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Where to buy Commodore 64?

  • 30-04-2012 3:22pm
    #1
    steel_spine
    Closed Accounts Posts: 401 ✭✭


    Hey folks, I'm toying with what to get my girlfriend for her birthday, and it's pretty much a tossup between a typrewriter or a working Commodore 64.
    She's been waxing nostalgic lately about having one as a kid and I'd like to nab one if I can, with a joystick and a few games (can buy these seperately).
    I never had a Commodore 64, had an Amstrad CPC464 and and Amiga 500+ (which I dearly miss :( ) and I have no idea what it a good price for these things or where the best bet is to find them.
    I have looked on ebay and adverts.ie, but I'm not a big fan of adverts, and some of the prices on there last time seemed a bit mental.

    Essentially the advice I'm looking for is: what's a good ballpark price range? how likely am I to be sold a non-working dud? and where are the best places to look?
    I've checked out the obvious big 2, but I'm a bit out of the loop on this stuff now, and I figure the enthusiasts on here will have a lot more experience.

    Also, I should point out I'm not in any kind of rush, I can wait for a good deal to come along, as soon as I know what a good deal is :pac:


Comments

  • #2
    CiDeRmAn
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 34,679 CMod ✭✭✭✭CiDeRmAn


    I wouldn't be spending more than 50 or 60 euro tbh.
    And a word of warning, the old rose tinted spectacles may be donned at the moment but when you have to wait 5-10 minutes for a single game to load, that might dull one's nostalgia for the machine.
    That said, there are some SD based hardware solutions, if she really loves the machine, that will allow games be loaded in an instant, via the disk I/O and can make the C64 a lot more like a modern console/computer for gaming.
    Rage, the shop around the corner from the Georges St Market, have them in stock, give them a buzz, look for them on Facebook and ask.


  • #3
    Steve X2
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,906 ✭✭✭Steve X2


    CiDeRmAn wrote: »
    I wouldn't be spending more than 50 or 60 euro tbh.
    And a word of warning, the old rose tinted spectacles may be donned at the moment but when you have to wait 5-10 minutes for a single game to load, that might dull one's nostalgia for the machine.
    That said, there are some SD based hardware solutions, if she really loves the machine, that will allow games be loaded in an instant, via the disk I/O and can make the C64 a lot more like a modern console/computer for gaming.
    Rage, the shop around the corner from the Georges St Market, have them in stock, give them a buzz, look for them on Facebook and ask.

    Floppy disk emulator FTW.
    Can be got for a decent price and a lot of them work on many different devices(C64, Amstrad, Keyboards, othe rmad things).

    .


  • #4
    Doge
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,175 ✭✭✭Doge


    Bare in mind that the best one for the commodore is expensive - bout €150 and you'll be waiting a few months for it after you have paid / pre-ordered.

    It's called the 1541 Ultimate II:



    DSC00629-300x225.jpg



    http://www.1541ultimate.net/content/index.php

    The ordering process is a little tricky also.

    The cheaper ones have far less compatibility with games because of the nature of how the games load, a lot used things called "fast loaders" which are difficult to emulate.


    One of the better cheap ones is uIEC/SD but it doesn't come with a case:

    http://store.go4retro.com/categories/Commodore/Hardware/uIEC/


    IMG_7652_small__21779_std.JPG


  • #5
    steel_spine
    Closed Accounts Posts: 401 ✭✭steel_spine


    Thanks guys - yeah, neither of us have forgotten waiting for the cassettes to fire up, I think half my childhood was waiting for Fantasy Island Dizzy to load :pac:

    I'll have a hunt for that Rage shop - are they based in Dublin I take it?
    Sadly Galway has nowhere to go hunting for retro gaming gear.


  • #6
    Doge
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,175 ✭✭✭Doge


    steel_spine wrote: »
    how likely am I to be sold a non-working dud? and where are the best places to look?

    One of the best and fastest to test one is to buy a cheap game cartridge in advance. One that is known to work.

    (Edit: You're in galway)


    If you wanted to buy one as a small gift for her birthday,
    then maybe the DTV - Direct To TV which comes with 30 built in games is an alternative:

    http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Commodore-64-DTV-30-In-1-Game-/180871410797?pt=UK_VintageComputing_RL&hash=item2a1cc6b46d


    http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Commodore-64-DTV-C64-joystick-built-games-/150806800981?pt=UK_VideoGames_VideoGameConsoles_VideoGameConsoles&hash=item231cc92a55



    Game list here, its the UK list you need:

    http://www.vesalia.de/r0e_commodore.htm


    You can't add games to the DTV though.

    (Well no easy ways anyway)


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