Denial

This thread is here in case you know of an old computer for sale at your local Thrift store, but don't want it for yourself. Post a notice here if you are willing to pick it up for a Denial member in a different part of the world. Read the whole thread to see the latest posts & updates.

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Not much retro computing stuff shows up at my local Thrift store these days. But today I went in and there was an Atari 800XL and a TRS-80 tape drive (just looks like a standard tape recorder, but it's beige).

EDIT: since this post was made the Atari has been traded. Please read the thread for other finds.

I didn't buy them, as I already am stacked with VIC-20s and Amigas. But if anyone is looking for these types of items, I can go back and see if they are still there.

This is a great title for a thread. I'm going to sticky it, so whenever there's an item in any thrift store in the world (with a denial member present), we can have a shot at getting it.

How much was the Atari 800XL?

gklinger wrote:How much was the Atari 800XL?

I think the 800XL was under $10. Probably $7.99.

As Value Village usually does, any accessories (like the power adapter) are over on the cables wall and will be a few more bucks.

I believe this 800XL also had a hand-made label on it that said 256K or something.

That's pretty good. You should snag it.

gklinger wrote:That's pretty good. You should snag it.

It's a nice looking computer, but I have no more room for anything non-Commodore (and even the Commodore stuff is crammed). I've been trying hard to resist getting into yet another platform!

(Sacrelidge warning!)

The Atari 800XL. Aaah sweet memories of my first computer! Those wonderous days I spent hours creating programs only to be erased from history in the evening when I had to go to bed. (Computer went off and I had no tape or disk drive )

Those were the days. My little Atari. Gone but not forgotten.

I wish I was near enough to go get that Atari since you don't want it...

gklinger wrote:I wish I was near enough to go get that Atari since you don't want it...

Well, the point I was trying to make in starting this thread was that I could pick it up for someone if they are interested. Do you want me to do that (it actually might be gone already - not sure)?

I think it's a tormenting thread! Dangling things in front of me that I can't afford to get due to postage costs. I too would love the XL, but postage to Oz...

In particular as Atari 8-bit, even the XL models, tend to be less common and thus more expensive than both VIC and C64. I believe the 256K mod is something homemade, and I'm unsure what kind of software benefits from the memory. Copy programs perhaps, able to read a full floppy into memory.

Great thread! However if I ever encountered a thrift store or flea market find that I think is worth its price even though I'm not personally interested in the item, I would probably buy it and afterwards try to sell it away.

That's a lot better than my local Value Village, which would probably try to get $20 for it. It's funny, though, because they're so inconsistent with their pricing. Once in a while, there's a real good steal; probably because they don't realize it's a collectible. On the other hand, they just got in an antique upright piano in terrible shape they're trying to get almost $1000 for! There's actually mold growing on the felt on the hammers, and none of the keys quite line up with each other! I've seen ones just like it in better shape on Kijiji being sold for 1/10th that ($100).

carlsson wrote:In particular as Atari 8-bit, even the XL models, tend to be less common and thus more expensive than both VIC and C64. I believe the 256K mod is something homemade, and I'm unsure what kind of software benefits from the memory. Copy programs perhaps, able to read a full floppy into memory.

Not that I am a whiz in this particular field, but I did know someone who ran a BBS on an Atari 800XL. He also had 256K memory expansion which he claimed was essential for the BBS as well as running as a master computer for the two slave Ataris he also had connected. Does that sound about right?

Sure, any application that needs or can use a lot of memory. I suppose a BBS needs to hold a number of messages in memory and only write to disk everytime a new message is entered.

carlsson wrote:Sure, any application that needs or can use a lot of memory. I suppose a BBS needs to hold a number of messages in memory and only write to disk everytime a new message is entered.

A BBS needs more disk space than memory; often, the disk access exceeded the baud rate.