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Started by steve, 13:54, 05 September 11

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Gryzor

Heheheh nice one. Wish he still had some respect for the old machine...

Badstarr

I think he is actually quite proud of the CPC. I saw him being interviewed on the BBC and they put up a picture of him with a 464 and everyone had a bit of a giggle but he didn't seem embarrassed and simply said "those were very good machines actually".
Proud owner of 464 GTM64 6128 GTM65, GX4128 and a 464/6128 Plus Hybrid a 20 year long ambition realised! :-)

Carnivius

I don't quite remember where but I'm sure I remember him replying to someone about how their CPC464 has outlived every other machine they've had (mine has too.  28 years and counting.) and he seemed pretty pleased with that. 
Favorite CPC games: Count Duckula 3, Oh Mummy Returns, RoboCop Resurrection, Tankbusters Afterlife

Badstarr

I think a lot of the 80s and some of the 90s Amstrad stuff is actually very sturdy stuff. I've seen fully functional HiFis VCRs and indeed many CPCs still dutifully performing their tasks. I think people tend to be quite snobbish about low priced tech. It's a bit like the snobbery towards asian car manufacturers in the 80s in the UK when they were in fact far superior to the British products and for good reason. I think it's a bizarre and very a British trait to be strangely proud of yourself for having paid more for a certain brand when there is clear evidence that there are no benefits in doing so. The more you pay the better, how well it performs it task is not important at all. I guess some people might suggest people's fondness for apple products exemplifies this.I happen to prefer Apple products when it comes to computers etc but I do think they should cost less than they do.
Proud owner of 464 GTM64 6128 GTM65, GX4128 and a 464/6128 Plus Hybrid a 20 year long ambition realised! :-)

Carnivius

Quote from: Badstarr on 10:55, 06 July 12
I think it's a bizarre and very a British trait to be strangely proud of yourself for having paid more for a certain brand when there is clear evidence that there are no benefits in doing so.

I don't know if that's true for a lot of british folks.  Certainly not in my case.  I like to get value from my money and know exactly what I can do with a machine and how I can use it with other devices I own or may own (especially in this age when there's so much connectivity between devices of different types and manufacturer and all the ways to use media).   It's some of many reasons why I really dislike Apple products.  And often a lot of my friends are quite happy when they find a great device that is capable of much yet were relatively cheap in comparison to similar, but less functional products.  They seemed quite jealous too when I paid only £199 a couple years ago for a 32inch full 1080p LCD TV with a split screen function when they usually cost double that at the time (and often still do cost a lot more than that).  My TV might not be a big famous brand but it's been great and I love it.
Favorite CPC games: Count Duckula 3, Oh Mummy Returns, RoboCop Resurrection, Tankbusters Afterlife

Badstarr

But clearly you are a savvy consumer as you have a CPC and have done for 28 years! I have found that many people I know will brag about having paid more as if it indicates they are more wealthy or successful and don't have to consider a trivial thing as price "don't you know". I find a lot of "no name" stuff is better than branded and costs less, often many times less. Basically for me, and I suspect yourself, if something does what I require, is in my price range and appears decent quality then it's the right product for me.
Proud owner of 464 GTM64 6128 GTM65, GX4128 and a 464/6128 Plus Hybrid a 20 year long ambition realised! :-)

Carnivius

Quote from: Badstarr on 11:41, 06 July 12
But clearly you are a savvy consumer as you have a CPC and have done for 28 years! I have found that many people I know will brag about having paid more as if it indicates they are more wealthy or successful and don't have to consider a trivial thing as price "don't you know". I find a lot of "no name" stuff is better than branded and costs less, often many times less. Basically for me, and I suspect yourself, if something does what I require, is in my price range and appears decent quality then it's the right product for me.

Well, I didn't choose the CPC (can't say I was making much money when I was 5 years old) but yeah you're right in that I'm much more interested in what a device can do for me rather than hype.
Favorite CPC games: Count Duckula 3, Oh Mummy Returns, RoboCop Resurrection, Tankbusters Afterlife

ralferoo

Particularly with TVs, most of the big name screens are identical to the cheaper brands as there are relatively few LCD manufacturers. However, generally the cases will be completely redesigned (even where cheap no-name brands even use the same board) as usually the firmware on the TV is completely different too as that's where they can add value over the other brands.

spookspring



EME-101 3'' External Compact Floppy Disk Drive for Amstrad CPC | eBay

He describes this item as
EME-101 3'' External Compact Floppy Disk Drive for Amstrad CPC

This does not appear in the Wiki. I assume it is some low number production of a homemade alternative to the 3"?
The final frontier - trying to get online with a CPC - Complete!

