Thrifts out of controll

From: Mike Sprague <sprague_at_VivaNET.com>
Date: Sat Jun 14 10:16:58 1997

> I don't think $50-$100 for a working system with drive, OS, and
> manual is too far out of line, as long as the thrift is offering
> some sort of value for the extra $.

For $100, I would expect to at least get a 386, not an XT. Not very
long ago, surplus places were selling 486's (less the monitor) for not
much more than that, and many of those systems were _new_. :-) Even
older Pentium systems are well under $1,000 now, and you can do so much
more with them. Of course, I claim that a computer is never obsolete
until it fails to meet your needs.

I would put the value of a working XT _with_ Mono/CGA/EGA monitor at
about $50 max, but I would never pay that much for one (well, maybe if
it had a good EGA monitor).

Chuckle, most older PC's are now more valuable as individual parts, then
as a whole working system. Typically, the monitor (assuming color VGA)
is the most valuable part.

                        ~ Mike
Received on Sat Jun 14 1997 - 10:16:58 BST