| Posted By
Hans
on 2012-05-20
12:53:27
|  [Epay] Complete Plus/4 system on sale - for UK residents only
Hi there,
I noticed the following ad on Ebay UK which immediately took my fancy: Plus/4 + 1531 + 1551 + Script/Plus cartridge + MPS-803 + ancilliary stuff...
Unfortunately, the sellers doesn't ship to abroad (I asked him whether he would despatch to Germany but got a polite refusal).
Maybe it's of interest for a UK based Plus/4 friend?
http://www.ebay.de/itm/320907953390?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649
Reg's,
Hans.
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Posted By
MIK
on 2012-05-20
13:18:19
 | Re: [Epay] Complete Plus/4 system on sale - for UK residents only
Yes I have not seen this setup since 1986! A school friends mother and father run a business with this very same setup. When it was free we would play Trailblazer. 
The only good thing in that lot from my point of view is the 1531. Very little use as it was not a games machine! 
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Posted By
Hans
on 2012-05-20
13:47:00
| Re: [Epay] Complete Plus/4 system on sale - for UK residents only
MIK,
The setup took my fancy in particular because it reminds me so deep to my own setup I had in the 80s.
I just had started my own business in 1988 but couldn't afford an IBM XT machine (DM 6 k by that time, equals to some GBP 2,800 nowadays), let alone a 9-pin Oki dot matrix printer for DM 3,000 = approx. GBP 1,400.
My "office" started with a Plus/4, two 1551 (stacked on each other), pirated copies of Script/Plus, Calc/Plus, and Superbase, and a dot matrix printer which was named Seikosha 180, IIRC.
Burnig of the Eproms with Script/Plus -which replaced the in-built 3+1 chips- and Calc/Plus which was on a handsoldered expansion port cartridge did cost me DM 300.
But it worked! And I made money with that equipment!
After sitting, however, a whole day in front of a flickering cheap TV screen ("Your monitor is at channel 36"), I was always happy to cut off the system at 6 and go for a pint (or two) to the pub next door....
Reg's,
Hans.
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Posted By
MIK
on 2012-05-20
14:01:51
| Re: [Epay] Complete Plus/4 system on sale - for UK residents only
Wow your office must of looked really cool with 2 1551's!
Yes indeed this is awesome, as Luca said via PM to me this is the Ultimate Black Pack!
I have a 1541 & a 1541 Mk2... Sorted on the disc front and happy with that. If I had the space yeah I would love a 1551 just as a novelty as I have never owned the beast!
The printer should go in a museum!
At £25 the owner is willing to give it away, but the postage is seriously under priced for UK postage.
I don't think this soul bidder will win it, I will enjoy looking at the drive from the pictures anyway. May it find a good home!!!
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Posted By
Hans
on 2012-05-20
14:36:28
| Re: [Epay] Complete Plus/4 system on sale - for UK residents only
MIK,
...I have a 1541 & a 1541 Mk2... Sorted on the disc front and happy with that. If I had the space yeah I would love a 1551 just as a novelty as I have never owned the beast!....
I tried to figure whether there's a complete picture of the 1551 but couldn't find one. The complete picture of a 1551 with its reverse side I didn't find.
Well, it's a nice machine, the 1551... I was always happy with its performance - quite reliable and quite fast.
What all the nice photos on any Commodore leaflet, however, kept discreet was the awesome cabling. That's a real mess!
The 1551 expansion port plug is horrible - takes as much space as a cartridge, plus the cable. Those thick PVC cables are really stiff and never behave as you want them to behave.
Cascading of two or more 1551 does mean that you have to plug they to each other: No. 10 goes into No. 9, and No 9 into No. 8, andsoforth...
My desk in the old days was 3 spare metres, and the space was really occupied...
Reg's,
Hans.
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Posted By
Hans
on 2012-05-23
13:49:21
| Re: [Epay] Complete Plus/4 system on sale - for UK residents only
Well, it went off for GBP 82.20 + GBP 12 S/H = GBP 94.20, equalling to approx. € 117 - Hungarian Forint 34700 - US$ 149.
