How much should I pay for a Decstation VT78?

From: Wayne M. Smith <wmsmith_at_earthlink.net>
Date: Fri Dec 28 21:33:02 2001

> On Fri, 28 Dec 2001, Tony Duell wrote:
>
> > >
> > > I have the opportunity to acquire a Decstation VT78 (basically a
PDP-8
> > > crammed into a VT52 terminal) but the price seems a bit steep.
I've
> > > been looking for one for abut 2 years and this is the first one
I've
> > > come across. It doesn't include the cart or any drives. Any
thoughts
> > > on how high I should go?
> >
> > How much do you want it, and more importantly how much can you
afford?
>
> Erzackly.
> In my private universe, the value/price criteria are wildly different
> for toys & collections than for tools or "inventory".
> Obviously, I'm not going to pay the $500 they're asking in the
> newsgroups for a used XBox when I can go to WalMart and buy one for
$299
> new. (OK, I'm not paying the $299 either. Or $2.99)
> But the toys we play with aren't Walmart items, and a lot of times
> future availability is uncertain at best. For me the equation is
> something like:
>
> new_value/1000 * months_looking * cool_factor = $willing_to_pay
>
> Doc
>

I agree with all of the above. And, in answer to Tony, I want it a lot
and I can afford the asking price. I just wanted to make sure that the
item I perceived as being uncommon was not as common as dirt and
normally sold for much less.

Doc's formula seems to work well here. With a new value of $7995, and
assuming the "cool factor" goes as high as 1.0 (and giving the VT78 a
.9), I get the following:

$7995/1000 * 30 *.9 = $216 -- and that's just about what's being asked.

-W

-W
Received on Fri Dec 28 2001 - 21:33:02 GMT