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Tech PC XT

Dot

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Colorado
Does this have any value? The third picture best represents the actual color.
 

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On eBay I would guess it'd fetch somewhere in the $100-$200 ballpark. Maybe more, maybe less, depending on details. (Does it power on, is the keyboard complete with no broken/missing keycaps, etc.)
 
On eBay I would guess it'd fetch somewhere in the $100-$200 ballpark. Maybe more, maybe less, depending on details. (Does it power on, is the keyboard complete with no broken/missing keycaps, etc.)
Are you saying the keyboard is inside? Well, this is embarrassing, but I can't figure out how to open it.
 
You are brilliant! All these years it has been sitting in the basement, and I had no idea. It's really cute. Now, please tell me if the power cord is hidden someplace, because I'm not finding one.
 

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Now, please tell me if the power cord is hidden someplace, because I'm not finding one.

The actual cord, or where it plugs in? ;)

I think I see what looks like a stub of a cord sticking out in the picture of the expansion slot area, does that look like an AC cord that was cut off? (Usually these things had a standard IEC14 jack on them for a removable power cord, but it's certainly possible this unit had a permanent cord that was meant to be coiled up and tucked into that space behind the expansion slots.)

If the cord was cut off it should be easy enough to repair after you figure out how to get the shell off the computer. That's the next adventure to figure out. ;)
 
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The actual cord, or where it plugs in? ;)

I think I see what looks like a stub of a cord sticking out in the picture of the expansion slot area, does that look like an AC cord that was cut off? (Usually these things had a standard IEC14 jack on them for a removable power cord, but it's certainly possible this unit had a permanent cord that was meant to be coiled up and tucked into that space behind the expansion slots.)

If the cord was cut off it should be easy enough to repair after you figure out how to get the shell off the computer. That's the next adventure to figure out. ;)
The actual cord. The stubby piece that feeds back into the machine, I'm pretty sure is something hardwired in there. I pulled pretty hard, but it didn't budge. Can a new cord be purchased for this? I think it must have had a cord that plugged into the machine and the wall -- removable. I'll take a picture of where I think that would have plugged into the machine (under a switch). I thought the shell might come off. There's what seems like a door where the lettering "Tech PC XT" is. But darned if I can figure out how to open it. Didn't want to force anything and ruin the cute machine.
 

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The actual cord. The stubby piece that feeds back into the machine, I'm pretty sure is something hardwired in there. I pulled pretty hard, but it didn't budge. Can a new cord be purchased for this?

That's a completely standard PC power cord plug. Modern desktop machines still use the same one. So it shouldn't be problem!
 
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That cord is the video cable, probably.

Looks like it’s very much inspired by the Compaq portable. Normally one of the doors had a recessed area you could store a coiled up power cable. Looks like there is room on the expansion slot side. Is there a similar door on the other side? If not, it’s probably supposed to be stored on the side shown.
 
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That cord is the video cable, probably.

Looks like it’s very much inspired by the Compaq portable. Normally one of the doors had a recessed area you could store a coiled up power cable. Looks like there is room on the expansion slot side. Is there a similar door on the other side? If not, it’s probably supposed to be stored on the side shown.
If I understand you correctly, both sides have recessed areas (one side where the power switch and plug is and the other side where that video cable cord is).
 
That's a completely standard PC power cord plug. Modern desktop machines still use the same one. So it shouldn't be problem!
Wonderful! Thanks for all your help with this!! I will go buy a power cord. Can the machine be harmed by my powering it on after all these years? As far as I can tell everything is in great shape. All keys are there on the keyboard. I don't have any floppy disks though. If it powers on ok, what price do you think it should be sold at?
 
That cord is the video cable, probably

Oh, doh, that's a good point. Some of those generic portables had the monitor cable snaking out the back so you could plug it into the video card's outer port because they couldn't depend on the generic video card they threw in there to have a header.

Looking at the picture more carefully I see it's plugged into the DB-9 port on the card. So never mind!
 
