.  Bought another with sidecar hard-drive for $35. Got an Amiga 1000 and sidecar for about $10.  Got an Amiga 2000/030 plus DKB Megachip, tower case & 1084 monitor for $180.  Purchased an Amiga 3000 with graphics card & 040 board for $250.  I realise I've been fortunate with these finds (knock on wood).

But these types of deals are few and far between.  Most of the time they involved lots of searching and hours of driving to pick up the hardware.  Anytime I wanted something *right away* I've had to pay through the nose for it.

Sure, lots of Amigas sell for $150+ on Ebay, but remember that LOTS (more?) Amigas get sent to the landfill every day too.  If you had some sort of magical machine that could scan your neighbourhood for Amigas put on the curb for the garbage truck, you'd never have to pay for one again!

[giZmo350]

There is THIS ONE on ebay at the moment. Price is reasonable now but they always seem to skyrocket in the last few minutes. I myself have been trying to get one for over 2 years now.

[DonP1]

Chubbyrain wrote:

Time is on my side and I can always use an emulator in the meantime. I just want an actual unit for those moments of nostalgia that demand a 'hands on' tactile experience.

I am puzzled why you would want to throw away $150 if you have an emulator. Is having the actual hardware really worth it?

[giZmo350]

""I am puzzled why you would want to throw away $150 if you have an emulator. Is having the actual hardware really worth it?""

See, that's just it! Having the actual HW is IT! Just look on Craig's List and here's what you'll find when you search (don't get me started on Craig's List search capabilities) Amiga

"I'm a nostalgia loving, hardware hacking 80's and 80's computer fanboy seeking any and all Commodore and Commodore Amiga computer hardware, peripherals and all third party add-ons, upgrades, etc. C64/65/128, A500, 600, 1000, 1200, 2000, 2500, 3000, 4000, CD32, CDTV, Video Toaster, AmigaONE - you name it, I'll take it off your hands.

Free, Trade, or reasonable prices are all good. Get in touch and let me know what you have available.

I'll be happy to pick up whenever possible, arrange for pickup or pay for shipping when applicable."

There are only two reasons that peeps want the HW that badly (or a 3rd that I eluded to last week). Like me, to play with it, mod it, run SW, and see what kind of tricks you can make it do. Or, to sell it on ebay (I'm not saying that's what Chubbyrain wants to do). When you can snag "OLD 80's HW" for FREE or near free, you can make a 1000% return on your investment. It IS crazy that Amiga is worth more than GOLD! I always wonder WHERE all this HW comes from on ebay. Well, when you have all these systems sitting around in people's garages and attics that have no clue about ebay - you can get the stuff REAL cheap. I would admit that it probably is time consuming to hunt the stuff down though.

Anyhoo, it's a shame that it's sooo expensive on ebay. As far as supply and demand goes, ebay dictates the sky high prices and as long as peeps keep paying them, there will always be high prices and small amounts of the stuff (if I had a couple hundred A1200's, I would dole them out one at a time on ebay too).

Getting one is pretty much a hit or miss thing. Now speaking of NOT using ebay, I've tried to get one from peeps on this site or AW.Net and there's just no way! The pockets of the members are way deeper than mine. And I'm not about to beg and grovel (no insinuation intended at anyone).

I guess my point is that "time is NOT on your side"
What you really need is a FRIEND!  :-D

[Ral-Clan]

DonP1 wrote:
I am puzzled why you would want to throw away $150 if you have an emulator. Is having the actual hardware really worth it?

Why fix up an original classic car when you can buy a modern kit car replica?  Why go rock climing when you can just go to one of those rock climbing gyms?

[giZmo350]

New HW on the market should make the prices of the old stuff go down on ebay though!  :-)

[Chubbyrain]

Yes, you nailed it exactly. Although I would never equate using an Amiga to climbing a mountain. That I would reserve for setting up a  token-ring network!

The fun of owning one is to mess around and expand it to limits you never imagined possible back in the day.

You may think me mad for have a Commodore 128d, but I just love to bust that out every couple of months and mess around with the old floppy disks.

Thanks again for all the positive advice and help.

[DonP1]

I guess I'm still puzzled, but if you say so, then I'll hang onto my hardware.

I have a C64C with the 4MHz card and other goodies, and a highly mod'ed A1000, but I can't see too much difference between my emulators and the actual hardware. For one, it's a lot easier hauling around the entire system with software in a 1GB thumbdrive than it is to go down to the basement in winter just to play the hardware. My biggest issue with the emulator is lack of a USB joystick for my laptop.

[giZmo350]

DonP1 wrote:
For one, it's a lot easier hauling around the entire system with software in a 1GB thumbdrive than it is to go down to the basement in winter just to play the hardware.

hahahahahaha! Good point!   :lol:

[Chubbyrain]

I wish I had a basement. I'd keep the wife in it and the Amiga upstairs in the warm.