Quote:
Originally Posted by Megalomaniac
Was New Zealand a tape or disk market at that time, and how much was the Commodore Datasette compared to a typical computer-usage tape deck?
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Strangely none of the suppliers in that issue had a price for the datasette. The September 1984 issue had an advert from
Manukau Computers (where my friend worked) listing it at NZ$129. The C64 was now $895 and a 48k Spectrum was $599.
In another advert the Atari 1010 Program Recorder (which of course only worked on Atari computers) was $199. The Atari 800XL was $895 and the Atari disk drive was $995, same prices as the C64 equivalents.
I found some prices of more generic 'program' recorders in NZ Bits & Bytes magazine. The December 1983 issue had the Dick Smith VZ-200 dataset for $99. A rather posh looking 'Computer Auto Data recorder' for the Apple II was $165.
Some other interesting prices from 1985:-
Olivetti M24 'business computer' - 8MHz 8086, 256k RAM, single 360k floppy disk drive, mono monitor, MSDOS - $6495.
Described as a 'fantastic deal!'. Fantastic for the vendor perhaps...
Tandy 1000 with single 360k floppy drive - $3190.
Nasty Asian PC clone with 8088 CPU, 256k RAM, 2 floppy drives, color monitor, no OS - $3220.
'AT compatible' system unit with 20MB hard drive and 1.2MB floppy $7500.
RGB Color monitor plus 'medium res' graphics card for above system - $1025.
Seagate 20MB hard drive with 8 bit controller card - $2195.
PC paint with mouse - $895.
Lotus 123 - $895.
Amstrad CPC664 with green screen - $1495 (I bought that!)
Sinclair QL - 'only' $1695.
'C128 launched', computer + floppy drive combo - $1795.
Yamaha CX5M MSX computer with YK10 49 key music keyboard - $1995.
BTW in one of those Computer Input magazines I found a description of the ZX Spectrum program I bought which was written in BASIC:-
"PIMANIA (48K Spectrum) $35.95
The longest-running, cult following, best-selling adventure quest ever... If you have not heard its praises then we think you might be new to the computer business."
Oh yeah 'new to the computer business' that was me - and they played me for a sucker. To think I could have had Manic Miner for only $24.95! Taught me a valuable lesson though - don't assume that a high price and glowing review makes it a good product!