Well... I just turned 33, so I guess that lowers the average a little :) Now, I thought I was 13 when our (I'd love to say "my", but it was my Dad's - even though I was the one who used it 90% of the time) QL turned up; but I know we got ours somewhere around April 1984, which means I must have been 11...
I've still got that first QL (cue dewey eyes) - although the mainboard has sadly packed up, as has the original 8032 coprocessor chip. She's had 2 or 3 new membranes too. I've replaced the board & co-pro with one from a newer QL, but retained the original microdrives (still working perfectly) & AH roms. It would be nice to have the original motherboard repaired (regardless of the cost), partly for sentimental reasons, and partly because I suspect an original early '84 machine has a reasonably good (and always improving) collectibility value. The serial no. starts D06; I guess there are others on this list with even older machines though. Also unfortunately, much of my extensive microdrive collection has been severely damaged (by cold and/or damp, I think), so the foam rubber bit which keeps the tape in contact with the heads has rotted on many of them. I replaced a few of the foams from newer (less abused) cartridges, and amazingly they still worked, despite being dormant for nigh on 10 years... Unlike all of my mid-90s PC floppies, which are thoroughly dead. That (Sir) Clive Sinclair, he knew a thing or two... despite being panned at the time. Cheers, Ade. -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.405 / Virus Database: 268.12.3/445 - Release Date: 11/09/2006 _______________________________________________ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
