Uh, "Price Gouging?"

[Zac67]

The cable is just a clockport cable, isn't it? It can be easily made for <$2.

[runequester]

I went for emulation when I got back into amiga's before getting real kit. Currently emulation doesn't have any interest for me but I totally get the appeal, so not judging.

I think it can be done for reasonable money, provided you aim at a mid tier system, and don't go too crazy.

[MiAmigo]

Nothing wrong with enjoying fixing things that are broken or just not working properly.  Let me know when you want to come visit my place.  As one of my good friends describes it, my house is where computers come to die.  I have more computers or other electronic equipment that is either dead, or has been taken apart for one reason or another and I haven't made the time to put them back together.

Some times it can be 6 months or a year before I get back to a project and put something back together, with, or without the changes or improvements that I took it apart to do in the first place.

Mein Gott! Your place sounds like Paradise with a capital 'P'!:hammer:

[MiAmigo]

I think it can be done for reasonable money, provided you aim at a mid tier system, and don't go too crazy.

Agreed! Even if you only want one (Amiga) system, you almost have to do that, or you will surely go broke, or drive yourself nuts looking for a better price.

[desiv]

Actually, I started on emulators, and got into hardware from there

Exactly the same here...
Emulators are just the gateway drug to get you hooked into mainlining hardware..  

er..

Well, you get the idea...

Now, I still use emulators for lots of things.
I have an Arcade cab I had an emulator in (it was Vantage instead of MAME for hardware reasons).  I now have a 60-n-1 board, which is still an emulator.
I'll probably eventually put a nicer computer with MAME back in there eventually.
But my 2nd cab (in need of a new Big Blue CAP I think, it's currently not working) is original.  I toyed with making it a racing multi CAB (it's  Pole Position II), but decided to leave it original.

And I use WinUAE/Amigaforever for config and testing things frequently before trying them on my real hardware.

desiv

[kedawa]

A few years ago I managed to get an A500, a CD32, a 1084s, and a bunch of peripherals for under $200 by checking CL every day for months.  Since then I haven't seen anything even close to those prices.  Now people are asking close to $200 for just an A500 with no monitor.
A2000s are typically much more.  It's absurd, and I don't see myself ever buying classic hardware again.
I'll probably buy one of Jens' accelerators and maybe an FPGA clone board, but no more dusty old hardware.

[spirantho]

There's still loads of classic Amiga goodies to be had for not a lot.
Amiga 500s you can get very cheap. I just bought an A600 for £20. I've bought a 68030 accelerator for the A1200 for £50, and then bought another for £60 shortly after.

You just need to watch eBay carefully, that's all. The 600 went at a funny time of day, so was cheap. The A1200 accelerators - one of them had a capacitor come off (5 seconds with a soldering iron fixed that), and the other one was advertised as a "ROM upgrade" despite the fact it was clearly an accelerator.

Point is, if you go to the established sellers you're going to pay a lot more. If you look around and be patient, you will find a bargain. Heck, the thing I've been playing with most was a bridgeboard that someone sent to me for the price of postage, can't get much better than that.

Remember - just because some people have put a high price tag on an Amiga thing, doesn't mean they'll actually get that price....

[desiv]

There's still loads of classic Amiga goodies to be had for not a lot.

And of course, it helps if you live in the UK..

Certain other places, it's not quite as common....
I swear it seems like they are tripping over all the excess Amigas they have in the UK sometimes...
And then they go on about SCART..  Oh, you don't have SCART?  How do you watch Dr. Who and The IT Crowd and..  
Oh, you have to pay extra for BBC America on cable???

er..
um..

sorry, got sidetracked for a second...

Still, if you're patient, you can get a decent deal..  ;-)

desiv

[spirantho]

'tis true, we're lucky in the UK. Heck, it's a few years back now but it's not that long ago that I bought three working Amiga 1500s for £60 including keyboards and a few spare (populated) PCBs. I got an A500 complete in box for £10 just at the beginning of the year though.

A1200s are a bit more pricey, though, normally about £50 more or less.

Maybe you should get one from the UK, probably still be cheaper even after postage.

[MiAmigo]

The cable is just a clockport cable, isn't it? It can be easily made for <$2.

Yes it is. However I was told by the original manufacturer that it would be 'expensive' to sell alone, and, of course, to ship: about 20$ total to get one to me across the big pond.

I'm hoping against hope that at least one of my cards survived. In the mean time, I've put the cards in my shopping cart at Softhut.com, but its been over a week since I contacted them with a question before I purchase - with absolutely no answer. I sent another email out Friday night, but I don't think I'll get a response.

No response means I won't also be sending my money (a lot of it!) down a blind hole, so to speak.

I wonder...are they still in business, or is the website just a Flying Dutchman?

[MiAmigo]

'tis true, we're lucky in the UK. Heck, it's a few years back now but it's not that long ago that I bought three working Amiga 1500s for £60 including keyboards and a few spare (populated) PCBs. I got an A500 complete in box for £10 just at the beginning of the year though.

A1200s are a bit more pricey, though, normally about £50 more or less.

Maybe you should get one from the UK, probably still be cheaper even after postage.

I got a really great deal from Amiga Retro Experience in the UK on my A500 system. Shipping was fast, less than a week, but expensive, also...

I had to get a step up/step down transformer for the power conversion, and I also picked up a Universal Grounded Adapter Plug which I eventually didn't need because the converter (the transformer) already had one built in.

But its true, they do seem to have a LOT of Amiga stuff over there!