About a year ago I bought this Commodore 64 from eBay US. I got it cheap because the seller didn’t advertise the fact that it was a “silver label”, and there were 4 pictures of the (not so good-looking) box before seeing an actual photograph of the computer. So I was the only person who bid on the item! It’s a bit yellowed on the right side and a most of the hooks are missing on the back, but otherwise it is in good working condition. Continue reading
Commodore MPS 801 (1984)

I don’t usually care about printers: they take up precious space (especially the office/business ones), there are tons of models and most of the times they’re just rebranded items.
But there are a few printers that deserve some care, mainly the early ones or those that made us print the first happy birthday card for a friend. Continue reading
Apple Macintosh IIfx (1990)
In the previous post I thanked Enrico for the donation of this Macintosh IIfx, now it’s time to show how it’s been cleaned and repaired. A quarter of a century ago this was the most powerful Macintosh of the series II: it was powered by a 68030 processor at 40MHz, outperformed only by the following Quadra computers with a 68040 processor.
Donation from Enrico F.
Last year I found an online classified from a person in Milan that was giving away for free a Macintosh IIfx, collection only. I called him and we had a nice chat on the phone, and he added a few other items to the lot after asking me if I was interested. But since I live in the opposite part of Italy, I asked a friend (Thanks Daniele!) who lives in Milan to pick up the items and keep them until he was coming back home. Continue reading
Sony Hit Bit HB-75P (1984)

One of the few MSX of my collection. The computer was quite dirty, but since the internal components were tightly fitted, I didn’t want to disassemble it completely.
Apple Macintosh PowerBook Duo 2300c (1995) and Macintosh Duo MiniDock (1992)

I received this laptop as a gift in 2010. I always liked the Duos, both for their design and the idea of a slim lightweight laptop (remember it’s 20 years old) which, if needed, could be hooked up to a dock to transform it into a real desktop computer.
Donation from Chiara M.

I thank Chiara M. for the donation.
Items received:
- Atari 600XL
- Atari 1010 Program Recorder
- Atari Donkey Kong Game Kit
- Casio Western Bar
- Casio Heli Battle
Koala Technologies KoalaPad TouchTablet

In the mid Eighties I had a Commodore 128 and I sometimes used KoalaPainter – the program that accompained the KoalaPad – with a joystick. Now, 30 years later, I can finally paint with the graphic tablet.
Cleaning the keyboard of a VIC 20

The computers I get often need thorough cleaning, but the keyboard of this Commodore VIC 20 was filthy, especially under the keys and on the motherboard. Continue reading
Commodore VICMODEM (1982)

It’s quite impossible to collect all the peripherals that were produced for the Commodore computers, but a few of them are worth searching for because they mark a milestone in the history of home computing. The VICMODEM is one of those peripherals: it’s been the first modem to cost under 100$ and the first to sold over a million units, contributing to the diffusion of online services and BBSes outside laboratories, universities, big Companies and military agencies. Continue reading


