[GreenKeys] Current value of 33ASRs...

[Don Robert House]

So many computer geeks out there want a 33ASR like when they started  
programming as teenagers in high school  and college.

Prices go from $100 to $1,000 frequently...  KSRs and ROs are not that  
valuable.  Gotta have a reader...

I used to give them away.

I do not pretend to understand I just report on what I see.

Don


On 27 Dec 2009, at 5:52 PM, Bill Horne wrote:

Don Robert House wrote:
> 33ASRs are another subject.  These machines are worth money and  
> people  who have them need to know that.
>
>

Don,

Your remark puzzles me: given the bad reputation that the 33's got  
during the "PDP-8" days, why are they still sought after?

I used to maintain a bunch of 33's for a community educational  
computer service, and I always thought that 33's got a bad rap:  
although rated only 1500 "shaft" hours before overhaul, they often did  
twice that. However, many users were employing the paper tape reader  
to "load" computer programs, often several thousand bytes long, and if  
even one byte was misread, the program would fail, so the Model 33  
became the object of ridicule amount computer operators.

Long story short, I can understand a Model 28 or 35 being worth money,  
but why a 33?

73,

Bill, W1AC

-- 
E. William Horne
William Warren Consulting
Computer & Network Installations, Security, and Service
http://william-warren.com
781-784-7287