It’s expensive, but I mean, this whole hobby has gotten kinda absurd.
It’s not that much more than buying, say, a 1ghz p3 system, a decent sound card, a gotek, a working cd-rom, and a sd->IDE adapter at this point. (You need to skip out on the fancy metal case and such, but still: that’s not a functional option, just cosmetic.)
And, bonus, you’re not dealing with 25 year old hardware, with all the gonna-end-up-breaking that comes along with that.
I mean, I have two “primary” gaming computers: a 7700x with a 3080, and a 1ghz P3 dell with a Voodoo 5 and a proper (8830) Vortex 2.
…the retro PC is the more valuable one these days, which strikes me as just bizarre.
100% behind anyone who is going to make usable retro computers that don’t involve having to spend usable retro computer money on decades old stuff that may or may not be working in a couple of years.
Oh, I’m all for it. I prefer hardware to emulation any day. But old hardware of around those specs are still pretty easy to find at least in my area for 200 euros for a full system. Perks are that you can upgrade it, and change it.
Repair is an issue though. Although working on small electronics and soldering is my actual job, so not so much a problem for me.
I agree that the value has skyrocketed the past few years. So we’ll see what the future brings for the hobby. Maybe in the near future this project will be more financially viable, and that’s great. But we’re not there yet.
But old hardware of around those specs are still pretty easy to find at least in my area for 200 euros for a full system.
It’s a little more expensive here in the US, for whatever reason.
But, still, 200 euro is a marked difference from how it was not that long ago, where I’d show up to pick up one old Dell, and would forcibly have to refuse to take the other 20 with me, even though they were being offered for free.
My favorite bizarre thing was a G4 Cube on Craigslist for $20. I was all over that, and went to meet the dude at the storage locker he had it at.
Dude then offered me 6 G3 iMacs, and 5 G3/G4 towers along with the Cube for the same $20. I sure as heck took it all, but that’s absolutely not a thing that happens anymore.
Now it’d be a couple hundred for the Cube, and they’d try to sell each other mac for $150 on top of the Cube’s price, or like, more, if they just look at eBay listings for the pricing.
I’m certain that new retro stuff will stop being more than old computers sooner than I’d like, since you’re right about the upgradability and, well, the charm. A shiny metal box is nice, but I’m a fan of ugly beige things that are 6 different shades of beige and beep and whirr and make all sorts of annoying noises.
For sure, these are way out of my budget, and as Clint mentions, it’s more of a luxury item at that price than it is a practical alternative for most, but it’s interesting to see new old stock parts be repurposed like that. Personally, I’ve fully embraced emulation, especially with how good Dosbox Staging has become.
Very pricey though. But cool nonetheless.
It’s expensive, but I mean, this whole hobby has gotten kinda absurd.
It’s not that much more than buying, say, a 1ghz p3 system, a decent sound card, a gotek, a working cd-rom, and a sd->IDE adapter at this point. (You need to skip out on the fancy metal case and such, but still: that’s not a functional option, just cosmetic.)
And, bonus, you’re not dealing with 25 year old hardware, with all the gonna-end-up-breaking that comes along with that.
I mean, I have two “primary” gaming computers: a 7700x with a 3080, and a 1ghz P3 dell with a Voodoo 5 and a proper (8830) Vortex 2.
…the retro PC is the more valuable one these days, which strikes me as just bizarre.
100% behind anyone who is going to make usable retro computers that don’t involve having to spend usable retro computer money on decades old stuff that may or may not be working in a couple of years.
Oh, I’m all for it. I prefer hardware to emulation any day. But old hardware of around those specs are still pretty easy to find at least in my area for 200 euros for a full system. Perks are that you can upgrade it, and change it.
Repair is an issue though. Although working on small electronics and soldering is my actual job, so not so much a problem for me.
I agree that the value has skyrocketed the past few years. So we’ll see what the future brings for the hobby. Maybe in the near future this project will be more financially viable, and that’s great. But we’re not there yet.
It’s a little more expensive here in the US, for whatever reason.
But, still, 200 euro is a marked difference from how it was not that long ago, where I’d show up to pick up one old Dell, and would forcibly have to refuse to take the other 20 with me, even though they were being offered for free.
My favorite bizarre thing was a G4 Cube on Craigslist for $20. I was all over that, and went to meet the dude at the storage locker he had it at.
Dude then offered me 6 G3 iMacs, and 5 G3/G4 towers along with the Cube for the same $20. I sure as heck took it all, but that’s absolutely not a thing that happens anymore.
Now it’d be a couple hundred for the Cube, and they’d try to sell each other mac for $150 on top of the Cube’s price, or like, more, if they just look at eBay listings for the pricing.
I’m certain that new retro stuff will stop being more than old computers sooner than I’d like, since you’re right about the upgradability and, well, the charm. A shiny metal box is nice, but I’m a fan of ugly beige things that are 6 different shades of beige and beep and whirr and make all sorts of annoying noises.
For sure, these are way out of my budget, and as Clint mentions, it’s more of a luxury item at that price than it is a practical alternative for most, but it’s interesting to see new old stock parts be repurposed like that. Personally, I’ve fully embraced emulation, especially with how good Dosbox Staging has become.