CDTV question

[barney]

How much does a CDTV sell for nowadays? Just a basic unit with no keyboard or mouse. Thanks.

Barney

[quarkx]

I picked up mine for $100 US about a month ago on Ebay, Quite a bargain, considering I have seen them go for double or even triple that if it had a keyboard this year.

[barney]

Commodore really piss me off sometimes. They create another Amiga computer with completely different ports so we have to buy all new peripherals. I'm amazed the company lasted as long as they did. I have yet to see a keyboard or mouse for the CDTV. Oh well.

Barney

[davideo]

I sold a keyboard, mouse and external drive not long ago.

They do appear now and again. If you're lucky they won't be too expensive.

Dave G  8-)

[beller]

barney wrote:
Commodore really piss me off sometimes. They create another Amiga computer with completely different ports so we have to buy all new peripherals. I'm amazed the company lasted as long as they did. I have yet to see a keyboard or mouse for the CDTV. Oh well.

Barney

I'm not sure about the keyboard buy you can get a new CDTV mouse or remote at AmigaKit!

[quarkx]

barney wrote:
Commodore really piss me off sometimes. They create another Amiga computer with completely different ports so we have to buy all new peripherals. I'm amazed the company lasted as long as they did. I have yet to see a keyboard or mouse for the CDTV. Oh well.

Barney

You have to remember the CDTV was not aimed at the Amiga market OR the computer market. Commodore wanted to tap a whole new market- the consumer electronics- home theater/livingroom space (yet unknown an way ahead of its time). The fact that the CDTV is based on an Amiga platform is really a bonus, as most home theater systems are now PC's in disguise. Commodore did not want it to appeal only to the Amiga market, so they distanced it from the Amiga in all ways the could (some would argue if this was really a smart move),and you will see that nowhere on the CDTV does it even hint at being an Amiga.
Yes, in a perfect world, the CDTV would have a "standard" Keyboard port, but if you think about it ALL Amiga models have a different port or connection. The A500 didn't have an external keyboard at all for them to even use, so it makes perfect sense for them to come up with a "CDTV only" keyboard.

BTW, there are aftermarket and I believe home made keyboard adapters that let you use an A2000 keyboard. I have seen them on Ebay.

[beller]

Why didn't the CDTV have any connection to the Amiga?  CBM marketing clearly didn't want the consumer to be distracted by the connection.  At the point CDTV was released the Amiga had been around for some time and was losing market to both the Mac and PC.  CBM wanted the CDTV to go directly against the machine Phillips released.  Their marketing, however, was to go to the high end electronics market.  In the western US, the main source, initially, was Macy's.

I spent a day with Jim Dionne at the Macy's in downtown San Francisco.  Jim and the other CBM upper management had distributed themselves around the San Francisco bay area Macy's stores to demo CDTV and talk to consumers.  It was sorta strange to see the head of Commodore hawkin the machine to what were mainly disinterested customers.  Sad, but I got my picture and story for AmigaWorld!

Bob

[amigadave]

Thread Hi-Jack Alert:

My CDTV's CD drive is spinning okay, but I am getting an error when I try to load any CDTV disc, AND I even get an error message when I try to load Workbench from a floppy.  It was working fine just a few weeks ago.

Has anyone successfully replace the CD drive in a CDTV, or read of someone doing so?  It is a shame that the CDTV's IDE interface to the CD drive is proprietary and we can't just replace it with any new CD, CDRW drive.

I tried to fit my AdIDE controller into my CDTV, but it hits the CDTV EPROMs.  If I had a 68000 chip extender to raise it up I could install it above the EPROMs, but that would require leaving the top cover off or modifying it a lot.  Then I could use it to connect a non-proprietary CD drive as master and maybe an IDE to Compact Flash card as slave.

I wish there was a 68000 chip plug with ribbon cable to relocate the 68000 socket to another location, so I could keep everything under the stock case cover.  That is the main appeal of the CDTV, keeping it looking like just one more component of your Stereo, DVD player, amplifier, set-top cable/satelite box, etc. in an entertainment center with a big screen TV.  Has anyone seen such a 68000 plug/ribbon cable/relocated 68000 socket?

[quarkx]

amigadave wrote:
  Has anyone seen such a 68000 plug/ribbon cable/relocated 68000 socket?

No, not a commercial product anyways,
In theory, it should be a very simple task, with parts totaling under $5. The hardest thing will be soldering all the wires to each point. If you can find a socket for the CPU, you are halfway there. Who knows, you just may have created a market for them. :-D