About
I m a tech geek and history buff passionate about finding new homes and uses for vintage electronics. You could say I m on a mission to combat the "built-in obsolescence," throw-away mindset. I sell only items that are tested and working.
All feedback (228)
- second.sale (4166345)- Feedback left by buyer.Past 6 monthsVerified purchaseGood buyer, prompt payment, valued customer, highly recommended.
- nostalgia*surplus (1595)- Feedback left by buyer.More than a year agoVerified purchaseGood buyer, prompt payment, valued customer, highly recommended.
- starmicroinc (17269)- Feedback left by buyer.More than a year agoVerified purchaseGreat communication. A pleasure to do business with.
- urgentcare*ipod*repair (5317)- Feedback left by buyer.More than a year agoVerified purchaseGreat communication. A pleasure to do business with.
- vampknight5 (3315)- Feedback left by buyer.More than a year agoVerified purchaseQuick response and fast payment. Perfect! THANKS!!
- oloribee (1372)- Feedback left by buyer.More than a year agoVerified purchaseQuick response and fast payment. Perfect! THANKS!!
Reviews (3)
Jan 11, 2017
Good solution for connecting devices with serial ports wirelessly
I bought this for a very specific hobby purpose - call it a personal challenge - to connect a rather old vintage computer to the Internet wirelessly, marrying technologies that largely didn't coexist originally. So I needed smart and specialized design, fairly flexible configuration, and reasonable cost to justify the experimentation. I managed cost by taking a chance on a shelf-pulled item, betting that the device was likely reliable and functional but had simply been deemed "obsolete" at some point. (I imagine thousands of these are working perfectly well helping to collect information wirelessly in hospitals and industrial applications right now; latest does not always imply greatest.) The bet paid off nicely. After some iteration with configuration (one must set the device's IP address, communication parameters, and local LAN connection details), I was able to get a 1983 computer with serial port connected to my home WiFi network and then logged onto a Telnet BBS to send and read messages. Not an earth-shattering application, but fun nonetheless and proof that the Lantronix WiBox does what it was designed to do very well (in this case, serve as a virtual serial modem to send and receive data wirelessly).
I have rated less than 5 stars only because the antenna on mine tends to wobble loose easily, needing a quick manual tightening every now and then. That may be due to age and is probably easily correctable. In any case, it's only a slight issue that in no way detracts from the overall quality and excellently engineered internal functionality. In most applications, the device would probably have been anchored down, not moved around, and this issue would not have surfaced.
Today, there are other ways to achieve what was once the specialized domain of devices like this one. One can use very inexpensive wireless communication boards and build a circuit if needed to interface with those. I will do that, too, just for fun and for greater portability. Given those alternatives, I wouldn't be inclined to sink a great deal of money into a device like the WiBox just for nostalgia's sake, but if it serves your purpose and can be bought at a reasonable price, it can be a great find.
Jun 21, 2016
Original adapter design is best!
Having had two of the cheap replacement "brick" adapters before deciding to just get the OEM Apple adapter for my iBook G4, I can say that in my experience, the original design seems best overall. It is lighter and smaller, and the power cords and plug appear to be more durably built. (One of my prior brick adapters failed because the cord connection began to operate intermittently and basically came apart.) Yes, the wall cord has this curious junction with the adapter cube (as one can appreciate in the product photo), but that doesn't seem like it will be a weak point. The way the computer-side (smaller diameter) cord wraps around the built-in "spool" is nice, too, and beats velcro wrap-around ties to keep the cord in place.
Feb 13, 2019
Great replacement for custom / vintage battery packs!
Used these to replace a battery pack for the Sharp CE-150 plotter that works with the vintage Sharp PC-1500 and TRS-80 Pocket Computer 2. Space inside the plotter is tight, so the batteries’ compact form factor (slightly smaller diameter than modern alkaline or rechargeable AA batteries) was a huge help. The solder tabs were great, too, for forming low resistance connections - imperative when dealing with low voltage, high current draw applications. I held successive batteries’ tabs together with an alligator clip, soldered the ends, and then used the shrink wrap tubes to help clamp the tabs together and insulate them. (I still wrapped the connections in a short length of electrical tape to prevent short circuits.) The end result was great, and my little vintage plotter works well again. :) I hope to use these for replacement vintage calculator battery pack also.