Question about postage of plus colour monitor.

Dr Tiger Ninestein · 14:45, 23 July 15

I've been trying to get a plus machine with colour monitor for ages now and one has just come up on eBay, the problem is that I am in England and the auction is in Northern Ireland.

How risky do you think it is getting it sent over?

I really want to put a bid in for it as I've been looking for ages now and one never comes up that's within driving distance for me, I just don't want to spend all that money for a broken monitor to show up.

Dizrythmia · 15:03, 23 July 15

I had my Amstrad monitor sent from Tasmania to South Australia, which would be roughly the same distance. It arrived without any problems.

Would love a Plus monitor, but I think the postage would be more than the unit itself

TFM · 19:27, 23 July 15

The Royal mail is a killer. But with a lot of paper / protection around the Monitor can make it. Just pay the seller some extra cash for super-save-packing.

Bryce · 20:34, 23 July 15

I sent a GT65 from Germany to Romania last year. If it's packed properly it won't be a problem.

Bryce.

Dr Tiger Ninestein · 20:56, 23 July 15

It not being packed properly is what worries me.

Bryce · 20:41, 26 July 15

Quote from: Robo on 20:56, 23 July 15
It not being packed properly is what worries me.

The GT65 was packed so well, you could have drop-kicked it to Romania and it still would have survived. Never underestimate the destructive force of a postal worker. Pack it for serious abuse.

Bryce.

seanb · 20:48, 26 July 15

As long as it's packed well it should be ok.
I've had monitors sent to me through royal mail or parcel force or whatever is called and no issues.
If it is broken when you get it you can put a claim in

chinnyhill10 · 01:43, 27 July 15

Depends on how they pack it. I packed at CTM644 about 6 months ago. Common sense says to pack it well with enough protection and cushioning. You need a box large enough to contain the monitor once it is fully bubble wrapped and then surrounded in polystyrene (with extra protection in front of the glass).

Wasn't that expensive to send either. I posted about it elsewhere on here.

My Acorn Electron turned up in a sturdy box filled with inflated balloons! If one had popped in transit there might have been questions! Some people are idiots!

seanb · 02:21, 27 July 15

Ah it arrived ok chinny.
That's good and they were inflated condoms not balloons.

Dizrythmia · 04:29, 27 July 15

The biggest thing I've had shipped was a 21" Sharp SF-1 from Japan (that's the TV with a built in Super Famicom) which cost a lot to ship, but it was in a big box with a lot of Styrofoam & bubble wrap, & I mean A LOT!! The seller packaged it very carefully. Consequently it still works beautifully after 7 years of use

The idea is to get a bigger box & just go nuts with the padding!!

sigh · 11:11, 27 July 15

Might be cheaper to actually go to Ireland to pick it up!

For instance, I purchased one of these at the beginning of this year:
Amazon.com: Sony GDM-FW900 Flat Widescreen 24" FD Trinitron CRT Monitor:

Impossible to post so the guy drove it down to me from Cambridge.

Dr Tiger Ninestein · 09:54, 30 July 15

Right chaps, I'm currently bidding on the 6128 plus. Problem is that I don't have any disks to test the disk drive if I win it and don't want buy random ones off of eBay that might not work.

I know this is probably a very stupid question but is there any way to test the functionality of the drive without a disk?

Bryce · 10:51, 30 July 15

Quote from: Dr Tiger Ninestein on 09:54, 30 July 15
I know this is probably a very stupid question but is there any way to test the functionality of the drive without a disk?

Not without a lot of expensive test equipment.

Bryce.

Dr Tiger Ninestein · 11:40, 30 July 15

Ok thought as much.

CPC_Fan · 15:53, 30 July 15

Where abouts are you based in England Dr Tiger Ninestein? I only ask, as a forum member could live near you and be able to bring a couple of discs around to check the drive, if you should win the plus.

If you do win the plus, I would change the disc drive belt anyway, clean the heads, and lightly grease the gears with vasaline, as a matter of routine maintenance.

TFM · 16:55, 30 July 15

Quote from: Dr Tiger Ninestein on 09:54, 30 July 15
Right chaps, I'm currently bidding on the 6128 plus. Problem is that I don't have any disks to test the disk drive if I win it and don't want buy random ones off of eBay that might not work.

I know this is probably a very stupid question but is there any way to test the functionality of the drive without a disk?

Even if you get a bad disc. You always can format it on your machine and save & read a file. Even if the disc has problems, it's never 'all bad'. So you should see some kind of directory at least. If you get nothing at all, then you need (in 93% of all cases) just a new drive belt.

Dr Tiger Ninestein · 22:17, 30 July 15

How do you format a disk on an amstrad?

TFM · 22:20, 30 July 15

Start CP/M and use DISCKIT2 (CP/M 2.2) or DISCKIT3 (CP/M Plus). To start the programs just enter their name an press return. The programs are self explaining. Oh, and they offer a verify function too.

Dr Tiger Ninestein · 22:54, 30 July 15

How do I start cp/m?

Sorry to keep asking stupid questions but I've never owned a 6128 before. I had a 464 plus back in the day but only ever used that for gaming and since then I've only ever really used a computer for the Internet.

So now that I'm trying to get a 6128 plus I'm trying to learn a bit but struggling tbh.

Bryce · 08:18, 31 July 15

Put the CPM disk in the drive, type "|CPM" and hit enter.

Bryce.

Gryzor · 17:36, 10 August 15

There are BASIC listings that can format a disk without the need for CP/M. A couple have been posted here in the forum but can't find them right now TBH...

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Question about postage of plus colour monitor.