Wonderful! Thanks for all your help with this!! I will go buy a power cord.

I'd look around the house first; unless you're really a stickler for throwing out extra things if you've owned a computer in the last 30 years you probably have one lying around. ;)

Can the machine be harmed by my powering it on after all these years? As far as I can tell everything is in great shape. All keys are there on the keyboard. I don't have any floppy disks though.

It's always possible after something has sat that long an old capacitor or something could go "bang!". It probably won't fry the machine, it'll just confirm it needs repairs. Chances are decent it'll fire up fine, though, as long as it ran when parked. (If it has an internal hard disk/hard card that's the other thing likely to go bad after so long.)

If it powers on ok, what price do you think it should be sold at?

If it were local to me and I didn't have to pay shipping I'd probably give you between $50 and $100 untested, because worst case I could use the parts.

Assuming you're willing to pack and ship it properly eBay is probably the way to go if you want to squeeze the most money out of it. If you could prove it at least powers up enough to put text on the screen asking for a floppy disk it'll probably make a better listing, but if you want to just go with "untested" it might not change the price that much. From "sold items" I would wager anywhere between $75 and $250 as the final bid if you just let the market decide.

(What makes this a little harder to predict is it's a "generic" clone, not a name-brand thing like a Compaq or IBM. That *probably* knocks down the price you can expect, but because fewer people held on to the generic ones and they were rarer in the first place you might get a bidding war over it because it's more unique.)
 
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I'd look around the house first; unless you're really a stickler for throwing out extra things if you've owned a computer in the last 30 years you probably have one lying around. ;)



It's always possible after something has sat that long an old capacitor or something could go "bang!". It probably won't fry the machine, it'll just confirm it needs repairs. Chances are decent it'll fire up fine, though, as long as it ran when parked. (If it has an internal hard disk/hard card that's the other thing likely to go bad after so long.)



If it were local to me and I didn't have to pay shipping I'd probably give you between $50 and $100 untested, because worst case I could use the parts.

Assuming you're willing to pack and ship it properly eBay is probably the way to go if you want to squeeze the most money out of it. If you could prove it at least powers up enough to put text on the screen asking for a floppy disk it'll probably make a better listing, but if you want to just go with "untested" it might not change the price that much. From "sold items" I would wager anywhere between $75 and $250 as the final bid if you just let the market decide.

(What makes this a little harder to predict is it's a "generic" clone, not a name-brand thing like a Compaq or IBM. That *probably* knocks down the price you can expect, but because fewer people held on to the generic ones and they were rarer in the first place you might get a bidding war over it because it's more unique.)
Thank you for all this great information! Would you advise not powering it on at all? Yep, I'm a thrower not a keeper -- no cords around that look even close to what this computer needs. Most likely I sent it's original cord to Goodwill. I would definitely have to buy a cord. Was going to head over to Best Buy this coming week. I'll probably list it on craigslist locally for $200 first. Really don't want to go the ebay route with shipping and all that.
 
It takes a standard PC power cable.... everyone should have tons of them in a junk drawer or somewhere haha. I wouldn't hesitate to try powering it up. These were DTK clone portables that were sold under a bunch of different rebadges and I believe came in 8088, 286 & 386 varieties. Yours looks like the pc/xt clone 8088 as I have a similar one. Keyboard is terrible, but mine still works so maybe yours will still work too.
 
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It takes a standard PC power cable.... everyone should have tons of them in a junk drawer or somewhere haha. I wouldn't hesitate to try powering it up. These were DTK clone portables that were sold under a bunch of different rebadges and I believe came in 8088, 286 & 386 varieties. Yours looks like the pc/xt clone 8088 as I have a similar one. Keyboard is terrible, but mine still works so maybe yours will still work too.
Thanks for the information! This forum is great. I came on here not even knowing what the thing was or how to open it. And now I have an ad online to sell it with a price I feel is right and enough information to not embarrass myself as I go forward.
 
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