Turbo-Torch

I saw this one last year at Tandy Assembly, but the owner wasn't around at the time to ask questions about it. Nice setup with the case and the first I'd seen with a real keyboard.

The engraved numbers and date may have been from a local police department. Makes the unit easy to identify and recover if stolen. Our local PD would even etch the VIN on all of your car's windows and a hidden area for free. Common in the 80s, not sure if it's done much these days.

Paypal pays out for an obvious scam and then passes the cost onto us by raising fees. Scammer makes money. Scammers find it lucrative so we get more scam sites, spam emails and scam robo-dial phone calls. People deserve to lose every cent in situations like this with no help from PP or CC companies.

Why is that? As mainly a buyer, I think eBay is one of the best things to ever exist. It's like a magic box that can give me whatever I want. I had a lightening strike 2 weeks ago that took out a 40 year old cordless phone that I've had since I was a kid. It needed a Toshiba IC that is absolute unobtainium and yet I managed to find someone on eBay selling them. Had to buy a 5 pack, but it was only $10 delivered. They were in the mailbox when I got home today, and as of an hour ago that phone it up and working again. LNB on my FTA satellite dish also got fried, $10 bucks and it's back in business. I've sold very few items, but what I have sold went for far more than what I would have got locally.

I wonder how an audit would go on this bullshit. Do they expect people to keep receipts on everything they've ever bought? I guarantee I'll have a receipt showing I paid at least $100 for that mower...got it from some guy at a swap meet. They could figure it out on a vehicle since you pay the tax when you register it, but what about inflation? I have a motorcycle that sold new for $5,000 in 1983. That model often brings north of $20,000 today. Do they consider it a $15K profit, or only $5K when you factor in 40 years of inflation? And then the extra kick in the head, the new owner will be paying taxes on $20K.

You creepily talk about how "big and sexy" your 5200 is on a daily basis and how you've been in a relationship with it since you were 17..... Now you want to take that same 40 year old console and butcher the hell out it? ?

Tell us about the first time you took your 5200 to Make-Out Point. ? Did you get to third base that night? On second thought...don't! ?

Does disk access work while in accelerated mode? I believe all the old kits disable speedup during disk I/O to keep the drives functional.

Very cool and interesting. How much taller is your replacement compared to the original Z80? I've been wanting to install a speedup kit (mainly for better 5 voice Orchestra 90 music) but there's next to no extra space between my motherboard and hi-res video board.

Ok?

Also think about what adding a disk drive to that 600XL got you. At my school, you could have 30 commercial games on $10 bucks worth of disks within a week, and there were always a few kids with modems that kept a fresh supply coming in (sounds like a drug cartel ). If your school had Atari computers, it made it even easier yet as you could do your copying right there. After 6 months you have piles of floppies and you're erasing games that you beat or didn't like to make space for new games. 30 games alone on a 5200 could set you back $1,000. I know the warez thing brings tears to the eyes of a few, but that was the hardcore reality back then.

If you have a hitch, you can rent a small 5X7 U-Haul trailer for $15 bucks.

I bought a Game.com when it first came out from KB Toys. Seemed pretty innovative for $70 bucks. Dual game slots, touch screen, PDA functions, serial port and digitized sound. Got back to the car and tried it out...D pad didn't work in one direction. Went back into the mall and exchanged it. That one had a line of missing pixels! Went back again and got a refund. A few months later they had them marked down to $20 bucks and the games were only a few dollars. Tried again and that one worked great. I hate to admit it, but I played it so much, the touch screen is damn near worn through. Monopoly, Lights Out and Solitaire were great with the touch screen. I even bought the Internet cartridge which was a worthless curiosity. Hooked it up to my external modem and it actually worked well to call into the local library's computer. My ISP was dial up back then and I think I even managed to retrieve email once. Hmmm...I might have to dig it out and see if it'll work with my wifi modem to access some current BBSs. ? Action games were sadly crippled by the shitty low refresh LCD screen they used. Williams Arcade Classics was especially frustrating because I knew it was well done, but unplayable because of the blur. And anyone remember the obnoxious midget from the commercials? If you wanted to sell something to a bunch of Ritalin junkies back in the 90s, a midget seemed to be mandatory to promote your item or music. I'm off to see if I can find that internet cartridge...