Quite a bargain, considering the scope of supply:
- 1 Plus/4 complete with PSU
- 1 Datasette 1531
- 1 Floppy 1551
- 1 CBM Printer (From the pictures, I couldn't figure the model but guess it's an 803)
- plus some diskettes, etc.
I would have taken it at that price. Sometimes it's a pity to live in the wrong place. Germany, that is....
Regards,
Hans.
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Posted By
MIK
on 2012-05-23
16:03:54
| Re: [Epay] Complete Plus/4 system on sale - for UK residents only
£82... I think most people would of had it for that price!!! Crazy price 
Germany was the home of the C16 & Plus/4 just as much back in the early days, it would not of been the same without the likes of Kingsoft and don't forget Germany was a major source when it came to making the machines so I'm sure some good surprises will come your way some day!
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Posted By
siz
on 2012-05-24
14:22:55
| Re: [Epay] Complete Plus/4 system on sale - for UK residents only
My plus/4 was 11800 HUF in 1987 (or '88? Can't remember the exact year. It should be '87). That was about 448 DEM, 150GBP or 249USD at the time.
I've found an inflation calculator (up to 2010): that amount of Forints equals to 222.800HUF in 2010 (!). That amount was about 779EUR, 642GBP or 960USD with our "strong" money.
The plus/4 came without any accessories: only the machine with the PSU in it's box.
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Posted By
Patrick
on 2012-05-24
16:26:19
| Re: [Epay] Complete Plus/4 system on sale - for UK residents only
my question is: will you buy it again fo that price or will you keep on saving for a c64?
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Posted By
Hans
on 2012-05-25
04:27:11
| Re: [Epay] Complete Plus/4 system on sale - for UK residents only
Patrick wrote:
will you buy it again fo that price or will you keep on saving for a c64?
Hmmm. Almost 800 € for an ancient machine? I doubt it.
If a C-64 and a Plus/4 were at the same price level, one has to decide what he's going to use the 8-bit Commodore for.
Back in the 80s, I used my Plus/4 for "serious" office work quite extensively. I was happy with Script/Plus for doing my letters - Botticelli for making nice letterheads and other office forms - Calc/Plus for spreadsheets (I only had very basic spreadsheets, I've to admit) - Superbase for the data stuff.
So, if I were going to employ my 8-bitty for office work, I'd go for the Plussy. I was so used to it and was happy in particular with the fast performance of the 1551. Of course, a 1541 which is plugged to a Plus/4 can be tuned up by external tools but this would mean further investments....
If gaming would be the objective, I think a C-64 would be the better choice. There have been, of course, lots of C-64 games adapted/converted for the 232 machines but I think the lack of sprites is a major disadvantage of the 232 series. But that's just my personal opinion. - On my Plus/4, I liked to play adventures like "Ghost Town" and text adventures. Those don't need sprites.
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Posted By
Chicken
on 2012-06-03
14:26:23
 | Re: [Epay] Complete Plus/4 system on sale - for UK residents only
Just a side note:
"Cascading of two or more 1551 does mean that you have to plug they to each other: No. 10 goes into No. 9, and No 9 into No. 8, andsoforth..."
Two 1551 drives daisychained is the maximum, they can be either unit 8 or 9. Of course, you can add other drives as units 10 and 11 but not 1551s.
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Posted By
MIK
on 2012-06-06
05:46:11
| Re: [Epay] Complete Plus/4 system on sale - for UK residents only
It could be although a black screen can also be a dead CPU chip as in the 7501 R1. There could also be other factors where something beyond chip replacement is faulty...
At least the seller has told people there is something up with it. The most common one is that it powers up but I have no lead to test for picture.
It's already sold by the time I got to view it, but the price it has sold for is a couple of beers. Games alone are worth more so it was worth it just to grab the Plus/4 as a spare just for the remaining chips that do work if the Plus/4 can not be brought back to life.
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