My wife and I went to an Estate Sale this morning for a former classmate of hers who has lived in Italy for years. That person's mother recently passed and she's selling off most of the belongings left behind. In the basement were two Apple computers. One looks to be an original Apple II with two 5-1/4" floppy drives. I was told to "make an offer", though I hesitated due to the price tag on the other vintage computer, what appears to be an Apple IIc, listed at $150.00.
There was a Commodore 64 box there which looked brand new, but when I asked if it was for sale, I was told it was sold already. Figures...I'm considering putting in an offer on the two Apple PCs, but not sure they'll accept what I would offer. I guess we'll see.
Quote from: Chris Savage on Apr 25, 2026, 09:48 PMMy wife and I went to an Estate Sale this morning for a former classmate of hers who has lived in Italy for years. That person's mother recently passed and she's selling off most of the belongings left behind. In the basement were two Apple computers. One looks to be an original Apple II with two 5-1/4" floppy drives. I was told to "make an offer", though I hesitated due to the price tag on the other vintage computer, what appears to be an Apple IIc, listed at $150.00.
There was a Commodore 64 box there which looked brand new, but when I asked if it was for sale, I was told it was sold already. Figures...I'm considering putting in an offer on the two Apple PCs, but not sure they'll accept what I would offer. I guess we'll see.
Good luck!
Quote from: Chris Savage...I'm considering putting in an offer on the two Apple PCs, but not sure they'll accept what I would offer. I guess we'll see.
Put in the offer, the worst that can happen is that they refuse the offer; and they might just accept. I've accept two "extremely low" offers on antique computers because I was willing to let them go for low to get them to the right person.
Quote from: granz on Apr 26, 2026, 10:08 AMPut in the offer, the worst that can happen is that they refuse the offer; and they might just accept. I've accept two "extremely low" offers on antique computers because I was willing to let them go for low to get them to the right person.
I had Valerie send her my "offer" earlier. We haven't yet heard back. I think she's not interested. Valerie thinks she's waiting for the sale to be over before considering it, in case they can get more. Most people out here wouldn't even have recognized either of those computers. They're so old and stored in the basement.
When I lived in CA I used to see several people from Savage///Circuits mentioning how they found a C=64 or Apple II at Goodwill or Salvation Army, and I thought to myself how I had never seen
anything like that in my trips to these places. Some people are just lucky, I guess. Right place, right time.
Good luck Chris. I have to go to the Salvation Army Store in town more often. The only thing I ever found was a portable 7" black and white Radio Shack tv from 1970 for $3. It works perfectly with the ZX81 I have.
I offered more than I wanted to...$200 for both computers including the two external drives. As of this morning my offer was accepted. It's now a matter of picking them up. I'll post photos of them once I have them.
Nice! Congrats, Chris. Hope you enjoy them.
Quote from: granz on Apr 27, 2026, 09:22 AMNice! Congrats, Chris. Hope you enjoy them.
Provided they're not corroded and rusty, I sure will. 8)
Quote from: Chris Savage on Apr 27, 2026, 10:49 AMProvided they're not corroded and rusty, I sure will. 8)
So, originally, I was under the impression that these machines were stored in the basement. However, when I picked them up, it was clarified that they were stored in the attic, and only moved to the basement for the estate sale.
I will be taking detailed photos this weekend of what I got and sharing in this thread, which will follow my refurb of these machines. Besides an Apple IIe and an Apple IIc, there is also a 1541 disk drive! I happen to have a C=64 that I got from granz some time ago, so I am thinking that I would have a C=64 system up and running as well.
Quote from: Chris Savage on Apr 29, 2026, 12:22 PMQuote from: Chris Savage on Apr 27, 2026, 10:49 AMProvided they're not corroded and rusty, I sure will. 8)
So, originally, I was under the impression that these machines were stored in the basement. However, when I picked them up, it was clarified that they were stored in the attic, and only moved to the basement for the estate sale.
I will be taking detailed photos this weekend of what I got and sharing in this thread, which will follow my refurb of these machines. Besides an Apple IIe and an Apple IIc, there is also a 1541 disk drive! I happen to have a C=64 that I got from granz some time ago, so I am thinking that I would have a C=64 system up and running as well.
I have Commadore monitor but would need repairs..
Quote from: Chris Savage on Apr 29, 2026, 12:22 PMSo, originally, I was under the impression that these machines were stored in the basement. However, when I picked them up, it was clarified that they were stored in the attic, and only moved to the basement for the estate sale.
I will be taking detailed photos this weekend of what I got and sharing in this thread, which will follow my refurb of these machines. Besides an Apple IIe and an Apple IIc, there is also a 1541 disk drive!
I owned a few Apples several years ago. They were part of the Computer Museum that I inherited - gave most of the computers to @OldBitCollector (Jeff) for him to build a museum, but lost contact with him shortly after.
The one Apple that I might want now-a-days is the IIgs. Although now that I looked it up, I was thinking of the IIc, but a IIc with a 65C816 8/16-bit CPU. Was there an Apple that looked like the IIc ("c" for compact) but had the '816 CPU? Oh well, I'll probably never actually get one any ways. ::)
Quote from: Chris Savage on Apr 29, 2026, 12:22 PMI happen to have a C=64 that I got from granz some time ago, so I am thinking that I would have a C=64 system up and running as well.
Were you able to get that c=64 working? I hope that it works for you (or you can get it working.)
At the beginning of this thread I mentioning showing photos of the computers I picked up from the estate sale. Below are the photos I promised. I have yet to work on these machines, but soon.
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This Apple IIc came in this nice carry case.
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Inside the case is the computer, power brick and power cord.
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On the Apple IIc, the floppy drive was integrated. You can see it has a carry handle built-in.
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I also got this Apple IIe, which came with two floppy drives.
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Very long ribbon cables on the back for the floppies, and what looks like a printer cable.
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I opened the top cover to see what cards were installed.
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Obviously, this one is the disk controller card for the two floppy drives.
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I'm not yet sure what this one is yet. Looks like it has an EPROM on it though. It is connected to the extra long ribbon cable, so probably for the printer.
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This one looks like a memory expansion card, though I haven't verified that yet.
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Though they did not have the C=64 anymore, they did throw in this 1541 disk drive. The box is immaculate.
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The drive doesn't look very clean. No power or serial cables included. Power cable is standard, but I will need a serial cable to test the drive eventually.
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This is oversimplifying things a bit, but the 1541 essentially is a VIC-20 without the video, but designed to control the floppy drive. It has the same CPU, PIA chips, etc as a VIC-20.
Looking good, Chris.
Quote from: granz on Today at 05:58 PMLooking good, Chris.
Eventually, I will be testing that 1541 using the C=64 I got from you some time ago. 8)
Quote from: Chris Savage on Today at 08:29 PMEventually, I will be testing that 1541 using the C=64 I got from you some time ago. 8)
So, that C-64 is actually working? Fantastic - way to go buddy!