No Pyrex dishes this week. No cute coat hangers either. Not even an old sandwich maker. Instead, I'll be venturing over to my geeky side. I proudly present you: The vintage Commodore SX-64 my lovely wife gave me a few years ago.
Having grown up in the 1980's, my first computer ever was a Commodore 64. Not this one, just a regular run-of-the mill breadbox. It had a huge impact on me, and years later I started to collect the whole series of so-called "home computers" sold by Commodore. A few years ago you would find these by the dozens on flea markets; these days they're getting scarce - ebay has taken over, and most of them probably ended up in a landfill, unfortunately. Nonetheless, I got most of them, but there was one glaring hole: The "portable" version of the C64, called the SX-64.
It never was overly popular over here in Europe. It was too expensive, too big, too bulky, and not really that portable at all - it weighs 27 lb and doesn't include any batteries; you need to have access to a power outlet. They were slightly more common in the US - but even there, the intended market (traveling businessmen) wasn't overly enthusiastic; there were better options available elsewhere. As a result, these machines are quite uncommon (especially in working condition), and I never really found one that was within my budget.
Mub found this one for me for cheap on ebay. It didn't work at first, but thanks to some very helpful people out there on the internet and some kind of cave where time seemed to have stood still for at least 15 years called "The Computer Bargain Store" we got it working!
It's in great condition. One of the keys has partly broken off and is a bit finicky, the spacebar has an ugly yellow discoloration and somewhere in its life someone replaced the ROMs with those of a regular C64, but other than that it works great!
Thanks, Mub!
See more fun vintage goodies for Vintage Thingie Thursday over at Coloradolady's blog.
