BBC Master Compact - are they still out there?

[Aaron76]

Hi all,

when I was a kid I got the pleasure of a shiny new BBC Master Compact that I loved, but it sadly got disposed of when I went to uni. Since I've come back into retro beebs I have kind of secretly fancied getting hold of one again, or even the keyboard as it might be easier for space, which I understand was what originally housed the bulk of the computer and can be ran without the hard-drive that provided the power.

Trying to find a clean and honest one is proving difficult, can anybody offer any advice, would £200 get me keyboard at least? What's the going rate for these things now? Would I need to re-mortgage for a full assembly!?

Best regards,

Aaron

[Simon]

Hi Aaron,

They are still around but they don't come up as often as the more common B.

the Drive bit had just the floppy drive(s) and power. The keyboard (computer) part will work fine if you can feed it 5v.

They are pretty simple machines, cleaning them up isn't that difficult, even the keyboard comes apart nicely for a clean up of the contacts.

good luck with your search!

[RobC]

Trying to find a clean and honest one is proving difficult, can anybody offer any advice, would £200 get me keyboard at least? What's the going rate for these things now? Would I need to re-mortgage for a full assembly!?

I think £200 is about what the keyboard/computer unit goes for. The whole setup goes for between £350 and £400 depending on condition, number of drives etc.

They don't come up very often but just be patient and keep an eye out.