Thinking of getting a Commodore 64 computer, what's a fair price?

[Keatah]

16 hours ago, Virtualsky said:

I'm not sure what they're using for their Amiga consoles.

I would guess FS-UAE, WinUAE, Cloanto, or some derivative.

[Keatah]

14 hours ago, LiqMatrix said:

Long gone are the days of the late 1990s to early 2000s when you could pick most of this stuff up for just a few dollars if anything at all. It's insane. I am very glad emulation has become near perfect so I can still enjoy the games and apps I loved as a kid.

Emulation and FPGA have allowed me to build an All-In-One box. One system to rule them all. What I wanted since like 1982.

 

14 hours ago, LiqMatrix said:

My best deal on a C64 was in Southwest Florida in the early 00s at a Salvation Army (that location closed years ago). It was a mint-in-box C64 complete with a Commodore printer. I paid a whole $3.00. The lady looked at me because I had this shocked look on my face when she told me how much. I certainly didn't complain. Years later I found it a good home, but man what a deal!

Reminds me of the curiously priced Apple //c at $3.63 I got from a thrift shop. I asked why? She said three-sixty-three rhymes with Apple //c. And they didn't have any paper or ribbon to test it out either. So I'd be taking a chance on it! Believe it! That in the late 90's or 2000-2002'ish.

 

12 hours ago, OLD CS1 said:

Four Commodore monitors and a box of DSDD 5.25" drives.  I could not GIVE the monitors away to anyone, not even for just shipping.  I had to junk them   Then the box of disks.  The market was full of them back in 2012 and I had to move, and these were dead weight for me.  *sigh*

 

I was joking about it above, but the trick really is to maintain a balance and NOT become like one of those sad sacks at a flea market with 40 years of stuff on a table.

That's right.

 

3 hours ago, T.A.P. said:

Honestly, I haven't been able to find any nice retro stuff locally - for any system - for more than a decade (the last time I got a good deal locally on something was back in the mid-late 2000's).

I feel like I've pretty much been priced out of my hobby.

I certainly have. Some of the manuals I bought 5 and 10 years ago are listing for $100+ now. That's just ridiculous. No thanks, I'll fall back to a scanned PDF or simply do without. So much documentation is available as it is!

 

On occasion I find something for $10 or $20. Maybe $25. That's about as high as I go for printed material.

[T.A.P.]

8 hours ago, zylon said:

Wherebouts are you? I might have someone to point you to. I know this guy well, and sold him alot of his retro inventory. Older stuff, he keeps offsite due to space, but he has almost anything. No website, other than a media page. He does ship, if someone really wants something.

 

https://www.facebook.com/TheVideoGameStore/

I am in Southeast Michigan, located south of Ann Arbor.

[Tuxon86]

16 hours ago, carlsson said:

I suppose that is due to subsidized shipping. For many years until just recently, China had subsidized shipping from rest of the world, to help them as a "developing" country. Eventually they shipped so much stuff that it wasn't sustainable anymore, and the other countries renegotiated new deals which I believe has increased the shipping costs quite a lot. Possibly Egypt and perhaps some countries in South America also sort as developing countries, enjoying similar deals from rest of the world.

This is what I think also, but it's a bonus for us as long as it last.

[Virtualsky]

8 hours ago, OLD CS1 said:

The downside, if you will, to the 64C's Revision E "short-board" is the 8580 SID.  Years of expected behaviors of the 6581 washed away, but for new and intriguing behaviors.  Not a big deal to most people, but I did find some of my favorite older games sounded differently.  Just be aware that could be the problem if something does not sound right, and not that your SID is bad.

I also have a couple games that freeze up when run on my C64C.  Off the top of my head, my copy of Popeye is one of them. Plays perfectly fine on my C64.  I'll have to try it on my C128, since I can't remember if it runs or not on it.

[LiqMatrix]

6 hours ago, Keatah said:

Reminds me of the curiously priced Apple //c at $3.63 I got from a thrift shop. I asked why? She said three-sixty-three rhymes with Apple //c.

Ha! That's a good one! Should have asked her if she had anything Commodore as it kind of rhymes with a dollar four. wink wink

[motrucker]

13 hours ago, OLD CS1 said:

The downside, if you will, to the 64C's Revision E "short-board" is the 8580 SID.  Years of expected behaviors of the 6581 washed away, but for new and intriguing behaviors.  Not a big deal to most people, but I did find some of my favorite older games sounded differently.  Just be aware that could be the problem if something does not sound right, and not that your SID is bad.

 

While there were 64C cases sold in the late 80s to "upgrade" the bead-bins to the sleek new design, I have only found one of those in the past 20 years.  You might also run into 64Cs from the factory with the older long-boards.  The initial runs were before the Rev. E board was available.  You should be able to tell these apart if the original keyboards are in place: the first runs have the PETSCII symbols printed on the front of the keys while the later Rev. E models have the symbols on the top of the keys.  At least, so the legend goes.

