New Computer
A couple days ago, Amanda and I decided, on a whim, to go to a nearby town to go thrift shopping and I actually came back with a pretty sweet vintage computer score.
In this seedy pawn shop that deals mostly with guns and reloading equipment (a store I wasn’t going to check out til Amanda said she thought she saw “other stuff” in it), a retro-looking computer keyboard hidden on a knee-level shelf caught my eye. At first I flipped because I thought it was a Commodore 64, but when I got closer and picked it up, I was mildly disappointed to discover it was a Commodore VIC-20. Nevertheless I was pretty excited about the find, and was willing to get JUST the computer, with no peripherals or accessories, when I noticed a box beneath it. The box was overflowing; full of manuals, peripherals and games, and I asked the lady what she would sell the whole lot for. From the look of it, this computer had been sitting on this shelf in this town of about 2,000 people for quite a while and she was perplexed by my interest in it. In a stereotypical drawl she said “Hell, ah’ll take ten bucks jist to git it outta here!”
Sold!
As we were driving back I was digging through the box to fully appreciate the haul. Here’s what was inside:
• The power supply (*phew*)
• A joystick
• The cassette recorder (A cheap alternative to floppy disks/drives at the time)
• A multi-cart changer
• Nearly THIRTY game/application cartridges: Adventure Land, The Count, Cosmic Cruncher, Voodoo Castle, The Sky is Falling, Sargon II Chess (w/ manual), Avenger, Speed Math/Bingo Math, Home Babysitter, Mole Attack, Visible Solar System, Raid on Fort Knox, Mission Impossible, Omega Race, Gorf, Pirate’s Cove, Spike’s Peak, Artillery Duel (w/ manual), Star Trek (Sega), Buck Rogers (Sega), River Rescue, Atlantis, Gridrunner, Final Orbit (w/ manual)/Bumper Bash, HES Writer, VIC Music Composer, Donkey Kong (Nintendo!), Ghost Manor
• Two programs on cassette: Blue Meanies from Outer Space, Space Math
• The original VIC-20 user manual
• An additional reference manual published by a third party, “Compute!’s First Book of VIC”
• “Gortek and the Microchips”, a program on two cassettes and storybook that introduces children to programming
• About a million dead bugs, two live ones
Unfortunately, the only thing missing from the box was the video cable. I don’t know a lot about computers from this era, but apparently a common cost-saving measure was to not include a monitor, instead bundling a cable and/or RF modulator that would allow you to hook it up to a regular television. Regardless, even if the cable WAS included, I don’t have a TV with ancient enough inputs to accommodate the VIC-20/C64’s video cable, so I have to pick that up online before I can use it.
Today I finally got around to testing the unit out (without video), and discovered the unit didn’t power up (there’s a power LED). In what I assumed was going to be a futile venture, I opened the system up to discover that it takes a little 3 amp fuse, which had blown. I was able to pick up a box of these fuses at Radio Shack for three dollars, and when replaced, the power LED lit up. Now I just need a modern video cable to hook it up to my TV and I can VIC-20 my heart out. Unlike games, it has a real computer keyboard.
August 15th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
Nice score.
You want to send the package to Rob.
You want to send the package to Rob.
You want to send the package to Rob.
You want to send the package to Rob.
You want to send the package to Rob.
You want to send the package to Rob.
You want to send the package to Rob.
You want to send the package to Rob.
August 15th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
The only thing more perplexing than you buying that thing is that anyone would envy you for it.
August 15th, 2007 at 9:38 pm
Agreed
August 16th, 2007 at 3:05 am
Well
A: Unlike games, it has a real computer keyboard and
B: Unlike games, it has a real computer keyboard.
August 16th, 2007 at 6:40 am
how about F: youre a gimp
August 16th, 2007 at 8:09 am
These scallops! They’re amazing! Why, why they’re the best scallops I’ve ever had!
The Vic-20…
I can’t get behind that.
August 16th, 2007 at 11:30 am
I like that everyone turns your comments into movie quotes/Rollins quotes. Outstanding work gentlemen. Hhhhhheeeeeeeeennnnnnnrrrrryyyyyy… You know what you can do with your pop quiz?