Need Advice - May be selling my Cyberstorm PPC

[_KR_]

Back in the day I was HUGE into the Amiga and I have owned (and still do own) 5 Amiga 500's, 2 Amiga 2000's, 2 Amiga 3000's, 1 Amiga 1200, 1 CDTV, 1 Amiga 4000, and tons of associated hardware and software.  For my 4000 I bought a Phase 5 Cyberstorm PPC board (the PPC 604E model) shortly after they became available and enjoyed the pride of ownership of having the 'Ultimate Amiga' (in my mind anyway).  Eventually though, I got sucked into the vortex of the PC world and my Ami time dwindled down to zero.    

That leaves me with a pretty cool piece of hardware, but I haven't used it in a very long time.  It's kind of going to waste and I'm thinking of selling it to someone who could get some of the fun and joy and pride of ownership that I once derived from owning it.  I'd put it on Ebay, I suppose, but I don't think it's possible to sell anything there without PayPal, and I hate PayPal.      

So that's where I need some advice from Amiga enthusiasts.  This site seems like a good place to put the board up for sale but, in your opinion, is it the best option?  Naturally I'd like to get the best possible price.       And if PayPal is a non-starter with me, what other options have folks used to secure a deal that protects both the buyer and seller so that everyone is assured of a clean and fair transaction?    

Thanks for any feedback.

[alexh]

http://www.amibay.com

Whilst I'd like it, I could not pay the going rate. If you're very good with your marketing I would imagine (depending on the speed of the unit) you'd get about €400-600 for it. Perhaps a little more if you agreed to ship anywhere in the world.

If you are in the UK there is of course direct bank transfer. If you're in the Euro Zone you've got IBAN transfers. On top you've got MoneyBookers, Western Union, MoneyGram and possibly countless others.

Non of these offer a "secure deal". Neither does direct payment via PayPal.

[Buzzfuzz]

First of all, what kind of CS PPC are we talking about, so specs ?
 
You can sell here, you can also sell on http://www.amibay.com/ register and do an introduction post and a reply as you need 2 post for PM to be active.
Amibay does however have the rule that you have to state a fixed price, here on Amiga.org you can just put it up here and ask for offers.
 
But as you don't want Paypal, a direct bank transfer is possibly the only option and thus limiting your target area.
Look at it from a buyers point of view, here you have someone with 1 post stepping into the community.
We have to go on good faith that you will actually ship the board to one of us without having any protection.

I wouldn't go this way for the amount that it will sell, which depending on the model and RAM will be a substantial amount of money.
I wouldn't send these kind of amounts on just good faith, no way!
 
I would list on Ebay with Paypal and then set it up with bidding and a good reasonable Buy It Now price.
If that price is good, it will probably sell within 10 seconds of listing.

[orb85750]

If you want top dollar, maybe get over your dislike of eBay/PayPal.  Judging by recent auctions, an item like yours should do quite well.

[_KR_]

I appreciate the apprehension someone would feel doing a deal like this, almost in the blind.  The reason I canceled my PayPal account was because someone out-and-out defrauded me (and I could prove it) and PayPal insisted on treating the matter as though it was just an innocent mistake.  Dealing with their "Customer Service" was a joke and with extreme pissed-off-itude I told them to shove it.  So as alexh pointed out, even PayPal is no guarantee of a fair deal.  I appreciate the advice about ebay though.  I hate, hate, hate the idea of it but I may, in the end, have to swallow my pride.

To fill in some of the blanks, I'm located in northern Idaho, US.

