How rare is an original 128k?

[jongleur]

I'm bidding on that HD20. if I can't get it working, it will make for a great HDD enclosure for something a tad more modern, but matching my 512k.

 

[jsarchibald]

I reckon you and I must have outbid each other something fierce over the past few months!

 

[jongleur]

Yeah, maybe we should check with each other. I'm happy to let you get something you're needing rather than me adding something to my gunna list.

 

[jsarchibald]

Nah, I'm just kidding. I was interested because of the Rodime and I thought I could make a working system from the two. But honestly, I think I have enough toys to play with!

 

[jsarchibald]

Tell me you didn't pay $71 for it!

 

[jongleur]

Yep. Though one more bid and it would have been someone elses. Still, soldering iron at the ready and we'll see what I've got.

 

[jsarchibald]

Nice! I would love to see one under my Mac Plus!

 

[Dog Cow]

Today, I saw an Australian HD20 auction and I immediately remembered this thread. The seller posts the title as: "Macintosh Hard Drive 20 (faulty? - has cable chopped off)"
http://cgi.ebay.com/Macintosh-Hard-Disk ... 711wt_1141

Yes, friends, a hacked off cable would be the very definition of "faulty" now wouldn't it.

If the cable is chopped off, that would make it more difficult to test, right? So if he didn't test it, the drive could well be faulty. Or it could be fine. He didn't test it, so that's why he said faulty with a question mark after it.

 

[jongleur]

If the cable is chopped off, that would make it more difficult to test, right? So if he didn't test it, the drive could well be faulty. Or it could be fine. He didn't test it, so that's why he said faulty with a question mark after it.

Which is why I've taken a punt on it. To get a working HD20 sent down to Australia, typically from the USA, costs a mint. The little buggers can be expensive enough, but when the exorbitant courier costs are added on it is typically out of the question.

Like I said, if I can get it to work/connect, I win, if not, it becomes an interesting drive enclosure, and it still will work fine to lift my 512k up a couple of inches to a more comfortable viewing/operating height.

 

[JDW]

He didn't test it, so that's why he said faulty with a question mark after it.

That is logical speculation about why the seller put the "?" mark there. But I have little doubt you are correct in that assessment. However, I myself have a somewhat strict definition of "faulty." If I sell something that only works when plugged in, and if the buyer cannot plug it in because there is nothing to plug in, then I say it is "faulty" insofar as the buyer cannot use it in the condition in which it was meant to be used. That was my original point and pun about the sellers use of the question mark. But as you may expect, I posted my previous comment with a sense of humor more than anything else, simply because I see a lot of these things on EBAY.

With that said, you Australian auction buyers may get what you want if you buy this HD20. I don't know. But it's your choice. You just need to find a way to plug it in, or otherwise find a use for what you get. And as jongleur properly points out, if you can live with the "fault," then you can get a good price on items like this. Whether or not it then becomes a "good deal" depends on what you can do with it once you have it.