Cost of a Commodore 64?

[someone3760]

I was looking into buying a Commodore 64. I searched up how much it would cost and found anywhere from about 10$ to 50$, but when I searched the ebay completed auctions the price varies drastically. How much should I expect to pay for the system and everything to hook it up? Thanks.

[Menegrothx]

Keep in mind that you'll also need a disc drive and a casette drive because the games came out on cartridges, casettes AND floppies

[someone3760]

Oh, I didn't know that. How much would it be with those also?

[Menegrothx]

I have no idea, plus prices in the states are different from those that they're here in Europe. You CAN play the system with out either of the drives or just one, but naturally it limits your game selection to some extent. Some games were floppy only, some cartridge, some casette.
Nowadays there's also flash drives where you can store games, if you don't wanna buy games for the system or have the games but don't feel like swapping them every time you wanna play, there's a thread about those on our forums here

Anyway I can't give you any price estimates, sorry about that

[BoneSnapDeez]

I recommend looking on craigslist before ebay.

I wouldn't go over $40 for a base unit w/ power supply and TV hook-ups (I recommend getting one with AV cables if you can).

Commodore 64 joysticks kinda suck, but many third-party sticks are decent and Atari 2600 sticks also work.

Disk drives are more expensive than they should be and shipping is high cuz those mofos are HEAVY.

Don't bother with the cassette stuff unless you fall in love with the system.

Keep in mind that most cart games tend to be simplistic and have that "Atari" feel to them - games like Pac-Man and Congo Bongo are on carts. Games that feel like the 8-bit titles you're used to playing on NES/SMS (platformers/RPGs/etc) are on disk or tape.

[Snatch1414]

I have one CIB in 'meh' condition if you're interested Don't have any accessories though.

[Hobie-wan]

Games on cassette was mostly a thing in Europe. I barely remember seeing any tape games in the US when we got our C64 and I never saw them later. Of course there are many European releases on tape that didn't make it to the US. Getting the system or the disk drive shipped will be expensive as both the drive and the power supply for the computer are very heavy.

[BoneSnapDeez]

You're right - I forgot about that power supply. What a beast! Another reason to look locally first.

[BurningDoom]

If you can find one locally, it shouldn't cost you much. But to buy one online, you'll pay an arm and a leg. And most of that is due to shipping costs. The unit itself is heavy, the disk drive is heavy, and the power brick is a hulking beast.