What Is A Beige Whale?
Vložit
- čas přidán 26. 06. 2024
- In this video essay, I explain a concept that I believe we all understand, but have never given voice to. Join me as we venture into the fascinating, yet unnecessary.
Support my channel:
/ cathoderaydude
ko-fi.com/cathoderaydude
Footnote: There appear to be a couple rendering bugs that cause white blotches to appear on the edge of the video. This seems to be a glitch in Premiere, it happened in two separate renders and seems to be random. I guess I have to see about upgrading.
I'm also aware I said "tape decks built into VCRs" like four times instead of "VCRs built into TVs" but everyone knows what I meant and it would require 16 hours of work to reshoot and re-edit to fix. - Věda a technologie
Heh, this is entirely too relatable man. Feels like 9 out of 10 items in my collection are beige whales. And now talking about them is a job... What is life.
Collab please
@@fkthewhat I second the motion!
jesus, i read this in his voice
Of course lgr watches the dude. Please collaborate on something, don't care what.
@@ooze9808 you mean the Duke nukem voice, right?
"Beige Whale" is such a perfect phrase in so many collecting spheres. Excellent coinage.
Except for whale collectors. Whale collector would LOVE to get hold of a beige whale. White whales on the other hand are a bit meh.
Especially since most retro equipment is beige.
Here's an idea for you: buy a beige whale, just for a review, then sell it for what you bought it for (more or less). Rotating your stock like this keeps the equity you put in, and let's you make more content.
that's a cool idea
Yeah as Adam Savage likes to say think of it as your the current custodian.
Whoa that's a fantastic idea, no loss of space in addition to no loss of money, or even it he resells them for a bit less he should be able to recoup the investment from YT! Could be some sort of recurring series without schedule, given they would just show up at irregular intervals... I'd watch this for sure! :-)
Thats how I collect things. I buy stuff I think is cool as long as its a good deal and put it right on ebay after cleaning it up and looking at it a bit.
Dude is so good now, come so far.
As I saw the title, and what channel it was coming from, I thought "oh, that's brilliant, white whale but for old computers ... which are usually beige". Now I hear your explanation, but I still like my interpretation better :D
Hahaha, right? I hadn't made the connection until I was way into shooting the video but hey, it's a nice coincidence.
Convergent evolution?
Yeah, that's what I thought as well
WHOOPS. I forgot in my narrative that there WAS a 386 model 25, the SX! They're even rarer though, so good luck to me ever seeing one.
What does the PS/1 make you feel? There was a 386 (SX or DX, I don't remember) in the first wave of them. The store I worked at only ever sold one.
I was going to wait another day to release this, but decided to put it out now in anti-celebration of having lost a true white whale - the exact machine I described, a PS/2 with a Pentium upgrade, that I've only ever seen one of. I almost won it on eBay (some viewers even contributed a lot of money to help out, which I'm incredibly grateful for) but it went for the absurd sum of $660 + $99 shipping.
Now I'm considering just picking up the next 286 model that shows up, since it's *somewhat* less rare and then I'd at least have the beige variant of this whale, and someday maybe I'll find the upgrade card and can upgrade it to a white one.
@Lassi Kinnunen 81 whoaaa. I'll have to look for this. Is there any chance you can find the model number it was sold under?
OH! Was it the Model 25-SX? I completely forgot that existed, aw heck, I feel like a doofus now.
@Lassi Kinnunen 81 That all sounds about right. I would really love to find one of these.
@@CathodeRayDude There were also the IBM Eduquest machines that look almost identical to a PS/2 model 25 that had either 386 or 486 processors in them. Oddly IBM never made a 386/sx variant of the PS/2 Model 30, instead selling the 386 PS/1 model 2123 based on the Model 30 case and boards
@@St0rmcrash trouble is those are even rarer - I've never seen one for sale. I would love to have one and especially the unique software
As an online seller I really appreciate your comments on shipping. Another note would be people for some reason expecting cheap stuff to ship for less. 2 items, one $5, one $50, same size, weights, same distance. THEY COST THE SAME TO SHIP. "I can't spend more then the item cost on shipping" Ugh.
I buy a decent amount on ebay and I got over the free shipping trap years ago. I always look at the price and shipping as a whole unit. But I wasn't always this way.
I love how wholesome all of your videos come off. Somehow you find a way to make things I would have no interest in, seem fascinating. Like holding a small child's hand through a haunted house show, its actually fun though I don't have any intentions of going through it by myself
thank you so much, I've tried so hard to achieve this.
