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Timex Sinclair 1000 - What kind of value?

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kishy

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There's a mostly complete Timex Sinclair 1000 at a place I can get it from, probably in the 20 to 50 dollar area. What sort of value do these have with enthusiasts?

edit: realize this should have gone in handhelds, but I suppose it works here too
 
NeXT said:
If someone actually asks more than $20 for one of these they are crazy.
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Lol, the place in question is a charity, and they don't have assigned price - they assign a price as you take the items from the warehouse and show them to a staff member. For more obscure and/or older equipment they ask you to leave it so they can check for a value on auction sites, etc

Thus, my guess of 20-50 bucks.

I'll take it then these don't hold any value?
 
kishy said:
For more obscure and/or older equipment they ask you to leave it so they can check for a value on auction sites, etc
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Ever since eBay, you can't find good deals at thrift stores or even garage sales anymore since everybody checks with them to see what their junk is worth....
 
rebeltaz said:
Ever since eBay, you can't find good deals at thrift stores or even garage sales anymore since everybody checks with them to see what their junk is worth....
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Lol, well I did get those two XT boards for $5 a piece.

But yeah, especially with RecycledGoods out in full force trying to rip everyone off (I hope they see this, it's their punishment for never answering my emails!)

...it has indeed become difficult to get things at a reasonable price.
 
I wouldn't take a Timex 1000 if you paid me. Those machines should be in the $10 range, just enough to bother selling.
 
rebeltaz said:
Ever since eBay, you can't find good deals at thrift stores or even garage sales anymore since everybody checks with them to see what their junk is worth....
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Seems like few thrift stores even sell computers anymore, just monitors and misc other junk people don't want to pay to recycle.

Ebay is not the ebay of 10 years ago either, very few vintage computer items are showing up these days for people to cross reference. You can reference the inflated asking prices of a few sellers on ebay but those never sell and people are finally noticing that fact.

People are now using craigslist to sell over inflated junk instead of garage sales because they are too lazy to be in one place all day talking to real people.
 
Unknown_K said:
Seems like few thrift stores even sell computers anymore, just monitors and misc other junk people don't want to pay to recycle.

Ebay is not the ebay of 10 years ago either, very few vintage computer items are showing up these days for people to cross reference. You can reference the inflated asking prices of a few sellers on ebay but those never sell and people are finally noticing that fact.

People are now using craigslist to sell over inflated junk instead of garage sales because they are too lazy to be in one place all day talking to real people.
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I managed to nab an 8-bit Paradise VGA card for about 11 bucks shipped the other day...amazingly, I was the only bidder (it was a 1.99 euro start bid and I got it for that). Can't say I'm complaining about the lack of vintage interest on ebay.
 
kishy said:
I managed to nab an 8-bit Paradise VGA card for about 11 bucks shipped the other day...amazingly, I was the only bidder (it was a 1.99 euro start bid and I got it for that). Can't say I'm complaining about the lack of vintage interest on ebay.
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Buyers still use ebay, the difference is the sellers. People post about conquests here all the time, seems most are not from ebay.
 
I sell on ebay. I'm both a power seller and a top rated seller. I see some stuff going really high these days, but also some stuff very cheap. Like .99 cents with just one bid.

We are in recession right now and people are looking at every item differently these days. Some sell on ebay to make ends meet. The old stuff will only increase in price and value as time goes by, just like all vintage stuff.

Most 2nd hand stores and thrifts don't have the knowledge, time to research or space available. Yes, it's getting hard to find old parts and systems but if you look hard enough, it's out there.

Don't forget about supply and demand. That drives prices too and companies that sell have an overhead to consider.
 
The ZX-81/Timex 1000 is a notable vintage computer expecially in Britain where thousands and thousands were sold. It was one of the first computers to be priced "just for the home" and as such it was many people's first introduction to computing.

In saying that, they are little more than a toy, frustrating to use, extremely limited in what you can do with them and you would really only want one if you were a collector.

Here in New Zealand they go for about $20 ($US 15) to $50 ($US 37) or so. In fact. there are two on our Trademe site at the moment.

Tez
 
I collect TS1000s so I guess I qualify as somewhat insane. :) All my current machines (8 total) came from eBay. Prices ranged from $3.00 to $15.00. I tended towards complete machines with accessories. I would say value for a machine in the original packaging with manual, cassette cable, power adapter and RF modulator to be between $5 and $15. They aren't worth that much and will only be of interest to a collector or someone like me who had one as a first computer. And those prices assume its somewhat functional.

TS1000s are tempermental bastards in their old age. Time has not been kind to them. The ULA chip has had a tendency to fade over time resulting in the infamous "dark grey" screen or no screen at all. And that's the more managable of the issues. The other big issue is the membrane keyboard begins to separate internally and/or its plastic ribbon connector ages and has become brittle. This results in broken signal paths and non-functioning keys. Essentially either or both issues result in a shelf display item and not much more. It takes dedication to get a TS1000 into functioning order as they were when on the market in the late 70s and early 80s.

Those eight machines yielded two good machines with good ULAs and one good keyboard. Unless you're willing to spend the money and roll the dice as I have on eBay to accumulate enough hardware to relive your childhood (as in my case) or really want a working TS1000, they aren't the best collectables out there.

