[Info-vax] Prices of Microvax 3100's

[Arne Vajhøj]

On 5/2/2012 10:09 AM, AEF wrote:
>> On 05.02.2012 9:21 AM, 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?
>
> On May 2, 9:44 am, Darren Clark<BiggRan... at tds.net>  wrote:
>> Someone thinks it's worth that much, and some people will pay that much
>> for it. Surprisingly, I still see MicroVaxen, and PDP's in use to this
>> day (Ford, Chrysler, Boeing), and if those systems die, they need
>> working replacements for mission critical systems. Sometimes they can
>> upgrade, sometime they can use emulators, but sometimes they need an
>> original system and they're willing to pay for it.
>>
>> Kinda sucks for us hobbyists looking to get some more old stuff.
>
> So why not run Charon or SIMH? Speaking of which -- and please pardon
> me if this is a stupid question -- do these things run as a separate
> process or do they take over the entire machine? I don't see why it
> can't be the former. Just making sure.
>
> I guess some hardware will only work with actual VAX systems, like
> certain disks or tape drives. Is there something else?

http://www.stanq.com/Risk%20vs%20Benefits%20of%20VAX-Alpha%20Emulation.pdf

has some points.

Arne