As an aside, the design language of green PLAY and blue STOP in addition to the classic red RECORD button is absolutely chef kiss to me. Don't see it very often.
i LOVE IT. it's OFFENSIVE to me, outright, that most VCRs just color everything identically. it's wrong. it's unethical
This is fantastic! It is occurring to me that most of my white whales are in fact beige in nature. Things that I *could* get if only I could be properly motivated, or didn't have the good sense to talk myself out of. I *want* all of the things, and your channel has been introducing me to even more things to want, but not actually pursue. But dang, if I ever saw one of those professional TV/VCR Combos at a Goodwill, I would absolutely spend too much money to take it home with me, convinced that I will watch VHS tapes I don't own on it.
Have you ever pondered how you could rearrange your daily life just to make use of a beige whale? Like getting a word processor and starting to write more letters or a journal
frequently, and I'm glad I don't force myself to commit to it very often or life would be hard. but I want to.
I think I've done that before. I buy something on a whim, someone will say "you're not gonna use that" I'm always like "yes I will". I got a type writer and actually started to write a lot more letters and stories out of spite
Oh you want an email? I’ll be sure to type that up on my vintage typewriter and then scan it with my 2006 bottom line Canon scanner and convert it to a very large PDF attached to textless email for you. Make sure to check your junk folder!
@@RingoBuns could you please convert the PDF into an image format and then to ASCII graphics so i can read it on my 386?
@@kai990 I’ll mail you a letter with raw binary code written in crayon
7:40 "That feels like about $400!"
It hurts that he's right. You'd expect old SD cameras that still use tape to drop in price, but no. $400 minimum. And if you do find one that's under 400 it's either incomplete, broken or untested. I honestly think that if it's a complete set (VF, body, microphone and lens), most of the money sits in the lens, because the B4 mount is still used to this day. Could be that small film companies buy those cameras up not for the camera itself, but for the lens. And then you get a whole bunch of BODY ONLY offers on eBay.
I literally bought a Sony camera two days ago, exactly $400. Kinda made me laugh out loud how on point that is.
I just stayed up till midnight looking at those whales... You truly explained how my brain works, and I didn't even realize.
I'm going to get this thing, and it's going to be so cool, sure it's $1200, but I mean, it's here and it's in reach and...bummer it's fusty and dust-mite ridden and isn't quite what my memories said it would be.
It's insane how much my mindset lines up with yours, it's so hard to explain to people that something can be cool and rare, but like not THAT cool and rare enough to spend like, $100 on it
Now I have to go find a consumer TV/VCR combo unit just so I can watch CRD throw it away.
just wanted to say the masking, automated or otherwise, is a really nice touch.
if you mean the chromakey effect, thank you! it was a last second addition I didn't think would work and I wondered if everyone would notice how ragged it looks, but it seems to really sell the video.
@@CathodeRayDude exactly what i mean! it's the little touches that really drive home that you're enjoying what you're doing :)
Those IBM models were the pc of choice for my elementary computer lab. I remember playing lemonade stand and logo writer on them.
I bought all the ones our school district retired for pennies on the dollar, 20 years ago. They were all eventually scrapped (I'm still kicking myself in the ass for that) but kept the keyboards... if I can find them. Did keep the two EduQuests from that sale this whole time though.
@@knightcrusader I mean did anyone even know we'd have such nostalgia for the smell of floppy disks?
Wow, I was like "Know the feel, bro"!
Some my beige and white whale are things that where rather cheap when I was a kid or a teenager, but I couldn't buy it, and now have a very high price.
This dude is so funny right where it counts while still being informative and entertaining.
A lot of those early digital cameras were conversions using high end professional 35mm bodies, and I would think that the film bodies themselves being so valuable are what's driving the prices up. The Nikon F5/F6 itself is a beige whale for me
Ok your facial expressions are amazing during the list of ten items. I want a clip of "i dont need that. But i WANT it."
every one of them is absolutely sincere
@@CathodeRayDude thats why its great, the confusion and such for the absurd prices of random crap.
When I clicked this video I 100% thought beige whale was going to refer to the color of lot of retro tech.
That yellowed off white color 😂
10:00 one of those is actually on my beige whale list too. Before I had a PC, I got one of those all-in-one word processors for doing homework assignments on - it was a Brother model and even had Tetris on it. I have absolutely zero use for it, but if one dropped in my lap I wouldn't turn it away.
