Did You Fall Into A Coma In The 1980's And Just Wake Up?

[dalesys]

I've been desperately searching for a new mp3 player...

Cheap Android phone, no service: ~$30. MicroSD card (make sure the phone has a slot) ~$10.
Vwah-Lah-Lah!

[SailorMan]

Selectrics were GREAT typewriters!

I agree!

Back in the 80s I had a Selectric, and numerous foreign language elements for them, so I could make flashcards out of 3" x 5" index cards (I'm a language nerd). I had French, German, Classical Greek, Russian, Classical Hebrew, and Arabic elements.

Funny story. Sort-of. Everyone on active duty in the 80s knows the mindset of the time, it still being the era of the Cold War.

Well, my typewriter elements were seized by the on-base Coast Guard Investigative Service agent; it seems that the fact that I had a Russian element had attracted suspicions. A few days later they were returned, I guess because it was obvious that I wasn't 'focused' on just Russian -- the evidence of the other languages showed that.

At the time, I wondered what they made of some of the other language elements; because of the Classical Greek one, did they maybe harbor suspicions that I was plotting to overthrow the ancient Persian Empire?

Anyway, a lot easier now, with a word-processing program, but I sure enjoyed using the old IBM, in its day.

[AdamAnt316]

Interesting story! Good to hear it all worked out in the end, even if it shows off some of the paranoia of the Cold War era. Speaking of Selectrics and Russians, back in the 1970s, the Soviets managed to install sophisticated bugs inside a bunch of Selectric typewriters used inside the US Embassy in Moscow. Rather interesting how they were able to find a way to build a device to read the keystrokes via the mechanical computer inside the Selectrics, and send it in an almost-undetectable way.
-Adam

[nutraxfornerves]

I own a wind-up Victrola record player. I also own records to play on it, including quarter inch thick ones with grooves on only one side. Wanna hear Enrico Caruso or the George M. Cohen Band playing Over There? Or, if you prefer something more modern, that hot 1920s number Everything is Hotsy Totsy Now.

[wynjara]

I considered the cheap phone option, but compared to my mp3 players those things are tissue paper. I want solid bricks of music holding
I'm just super picky, and I know it's my own fault I can't find something I'm happy with.

[Jetfire]

I considered the cheap phone option, but compared to my mp3 players those things are tissue paper. I want solid bricks of music holding
I'm just super picky, and I know it's my own fault I can't find something I'm happy with.

Well you'll still feel like you're in a timewarp, but I use a Sony Walkman as my music device. (Apologies for linking the Canadian site)

Granted for me, the fact that the one I own has a radio tuner is more important than having MP3 storage, but I do find them very durable. I've had my current one for 5+ years now I think and it's still holding up strong. For the most part putting MP3s on it is fairly simple, but it has been a long time since I've done that so I can't say much about it one way or another.

[AdamAnt316]

I considered the cheap phone option, but compared to my mp3 players those things are tissue paper. I want solid bricks of music holding
I'm just super picky, and I know it's my own fault I can't find something I'm happy with.

If worse comes to worse, there are likely plenty of older iPods and whatnot on the used market. I myself have started to collect the older model iPods to go along with the ones I bought new. My most recent acquisition is a 20GB second generation iPod from 2002. It's similar to the very first iPod from 2001 (which I also have an example of), but uses a touch-sensitive scroll wheel instead of a mechanical (spinning) one. The battery life isn't great, but it still works! Here's a picture of it:

[DGoddessChardonnay]

I got into a discussion with my brother recently about VCRs, and he wondered aloud if they even made them anymore. I thought they still made the combo units (VHS/DVD), and I looked at a few chains' sites (i.e, Best Buy) to see if they had them, and they didn't. And then I looked at stereo equipment, and apparently no one is selling cassette decks anymore either. I knew tape was dying off, but I had no idea it had actually died off completely.

Mom had me looking on my phone earlier (very handy having both apps for Amazon and eBay) and I have found a few of the DVD/VCR combo units on eBay. Prices vary but the least expensive one I found (that was advertised as working and having a remote) was around $60. There was even one that the seller was asking over $300 for (nope, nope and NOPE.)

There was one listed on Amazon for $449.00! (Yes, you read that correctly.)

Pretty much the only way you can find one. A stand alone VCR can be had for around $40 on eBay currently.

As a side note, IIRC Amazon still sells blank VHS tapes. I can remember when I could buy a 5 pack at Kmart for $5.00. If I wanted the decent brands (I much prefered Memorex, JVC or Scotch) those were around $5 for one single tape (and up, depending on what grade you wanted.)

Don't get me started on those DVR recorders . . . tried one but sent it back because we couldn't get it to connect properly with a cable receiver to record.

[Mike Taylor]

I am glad to see this is chugging along with a nice retrotech discussion. I got distracted by work and kind of neglected to see what everyone had posted.

[AdamAnt316]

I own a wind-up Victrola record player. I also own records to play on it, including quarter inch thick ones with grooves on only one side.

