Wot I Got

• Acorn Electron
• Apple ][ Europlus
• Apple PowerMac G3 (2 of these)
• Apple PowerMac G5
• BBC Micro
• Commodore 64
• Commodore Amiga A500 (2 of these + 1 for spares)
• Commodore Vic 20
• Dragon 32
• Sinclair ZX81
• Sinclair ZX Spectrum (boxed)
• Sinclair ZX Spectrum + (2 of these. 1 boxed)
• Sinclair ZX Spectrum +2
• Sinclair ZX Spectrum +3

Why?

This was really born out of nostalgia. The first computer I used was an Apple ][, albeit very briefly, but growing up we had a Commodore 64 which I used to cut my programming teeth on. Years ago, I saw one for £10 on ebay, so decided to pick it up. I took it home and switched it on, then put it in the loft and haven't touched it since :-).

Over the years, when the price was right, I purchased the others. Ironically, one of the last purchases was the Apple ][ which was the first computer I used. This was the one that I had always wanted but could never really justify the cost. Then I saw one on EBay with monitor, twin disks, printer, extra cards, lots of software and manuals at a price I couldn't resist. So I bought it. Yep, you guessed it. I put it in the loft and haven't touched it since :-).

Unlike the American market, the Apples are harder to come by in the UK. The BBC Micro was the educational tool of the day over here.

They're really more of an investment at the moment. I bought a lot of these before the Raspberry Pi came out. As soon as it came out, everybody started getting nostalgic about the old computers and prices started going up. All of these are worth a lot more than I got them for. I've always had other commitments and never got to play with these. I'm hoping that over the next few years I can refurbish them (clean, recap the psu's etc) and start using them. I've got quite a few games and peripherals for them as well, so here's hoping.