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WTB: Working Apple Lisa

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I dunno, they all seem to have plateaued around $1600 to $2000 the past few years... I think people have become aware they dont do anything and there is Virtually NO software or hardware being developed for them by anyone right now.. So they will remain rather useless. Vintage micros has lots of parts, but his prices are very high... So its beyond a niche.. Its just dead and dormant.

My advice; the advice of someone who wanted one and bought one is this. Dont buy one. Is there an emulator? Emulate it.. ITs sorely not worth the money and space. I can say that now. My apple III now with modern parts is quite useful,, My lisa is a very large brick on a shelf.
 
My followup advice: don't buy one for a set price, because you'll pay more.

Instead, get into an auction with a low starting bid.

This advice applies to other computers of similar vintage, like a Mac 128K. Don't do "Buy It Now;" just wait for a low-starting auction and bid there.

Unless you have money to burn, you'll nearly always pay hundreds more with Buy It Now than you would at an auction listing.
 
DFinnigan said:
My followup advice: don't buy one for a set price, because you'll pay more.

Instead, get into an auction with a low starting bid.

This advice applies to other computers of similar vintage, like a Mac 128K. Don't do "Buy It Now;" just wait for a low-starting auction and bid there.

Unless you have money to burn, you'll nearly always pay hundreds more with Buy It Now than you would at an auction listing.
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I bought mine in an In person live auction. Still got stupidly high. Your assuming hes using ebay. He never said he was.
 
VERAULT said:
I bought mine in an In person live auction. Still got stupidly high.
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I think his point is not that auctions don't go "stupidly high," but with Buy It Now you're pretty much guaranteed to pay a high price, whereas with auctions you at least have a chance to get it at a more reasonable price.

VERAULT said:
Your assuming hes using ebay. He never said he was.
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His advice seems generally true. Yahoo Auctions (Japan) is exactly the same. It doesn't apply to "flea market" sites like Mercari, but that's probably obvious since you can't find an auction on a site like that.
 
Because I am already heavily financially invested into it. I took alot of time to repair it, get a working profile drive. Load it, etc. So because of this I am not willing to walk away. Its remaining on my shelf.

Everything I said was cautionary.
 
The documentary in question is Before Macintosh: The Apple Lisa, right? I have it bought and downloaded but haven't had the time to watch it in full! What I will say is, ironically, each new documentary may only serve to raise both the Lisa's profile and (consequently) the average selling price of the machine...
 
David,
In my opinion, the key here is find a system before it gets listed on eBay and you will have a better chance to make a fair deal. In the last 10 years, I have acquired six complete and working Lisa systems for free. Just let everyone and anyone you know that you are looking for a system and one will turn up eventually. With the exposure you will get from the video, I am sure folks will come to you and offer to give you Lisa's. Just be patient.
Rick
 
Here's a few recent sales for this year. I can confirm Lisa's are functionally useless, but they nonetheless have continued to climb in price. I got my complete set with Profile for $1100 6 years ago, and it was quite broken. Nowadays I see just the computer itself, no keyboard, still going for thousands if not working.
 

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I haven't watched it yet, but it looks like it will help raise public awareness of the historical significance of the machine, as did the Verge documentary. The Apple I doesn't do much either, but people know about the rarity and importance of the machine, so it has value. Sure, these two documentaries won't make the Lisa a household name, but they certainly can, and perhaps will, make a difference.

VERAULT said:
Why, did the documentary show it can do more than word-processing and office work?
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Edit: I'd also argue that the Lisa isn't functionally useless; I think calling it useless is a bit harsh. Impractical is the right word here - using one to do office work is as impractical as it is to do office work on a Mac 128K. The Lisa's main issue is a lack of native third party software, although you can still install MacWorks and use it as a large-screened Macintosh Plus.
 
It's like with Rev 0 Apple IIs... I bought mine for $2700 about 4 years ago (dark green slot variant). They are now going for $6700ea, which is the price the light green slot used to go for. I wonder if covid money is still sloshing around out there. Or maybe it's just Gen X coming into their peak earning years. As much as I've gotten used to it, every once in a while I'm like.. why is someone paying $10k for that?

I wonder how long it can go on for. I don't see my kids generation showing a ton of interest in $6000 paperweights. Plus all this stuff WILL die eventually.
 
Considering how expensive it was when new and how little it did. USELESS IS THE WORD I MEANT!

Now I think its a very well built machine; its solid. But again noone made any good software for it.. So its fundamentally useless. What surprises me really is how the community today (retro computer folks and hobbyists) are not making any new software or hardware for it(with the exception of @stepleton and his cameo Aphid and sigma seven systems who made BLU). Its the perfect time to develop on it but I dont know why noone is.
 
Not enough of an install base compared to developing for the C64, MS-DOS, or other more used platforms. Even looking at the mac, there isn't much retro development happening, probably due to the more "boring" black and white graphics that were the norm for many years.
 
VERAULT said:
Considering how expensive it was when new and how little it did. USELESS IS THE WORD I MEANT!

Now I think its a very well designed machine; its solid. But again noone made any good software for it.. So its useless. What surprises me really ishow the community today (retro computer folks and hobbyists) is not making any new software or hardware for it(with the exception of @stepleton and his cameo Aphid and sigma seven systems who made BLU). Its the perfect time to develop on it but I dont know why noone is.
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It's just a harder system to develop for. The source code release might make that easier in the future if people can figure out a way to compile the code on a modern machine, and perhaps create some development tools for it. A future community release of LOS might help speed up the machine and make using one more bearable.

If you feel yours is useless you could always try finding a screen modding kit and going all-in on making it a Macintosh XL. I too am kind of fustrated not many people are developing things for the Lisa, but that just seems to be a consequence of its rarity. To me it's ironic that the machine with a open, expandable design has almost no hardware and software specifically deisnged for it, while the far less expandable Mac computers of the day get more attention. 😭
 
3lectr1c said:
Not enough of an install base compared to developing for the C64, MS-DOS, or other more used platforms. Even looking at the mac, there isn't much retro development happening, probably due to the more "boring" black and white graphics that were the norm for many years.
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Yeah I figured as much. Just thought someone would want to be adventurous or take on the underdog..
 
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