OT: Get any cool Christmas gifts this year?

I received a very fun Christmas gift this year: A PC-2 pocket computer, fully loaded! It has the original case, plotter, RAM expansion, manuals. Even the batteries are original (date code for November 1981). I'm so glad that the batteries didn't leak and ruin the thing. It turned right on when I plugged in the power adapter. It was obviously used very little.

I'm surprised how much information is available on the net for this antique device. I've downloaded the technical reference manual and have studied it a little bit. I'll probably have some fun with it for the next few weeks. Hopefully, I'll get the plotter going as well (it has a dead NiCAD pack, so it should be a simple replacement, I think.)

Perhaps I should get the bubble memory running and use it for a mass-storage device for the PC-2. Hmmm.....

Anyone else get any cool gadgets?

...roboticus

When your only tool is a hammer, all problems look like your thumb.

Comment on OT: Get any cool Christmas gifts this year?

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Re: OT: Get any cool Christmas gifts this year? by Old_Gray_Bear (Bishop) on Dec 26, 2010 at 21:14 UTC
I am on the other end of the spectrum -- I got a 2010 Davis Home Weather Station (Vantage Vue, model 6250). I been complaining to the House for years that the 'local' weather reporting is less than believable. The nearest reporting station is six or seven miles away at the airport, and they are reliably four degrees off of the little thermometer on my kitchen window. It would be OK if they were consistently 4 degrees higher (or lower), but they are all over the map. And let's not talk about precipitation and wind.... Once I get things set up and on the Wire, I can start doing a little observational meteorology. Update -- Corrected tyopo -- thanks Gavin ---- I Go Back to Sleep, Now. OGB	[reply]
Re: OT: Get any cool Christmas gifts this year? by johngg (Canon) on Dec 27, 2010 at 13:07 UTC
My wife has bought me a Nat King Cole collection on SACD for Christmas via the web. This would have been seriously cool if only it had arrived in time :-( Cheers, JohnGG	[reply]