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Spotted on Epay...Altos 8000-1

Chuck(G) said:
Is 2090 really a low S/N for an Altos 8000-1? How many were made?

Lorne, want another one? This one's in Arizona!
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I've been BUSTED !

Damn, I was hoping someone would post that the price was real low, and it was worth at least $ 1,000.

Yeah, it's low a low number.
I've got two others, and one of them is 5475.
I'm only selling this one because of a lack of space, and who needs three Altos 8000 series computers anyway?
So no, Arizona doesn't need another Altos 8000 :)

Chromedome45: thanks for the plug :)
This is one of the real early ones, where the A drive is on the right side, the B is on the left, and the disks go in upside down (label down - disk seams up).
There must have been no standards when they started. Their later models changed the A & B, and had the disks going in right side up.

Bid away folks, bid away.
 
OK - you're all busted now.

With two hours to go in the auction there had been 178 views, and there were 18 watchers.

Turns out the first bid was a VCF member, but he got edged out by the only other bidder, so I suspect that 90% of the watchers, and probably 95% of the viewers were all VCF members trying to figure out what their Altos was worth !

The Altos (double boxed) is now on it's way to a vintage computer collector in Austria.
 
Wow. Are they on the forum? I have a hunch I know some other stuff they bought although it'd be a stretch.
 
Bill_Loguidice said:
Yep, I lost out, but frankly if it was someone in Austria with all the shipping costs that entails, I probably couldn't have outbid him (or her) anyway!
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Yes, you're quite right.
If someone wants it that bad, then they want it.
I just wish you'd wanted it a little bit more (ie: with a slightly higher max bid) :)

The guy has his stuff shipped to an address at Bonvu.com in TX, and then they take over the international shipping.
I've heard of them before - they're supposedly a lot cheaper for international shipping (and that works for shipping to Canada as well).
 
bonvu was recommended to me by someone on here, I had some stuff shipped by them & they were both cheap and excellent (that's rare together!) I was just about to suggest them to you, as their european end is based in Austria.
 
nige the hippy said:
bonvu was recommended to me by someone on here, I had some stuff shipped by them & they were both cheap and excellent (that's rare together!) I was just about to suggest them to you, as their european end is based in Austria.
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Wow - you're not kidding !

I checked shipping costs from the US to Austria before the sale.
The box was 26 x 26 x 16 and weighed 64 lbs.
FedEx wanted $ 575 and DHL Global wanted $ 530.

I just checked Bonvu's rates, and they will ship that same box from TX to Austria for $ 192 (via FedEx), so they must get a big discount from the likes of FedEx, UPS, DHL & USPS.
 
Hi Lorne,

nice to see you here again ;-) I was the guy from Austria ;-))))
I was sure that I already heard/read from you - now after the auction I found this discussion...

I put really much money on your fantastic Altos... for all others: my maximum bid was only $4 or $5 over the end price. I'm watching ebay prices for years and I collect them. Usually the 8inch Altos 8000 fetches between $150-$300 but often in unknown condition. So the price for me was high but acceptable due to the working condition. I really hope it survives the trip.
I simply love 8-inch machines and especially working 8-inch computers. I felt in love with 8-inch machines when I first saw a TRS-80 Model II here in Austria at a small museum in the office of one of my customers.

As of bonvu.com: the business is run by an Austrian who went to Texas and married there. He comes only 20miles from my hometown ;-) I use them for years now for shipping to europe and they are very flexible and cheap for bigger parcels. They also check packages and do the repackaging if needed.
 
alker said:
Hi Lorne,

nice to see you here again ;-) I was the guy from Austria ;-))))
I was sure that I already heard/read from you - now after the auction I found this discussion...
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Ha, ha - now that is funny.
I suspect there probably aren't many vintage computer collectors who aren't on this forum.
And I'm glad the Altos is staying, so to speak, "in the family".

(Being double boxed - it sure better arrive in fine shape).
 
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