HP/DEC/Compaq

I'm just confused by the prices. I was looking for something to run VMS and I'm shocked. Why are all of these heading over 4 digits ? Is there something about these that makes them special ?


http://cgi.ebay.com/Digital-Alphastatio ... 0571307632

http://cgi.ebay.com/DEC-Digital-AlphaSt ... 0326273064

I don't get it. 233Mhz Alpha boxes are worth over a grand ?

They're probably used in applications that haven't been ported over to x86 yet.

I doubt that's why. There are a lot of cheaper, faster Alphas out there. It could be a model-specific app like the MRI control O2s, but I've never heard of one for AlphaStations...

That is exactly what I was thinking. I'm just really curious what it might be. It isn't all Alphas. Just seems to be the single one.

I have had several alphastations, and have not noticed anything model specific about them.

Nice price though, when you consider that:
- This one has only 32 MB RAM
- Graphics card looks like PowerStorm 3d30 (8-bit TGA2)
- Very slow by todays standards (EV45)

It's a scam. No one on the earth with more than 2 neurons would buy these machines for such a price. I've got an AlphaServer 300 4/266 for free (more precisely from dumpster) and a PWS 433a for ~25 Euros and I speak about Hungary, not USA where IT stuff is much cheaper ...

I wouldn't call it scam, these guys used to sell refurbished gear for their then-market value. After a few pokes on eBay, they turned to a different scheme - not selling high but "dictating" prices. I'm pretty sure that thing will return listed in a few days...

I've noticed these before, specifically from one seller.

Since he normally has 4 or 5 listed at any given time, all which end up with 10~15 bids and sale prices of more than a grand and the fact that his bidder's list is private I think it's a scam.

Now, the one from the other seller... the bidder's list isn't private, but I still think it's a scam.

I've asked many times what in the world is happening with $1200 EV45 Alphas, and everyone I've asked thinks it's a scam.

Tru64 hasn't been ported to anything new, and is heading the IRIX way. Companies pay big bucks just to be able to run those fancy homegrown apps they lost the sourcecode for, ages ago.

But still: alphas are expensive. You can get low spec alphas for relatively cheap if you look for them, but the machines with more than 128MB ram will be pricy. Dunno why exactly. I have an alphaserver 8/400 with 128MB at home, I'd sell it in an instant if anyone offered me even half that price

most often than not it's code they bought and built the business processes around that prevents change. this is the main source of stickiness the IE6 has in the corporate world. internal web apps they bought from another company that either doesn't exist anymore, or want money the company doesn't have, and really doesn't need unless they require change. and change is the one thing established companies are not good at.

at least above the janitorial level.

A colleague used to have one of those 255s in his office, and I'm pretty sure it could run OpenVMS as well. Apps on OpenVMS would be more difficult to migrate, as you are stuck with OpenVMS, which has only been ported to Itanium since the Alpha was killed. I don't imagine commercial app developers are queuing up to port to the OpenVMS/Itanium combination. Perhaps it is easier to try and keep that ol' 255 running. I've noticed that XP900s are another Alpha model that seem to go for way above what you would think they are worth.

The fact of the matter is that there are plenty of newer, faster, and cheaper alphas that run VMS and Tru64 for significantly cheaper than these 255s. Now, combine that with the fact almost all of them are 'sold' by one seller in private auctions, and it becomes pretty clear that it's some kind of scam.

Another fact of the matter is that some people who have a running system that works as needed/expected sometimes prefer to try and keep it running for as long as reasonably possible. One way to do this is to buy up systems for spares, so you can simply swap parts or switch disks when something goes wrong. In a old job I had, our department used to buy every HP 9000/300 that came on the market in Ireland or the UK, because we had to keep some ancient systems running software that was too costly to port or redevelop going 24/7. An hours downtime cost more than the price of 2-3 spare systems.

The XP900's aren't all being sold by the same seller, yet I've sometimes seen these 433/600MHz Alpha models go for 4 figures on eBay. I don't believe CPU speed is the reason some Alphas sell better than others.

It also happens with SGIs - Ian Mapleson has provided countless examples on here of companies who buy parts or entire systems at prices much higher than any hobbyist would believe that hardware to be worth. This fact alone isn't enough evidence to simply conclude that anyone buying/selling hardware at prices you consider to be high is involved in a scam.

BTW, its Nekonoko who has to deal with any legal threats that arise when you single out and make accusations about specific eBay sellers, so out of courtesy to him it might be wise to edit some of your posts.

I know this is the policy here and its a private board so, the rules are the rules. Not anything to argue about but, I just want to point out that the entire internet would come to a grinding halt, Yelp would shut down, craigslist would shut down, amazon would shut down, ebay would shut down itself, if lawsuits like you describe had a chance in hell of going to court. Because someone threatens to sue or has a hack lawyer threaten to sue doesn't mean they will or can. Defamation is just about impossible to win in court. Yelp and Angie's list couldn't exist if there was any legal grounds for such nonsense. This board is no different. People threaten to sue all the time over just about anything. Its popular with a certain kind of hick crowd in the US. Nothing ever comes of it.

AFAIK Nekonono has been contacted by at least one ebay seller in the past about comments made on here. I know if I funded and ran a board for no reward, even responding by email to such a threat would be more hassle than I would want. Thats why I suggested editing the posts 'out of courtesy'. But of course I'm not the owner/admin or a mod. Feel free to ignore me

BTW, defamation/libel cases are much easier to win in other countries. For example, if you were taken to court in London for these accusations, the onus is on you to prove they are true, or you loose your case. Google the term 'libel tourism'.

Yep. All the sites leaknoil listed have a financial incentive to stay online and go to bat for their customers if necessary. This site has no such financial rewards - indeed, it simply costs me money each month in power and bandwidth.

As I've said before, I don't mind soaking these basic costs up, but any other hassles above and beyond power/bandwidth tip the scale towards pulling the plug and washing my hands of the whole thing. There is absolutely no financial incentive for me to talk to a lawyer whether they plan on suing me or not, and I'm certainly no Robin Hood.

I absolutely agree. The rules are yours to make and if you don't want the hassle who can blame you. I'm just saying that 99.9% of people that threaten to sue on the internet probably wouldn't know how to actually sue if they wanted to. It also costs money to sue and if they lose they get to pay all your court costs and they will lose. Those cases never stand up in court. Next to comparing something to nazi's or hitler "I'm going to sue you" is probably the next most common insult or threat on the internet.

Actually, I really can't see how you could possibly win such a case if it were filed in a jurisdiction such as the UK. And someone regularly making a thousand dollars or more by selling a really old computer has a little more incentive than many others to defend his/her reputation by sending out a warning letter (at the very least).

It's a number of things. In general, smaller faster systems tend to go for a higher price as people migrate off a platform but need to keep something around for one or two apps. A 1 or 2u system (or a small workstation like the XPsomething) is more enticing than an old DEC 7000.

Also "last systems to support..." are another thing. VME, XMI, ... someone probably has a process control system that interfaces to it (not so sure about Futurebus+), and will want to have spares around. Likewise for a system such as a 250MHz R4400 Indigo2 - COFF binaries anyone?

Third thing are systems qualified to run in certain other systems, such as the MRI controllers or various other things. It costs more to requalify with something else than it does to keep many spares around.

It is actually a lot harder to make defamation stick in the US then in the UK from everything I've read. In the US it is almost impossible to prove libel unless its super crazy made up stuff. You would basically have to make up stuff and resort to nasty personal insults about their family.