Selling a lot of my computer collection

Last Updated or created 2023-10-14

UPDATE : Bought after selling these

The last days i’ve been selling a lot of my old computers.
They have been in my collection for many years, but now its time to part.
Time for others to enjoy them.

(Instead of posting which ones are being sold and which i’ve still got on this page i’ll make another post)

I started collecting when i studied computer sciences.
It’s a wonder my parents attic wasn’t collapsing.
(They let me store many computers on their attic, let me run a mainframe in the house (previous post) and let me have computer-parties (pre-lan) in their home. (They even left, and gave me the space) .. 15+ teens with computers … there was a pingpong table in the livingroom (besides the other tables in the house ) For all computers.

Then i’ve got even more, when living on my own. (At some point about 140. )

A few years later i got rid of uninteresting computers (to my taste at that time) and incomplete ones. Then i filtered-out the non working.

Still leaving with a lot of computers, i kept these for many years.

Now i only want the ones i’ve worked with, or are special to me.

My first computer was a Commodore Vic-20. Friends had the popular C64. So i kept 2 of both.
In Junior Technical School i’ve used the BBC Acorn a lot (Funny story below)
My then friend Richard had a Atari ST, loads of fun we had with that machine, so i’m keeping a Atari 1040STf.
Another friend used a Apple SE, so that one i also keep for now.
I’ve been programming a lot on 80×86, the first dos PC’s, i’m still looking for a old machine (Laser XT) which i used way back then. But for now i’ve got a Sinclair PC200.
I’ll keep a old Commodore PET 2001, because its cute.
Besides having a cute PET, i’ve got a Holborn System. Made in Holland (Enschede), there are only a few left according to some sites: only 200 made! (Holborn means Holland Born) One of the inventors was from Holten, my birthplace. (Polak)

Putting the system together in 2018

At school we kept a list of everyone’s collection.

Soo .. the story about the BBC Acorn.

When i was at school outside study hours, i went to the computer lab.
This was one classroom with about 16 BBC Acorns and a master (teacher station). When they saw how enthusiastic i was, i got the key to the classroom. I even got access to the master system. And after a little hacking i’ve gained access to the teachers files.
There was a simple network system, i think it was called Econet.
The teachers system was the only one with a disk station.

I liked the ‘highres’ line graphics you could make on the machines. (640×256)
So i’ve wrote a lot of programs using this mode.
I even wrote a program which drew a 3D robotarm on screen using wireframe graphics.
At that time my mathematics scores where .. bad.
Wasn’t interested i think.
But drawing 3D robotic arms are not possible using mathematics, like using sinus, triangulary etcetera.
So when my mathematics teacher saw my program, he didn’t believe me.
So .. fooling around in the computer lab, i missed start of classes. And later on .. worse .. i almost was not allowed to do my final exams.
I was late several times (and one of the first to leave, …. straight from and to the computer lab. )

I’ve got some programs printed on paper, i will use my leftover BBC Acorn (or a emulator) to capture some screen examples.

Sold stuff

UPDATE : Selling a lot, but i’ve bought some others between 2020-2023

  • SDK-85
  • Laser Xt/3
  • 80386 DX

Also a “new” 1084 monitor (CRT for a Commodore 64)
Now i have to look for a VGA Crt to get old vga-register manipulation programs working.