Lol. I have a nephew who's only 4 years younger than me. I remember being at his birthday party when he was turning 13. He was expecting an NES, but my sister and brother-in-law cheaped out* and bought got him a 7800 instead. The look on his face was priceless when he unwrapped it. He was always a super nice kid and it was one of those deals where he was trying his best to look excited and appreciative while not crying at the same time. His friends' smiles turned to instant frowns as the giftwrap came off. Sorry, no SMB for you, you get Pole Position II instead woohoo! I felt so bad, the next day I gave him about a dozen of my 2600 games so he'd at least have something to get him started. On the bright side, I think he did end up getting an NES for Christmas. *my brother-in-law was a manager at a grocery store where I worked after school. There was a contest where one of the prizes was a 7800. The rep (from whatever company, maybe Doritos?) gave my brother-in-law a free 7800 as a perk. He figured it would be just as good as an NES.

Who cares? Hahaha

For someone who didn't care, you have enough responses in this topic alone to write a small book. And personally, calling out douchebags who contradict themselves is a hobby of mine...especially when they use the EXACT same wording. So just say Who Cares and move on.

Don't most companies protect their inventory by setting min/max prices with their retailers? Did Atari not have one with GameStop? Or, if there was a contract, did it expire? Either way, once something is being sold nationally at a $99 fire sale price, who in their right mind will go and pay full price later on? And if they were selling well at a $250 price point, why practically give them away a few weeks later? I do find it funny how some think it's only because it's black and the exact same thing with a woodgrain stripe will continue to do well at $300+.

Never mind why I remember it. I just find it funny how you decided to come at me with a smart ass answer (when I had just joined AA) while I was discussing originality of my arcade games. You were literally one of those guys using the "who cares" line in 2015, when I brought up TG and MAME. These days, defending TG and the possibility of cheating while using MAME seems to be a passion of yours.

So you care about TG and cheating through emulation, right? And yet, several years ago when I mentioned TG not allowing MAME, you came back with this reply to me... So which is it?

I can see your point. I understand that having a console, needing a power source, a TV/monitor and a bunch of cables is much more convenient than having a laptop that you can just turn on anywhere. But congrats on spending $500 on 3 consoles. I wish I had the mental capacity to buy a bunch of the same thing. Maybe they'll go the way of the Jaguar and be worth big bucks in 25 years. How old will you be then? Oh, and would you look at this! Still in my cart!

Oh my, is someone butt hurt, or what?!?! How's this...everything you just mentioned is doable on the lightweight, battery powered laptop I'm typing this message on. It was $99 this morning. What did you pay for your Atari VCS? HAHAHAHAHA! Are you seething because if you waited a few months you could have bought 4 for what you paid?

Had one in my shopping cart this morning but talked myself out of it before leaving for work. I didn't mind the 7800 with 5 games for $29.99 or the Jaguar for $24.99. They had a game library and are still useable decades later. This one just seems to have the potential of becoming a brick. Maybe I'll bite if it comes up again.

Awesome deal, order placed. Thanks!

Is anyone selling 3D printed battery doors?

This is the opposite of what I thought it would be... SC on the left is my broken original that was in a large box. SC on the right was in the small box which was more or less the Phaser Patrol game that just so happened to include the SC. (this is funny, I'm watching an episode of CHiPs and they keep talking about taking some old lady to her house on Arcadia St.) ? Now the small boxes (which I still own) have the added/afterthought Starpath name change and disclaimer sticker under the shrink wrap. As seen in the photo, the SC that came out of the small boxes only has Arcadia decals. On the big box model, they actually spent money changing the decal on the SC to Starpath. Sooo...I'm assuming the small boxes were the older versions and maybe it was strictly going to just be Phaser Patrol? The box has a vague mention of other games, but it doesn't mention names of other games in their library. It has a 1982 date on the bottom of box. Maybe they were just testing the market at first and then decided to make a library of games and push the SC itself, hence the big box with information and photos of all available games. I do know Camelot Music was the first place in my area to sell the SC. About a year later Toys R Us started selling them and all the games. It would be interesting to see if there was ever an all original Arcadia box without the legal sticker added. Or if there was ever an all original Starpath model with no mention of "formerly Arcadia."