What is so special about it that the bidding started at $790 and is now over
$900 ? Is there hope for an old Alpha in a Celebris XL chassis I have here? I
think I can even load it up with 128MB, and it has some SCSI drives... Ben Myers

On Wed, 7 May 2008 19:18:25 -0600 (MDT), Dave wrote:

>http://xrl.us/AlphaStation

On May 7, 9:48 pm, Ben Myers
wrote:
> What is so special about it that the bidding started at $790 and is now over
> $900 ? Is there hope for an old Alpha in a Celebris XL chassis I have here? I
> think I can even load it up with 128MB, and it has some SCSI drives... Ben Myers
>
> On Wed, 7 May 2008 19:18:25 -0600 (MDT), Dave wrote:
> >http://xrl.us/AlphaStation

I wish I knew. There is _something_ about the AS255s that has seemed
to attract big bidders for years. I've seen faster AS500 models, and
the odd AS250 4/266 go for lots less than 255/233s at the same time
over the years.

Maybe its the snazzy Top Gun Blue cabinet and lower power
consumption? The extra PCI slot over the AS200/250 units?

IN any case I doubt very much you'll get more than a pittance for your
Celebris box, unless things on Ebay have changed pretty drastically
for lower end alphas (not that I've been watching lately).

At the least this one came with a Powerstorm 3D30 card; those are
still worth some change (not like a 4D20, but still...)

In article
<2b243518-b1ca-4fd0-9425-20b38a0743f5@34g2000hsh.googlegroups.com>, Rich
Jordan writes:

> On May 7, 9:48 pm, Ben Myers
> wrote:
> > What is so special about it that the bidding started at $790 and is now over
> > $900 ? Is there hope for an old Alpha in a Celebris XL chassis I have here? I
> > think I can even load it up with 128MB, and it has some SCSI drives... Ben Myers
> >
> > On Wed, 7 May 2008 19:18:25 -0600 (MDT), Dave wrote:
> > >http://xrl.us/AlphaStation
>
> I wish I knew. There is _something_ about the AS255s that has seemed
> to attract big bidders for years. I've seen faster AS500 models, and
> the odd AS250 4/266 go for lots less than 255/233s at the same time
> over the years.
>
> Maybe its the snazzy Top Gun Blue cabinet and lower power
> consumption? The extra PCI slot over the AS200/250 units?
>
> IN any case I doubt very much you'll get more than a pittance for your
> Celebris box, unless things on Ebay have changed pretty drastically
> for lower end alphas (not that I've been watching lately).
>
> At the least this one came with a Powerstorm 3D30 card; those are
> still worth some change (not like a 4D20, but still...)

My first ALPHA, and the only VMS machine I ever bought new, was a
255/233. I bought it in April 1997 for about £6000. I have gotten
several considerably more powerful machines for free in the last few
years.

Of course I have an emotional attachment to the 255/233, but I think,
objectively, it is one of the Really Nice Machines, up there with the
VAXstation 4000. It was made by DEC, not Compaq or HP, and the
workmanship shows. The new stuff just doesn't have the same feel. (And
no, I don't think vinyl sounds better than CD!) Also, it was more or
less "industry-standard" with PCI and SCSI. It doesn't consume much
power, and is easy to work on, since it is clearly organised inside.

On the other hand, a capacitor on the motherboard explodes rather
frequently in this model.

Phillip Helbig---remove CLOTHES to reply wrote:

> My first ALPHA, and the only VMS machine I ever bought new, was a
> 255/233. I bought it in April 1997 for about £6000. I have gotten
> several considerably more powerful machines for free in the last few
> years.
>
> Of course I have an emotional attachment to the 255/233, but I think,
> objectively, it is one of the Really Nice Machines, up there with the
> VAXstation 4000. It was made by DEC, not Compaq or HP, and the
> workmanship shows. The new stuff just doesn't have the same feel. (And
> no, I don't think vinyl sounds better than CD!) Also, it was more or
> less "industry-standard" with PCI and SCSI. It doesn't consume much
> power, and is easy to work on, since it is clearly organised inside.
>
> On the other hand, a capacitor on the motherboard explodes rather
> frequently in this model.
>

I still have 500/400 bought less than a year old in 1998 and ran
faaultessly for nearly ten years. Retired from regular use earlier this
year, but still can't bring myself to sell it - too much history and
good software development done on it...

Chris

Malcolm Dunnett skrev:
> Rich Jordan wrote:
>> On May 7, 9:48 pm, Ben Myers
>> wrote:
>>> What is so special about it that the bidding started at $790 and is
>>> now over
>>> $900 ? Is there hope for an old Alpha in a Celebris XL chassis I
>>> have here? I
>>> think I can even load it up with 128MB, and it has some SCSI
>>> drives... Ben Myers
>>>
>>> On Wed, 7 May 2008 19:18:25 -0600 (MDT), Dave
>>> wrote:
>>>> http://xrl.us/AlphaStation
>>
>> I wish I knew. There is _something_ about the AS255s that has seemed
>> to attract big bidders for years. I've seen faster AS500 models, and
>> the odd AS250 4/266 go for lots less than 255/233s at the same time
>> over the years.
>>
> It finally went for $1050. Pretty hard to fathom when there's an
> unused Alphastation 500/333 on eBay right now with a BIN of $399 (even
> comes with VMS pre-installed).
>
> Oh well, the customer is always right :-)


I suddenly feel a bit more satisfied with the two AS and one Compaq
XP900 I found in the garbage room at work

/P

On May 9, 5:11 pm, Rich Jordan wrote:
> On May 7, 9:48 pm, Ben Myers
> wrote:
>
> > What is so special about it that the bidding started at $790 and is now over
> > $900 ? Is there hope for an old Alpha in a Celebris XL chassis I have here? I
> > think I can even load it up with 128MB, and it has some SCSI drives... Ben Myers
>
> > On Wed, 7 May 2008 19:18:25 -0600 (MDT), Dave wrote:
> > >http://xrl.us/AlphaStation
>
> I wish I knew. There is _something_ about the AS255s that has seemed
> to attract big bidders for years. I've seen faster AS500 models, and
> the odd AS250 4/266 go for lots less than 255/233s at the same time
> over the years.
>
> Maybe its the snazzy Top Gun Blue cabinet and lower power
> consumption? The extra PCI slot over the AS200/250 units?
>
> IN any case I doubt very much you'll get more than a pittance for your
> Celebris box, unless things on Ebay have changed pretty drastically
> for lower end alphas (not that I've been watching lately).
>
> At the least this one came with a Powerstorm 3D30 card; those are
> still worth some change (not like a 4D20, but still...)

Never mind the non-beige system box, the real selling point of the Top
Gun Blue era systems will surely be the Frost White keyboard, mouse
and monitor, colours specially chosen by a committee of marketeers and
managers to complement the Top Gun Blue. There was never anything else
like them on the market. I wonder why.

Other than that, not sure what makes the 255 so special.

In article
<3a6ff4fe-c60a-48ff-afa5-64f65a9e0fbf@k13g2000hse.googlegroups.com>,
johnwallace4@gmail.com writes:

> Never mind the non-beige system box, the real selling point of the Top
> Gun Blue era systems will surely be the Frost White keyboard, mouse
> and monitor, colours specially chosen by a committee of marketeers and
> managers to complement the Top Gun Blue. There was never anything else
> like them on the market. I wonder why.

Mine are still in use, connected to a DEC 5305/AS 1200!