 

The first 64C I owned was one of the long-boards.  I had it about a week before trading it for an E model as I thought the short board was neat.

 

Ultimately, the Rev. E boards are better for lower power consumption, also meaning less heat if that was ever a legitimate problem for the 64.

OLD SC1 is right on the money. I have both C-64C versions. They are both better to type on than the older Breadin style, however. What ever model you find, make sure you get a new power supply. Cheap insurance. 

 

Ray Carlsen, Commodore repair technician, is building a small number of universal C64/128/VIC-20CR/Plus4 power supplies.

For more details and photos, go to
http://personalpages.tds.net/~rcarlsen/cbm/universal%20ps/

Check/money order preferred in USA. Paypal accepted for overseas orders.
Contact Ray at rcarlsen(at)tds.net

 

This gentleman makes some excellent power supplies. He is located here in the U.S. too.

 

 

[zylon]

7 hours ago, T.A.P. said:

I am in Southeast Michigan, located south of Ann Arbor.

He'd probably do shipping, if you struck a deal. I know for a fact, he has a considerable amount of C= stuff.

[+OLD CS1]

7 hours ago, Virtualsky said:

I also have a couple games that freeze up when run on my C64C.  Off the top of my head, my copy of Popeye is one of them. Plays perfectly fine on my C64.  I'll have to try it on my C128, since I can't remember if it runs or not on it.

Interesting.  I have never had any incompatibilities like that.  Is this a commercial copy of Popeye?  If it is not commercial, cracked or such, then all bets are off.

[Keatah]

I think if we're gonna buy old computers we should pay old prices. Accounting for wear and tear and obsolescence.

[zylon]

4 minutes ago, Keatah said:

I think if we're gonna buy old computers we should pay old prices. Accounting for wear and tear and obsolescence.

Some do fetch their "as new" prices and beyond.

[CapitanClassic]

5 minutes ago, Keatah said:

I think if we're gonna buy old computers we should pay old prices. Accounting for wear and tear and obsolescence.

So approximately $900-$850 in 1983 inflation adjusted dollars?

 

I think I will pass.

[Keatah]

Not so fast.

 

If we're gonna talk inflation adjustment we better talk about inflating the performance. What'll it take to make that C64 or Atari 800 run like an i9 today? Then there's the obsolescence and depreciation. Maintenance and repairs and restoration. Gonna rightprice that bitch pretty quickly. And ya'll be the seller's bitch if you don't!

Edited January 11, 2023 by Keatah

[Rogerpoco]

Can't really go cheap with a C64 setup, unfortunately.

EMU is a good option for those not willing/able to sink the cash in.

Mine was taken apart, heat sinks installed, all the electronics checked/fixed, is really hotrodded.

Was "only" 125$ or so, but from a good friend.

From there-

A new PSU, 50$, to make sure I didn't burn my house down.

Gotta have access to all the games, the SD2IEC was another 125$ or so.

Then the Freeload Fastload.

Yur selling the C64 experience short w/o one, so that's another 50$.

I dunno. Bad at math. You'll have to add that up.

I think I have one of the best C64 setups anywhere, ready for another 30 years, but it was NOT cheap to get into, at all.

Worth it?

Oh, yeah.

 

Edited January 12, 2023 by Rogerpoco

[carlsson]

So clearly the days of the late 2000's (*) are over, back when you could get a loose, untested C64C for $5 (which clocked out as perfectly working once you added a power supply etc). I would understand the more uncommon computer models, if those fetch hundreds of dollars but a C64 which was sold in some 12-17 million copies depending on which source you listen to, should be plentiful. Then again I know many of the chips break down, either by themselves or bad power supplies so perhaps the number of surviving machines isn't that many more than the oddball micros which were sold in fewer copies to begin with.

 

I believe I'm down to 2 boxed and one loose C64. I have toyed with letting go of one of the boxed ones, and given that prices still are rising, perhaps I should give it another thought. It would be tested and sold accordingly, but not refurbished.

 

(*) As opposed to the early 2020's we live in today.

Edited January 12, 2023 by carlsson

[+OLD CS1]

There is a place out of the UK which is selling refurbs on eBay.  I think there is a guy here State-side, as well, but I cannot recall seeing him recently.  The prices for the UK imports are not bad for a completely fixed up and tested machine, but they will be PAL machines.  You could pick up on for unknown, untested condition for around $35 - $50, but then if it is kaput you put in the time and money to fix it up.  Worth the risk for some.

[T.A.P.]

Eh, if I was going to get one, I wouldn't want a PAL unit.

I'm also not tech savvy enough to repair one if it breaks down, or if I got one that arrived broken.

