Retro collector bags ultra rare vintage computer for bargain price
RedditA lucky collector is celebrating their good fortune by showing off a recently acquired Altair 680, a rare ‘first generation’ microcomputer.
The era of home computing was launched with the MITS Altair 8800 in 1975. The iconic ‘blue box’ was the first commercially successful personal computer, and was the main catalyst behind the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s, which later spawned the PC and gaming industries we have now.
The successor to the 8800 was the Altair 680, a smaller and slightly more powerful microcomputer that is just as rare as its bigger brother. Both of these early computers are eagerly sought after by collectors due to their place in history. One fortunate Redditor and retro collector managed to get their hands on one for a knock-down price of only €30, or about $32.
Reddit user RepresentativeCut486 was contacted by someone on Discord who was selling a rare Altair 680. Being a fan of vintage computing, RepresentativeCut486 was interested, but could only offer €30.
These rare and collectible machines have been known to sell for several thousand dollars, so RepresentativeCut486 was rightfully astonished when seller Maybe_Tree accepted the offer, with the proviso that RepresentativeCut486 make an attempt to get the unit into a fully working condition.
The process to restore the 680 might not be easy. Like the Altair 880, the 680 lacks a display, keyboard or any kind of external storage. To program it, users would have to use the front switches to painstakingly enter code bit by bit. This might make diagnosing any issues with the hardware problematic.
Other users on Reddit congratulated the new owner, though not without some hints of jealousy. User Hjalfi commented jokingly: “I hate you (but in the nicest way possible)!”
Hopefully, we will get an update on the restoration process for this rare piece of computer history.