1.5GHz G4 MacMini's on eBay $175.99

[Matt_H]

I paid 150 euros for my first MorphOS license keyfile and 111.11 euros each for the second and third (IIRC).  No complaints about the price, or for paying for VAT, even though I live in the USA.

As far as I can tell, you get good value for your money spent, but everyone values their purchases differently.  There are few registered MorphOS2.x users that I have ever seen complain about the money they have spent in obtaining their registration keys.  MorphOS2.7 is an excellent OS.

Worth every penny!

[takemehomegrandma]

Until they stop illegally charging 19% VAT to non-EU buyers then I won't.  Simple.

Again - it's *not* illegal. You may not *like* paying €111 (and then you shouldn't), but that's a different matter. From my personal perspective it's worth even the €150 that was the previous price, and it will be worth it even more if they drop prices even further after the MorphOS 3.0 release...

[yakumo9275]

patching the slowdown and telling others how to do it isnt illegal either. you may not like it but thats a different matter.

[Piru]

patching the slowdown and telling others how to do it isnt illegal either.

In most legislations circumventing a protection like that is illegal. At least it is in EU, USA and Australia.

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32009L0024:EN:NOT
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/1201.html
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/num_act/caa2006213/

[yakumo9275]

except the slowdown is not a copyright mechanism as it does not restrict the number of times I can make a copy of the iso image I downloaded. at best, its an annoyance. The copyright mechanism of morphos is tieing the key to the hardware.

[Piru]

except the slowdown is not a copyright mechanism as it does not restrict the number of times I can make a copy of the iso image I downloaded. at best, its an annoyance. The copyright mechanism of morphos is tieing the key to the hardware.

Except that since the slowdown is the only difference between locked and unlocked system (the effective result of the protection), removing the timeout is thus circumventing the protection.

This is quite academic though, since on-one will bother enough to crack MorphOS anyway (they're invited to try though, it's not as trivial as you might think).

[psxphill]

Except that since the slowdown is the only difference between locked and unlocked system (the effective result of the protection), removing the timeout is thus circumventing the protection.

DMCA doesn't cover hardware dongles, so it's unlikely to cover software equivalents (license key etc).
 
If your license is well written then you should be able to go after someone on a license violation. copyright maybe, depending on whether any of morphos is distributed.
 
I can't see that it's is likely to be pirated though. Even if it was trivially easy to crack.

[Piru]

DMCA doesn't cover hardware dongles, so it's unlikely to cover software equivalents

It does.

[zylesea]

There is nothing illegal about it .....
The price is set by the MorphOS-team and wether the take the effort to reclaim unneeded VAT from the tax-collector or not is none of your buisness.

I would think the whole Ralph Schmidt Softwareentwicklung is setup as a small buisness where you only fill out a simplified tax sheet (and pay lower overall tax) but therefore can't reclaim some expenses or allready paid VAT.

Ralph Schmidt Softwareentwicklung is not a small business by the definition of "Kleingewerbetreibender". If so he wouldn't be allowed to issue VAT on the invoice. If you use the small business rule you cannot get VAT refunded but must not charge VAT on your offerings.
Charging the VAT is rather the only option to avoid serious trouble with the authorities.

[huronking]

So, anyway... that's a decent deal on a Mini?

[takemehomegrandma]

So, anyway... that's a decent deal on a Mini?

It's a *great* deal on a Mini! :-D

Only 2 left now...

[takemehomegrandma]

It's a *great* deal on a Mini! :-D

Only 2 left now...

One left...

[bbond007]

So, anyway... that's a decent deal on a Mini?

Yes. the 1.5 is a silent upgrade with an additional double the VRAM. They were not produced for very long before Apple switched to Intel.

If I remember right the 1.4 I have has 32MB and the 1.5 is 64MB. (or is it 64 and 128?)

I would get one for that price but its not a substantial upgrade to my 1.4 and I got a Powerbook5,8 with 2GB ram and 128MB VRAM just waiting for Morphos 3.0...

[takemehomegrandma]

One left...

All gone!

(Keep Looking though!

[huronking]

All gone!

(Keep Looking though!

I got one of them. Sometimes eBay gets the best of me.

[amigadave]

I got one of them. Sometimes eBay gets the best of me.

Install MorphOS2.7 on it and you won't regret your purchase.

Congrats on buying one at that price.  I paid almost double for mine and it only had 512mb RAM, not 1gb when I got it.