The PPC is the 200 mhz model produced by Phase 5.  It came in a black box and the sticker on its side lists it as "Cyberstorm PPC 200 mhz, Phase 5, A3000/A4000 models, No CPU".  Not sure why the box stated no cpu because obviously it has one.  It came with a 68060 cpu as well, and the scsi module.  The only problem I ever had with it was the cheap fan they stuck on top of the ppc quit after about a year.  It never caused any problems though.  I fired the system up just recently and everything checks out, just like the old days.  It was purchased in Spokane, WA on 12/4/97 for an obscene amount of money.  :roflmao:

[Wasagi]

Mhmm,  I'd strongly recommend not running it without any active cooling

I appreciate the apprehension someone would feel doing a deal like this, almost in the blind.  The reason I canceled my PayPal account was because someone out-and-out defrauded me (and I could prove it) and PayPal insisted on treating the matter as though it was just an innocent mistake.  Dealing with their "Customer Service" was a joke and with extreme pissed-off-itude I told them to shove it.  So as alexh pointed out, even PayPal is no guarantee of a fair deal.  I appreciate the advice about ebay though.  I hate, hate, hate the idea of it but I may, in the end, have to swallow my pride.

To fill in some of the blanks, I'm located in northern Idaho, US.

The PPC is the 200 mhz model produced by Phase 5.  It came in a black box and the sticker on its side lists it as "Cyberstorm PPC 200 mhz, Phase 5, A3000/A4000 models, No CPU".  Not sure why the box stated no cpu because obviously it has one.  It came with a 68060 cpu as well, and the scsi module.  The only problem I ever had with it was the cheap fan they stuck on top of the ppc quit after about a year.  It never caused any problems though.  I fired the system up just recently and everything checks out, just like the old days.  It was purchased in Spokane, WA on 12/4/97 for an obscene amount of money.  :roflmao:

[_KR_]

Yeah, the fan was interesting.  It made an awful racket before it finally conked out.  So I just unplugged it and left the A4000 uncased.  I ran the thing 24/7 for months and months at a time that way and never had a problem with it.  I should probably track down a replacement for it just the same.  Does anyone know of a source off hand?

[zipper]

Mine did last probably two weeks... Bolted a 40 mm 486 fan onto the heatsink.

[alexh]

http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/products/40mmfans

[Buzzfuzz]

Running it without the fan may have caused burn damage.
Might not appear now, but if you have to reball it, that is quite expensive.
 
Or better said, send the card to Stachu100 and upgrade it with a 330 or higher PPC.
In the end that is probably the best option if the PPC is dead.

[_KR_]

The upgrade option sounds interesting.  I didn't know such a service was available.  Is there a website or cost list available?

Just to be clear about the PPC, it's 100% working.  I ran demos and benchmarks on it when I was checking its condition recently. Are they prone to heat damage?  My recollection of them was that they ran comparatively cooler than other cpu's of their time.  At any rate, other than the fan itself, this board has never given me any problems.  Its got 128 mb of onboard ram and I run a hard drive from the scsi interface.  The only portion of it that I never got to test is the socket that accepts a graphics card?  I think that's what it was for, but I never had one.

[_KR_]

Thanks for the fan suggestion, alexh.  I also found this website which goes into some detail about fans, voltages, and other ideas regarding cooling on a Cyberstorm PPC+A4000 combo, if anyone is interested.

http://amiga.erkan.se/index.php/improving-cyberstorm-cooling-and-replacing-cyberstormppc-cooler/

[HammerD]

Thanks for the fan suggestion, alexh.  I also found this website which goes into some detail about fans, voltages, and other ideas regarding cooling on a Cyberstorm PPC+A4000 combo, if anyone is interested.

http://amiga.erkan.se/index.php/improving-cyberstorm-cooling-and-replacing-cyberstormppc-cooler/

The PPC can burn out if it has no fan on it.  You should check it with the PPCtest disk which you can download here:

http://powerup.amigaworld.de/index.php?lang=en&page=24

You will need a 15Khz monitor like a 1084S hooked up to your Amiga 4000 (unless you have a flicker fixer or graphics card with Flicker fixer, or CyberVision PPC) to see the output.

The WarpUP and PowerUP tests should both come back "OK" if the PPC is alive.