But fun to cut your teeth on opening machines up and putting them back together. Not a lot to mess up on their tiny logic boards.

Matt
 
I would say they're historically significant regardless of popularity or features. I mean a $100 computer?! Hell yeah back then it'd be sweet.. I mean.. even now they're still trying to make minor computer systems for low prices that are affordable for everyone just like that.

So as far as a collection goes, I think they're easy to store and good to have. That being said there is a very small number of WORKING TS 1000's out there. If you have a working one it could be worth a little (under $50 still) but it's a dying machine so if you have one that works or a few and make a working one it'll be notable.

Pretty sure I paid $30 for one not that long ago.. just kinda never came across them and it was in it's box, etc. Now I'll admit I wasn't totally down with the price but they threw in a Mac 512 (which didn't boot all the way) but really I was just interested in the 1000.
 
I wouldn't pay more than about $20 for a fairly complete collection of TS1000 stuff.

I will admit to having bought a NOS ZX81 kit machine, boxed from the internet about three years ago. It was about $80. You solder all the components on the PCB, etc. It's still in the box, saving it for a project with my little nerdling when she's old enough. :)
 
barythrin said:
I would say they're historically significant regardless of popularity or features. I mean a $100 computer?! Hell yeah back then it'd be sweet.. I mean.. even now they're still trying to make minor computer systems for low prices that are affordable for everyone just like that.

So as far as a collection goes, I think they're easy to store and good to have. That being said there is a very small number of WORKING TS 1000's out there. If you have a working one it could be worth a little (under $50 still) but it's a dying machine so if you have one that works or a few and make a working one it'll be notable.

Pretty sure I paid $30 for one not that long ago.. just kinda never came across them and it was in it's box, etc. Now I'll admit I wasn't totally down with the price but they threw in a Mac 512 (which didn't boot all the way) but really I was just interested in the 1000.
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Heheh.. this was actually the first computer we owned when I was a kid. I remember when my dad bought it. He bought it from Albertsons, a local supermarket (no, I'm not kidding), for $100. ISTR he got the 16KB ram expander with it as well, he bought the chess program for it, we took it home and tried it. About halfway through the game, it locked up (due to the ram expansion pack moving around) and his game was trashed. My mom told him to take it back, and we ended up replacing it a few weeks later with a TI 99/4A. I think the retail price of that was about $320, this being back in 1983...quite a chunk for the time. They dropped the price on it substantially a couple months after dad bought it. Boy was he mad! ;)
 
I recall when the Timex computers came out - $100 was a LOT of money back then, especially for a ten-year-old. Almost bought one years later when they were in a close-out bin at Sears for $10. Dad asked if I wanted to get one and I said, "Nah, it's not good for anything."

Eventually I did buy one, only a couple of years ago on eBay. It's in near-new condition, still in the original box, for $10-20.

My guess at collector value, even though it's been a while since I watched the auctions, $5-$10 for an average-condition example. For $20 it should be in excellent condition with the original packaging and probably include some accessories.

Good Luck!
 
I don't look for them actively but when I did I definitely didn't see any for a good price in good condition. I think $30 with a ratty box is an alright deal lol. Maybe I'm too used to feebay prices but just from the prices I see they're always something like $10 if I get hold it without any expansions or $25 in a box that's beat up.

I'd be pretty excited if I found one in a good box but then again I'm sometimes a poor collector in that respect when I want something I sometimes don't care about the price as much.

Right now I think I have one in a decent box and yes I also bought that ZX81 deal a few years back for a similar price :) I mean c'mon, an ORIGINAL unbuilt computer kit! Maybe not the rarest system but getting one that's original is sweet.. given once I build it it's worth $20 again.
 
I don't know about the value, but last year I bought a Timex Collection - won it on eBay for $125 - Included TS1000, TS1500, TS2068, MEMOTECH Modules & Keyboard, Westridge 2050 Modem, Tons Of Softsync, Timex and other Cassettes, all original and complete. For everything that was included, I bid $300, but won it for $125. I feel it was well worth the price. I'm really enjoying playing with it.
I have one ZX81 clone called "Your Computer PC8300" - it doesn't work - I fear the ULA is bad. (maybe a LAMBDA???)
 
I am not that interested in the 1000/ZX81. I do have a lot of this equipment however. There was a huge American user community for the Timex Sinclair 1000 (ZX81) according to all of the magazines and product advertising I have cataloged. There were a dozen or so after-market keyboard manufacturers that made these systems usable. I have dozens of cassette titles for the 1000, and a few after-market gizmos that make these systems more usable.

The 1000/ZX81 has lost value over time because you usually only see the computer for sale by itself, without software or useful peripherals. The "doorstop" by itself is usually all you see on Ebay, so yes it's pretty much useless and worth $15 untested.

If someone were to sell a complete working 1000 set up including the orignal box, Sinclair compatible printer, docs, and software you'd get a lot of bids for it. Does anyone have a disk drive for a Sinclair 1000? I know that they existed. I may have some of the parts, or at least the schematic.


Bill
 
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