 

Truth be told, between the prices and the repairs and everything else people have mentioned, I'm discouraged from trying to get a Commodore 64. 

[+OLD CS1]

3 hours ago, T.A.P. said:

Truth be told, between the prices and the repairs and everything else people have mentioned, I'm discouraged from trying to get a Commodore 64. 

If you are worried about repairs, retro computers ain't your thing.  Most of this stuff is 30 years old or more.  While much of it has survived just fine, things do not last forever.  Just pick yourself up a refurbished setup (C64/64C and 1541/1541-II) from someone you can trust and you will be fine.  Or give up on the real retro hardware and go with something like one of the THEC64s.

[Keatah]

1 hour ago, T.A.P. said:

Truth be told, between the prices and the repairs and everything else people have mentioned, I'm discouraged from trying to get a Commodore 64. 

I suppose costs about $600-700 to get a clean, reliable, complete and useful gaming setup for most classic computers. More if it's a specialty system or Apple II. More yet if you want a real printer, modem, or other specialty peripherals like a graphics tablet or digitizer. More still if you're getting a modern RAM expansion, CPU accelerator, ethernet adapter, or multi-function board.

 

Vintage drive and a modern-day flash solution

CRT or display mods

The computer itself

Cleaning supplies

Cables

Power supply

Spare parts and tools to work on it

Controllers

 

It's about half that for an R-Pi setup. And in the $500-600 range for a MiSTer nowadays. PC and emulation will run you about $1,000. Less if you get off-lease hardware or hand-me-down hardware. Double and change if you equip it for modern AAA gaming with a 40xx GPU.

 

While most of us are now entering the well-to-do stage of life, I don't think it's worth it unless some sort of sentimentality is involved. Emulation excepted because that $1,000 will get you many multiple systems. You won't have to do repairs either. Additional costs could be adapters and controllers and incremental piecemeal upgrades. Figure $1,200 to do it all stress-free.

 

Furthermore I don't recommend getting more than 2 or 3 favorite classic systems. You just spread everything so thin with more than 4. Time. Money. Space. Concentration. Personal interest. All are commodities and resources we don't take inventory of until the hobby (any hobby) consumes us.

[+OLD CS1]

OH, for some stupid reason I completely forgot about the Ultimate 64, which is currently out-of-stock.  Not sure if you can pick those up second-hand.  The C64Reloaded MK2 shows as available, though maybe a little too pricey for some and it requires that you provide real chips from a 64 or 64C to operate.  You can mix-and-match chips, so say an 8500 CPU and the 6526 CIAs, &c.  I have both 6581 and 8580 SIDs on mine.  Both boards require a case, as well.

[Tuxon86]

8 hours ago, T.A.P. said:

Eh, if I was going to get one, I wouldn't want a PAL unit.

I'm also not tech savvy enough to repair one if it breaks down, or if I got one that arrived broken.

 

Truth be told, between the prices and the repairs and everything else people have mentioned, I'm discouraged from trying to get a Commodore 64. 

PAL is great, since the C64 was an European success and many of the best games and demos were made in Europe. Since were not using TV anymore pal isn’t a pain to deal with. I use cheap Chinese 15” lcd monitor with composite/svideo inputs and it work break.

I’ve a pal c64 and a ntsc c128.

[Rogerpoco]

6 hours ago, Keatah said:

Furthermore I don't recommend getting more than 2 or 3 favorite classic systems. You just spread everything so thin with more than 4. Time. Money. Space. Concentration. Personal interest. All are commodities and resources we don't take inventory of until the hobby (any hobby) consumes us.

For sure!

I set out to collect..."everything".

Haven't gotten there yet, but am pretty close, really.

Ya, so much stuff-I clean it, arrange it, and spend a LOT of time trying to figure out what to play.

So much time, in fact, that I often actually forget to play, haha!

 

You can definitely overload your own circuits, with too many options.

Edited January 13, 2023 by Rogerpoco

[Arnuphis]

Just look for a close computer show and attend. I can pretty much guarantee you will be able to get a working C64 for very little money.

[carlsson]

Not sure, on the events I have arranged the sellers know exactly what they have and price the items accordingly. Sure, you can save on shipping and perhaps get the chance to test before buying, but usually you don't do bargains on a retro gaming event. Then again you barely do bargains anywhere these days, perhaps at an estate sale if the relatives have no idea or interest in what their deceased family member left behind. Even at a general purpose auction, there tends to be purchasers bringing up the prices for usually untested goods.

 

You might become friends with a genuine collector who has shedloads of C64 though, and who is willing to sell you one for a good price. Honestly I think that is the best option these days.

[+OLD CS1]

2 hours ago, carlsson said:

sellers know exactly what they have

These are the kinds of sellers I despise.  I am not looking for rubes, I am just looking for people not trying to profiteer.