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Finally Cataloged my Boxed Computer Software

Very nice! Bill, where do you keep all of your systems? I poked through your pics on Flikr, and saw the system pics you had, but what type of facility are they kept in? I.E. basement, storage shed, abandoned aircraft hangar... 'Cause that is seriously too many machines. But there are different types of collectors out there, so whatever. Nice trash-80. I've always wanted one of those all in ones with the dual 5.25 floppies, like the one that is currently being torn apart on a different thread. Or even cooler, one with 8" floppy drives. I accidentally let one go cheap on eBay, I snoozed right through the auction ending! I have all of my collection catalogued on assorted machines. I keep track of my systems on a Macintosh Classic II, and my income charts on an AT&T 6300. I may end up cataloging my software on the Mac as well. I do that stuff on it, because I like the feel of ClarisWorks version of Access(can't recall the name of it). I especially like the little index wheel you can use to scroll through larger collections of stuff. Seriously though, that is ALOT of software and systems...If you ever decide to dump your collection, I would overnight ship myself in a box to your house in a flash to grab me some stuff.

--Ryan
 
It's my basement. Most of my collection is in the unfinished part, which are the photos you saw from June and the selected photos of the boxed computer software from tonight. Most of the boxed computer software is in the finished part of my basement's hallway. There's also an office, a rec room with my arcade stuff and a gym next to it down there. Basically that's my part of the house to do with what I please and my wife has the other two floors. The only computer or videogame systems we have on the other floors are our laptops, the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii. We also have the Xbox 1 in our bedroom, though that receives little use and sometimes the Nintendo DS and PSP make an appearance.

It is rather sobering when you actually sit down and catalog everything you have - at least one part of it. I really expected MAYBE around the 500 mark, but 1,000+ is rather excessive. I have to discipline myself to slow down dramatically and start to really intensely enjoy and use what I have. Certainly acquiring stuff is an exhilarating "game" of its own, but one that is not exactly cost-effective.
 
Yzzerdd said:
Nice trash-80. I've always wanted one of those all in ones with the dual 5.25 floppies, like the one that is currently being torn apart on a different thread. Or even cooler, one with 8" floppy drives. I accidentally let one go cheap on eBay, I snoozed right through the auction ending!

--Ryan
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I have a fondness for all-in-machines myself. The Tandy you're referring to with 8" drives those is the Tandy Model II and it's a very different beast from the TRS-Model I/III/4/4P. The II was intended as a business system and is not software compatible.

I have several other all-in-ones, including a few PET's and several CP/M and Heathkit machines. To me, for whatever reason, they just exemplify "computer". I had my first hands-on time with an all-in-one in school, when my first programming class was on a TRS-80 Model III and occassionally a Model 4. I had actually acquired a Model III to use my old programming disks on, but the seller shipped it in an ultra-thin toilet paper box and the monitor imploded, as is typical for those systems when poorly packed. I eventually got a Model 4 (and two 4P's, though only one works), but I was disappointed with the III because I always preferred the black and white monitor to the green one (which my 4 has). I salvaged some of the parts from the III to put in the 4 and now have the III's mostly empty shell, though there are still some good parts on there. That's why I was particularly disappointed with that other gentleman on here hacking a working III.

The one major downside to all-in-ones and frankly anything that uses a custom monitor is one of storage. They take up lots of space! I don't like to get rid of anything, but I recently got rid of (donated) spare SVGA CRT monitors to make a little more room. That's one thing I won't miss. It's much easier to store LCD-based monitors...
 
Bill_Loguidice said:
I have a fondness for all-in-machines myself....... To me, for whatever reason, they just exemplify "computer".
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I agree Bill,

Which is why I've got the original PET 2001 in my wanted list and I think I'll also add the TRS-80 Model III/IV. Not too much hope of finding either of these down here, but you never know.
 
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