[Info-vax] Prices of Microvax 3100's

[Rich Jordan]

On May 2, 9:31 am, David Froble <da... at tsoft-inc.com> wrote:
> AEF wrote:
> > Went to ebay to check this out. Entered "Microvax 3100" and got some
> > interesting results. A model 90 w/ 64MB for $3183. Is this for real?
> > There's a 3100/98 system going for $3950. I see other variations
> > ranging from $49 (1 bid) to $3175. Are these things really worth this
> > much?
>
> > AEF
>
> Are they "worth it"?  No.
>
> Not when you consider capability.
>
> But "supply and demand" will always dictate prices.  The supply is going down, but
> apparently the demand (those still doing what they did 10-15 years ago, and would be happy
> to continue doing the same) is not going away.
>
> The problem I see is that the MV3100 systems all used 50 pin SCSI disks.  As far as I know
> these haven't been manufactured for years, and disks don't last forever.  I was told that
> SCSI to SATA adapters haven't seemed to work very well.  Have no personal experience.

Some MV3100 systems can use a Nemonix adapter to provide an UltraSCSI
bus as well as 10/100 ethernet (default is 10 only).  But I agree that
the most likely use for the ones you see on Ebay is spares or
replacement for some critical function.  When we retire our last two
VAXen here I plan on putting them on Ebay for some amount 'less than
the dealers' but not cheap.  The era for easily available free or dirt
cheap spare 3100s passed years ago.  I know; we gave away at least a
dozen of them...

Back then it was MV2000s going for stupid prices on Ebay; you couldn't
sell a well-equipped 3100-10 for $50 but an MV2000 would go for a few
hundred and up.  Why?  That one I couldn't figure out but we were
quite happy to get over $500 for a pair of them circa 1999-2000.