I have one of those too! Well, it claims to be a Victor VV-X, but in reality, it's a Columbia Grafanola of some sort. Unfortunately, pretty much everything about it is in less-than-great shape (the tonearm is stiff, and the motor spring has sprung. Fortunately, the cabinet looks nice, at the least:

I am glad to see this is chugging along with a nice retrotech discussion. I got distracted by work and kind of neglected to see what everyone had posted.

Yeah, this tends to be my kind of discussion, as you probably guessed. I love obsolete technology, for some reason, and probably come off to some like an über-Luddite. It's not that I dislike modern technology, but I have an appreciation for how things were done in ye olde days, not to mention an appreciation for well-built equipment. Stuff that's been around for decades, and is likely to last several more, like this radio:



Getting back on "topic", I've been reliving some classic video games as of late. Oddy enough, while I own original examples of many of the classic gaming consoles from the original Magnavox Odyssey to the Atari Jaguar, most of my classic gaming as of late has been done in modern ways. Namely, the NES Classic Mini and SNES Classic Mini, which I finally managed to find examples of. They work rather nicely, and seem quite accurate to the originals. They should go nicely with my Atari Flashback 2, Intellivision Flashback and Colecovision Flashback. Here are pictures of the latest additions to my mini arsenal:

[RealUnimportant]

Oooh, I didn't know they'd made a SNES Classic... I might have to go rummaging.

[AdamAnt316]

Oooh, I didn't know they'd made a SNES Classic... I might have to go rummaging.

Yeah, it has lots of great games, including the previously-unreleased Star Fox 2. Plus, it's at least somewhat easier to find than the NES Classic Mini. I had to wait outside a Gamestop an hour before it opened to find an NES Classic, while I was able to walk into a Gamestop and buy a SNES Classic (albeit nearly a year after its release). According to sources, both should be available through the end of 2018.
-Adam

[Dragon_Dreamer]

I have a working Bernoulli drive and 8inch floppy drive. Classic PC games collector. I also have a new in box Trash-80 that a friend found in the store's attic while he was manager of a local Radio Shack.

[RichS]

I also have a new in box Trash-80 that a friend found in the store's attic while he was manager of a local Radio Shack.

While I've been looking for work, I've been going through my collection of vintage electronics. I have a TRS-80 computer with monitor that isn't working. I found out when I took it apart that it's missing its 4k boot ROM chip

There's also my Atari 5200 where I don't have a 100 percent working controller out of the 4 I have. Still, my 2600/7800 collections work well - one benefit of having one of the Flashback 2 systems is that the controllers work with the original. I did realign my C64 disk drives and fixed a solder joint on my C64C board, now I need to replace the bottom of the case which is cracked. I have a donor, but it's so yellowed...

[AdamAnt316]

I have a working Bernoulli drive and 8inch floppy drive. Classic PC games collector. I also have a new in box Trash-80 that a friend found in the store's attic while he was manager of a local Radio Shack.

Very cool! I have yet to find a Bernoulli Box (remember seeing a 5.25" Bernoulli II drive with 44MB disks in the main office when I was in middle school), though I do have a SyQuest 44/88MB external drive (haven't found any cartridges for it yet). Don't have anything yet which uses 8" floppy disks, though it's probably only a matter of time. My TRaSh-80 Color Computer 2 is still in its original box, though I dunno whether or not it's seen use. I have a few other computers with their boxes, though I doubt they've never been used.

While I've been looking for work, I've been going through my collection of vintage electronics. I have a TRS-80 computer with monitor that isn't working. I found out when I took it apart that it's missing its 4k boot ROM chip

There's also my Atari 5200 where I don't have a 100 percent working controller out of the 4 I have. Still, my 2600/7800 collections work well - one benefit of having one of the Flashback 2 systems is that the controllers work with the original. I did realign my C64 disk drives and fixed a solder joint on my C64C board, now I need to replace the bottom of the case which is cracked. I have a donor, but it's so yellowed...

Ouch on the TRS-80! Wonder what happened to that ROM. Finding a replacement shouldn't be terribly difficult, methinks. There's an active Tandy community on the Vintage Computer Forum, so you should be able to get some good advice on there.

Yeah, the 5200's controllers were its weakest link. Fortunately, they can be fixed by taking the controller apart, and cleaning each set of contact pads on the flex membrane using a Q-tip soaked in DeOxit D5 or another contact cleaner. An article on the subject can be found here.

The 2600's joysticks were fairly straightforward, and almost always work; the 7800 isn't too far behind, though the design was rather awkward, akin to the 5200 (I'm hoping to find a set of European 7800 joypads at some point, which ought to have been supplied with the system in the first place, IMO). The 7800 doesn't seem to get the recognition it deserves, IMO; the specs were quite decent for its time, and if Atari had released it in 1984 as originally intended instead of shelving it for three years, it probably would've done better in the marketplace against the NES.

I'm hoping to figure out how to re-align Commodore disk drives at some point; I have several, at least some of which still worked when I last used them, though that was awhile ago. I have a couple of C=64Cs, both of which are rough around the edges, but they're generally intact. I typically prefer to use the original 'breadbox' C=64, though the 64C design is interesting. As for un-yellowing yours, as long as the plastic isn't too brittle, Retr0-Bright ought to do the trick.
-Adam