Trying to decide, in light of my new Rev 02 ownership, what to do with my Rev 04. Looking for some highly subjective opinions.
My Rev 04 is a long way from original. I sort of did it 'on the cheap', or rather, as cheap as I could do when it was a bull market for IIs and a high serial number case like mine (38495) all by itself was fetching $650 with keyboard. I figure I've put about $950 or $1000 into it between that, the motherboard, the cheap II+ PSU and the integer ROMs.
As usual, ebay is always bull market until you go to sell. After years of watching almost anything II related easily clear $1000, it looks like demand has created supply and now prices are down.
So here's my options, bearing in mind what I really want down the road is a Rev 0:
1) Keep the Rev 04 and Rev 02, and save up for a 0. 'Collect em all' approach.
2) Let the Rev 04 go for whatever I can get and take a small loss (highest offer so far is $800)
3) Break up the Rev 04 for parts, try and recoup that way.
4) Leave it up on ebay and hope a motivate buyer comes along.
5) Take it off ebay and wait til the market picks up again.
6) Sell the now-working and totally original Rev 02, bank it for a future Rev 0 purchase, hang onto the Rev 04 so I have at least one A2S1 in my collection in the meantime.
Thoughts? Only hesitation I have about option 6 is I have no idea when a Rev 0 will come up again. Still kicking myself for missing that one that went for $1800 recently.
Yeah, so I've seen the prices of Apple II's go down as more come onto the market.
So my thoughts on your options:
1. That is one way - could get expensive but I know of several folks who have gone this route
2. Since this are fairly common/easier to get I would probably go this route and keep the cash for the Rev 0 opportunity which will eventually come up
3. I don't think you will get more for the parts than you would for the complete Rev 4
4. Leaving it on eBay is a catch 22 - while you might have a motivated buyer come along it could also backfire and cause the prices to drop even more as other people regularly search eBay to see what they can sell their stuff for. If they see yours for say 1000.00 but it isn't selling they might do a straight bidding auction and cause the price/value drop even more if it sells for 500.00
5. Yes, this is what I would do
6. That is a tough choice. I think I would hang onto the Rev 2 and get rid of the Rev 4
Best of luck!!
Jennifer
Well, if your Apple II is the one listed on Ebay right now, I have a few recommendations:
I think your computer is a little late for the raised power light.
1. I would remove that keyboard, have it fixed, most of us can give you a name of someone who can do a good job.
2. Sell the keyboard separately. If someone needs one, they will give you a good price for one.
3. Replace the keyboard with the right one. One that does not have a raised power light, but does not have an encoder board.
4. Replace the power supply with a silver one.
5. Touch up the scratches on the bottom of the computer. Home Depot can match the paint.
6. Maybe get some integer ROM'S
7. Replace any words regarding "rebuild" or, "damaged, in your listing." I mean after you get everything fixed, obviously. I think that would scare a potential customer. I would never mislead anyone, but I think your wording could be adjusted.
Look at this listing:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Apple-II-A2S1-Not-Plus-or-IIe-1978-/141835854003?hash=item21061360b3%3Ag%3ASQcAAOSwv-NWU0om&nma=true&si=m94v7zCGIVeFZq5FfItO41vX%252B0s%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
This listing is saying "Everything works perfectly." Very confident listing.
Sold for a good price, and had no raised power light. I think you could get a decent price and, sell the raised power light keyboard separately. That way, you would make a profit.
Once everything is fixed and fully tested, change your listing to:
Apple II revision 4, works perfectly, fully tested!
Thanks!
Yes you've seen mine on ebay there. I've kind of wondered about the keyboard. The machine is originally from Europe. When I first looked at it it looked like that keyboard had never been removed, but who knows. I have seen A2S1-3xxxx machines with both types of keyboard, so I don't know. Even if I did separate, I'm not sure the trace damage on mine is repairable, and then there's the cost of repair, and the cost of acquiring a square raised single PCB keyboard. Haven't seen one of those for sale on Ebay ever, and I have alerts set up and check regularly for A2 keyboards.
New highest offer is $820. Mulling it over.
The machine does have integer roms in it by the way, correct date codes and all.
So the hardest item you have is that raised light on the keyboard. That will be difficult to replace, even if you find the single board keyboard those are often missing.
If you could sell it without that particular piece and substitute a regular flat power light you might be better off - but that will also hurt the value quite a bit I am afraid...
Jennifer
Okay so I did a bit of research on what would be the correct power light for my A2S1-38495. And I concur, it appears it should be the later raised square power light, not the earlier raised power 'key'.
I decided the best way was to google 'Apple A2S1-' in hopes of finding some Apple IIs with serial numbers close to mine. The first one I caught was this one:
http://jesperalsed.com/vintageapple/?product=apple-ii-original-a2s1-computer-36541
Raised square.
Then I found this one -- 162 serial numbers further down the line than mine. Again, same raised square:
https://www.facebook.com/Apple-II-A2S1-38657-963133120398960/?fref=photo
Okay. Now, does that mean my *keyboard* is wrong, or just the square? It could be that someone replaced the power light with the wrong cap, right? In the second example, the owner took a shot of the back of his keyboard showing the date stamp on it. The PCB by the way is the same colour and part number as mine. The date on it is Dec 17 1979. Mine is one day before, Dec 16, 1979. So I'm thinking it's at least theoretically possible I have the right actual keyboard, but maybe the light cap got replaced with the earlier version along the way.
Which means, I'm almost tempted to seek out a square top light and replace the one that's on mine to get 'correct'. And then I might keep that unit as an example of the 'second power light' II. Course finding the cap could be near impossible, unless someone out there has one to spare...
I just noticed something. In both the links I posted, the power supplies are gold! Does that maybe mean I got the right colour? Definitely my gold one is not original and was in the II+ originally based on the serial number (in the 600000's). But still.. I remember reading somewhere gold power supplies entered late in black sticker production...
Other neat thing.. the Rev 04 board in my unit is definitely not the original one, however by some luck, the date code on it, 7949, is just one week prior to the guy with the slightly later II in my second link!
This is my integer Apple II:
http://macgui.com/upload/gallery/f_0/user_2/regular/upload_3448.jpg
Serial number is in the 60,000 range, and the motherboard date code is early 1980. It's a Rev 04 motherboard.
More pictures at Mac GUI: http://macgui.com/gallery/showcat.php?id=6&med=1&start=24
(scroll down a bit)