My 2600 i had as a kid, re-discovered in parents basement.

[nitrogen_widget]

I went to my parents the other day and they are shoveling out the basement.
My mom asks if I want this.
I look and it's my freeking atari 2600 from when i was a kid.
Had zero idea it was still around.

so um yeah i wanted it.
took another 40 mins. to find the cartridges in a deep dark damp corner of the basement.
The instruction books were black mildew so those are toast.

the cartridges are filthy.
I let the dry off for a few days while my coax connectors from ebay came in.
 I happened to have some quickshot joysticks on a shelf for no reason at all so i didn't have to hunt down controllers.

It took about 10 mins. of cleaning to get the black off the connectors of my Atlantis cartridge and another 5 mins. of sliding it in and out to clear off the console connectors and it works!
But, if you sneeze near it the game locks up.
so i'll set it aside and plan to disassemble the console to give it a good cleaning along with the 25 cartridges I have.

they also unearthed my ti-99/4a the silver version with a minus mission cartridge but that needs a new power brick.
Thought all that stuff got tossed decades ago.
guess not.

[cw]

Great find...

[pbj]

Man, those Ti computers were odd ducks.  Had a lot of fun messing around with one I bought for $20 ~1992.

Finding a surprise 2600 in a box in a closet was a childhood highlight for me.  Happened a few times!

[ark_ader]

My first computer was a TI99/4A, and I got the $50 rebate for a cassette deck.  Not until 2000 did I find out that the the TI99/4A was a 16 bit computer.  I tried to get the expansion box for the floppy disk, CP/M and the voice box, as $1000 was as much as a million to a 13 year old kid.  The keyboard sucked, but it was a favorite with the kids in the neighborhood.

Wow a real 2600?  Was it a woody or a darth vader?  How long will it take you to mod (pi) it?

Anything else floating around like a spare hard drive with some bitcoins on it? 

[nitrogen_widget]

It's a woody 2600. I only mod stuff broken beyond repair. might get a multi-cartridge for it.

My parents got me the Ti from Brand-names when they were on sale. it was my first computer.
I typed so many programs into it and saved them to a cheap tape recorder.
We had them at school in junior high also but the newer plastic ones.
I even had a subscription to some TI magazine that came with a tape of programs.
The stupid expensive floppy was never an option.

 

[Howard_Casto]

Once you see that crappy rf-out you might change your tune.  Those switch boxes don't age well. 

[nitrogen_widget]

Once you see that crappy rf-out you might change your tune.  Those switch boxes don't age well.

not using a switch box.
couldn't find it in the basement.

Have one of these:


works pretty good attached to a CRT via coax.

[Howard_Casto]

Yeah I tried that too.  The improvement isn't that dramatic. 

[nitrogen_widget]

Yeah I tried that too.  The improvement isn't that dramatic.

It looks just like I remember it.
Except not nearly as awesome now because of today's games.

[yotsuya]

Yeah I tried that too.  The improvement isn't that dramatic.

It looks just like I remember it.
Except not nearly as awesome now because of today's games.

Eff today's games!

[Howard_Casto]

I did the composite mod and while still terrible, it's a marked improvement.  Might do s-video when I get a chance.