I think it is not only owning the items, but also everything that orbits around owning them. Talking about them, making videos, examining them for inspiration, customizing, everything can have a community and that is very very valuable
My entire eBay & Amazon watchlist are just Beige Wales.
I loved every second of this video, the raw passion was hilariously great.
I like that you draw the line at sculptures because of practicality ... not like having a basement and storage unit full of old electronics. Lol. I get it, but it was still funny to hear it out loud.
In the first ~40 seconds or so of you explaining the meaning of "white whale", it dawned on me the significance of Mastodon's "Blood and Thunder", specifically the lyrics "white whale, holy grail", especially given the song's (and album's as a whole) references to Moby Dick. I feel slighter smarter but also kinda dumb now.
i try my hardest to achieve this outcome
@@CathodeRayDude And this is why I'm subbed to you 😅
That Thompson camera is a thing of beauty. I, too, would frame it and hang it on my wall.
You've come a long way doing videos... Love your work, keep doing it! And, thank you!
Mine is actually black, and it's a Pioneer LaserActive, with both of the game modules.
THANK YOU for pointing out how ridiculous the pricing can be on old pro video, and a lot of the time the person clearly doesn’t know what they are selling they’ve just seen a few listings themselves and judge it that way.
Watching your videos is great because it's like me having a youtube channel, except I don't have to do anything. Also I grew up with a Videowriter!
Fair warning that ever since you put this term in my head, I had a "beige whale" I was hunting for, so I reference you in the title of an upcoming video about it. Thanks again for all the great content you bring us!
I like your editing. It’s very clean.
12:27 tapedecks in vcrs :D love that one
Your best video so far!
I absolutely LOVE your house diagram! I've lived in this house in the past. :)
Your philosophy is deeply profound!
Brilliant episode Dude!
This video hits home. I have many ebay watched items and craigslist search bookmarks for these types of items. Sadly, many of the items are computers that rarely work because of the age.
This video gave me a flashback to the times of CZcams reply/react videos, when the reply would be directly to the original video and show up next to the description. I could see many viewers replying to this with their own thoughts and list of items.
This is a hilarious video, keep up the great work!
I just agreed to buy a huge beige whale, a 32 inch B&O CRT TV.
I don't have the space, and I certainly don't need it. But at 30 quid, I couldn't resist.
I love your channel. Definitely one of my favourites. Thanks.
Beige whales are why youtube videos exist! I 'collect' all the stuff other folks buy and make videos about for my amusement with my eyes, while claiming a minimalist travel lifestyle. It's great. Watches, disney pin collections, makeup. (My boyfriend always encourages me to watch your videos because he loves them, and I do really enjoy them but I like how transferable this one is!)
Love this channel already. The Dude reminds med of the Woz in more ways than one!
Oh god you and me share the same affliction with early digital cameras. Love the content featuring it.
Best comedic or short film of the year!
Your description of a beige whale is great but it also managed to hit on a deep part of my soul that is the reason I approach life the way I do. This is a great video but my therapist will be hearing about it so thanks for that.
well it seems I accomplished my goals
Omg! Best video ever! you nailed it.
This is such an excellent description of most things I end up with in my collection. I don't need them, don't have the space for them, but they just sort of present themselves for a price that's hard to say no to.
the second the tester appeard I went
"What is this Rolland gear I have never seen?"
The new studio looks great 👍🏻
I love your voice in all your videos
What a beautiful video and expresses a similar feeling I had although trade out old computer and video stuff with action figures and trading cards from less than notable 90s movies and cartoons.
That thompson camera is gorgeous i love it
This video was weirdly wholesome … thank you!
This is a great video. It really articulates my feelings.
My Beige Whale was the NCR PC4 - a PC compatible all in one from 1984. It was given to me when I was young and was really my first personal computer. The power supply broke and I threw it out years ago. I paid probably too much for another one last year.
A seller in Atlanta has the fancier PC4i, with a color screen! But they want $500 for it, and won't respond to my emails, eBay messages, offers, or Twitter DMs.
... I'm not creepy. I promise!!!
Beige whale... perfect description my dude, I'm adding it to my lexicon
Hey Gravis, great video as usual. I'd love to see a video someday where you talk about what factors in your life got you interested in retro-computing. I'm a bit older than you, and it's interesting that you find so much joy in these old beige boxes as well, and it would be cool to hear about what your first experiences were with computing and what set you down this path.