Gryzor

If Sugar has come around and embraced the CPC legacy then that's a good thing; maybe he's looking back at his life's accomplishments and seeing something there. That said, his autobiography was total crap (in general, too, but especially when it came to computer making).


There might be few companies building TV panels, but they produce lots of models. So, not to say that a very expensive, big-name TV is better than a cheaper alternative 100% of the time, but cheap TVs cannot compare to expensive ones in terms of picture quality, build quality and design. Yes, design too is a factor; I've been drooling over those relatively new Samsung frameless TVs not only because they look gorgeous (and picture is out of this world) but also because I can fit 4" more picture in the same space as my Sony (and this matters to me).


The habit of being proud to have spent more may be stupid, but has a sound foundation - it fits right there in Maslow's motivation pyramid. It speaks of self actualisation, accomplishment, acceptance. Maslow of course doesn't say what is good or bad, merely describes. It's in our specific social framework that spending more is a sign of accomplishment.
@Spookspring: it's probably not a homemade drive since it's got a manual and a nice (though crude) case, probably a limited production thing. I'll see if I will add it to the wiki, thanks for pointing it out :)

Badstarr

#535
I somewhat agree that a big brand TV etc as a whole package offers a bit of an improvement in terms of quality perhaps in terms of materials used and the overall fit and finish. A big brand can feel a little more like a quality item. However, the cheaper brands have moved on in leaps and bounds in the last 5 years or so. Manufacturing standards are an order of magnitude better than what generics were churning out a decade ago. A lot of these generics are made on the same production lines in the far east as the big brands farm out a lot of their production as this offsets tooling and production cost. Case in point, NISSAN builds cylinder heads for the likes of Mecedees Benz, that go into their smaller cars. Manufacturers bang on a lot about perceived quality essentially, they are interested in making a less costly material seem like its premium. Again, I know a lot of manufacturers are banging on NISSAN's door to learn how to do this.


(The following may not be very well written but hopefully it conveys my thoughts adequately and without offending anyone )


As far as the spending more means you have accomplished more concept. I have never bought into it. I don't want to sound like I'm saying that people who prefer to buy big brand names are idiots, but there are some idiots who attach too much significance to doing so. It's just all part and parcel of the consumerist society we live in where people are convinced that if they don't have the latest big brand commodities then they are informing society that they have failed in life. Fear of this keeps people spending which is exactly what capitalism needs.  But what this encourages is those who are less affluent to buy on credit they can't afford to pay back and then the wheels fall off the economy.


I personally derive greater satisfaction from achievement. So for me, I like to take something people would perceive as useless, unfashionable and obsolete and use my knowledge and skills to restore it to its former glory It's my way of sticking two fingers up at yuppie snobs or people that are deluded about their affluence. I guess what I'm saying is I feel no need to keep up with the Joneses . I do find it rather gratifying when blowhard idiots find out that I'm better educated and earn more than they do it tips their whole world upside down! Infact I have found some people get rather upset and angry about it, even agressive! The fact of the matter is that there is always someone with more, so my philosophy is find out what makes you feel contented and satisfied in life and if you actually achieve it there is no amount of money that can compete. It really doesn't matter what other people think. (I think I may be posessed by the spirit of Bill Hicks lol!)

Spending a life in pursuit of Sony, BMW, Mercedees, and Apple seems like an awful waste to me. Now the pursuit of Amstrad, there is a more commendable way to spend your days ! :)
Proud owner of 464 GTM64 6128 GTM65, GX4128 and a 464/6128 Plus Hybrid a 20 year long ambition realised! :-)

Carnivius

#536
Quote from: Gryzor on 18:53, 07 July 12
but cheap TVs cannot compare to expensive ones in terms of picture quality, build quality and design.

My £199 TV has better picture quality (and more features) than my friend's £750 TV of a similar size and spec.  He was one of the first who asked where the heck I got mine from for such a bargain price.   They'd sold out though.  I was lucky enough to have caught the commercial in time.   My PS3's games and blu rays look stunning on it and even old consoles look very decent on it too (unlike on some modern TV's that seem to have some weird smoothing out 'features' particularly for moving images)
Favorite CPC games: Count Duckula 3, Oh Mummy Returns, RoboCop Resurrection, Tankbusters Afterlife

beaker

#537
Quote from: Badstarr on 20:08, 07 July 12
Spending a life in pursuit of Sony, BMW, Mercedees, and Apple seems like an awful waste to me. Now the pursuit of Amstrad, there is a more commendable way to spend your days ! :)

:'( I spent £26,000 on an MR2 14 years ago, £8000 on a 1973 MGB around the same time and I want to buy a Nissan 370Z as well now (I did buy my mother a brand new Fiesta last year and my sister a Renault Megane when they needed new cars and couldn't afford it).... and I spent €2,500 on a Pioneer TV a few years back.... and I have an iMac, a couple of iPods and an iPad - does that make me a waster? This thread is making me feel bad about myself...  :laugh:

Quote from: Carnivac on 20:17, 07 July 12
My £199 TV has better picture quality (and more features) than my friend's £750 TV of a similar size and spec.  He was one of the first who asked where the heck I got mine from for such a bargain price.   They'd sold out though.  I was lucky enough to have caught the commercial in time.   My PS3's games and blu rays look stunning on it and even old consoles look very decent on it too (unlike on some modern TV's that seem to have some weird smoothing out 'features' particularly for moving images)

TV prices were just starting to drop when I bought mine and now you can get some amazing deals. I wouldn't dream of spending that much again on a TV (unless Pioneer decide to start making TV's again)... speaking of which I need to start looking around for one for my dad for his 60th this year as his old Philips CRT is starting to play up.

Ynot.zer0


Badstarr

I don't think you're a waster beaker! It certainly seems that you have a few quid and you make the most of it. I don't think (judging by your post) that you are bragging about how much you have spent. All I'm saying is that some people would actually think that they were rather clever if they had spent twice as much on the very same items you mentioned.


Hopefully this will make my opinion clearer... I own two cars, both sporty looking coupes. One is a Sunny Coupe and one is a Hyundai Coupe. My preferred car is the Sunny Coupe, I could afford to buy something brand new, maybe even a BMW for example, but I really don't want to. I'm perfectly happy with the cars I have. But I meet people every now and then who think I drive a 25 year old car because, firstly I have failed to make enough money to buy something "better" and secondly that I can't be very bright/confident/successful.


They make certain assumptions based on their limited experience in life I suppose. Usually after speaking to this sort of person for a while, the fact that I have a Degree, earn quite decent money and have a variety of talents and interests (and I'm far from unique in this respect) will come out in the conversation, usually in response to the questions they ask, and indeed I will ask them about their job interets etc. The usual small talk stuff. It's then that they start to get a little odd and start making nasty comments about my job or my car or my interest in CPCs for example. What seems to really drive them nuts is that I don't feel ashamed of my car etc and I think was rather good value for £250 twelve years ago!  :laugh:


It's like they get really peeved because they made an assessment of me and the reality doesn't fit the reality and what's more I don't feel particularly impressed with the price tag of their car or their watch or phone. Im more impressed if they show some enthusiasm for something cool that their car/phone/watch can do rather than getting excited that they just spent many thousands on it.


I'm not trying to say that if you earn decent money and you like to enjoy its benefits that you are like the obnoxious morons I have the misfortune to meet every now and then. What I do find odd and strangely fascinating is when they have, say the same phone as someone else for example, but will brag about having paid more for it!? And like I said earlier, this sort of thing seems to be an odd habit of the British (I am British myself by the way)  :laugh:
Proud owner of 464 GTM64 6128 GTM65, GX4128 and a 464/6128 Plus Hybrid a 20 year long ambition realised! :-)

Badstarr

Yes indeed back on topic lol... I did notice this RS232 the other day but tried not to give it much thought after I declined to buy one at a car boot sale for £1 as I fancied buying a burger instead. I have the buyers' remorse! Lol!
Proud owner of 464 GTM64 6128 GTM65, GX4128 and a 464/6128 Plus Hybrid a 20 year long ambition realised! :-)

steve

Anybody want a SID chip? C64 Commodore 64 MOS 8580 SID CHIP | eBay

The RS232 box may only be capable of 300 baud, anyone thinking of bidding should check with the seller.

Amstrad PLUS upgrade kit Amstrad CPC464 plus Upgrade kit | eBay
not complete, but a good start.

steve

Anyone near Newcastle?
PCW magazines in a binder Amstrad PCW Plus magazines | eBay

Badstarr

I am but unfortunately not really into the PCW stuff really. Shame that they aren't AA. Im less tempted to buy issues of AA now I have PDF versions of all issues and this was one of the motivators for me to buy my iPad. I had wanted to view them on my exlonex tablet machine but it just can't produce the PDFs at good enough resolution. Shame because the exlonex is actually quite good for everything else apart from maintaining a wifi connection.   
Proud owner of 464 GTM64 6128 GTM65, GX4128 and a 464/6128 Plus Hybrid a 20 year long ambition realised! :-)

Gryzor

#544
Let me close the off-topic section by saying that I never stated that spending thoughtlessly is good or a real accomplishment. Indeed I did point out that it's in our consumerist society that this is considered a plus. I merely explained why people do/feel that.


I don't know much about cars (though at one point I was thinking of getting a 370Z as well!), but I can tell you about TVs. As I said, it's not only an issue of picture quality but also of design and building quality. Open up an expensive TV and compare it to the mess you'll see in a cheap one.


