Is the Apple II too simple a computer?

[+remowilliams]

Albert - can we open a forum where Keetah can argue with himself?

[TMR]

If someone asks me what to get to get into the Apple II series, it's a simple answer.

And what if they ask someone else, is their answer going to be any more or less "right" if it's different? i could play Devil's advocaat with your list of course, pretending to be someone who doesn't understand that the IIc came after the IIe or knowing that but wondering why the newer machine isn't the better choice... but i feel like i'm going around in circles a little now, so this is my stop i think. =-)

[Keatah]

I'd imagine most 1st-time setups are going to be similar. It's what was recommended in computer stores. A //c could fit if you don't think you're going to need slots. Or if you want something smaller.

 

A II or II+ if you want to go further back in time and don't mind losing significant functionality. And there may be no one best choice. Hobbyists often have more than one model in a lineup.

 

Overall I just don't see complexity and choice being problems. It's not like you're spending $1500 like back in the day.

[MarkO]

oldcomputers.net shows the IIe released in 1983 for $1400 and the IIc released in 1984 for $1300. Adjusted for inflation that's like $2-3000 today. Now true it doesn't say what you got for that money,

 

but in contrast, you could get Atari XLs or C64s for less than $300 in 83-84. You could use a TV if you didn't want to shell out for a monitor, use a tape if you couldn't afford a disk drive. That's what we did, buy everything piecemeal. I got a disk drive around 84-85 when the prices of the 1050 dropped significantly.

 

I got my Apple ][e in NOV-1983, it had 64K and the 1K 80 Column Card, One Disk ][ with Controller and the Apple Monitor /// with Stand..

 

The Retail Price at that time was, $1,995.00..

 

Since mine was 6 Months used, ( it was a rental place called, Byte-by-Byte ), they sold it for $1,200.00..

 

The 1,395.00 would be the Basic CPU, No Drive, No Monitor...

 

MarkO

Edited August 18, 2017 by MarkO

[MarkO]

 

I tried searching and could not find "street pricing" for the Apple IIe/IIc in 1984 (or any year). I tried looking for ComputerLand ads. I don't know if they were able to be sold mail order in places like Computer Shopper. I think only Apple dealers could sell them, and they were bound to sell for MSRP.

 

If you can find something solid other than hearsay, it would be great. It's easy to find pricing for Commodore and Atari, since there were sold in retail stores.

 

It was my experience that all the Apple Dealers sold at MSRP...

 

It also seemed they had a Monopoly, is that there were a limited number of Dealers in a given area or Market..

 

MarkO

[MarkO]

I have never seen a stuck up snob at an apple store /sarcasm

 

I could see that the local Apple Dealer could be "snobbish"...

 

My local Dealer was a Team Electronics, and I actually bought a lot of stuff from them over 5 years... I got treated pretty well...

 

http://johnbeiswenger.net/NewSites/author/Team.jpg

 

MarkO

[R.Cade]

 

I could see that the local Apple Dealer could be "snobbish"...

 

My local Dealer was a Team Electronics, and I actually bought a lot of stuff from them over 5 years... I got treated pretty well...

 

http://johnbeiswenger.net/NewSites/author/Team.jpg

 

MarkO

 

That is a great picture! It looks like they are under the bleachers in a gym or something, though. Strange.

[Keatah]

I always had good experiences at Data Domain, Compu-Shop, and the TRS-80 Computer Centers.

[JamesD]

I didn't have any trouble with snobbish dealers in the early years.
I did see a bit of that after the Mac era started though.