The collecting bug isn't quite in me anymore but I certainly understand the impulse. Right now it just seems easier to enjoy other people's collections vicariously (space considerations in my home just like you lol)
Sure! I think I should do video essays like this once in a while, people seem to like to listen to me talk. Might get something out of a "Q&A" type video as well though I'm not sure how to structure those.
thank you this really speaks to me
My first PC was a PS/2 Model 30 with an 8086. I found an 8088 coprocessor at used computer warehouse one day and added that in so I could run Windows 3.0. I loved that computer. The sound it made when you fired it up. I played SimCity and Civilization 2 for hundreds of hours on that thing as a kid. I stayed home from school some days just so I could spend the whole day on the computer. My next computer was a 486 DX 33 that I overclocked to 50mhz (swapped the crystal. That's how you did it back then) and a few years later my next PC was a Tyan-based dual Pentium 133. The steps in performance between those computers was HUGE. The steps between generations of computers these days doesn't come close to the gaps I bridged back in the early 90s. I loved those old machines and I wish I still had them but my dad sold them when I moved out of the house. The only thing I still have is the original PS/2 keyboard. Thank got I still have that monster.
Yeah! The jumps in perf between the generations were so massive, compared to the 80s which opened with people buying 8088s and closed with them still often buying 8088s even though better stuff was available. Now it's remarkable how fast the cheapest computers are.
One of my big beige whales is a 1959 PhilCo Predicta Tandem television. Have no room for it, it's black & white picture, probably wouldn't pay more than $25 ($50 with shipping) for it, I'm barely 37, so there's no nostalgia for me, and I'd probably have to spend so much to do work on it. But it's gorgeous!
Mine that you'd know about is an RCA CPR300 VHS camcorder, purely for the nostalgia. My grandfather had one that I played with a lot, and I'm only just now realizing that it's as old as me and I was probably the first thing he filmed on it. He stubbornly held onto that until it broke and couldn't be fixed, so it was on his shoulder during every family gathering I saw him at. I have far more useful things on my wish list, though.
thanks for your content ...very interesting especially the good will trips!
I actually had a Laser Compact XT once. It was my family's first computer, my parents bought it from Sears. We got it in the late '80s and used it till 1994, when we finally upgraded to a 486 machine. While it is so primitive now, I would like to have it back just to relive those fun early days when I was teaching myself how to use MS-DOS and IBM compatible software.
This channel rocks
This is what I love about thrift stores, literally your first beige whale (the brother version) is one that I happened to come across for pocket change because someone who knew what it was had held on to it, passed away, and then it went to Goodwill with a load of leftovers from an estate sale. Easily, 3/4 of what I own came from thrift stores, and the fun of it is visiting with zero expectations and ending up feeling as if you tripped over pirate treasure without even having a map.
12:12 glad you managed to grab this whale. the monitor video was the first one I watched from your channel.
RIGHT? I can't believe it!!
It's cool that you mentioned Belarus! I'm from there and usually people don't even know it exists, props to you man.
I've got a handful of bibles that were printed for Cambridge University Press in Belarus.
it might actually be fun to try collecting something from every country in the world
@@fnjesusfreak Hey that's very cool thanks for sharing! :)
Man, good call on how nice a 32-bit Model 25 would be. Now I’m gonna keep my eyes out for one, too lol
I definitely understand this as a watch enthusiast. My white whale is an Omega Speedmaster Tintin, but since I don't have an extra $10k+ just rolling around my beige whale is a Seiko Speedtimer Pogue, or any other 6139 chronograph. I've gotten one for a very reasonable price, considering it runs way fast, has had parts replaced, and is a bit scratched on the dial, but every month I find some excuse to wind it up, set the date, and rock it for a weekend.
One of my beige whales was a Memorex VideoBall Sphere CRT TV. It’s a pretty low end CRT, but it in the shape of a sphere so it always fascinated me for some reason. I never wanted to pay eBay prices but if one came up for sale for $50 I’d buy it. Just last week I was driving around and found one of them on the side of the road for free. It works great and all I have to do is get a remote for it to change it to AV input. Really happy with my find and happy I didn’t have to pay money for it.
Great video, very relatable and I agree about early digital cameras. For me right now it's Sony Mavica cameras. I have no need for them, I just think they're neat. I know I can get them on eBay, but I can't justify just spending the money to order, but if I happen across one then I have to grab it.
"this is so much my thing that i'd just want to be near it" oh i feel this so insanely
Oh this hits home hard. SO many beige whales. My eBay searches are pretty much nothing but. That said, patience is key. I had two purchases which were nothing but niche - two very specific AT cases I wanted, and I managed to find them with some searching.
