TI Professional Computer and "Smart Shopping"

From: William von Hagen <vonhagen_at_vonhagen.org>
Date: Sat Jun 10 15:04:36 2000

I'll have to add my voice to the geek chorus here ;-) Buying random
hardware out of a mountain of spares at a hamfest is one thing, but getting
a used S-100 FOOBAR at the local Red, White, and Blue is another. No store
owner with any notion of what liability means is going to let some random
come in and start attaching probes to a motherboard even if the store owner
should happen to understand the difference between AC, DC, and Metallica
;-), let alone to a power supply or monitor.

I've definitely bought used systems over the years that I've said "I should
have looked" when I got them home and found blown caps, melted wires,
skunked power supplies, and even dead rodents inside. Once I get them
home, I always open them up before powering them on. You hopefully only
experience the "OhNo" second once in your collecting career (the first
second after you turn something on, it smokes, and you think "Oh no.") My
general philosophy for such things is "parts is parts." I've frequently
bought pieces of systems or docs and software for systems I didn't even own
- eventually, when I find another one or the rest of one, I'll be that much
closer to a working system.

It'd be nice to be able to always know what you're buying. When I bought my
wife our first Jaguar (er, the car, not the game system), how was I to know
that one of the gas tanks was rusty and they were both welded inside the
body? I wasn't happy then, but now it seems funny. Much like buying our
first house - the owners had all of these hardcore born-again signs all
through the house. Would they lie about things? Absolutely. Was I irritated
then? Definitely. Do I still care now? Definitely not.

As I read back over this, maybe I'm just advertising the fact that I'm not
a smart shopper. Having confessed, does anyone have any 1980s vintage
workstations they're looking to get rid of? I would still give my eyeteeth
for a WCW or Hitec workstation, and could always use more NBI U!s or ISIs.
Any condition is OK (and I think you see that I mean that!). I'll be glad
to pay shipping from almost anywhere.

     Bill

t 01:39 PM 6/10/00 -0400, Glenatacme_at_aol.com wrote:
>R.D. Davis wrote:
>
> > I still don't see what's wrong with thoroughly examining something
> > before purchasing it, whether it's used, or new. It makes perfect
> > sense to take a tool kit into a store where one is shopping for some
> > random piece of electrical or electronic equipment... might not be a
> > bad idea when shopping for a car either.
>
>Sellam Ismail replied:
>
>< R.D. Let's go shopping! Call me the next time you walk into a consumer
> electronics store or a new car lot, and please bring your toolbox and
> meter along. I'll bring a camera so I can snap shots of you being
> forcibly escorted out of the store. >
>
>Sellam is right on, here. If someone came into my store and wanted to
>perform a component-level test on any equipment I had for sale, first I'd
>assume they were joking, and laugh. If they persisted, I'd have to ask them
>to leave. If someone gets zapped in my store I'd be liable. Additionally,
>store personnel don't have the time to watch over such an operation to make
>sure that the "tester" doesn't damage or steal something.
>
>You might be able to get away with this at a hamfest, though.
>
>Glen
>0/0
Received on Sat Jun 10 2000 - 15:04:36 BST