Modern Products

I’m selling my PC museum!

I love tech. Throughout the years I’ve surrounded myself with old tech memorabilia that has some significance in the history of computing, or to me personally. But now, as I plan my move to NYC to open Soluto’s US office, I need to cut down on my stuff. The apartments are much smaller in Manhattan… 

So with a heavy heart, I’m selling my PC museum.

I’m using this post as a homage to the stuff I collected over the years, and also as a landing page for potential buyers :)

Note: as far as I know, non of these actually work. Maybe they can be fixed somehow, but they’re sold as non-working machines. 

So here’s what I’ve got so far:

Apple PowerBook 180

My favorite piece in the collection. Released in 1992 by Apple, one of the first laptops with a space to put your palms (see other laptops below- no such space). Perfect external condition.

Zenith 171 aka “Lunchbox”

Released in 1985, this not-so-lightweight portable computer is really awesome. I love the lunchbox branding, although weight-wise it’s like a lunchbox full of bricks. Beautiful piece. 

Commodore 16

Released in 1984, this is the successor of Commodore 64 (and not the other way around, like I thought when I purchased it). It comes with a tape, lots of documentation and tons of games. 

Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K

Released in 1982, the Specrum is a childhood PC for many Israelis. Originating in the UK, it was more popular in Europe then in the US. 

Macintosh SE

Released in 1987, the Macintosh SE had the same case as the original Macintosh. Comes with keyboard (no wire), lots of documentation and some extras. 

Apple PowerBook Duo 230

Released in 1992, the PowerBook Duo series were probably the first Netbooks. They were smaller, lighter, and weren’t very successful. But- they left behind some beautiful items. 

V-Tech Precomputer 1000

This is a truly remarkable piece. Why? Because it’s a PC aimed for children, to teach them the Basic programming language, released in 1988. Back in the day, some people thought children must learn programming languages. And not because it’s a solid profession, but because that’s how you “speak” to computers- through programming languages. And since in the future there’ll be computers everywhere, children must learn how to speak their language. Then came along companies like Microsoft and Apple that built operating systems - those things that are the foundation for the translation between humans and computers. Beautiful piece. Read another related story here.

Casio Cassiopeia A-11

One of the first Windows CE PDAs, running Windows CE 1.0. Comes with a.. wait for it.. Modem! And the first in the Cassiopeia series.

Packard Bell Statesman

486 processor, 200MB of HD space, 4MB of RAM - a true beast. Notice no space for the palms, shows very early laptop design concept.

Sharp PC-4600

Released in 1987, with a 8088 processor and 40MB of HD, this is a beautiful laptop (although from its weight you would never guess it’s supposed to be portable). And it has a built in carrying handle, kinda like the next item, only much less elegant… —>

Apple Newton eMate 300

A beautiful device, although it’s one of Apple’s flops everyone loves to forget. It existed for less then a year on the market, starting March 1997, and it was supposed to be a cheap laptop replacement running the Newton operating system (and if you don’t know Newton then you’re not a real tech geek). 

Tandy 1400HD

Last but not least - my white whale, the beautiful Tandy 1400HD. If you’re interested in the history of personal computing, I recommend you read about Tandy - the leather shop that acquired RadioShack (!) in the 1960s…

Well, that’s about it. I have a bunch more old PDAs but those I can carry with me abroad…

If you’re interested in any of those devices, ping me at roee@soluto.com. One thing though - local pick-up from Tel-Aviv only :)