My personal collector's White Whale would be a Sony BVM-D20F1U. Just a Professional CRT that can do 480p and 720p. I was just too young ten years ago when you could get all of these things for $100 each, and pretty much all of the ones that are out there, are in the hands of people who aren't selling them.
I totally appreciate you and am…. Happy that I’ve come to know you. One sidedly. We want to know more. Share you, like you do….. but more. We like you, cathode.
Yes! Also I had that exact Panasonic monitor + VCR you showed. Sadly it was used to hell and the flyback had exploded (shorted out) as well as the CRT was worn to hell... So I sent it off to pasture. It did look pretty sweet though! You should buy the Akai camera. :-)
Oh and that Sony text generator thing. Has the super unreliable Sony drives HP used like on my HP 150... Seemingly all broken now.
I'm so sorry to hear that, gosh, it would feel so raw to get rid of one of those things, but what can you do? CRT repair is tough at the best of times. And yes, I am being URGED to buy the Akai and I will probably do so. The price is really right!
@@CathodeRayDude yeah you know, I've learned to cut my losses as I don't have room for broken things that there is really no chance to fix. If I had somehow found a new flyback for it, then what? You end up with a super worn out device that had a very hard life and was still on its last legs... Since CRTs and consumable items, finding a new CRT to install in it would have been near impossible.
But I get you on everything you talked about!
Love the name "Beige Whale" for something you would very much like to have, but would never spend gobs of money on.
The first thing that comes to mind for my Beige Whale would be model M keyboard. Well, it doesn't HAVE to ve model M. I just want it be: A. Tank-like and heavy keybord with big, heavyweight buckling spring keys. The noisier the better. B. In decentish shape and fully able to work on a modern PC without much pain or effort. C. Not cost more than $50. $70 would be the absolute highest i would do for a perfect BW.
Also would love to find a Commodore 64 at a thrift store for $15.
btw while it feels good that old tech is valued even if just for aesthetic reasons one thing makes me anxious about private collections of electronics. unlike art collection which estates wouldn't just blindly scrap, there's no knowing what happens to electronics. and actually more obscure/technical the thing is the more likely it is to be thrown away if they can't identify it's value with a google search. people are lazy with wills and/or testament stuff to someone who doesn't want it.. IMO there should be a registry for all decent collections. they could produce signage to be installed in premises with a phone number to call if owner suddenly passes away or something and people don't know what to do with the stuff.
I feel attacked!! Why is this the perfect description of me? And even starting with the model 25!? My dream computer, but have no use for
I love this new terminology. A beige whale for me was always an old Singer 15-91 sewing machine. They’re the classic black lacquer ones that have gold paint detailing on them. They are gorgeous. But I barely know how to sew! So why would I ever get one? Well, fast forward 5 years, and my aunt gets ahold of me for the first time in a decade asking me if I wanted a 15-91 that belonged to my great grandmother!! All I had to do was drive to a city that I frequented anyway and pick it up. I couldn’t believe my luck lol.
I hope you are blessed with the same luck with your beige whales!
Also, off topic, but do you have a skincare routine? Because your skin looks perfectly baby soft from all angles and if you have a secret it’s immoral to be keeping it from us.
Beige Whale: sounds like a pretty good gift to get someone. If you can figure out your target's beige whales.
The molar Mac is THE DEFINITION of Beige Whale.
Beige whale for me was a Sony VO-2600. One of the earlier U-Matics they’re worth around $600 on eBay… just so happens I found one at an estate sale a few months ago for 20 bucks (and I only paid 10 because it was half off that day!) There was also a colecovision there for 25 but I didn’t pick it up unfortunately lol
One my beige whales was a Mac G3 Beige; and I was actually able to get one for $0. The guy initially wanted $20, but when he saw that I wasn't a reseller, and that I actually loved the thing for more than just its computational capabilities, he just let me take it for free. I still have it, from like 7 years ago, and I'm still happy I was able to get it. (I was actually willing to pay for it.)
My Beige Whales are a 70s-era "portable" Vidicon news camera (tubes for life), the N64 Disk Drive, the SNES Satelli-view, and it was a U-Matic suite until I got it. You can't really get a more literal "beige whale" until you have a giant 30 pound U-matic VCR laying around.
Absolutely, god, those UMatic decks are massive and heavy. I used to have one, but got rid of it because of just how inconvenient it was. I wouldn't do that nowadays, but this was a long time ago and I just couldn't tote it around any longer.
Dude I relate to this hard, And I like you.
