PDP 11/44

[Zane H. Healy]

On Wed, 11 Mar 2009, Richard wrote:

> What I've noticed on this list is that the people here have a tendency
> to undervalue what other people are willing to pay for vintage computing
> gear.  Whether that's because they are just too cheap to pay a higher
> price or because they are living in a past-time when vintage computing
> collecting wasn't popular (I paid $100 11 years ago) or whatever, I
> don't know.  However, it has been consistent observation in my experience.

I'll refrain from saying what I have noticed a tendancy for...

You'll note that based on what was listed, I said that the only part on that
PDP-11/44 with any value was the Power Supply.  I paid $100 11 years ago for
one that was missing the RAM (and network card but that wouldn't stop it
from working).  Without a high value card or cards, and missing cards like
the one in question is there is no way it's worth $750.  It is worth half of
that max.

BTW, I should soon be able to get mine out of my parents garage and power it
up again.  If it still works it will be worth more than that $750 as it
is complete plus it has RAM, Ethernet, and most importantly a Unibus SCSI
card.  Even then the real value is in two items, the power supply, and the
SCSI card.  I value PDP-11 equipment based on what it can legititally be
sold for, not what some deep pockets collector might pay on a whim.  Many
PDP-11's still being used commercially are being replaced with PC's running
E11.  It is my experience that collectors don't pay as high as the places
still running PDP-11's.

Here is another hint.  A /44 isn't that collectable of a computer.  It lacks
a real front panel, and it's BIG.  For a Hobbyist a Q-Bus based PDP-11 makes
a lot more sense.  A /44 like mine takes up about as much space as a washer
and dryer, and has to run off of a 15A circuit.  The only thing I've used it
for was when I was doing some work for someone and needed a Unibus system
for testing.  Otherwise one of my Q-Bus systems is far more practical.

This does bring up an interesting question.  What percentage of people with
PDP-11's have Unibus PDP-11's.  Also of the people that do have Unibus
PDP-11's, how many have a large number of PDP-11's?

Zane