What's more, as the technology matures yes, cheap solutions always begin to bridge the gap with the expensive ones. But, unless you got the most superb cheap TV ever and your mate got the shittiest GBP750 TV ever, if you calibrate both of them the right way there's no way a TV that costs, say, GBP100 (MRP: 250) can compete with a model that costs five times that to produce (MRP: 750). I'd suggest to your friend to get hold of a calibration disc and breathe new life into his TV :)


But, in the end, it doesn't matter: if you are happy with a cheap TV (and most people would be if it wasn't for the brand name glued at the front) then it'd be stupid to spend more. Most people, like with Hi-Fi equipment, cannot tell the difference. I, being a great cinephile, opt for a mid-range setup (my TV cost me 1000 euros) since I feel it offers the best value/cost ratio for my needs. Yes, I can see the difference between my TV and one that costs twice the money but I don't deem it worth it. Oh, and my speakers are decidedly mid-range too, since I don't have a home theater room; I scorn all those who spend hundreds or thousands of euros buying expensive speakers and placing them next to drapes, or a hi-end projector for five thousand euros placed in a room with ambient light (which immediately costs you half the lumens).

PS if I get a Jaguar XJS at 4000 euros, is this considered stupid or not?

Carnivius

Quote from: Gryzor on 17:36, 08 July 12
What's more, as the technology matures yes, cheap solutions always begin to bridge the gap with the expensive ones. But, unless you got the most superb cheap TV ever and your mate got the shittiest GBP750 TV ever, if you calibrate both of them the right way there's no way a TV that costs, say, GBP100 (MRP: 250) can compete with a model that costs five times that to produce (MRP: 750). I'd suggest to your friend to get hold of a calibration disc and breathe new life into his TV :)

Yeah, thanks for assuming we're too idiotic to calibrate a television properly.  It's obvious on many an occasion that I know crap all about the insides of a CPC but I'm pretty sure I know a thing or two about how to get a pleasing display from a TV and it's why I got such superb results from my TV after playing about with all the settings (out of the box the picture was a bit too soft for me and the colours too muted but it looked superb after about 20 minutes or so of fiddling about in the menus and such).   We've been through all the settings and tweaks with his TV (we even took my TV over to his house to sit by it as we compared for hours and hours using various movies and games and pictures for comparison) and while it's fine for general TV usage it just wasn't cutting it when it came to hi-defintion output such as PS3 or Blu Ray movies producing a somewhat blurred and murky image in places despite saying proudly on the box that it's a 1080p TV and we tried several different HDMI cables too just in case the fault lied with the one he bought. 
Favorite CPC games: Count Duckula 3, Oh Mummy Returns, RoboCop Resurrection, Tankbusters Afterlife

Gryzor

Oh, come on, you know I didn't mean the least to insult anyone :)


But, getting through the settings and tweaks is just that, tweaking and setting, it's not calibrating. I used to think so, too, till I got through a professional calibration course (I'm not a freak, it was part of the job!).


Btw, I'm curious, can you say what TVs these are? Brands and models?

Badstarr

@ Gryzor, My apologies, I didn't mean to make out that you were stating that. Typed text doesn't always convey sentiment or intention particularly well I guess, indeed I'm a little concerned that the current sentence I'm writing may not come across the way I intend it.


I agree with your statement, it explains the concept or ideology rather well. What I was trying to say is I don't ascribe to the belief personally and see it a rather strange that some people brag about being financially inefficient. To relate it to CPCs I think most people on here would be pleased to have spent a tenner on a 6128+, and we would all be a little envious that they got such a bargain. However there are some people in this world who would be proud of the fact they spent £500 on the very same thing even if they had the option of paying £10.


I'm just fascinated by this behaviour in a bizarre anthropological sort of way. When we see the ways other cultures indicate wealth and power etc we find it hard to understand. I'm sure the behaviour I refer to would seem really crazy to some South African tribes. Maybe we could chop this part of the discussion out and put it in Off Topic?


Any way, I hope that I haven't caused offence. The sort of people I'm talking about I think are very unlikely to frequent these forums as they probably couldn't understand what motivates us to be interested in such old tech anyway!



Proud owner of 464 GTM64 6128 GTM65, GX4128 and a 464/6128 Plus Hybrid a 20 year long ambition realised! :-)

beaker

Quote from: Gryzor on 17:36, 08 July 12
PS if I get a Jaguar XJS at 4000 euros, is this considered stupid or not?

Depends on if I can come around for a go or not  ;)  lol  :laugh:

Bryce

The vehicle price is the least of your worries if you buy and old XJS. It's the parts, petrol and insurance that will empty your bank account :D

Bryce.

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