I love the concept, and there’s a lot of hams & shortwave radio listeners who have such a list. Especially since hams have this bizarre tendency to ask for outrageous prices on their old gear.
nicely put. totally get it. although for number of years my beige whale was more like a beige mouse. it was compact systems with some swdev related curiosity (good docs/tools, hackability, interesting development history, unconvential CPUs) like devboards, settop boxes, thinclients, cute computers, but oddly not really anything with integrated displays or keyboards (like PDAs, laptops, AIO or 8bit home computers).
this was convenient/mouse-like as a lot of the stuff I wanted was either free or dirt cheap and easy to store.
until of course I discovered arcade PCBs and HP test equipment, and had to ban myself from ebay.
My white whale (actually more probably beige): a Browning Golden Eagle 23-channel CB Base Station in working condition (very rare, due to vacuum tubes). And the matching D104 golden eagle microphone. A memory from my childhood ...
SGI Fuel is my beige whale.
Awesome machine to me.
I had a SGI Indy and sold it, basically got that for next to nothing. I LOVE SGI computers. Something about that time period in the late 80s and early 90s design and uniqueness that grabs my attention. Plus the early 3D tech was fantastic.
I ended up encountering a beige whale many years ago at a garage sale without even realizing it, until I bought the silly thing and realized what I got.
I'm a bit of a sucker for 486-based desktop-form-factor PC's, but I really only ever wanted to pick up one, because they're big, heavy, not really great for anything but retro DOS gaming and early Windows gaming, and often times, they're temperamental. When I saw one at a garage sale for $25, and the back showed a surprising number of expansion cards, well, I couldn't resist.
So, I get it home, find out it's got the full 640k base memory, about 2MB of RAM totaled up, and the hard drive's completely junked, but it had my beige whale in it: An Intel Pentium OverDrive upgrade for the 486, instead of the 486 DX2 it was supposed to have. I've always wanted one, but really could never justify it, because that meant I'd have to first buy a 486-based PC, and then rip out the 486 just to put in the Pentium OverDrive. It was worth getting a couple of Compact Flash to IDE adapters and plugging a couple of 256MB CF cards into the IDE expansion card it had to make it work. Yeah, I know, it really should have a proper hard drive, but I really can't justify picking up an MFM or RLL controller card and one of those cranky old drives that will undoubtedly die on me four days after I get all of the games I want to play on there.
As for what I do with it? Every 6 months or so, I drag it down off of the shelf in the closet, fire it up, play a few old games for about a week, and then park it back up there, out of sight and out of mind until the next titme I get an itch for some proper DOS gaming.
Exactly! That's exactly the thing! You want it, but not enough to go find it, but if you do find one it's GREAT! Until... it goes... in the closet... but you're still glad you found it!
I'm a bit of a beige whale, I really need to get off the couch.
My beige whale is a Roland SC-55mkII. I’d love that sweet sweet MIDI sound... the only issue is that I’m 1.) haven’t ever really given DOS games a try, and 2.) am not a music producer, so I know for a fact that I would use it once or twice and then admire it on my shelf. And I can’t really justify spending $150 on a beep machine I won’t use very often
That Brother machine that you showed at 10:10 is one of my beige whales. The wide amber CRT is just so retro futuristic!
But realistically I have no use for it. Even if I could mod it to hell to the point that it would be a halfway practical writing tool for the modern day, it would still just feel like a gimmick. Realistically I'd get more mileage out of a raspberry pi and a small Sony PVM. A beige whale that I actually went for was a Magnavox black and white tv radio with a beautiful chassis, besides being a surprisingly good computer speaker, through a convoluted set up, its mainly just a conversation piece/prop. I'm considering using it as a luxury way to play Gameboy games.
Also I'm glad my collection involves going to places and taking photos. Way more affordable xD
So true about the free shipping and the shipping fees.
My beige whale currently is a VW Bora (Jetta Mk IV) V6 4Motion with 120.000km (80.000ish miles) for 4990€. I could afford it, but it's too far away. I'd have to spend a whole day driving there to look at it, then if I buy the car, it would take another ~400-500€ for transporting plus another day wasted so it's not happening. If it was closeby it would already be in my garage.
Another one is a BMW 325ix E30 for 8900€ which is also not a bad price, but it has over 300.00km on it... There's always a catch with everything 😒
Funny enough, I have one of those professional VCR combo sets made by Panasonic. I picked it up for free from an electronic recycler, all it needed was a new power cord and it works beautifully.