Am I sitting on a goldmine?

vsp · 02-13-2004, 09:44 PM

I have a Mac IIfx sitting across from me in my computer room. It has the staggering total of 128MB of RAM in it -- pretty damn spiffy in 1990 terms. (It started life as a main server for a former employer's flagship application; by the end of the decade, I actually got it for free because they were going to throw it out.)

While looking something up recently, I decided to see how little the RAM went for these days. The RAM is proprietary -- there's a LaserWriter that it's compatible with, but that's it, as it was the only Mac II that used 64-pin SIMMs.

I found exactly one place with it in stock -- and they wanted THREE HUNDRED BUCKS for FOUR 16-meg IIfx SIMMs. I have eight.

Just to make sure that I wasn't seeing things, I did some more digging. One said "Back Order" for four 16-meg IIfx SIMMs at $217.

Is there any recommended Apple guru out there that can verify whether these go for anywhere near those figures? (It would go nicely towards a new computer, and given how old this Mac is and what I paid for it, I'm not above cannibalizing it.)

SteveDallas · 02-14-2004, 07:47 AM

I don't know from Apples, but SIMM modules for Intel systems have been priced higher than you might expect for some time--a function of low demand and high manufacturing costs, I guess--you'd think at some point they'd start discounting them to dump inventory.

For example, until recently some of our faculty were using 133MHz Pentium systems purchased in 1997. A couple years ago, in an effort to squeeze a bit more usable life out of them, I paid $90 apiece for some 64MB SIMMs, and I thought it was a good price compared to others I found.

Meanwhile, I had just upgraded the DIMM memory in my home PC. I thought an upgrade from 32MB to 64MB would have me livin large. When I called to check prices, the guy I talked to at CDW said, "we don't stock 32's anymore, but we have a 64 for $65 and a 128 for $75." So yeah, $75 for 16MB of memory sounds like a ripoff for newer kinds of memory, but it may be par for the course if you're talking SIMMs.

mbpark · 02-14-2004, 03:44 PM

VSP,

From what I remember, the GVP line of accelerators for Amigas took that ram too!

And those people will buy it.

Mitch

vsp · 02-14-2004, 05:10 PM

I did find <a href="http://mail-index.netbsd.org/port-amiga/2001/09/30/0000.html">one anecdote</a> on Google that suggested that they might not be compatible, and <a href="http://groups.google.com/groups?q=GVP+IIfx&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&selm=478vcq%24b9u%40carbon.cudenver.edu&rnum=3">another</a> that goes a bit further (stating that the IIfx and GVP SIMMs were electrically similar, but the IIfx SIMMs are 80ns and the GVPs are 60ns).

So much for that potential market...

SteveDallas · 02-23-2004, 01:13 PM

Yeah, I know it was on Fark. But I couldn't resist.

Somebody really screwed up, was my first reaction--surely he put in 4300 meaning 43.00.

But then somebody outbid him.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=3461554706

02-13-2004, 09:44 PM	#1
vsp Syndrome of a Down Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: West Chester Posts: 1,367	Am I sitting on a goldmine? I have a Mac IIfx sitting across from me in my computer room. It has the staggering total of 128MB of RAM in it -- pretty damn spiffy in 1990 terms. (It started life as a main server for a former employer's flagship application; by the end of the decade, I actually got it for free because they were going to throw it out.) While looking something up recently, I decided to see how little the RAM went for these days. The RAM is proprietary -- there's a LaserWriter that it's compatible with, but that's it, as it was the only Mac II that used 64-pin SIMMs. I found exactly one place with it in stock -- and they wanted THREE HUNDRED BUCKS for FOUR 16-meg IIfx SIMMs. I have eight. Just to make sure that I wasn't seeing things, I did some more digging. One said "Back Order" for four 16-meg IIfx SIMMs at $217. Is there any recommended Apple guru out there that can verify whether these go for anywhere near those figures? (It would go nicely towards a new computer, and given how old this Mac is and what I paid for it, I'm not above cannibalizing it.)

02-14-2004, 03:44 PM	#3
mbpark Lecturer Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Carmel, Indiana Posts: 761	vsp...ebay! VSP, From what I remember, the GVP line of accelerators for Amigas took that ram too! And those people will buy it. Mitch

02-14-2004, 07:47 AM	#2
SteveDallas Your Bartender Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Philly Burbs, PA Posts: 7,651	I don't know from Apples, but SIMM modules for Intel systems have been priced higher than you might expect for some time--a function of low demand and high manufacturing costs, I guess--you'd think at some point they'd start discounting them to dump inventory. For example, until recently some of our faculty were using 133MHz Pentium systems purchased in 1997. A couple years ago, in an effort to squeeze a bit more usable life out of them, I paid $90 apiece for some 64MB SIMMs, and I thought it was a good price compared to others I found. Meanwhile, I had just upgraded the DIMM memory in my home PC. I thought an upgrade from 32MB to 64MB would have me livin large. When I called to check prices, the guy I talked to at CDW said, "we don't stock 32's anymore, but we have a 64 for $65 and a 128 for $75." So yeah, $75 for 16MB of memory sounds like a ripoff for newer kinds of memory, but it may be par for the course if you're talking SIMMs.

02-14-2004, 05:10 PM	#4
vsp Syndrome of a Down Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: West Chester Posts: 1,367	I did find <a href="http://mail-index.netbsd.org/port-amiga/2001/09/30/0000.html">one anecdote</a> on Google that suggested that they might not be compatible, and <a href="http://groups.google.com/groups?q=GVP+IIfx&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&selm=478vcq%24b9u%40carbon.cudenver.edu&rnum=3">another</a> that goes a bit further (stating that the IIfx and GVP SIMMs were electrically similar, but the IIfx SIMMs are 80ns and the GVPs are 60ns). So much for that potential market...

02-23-2004, 01:13 PM	#5
SteveDallas Your Bartender Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Philly Burbs, PA Posts: 7,651	Yeah, I know it was on Fark. But I couldn't resist. Somebody really screwed up, was my first reaction--surely he put in 4300 meaning 43.00. But then somebody outbid him. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=3461554706

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