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Subject: Collector's Corner..Speculating On A Rare Computer..

Author: Steve B

Date: 11:01:27 01/26/05


Sometimes a Collector will take a chance and bid/buy a computer on the off
chance it could be a great find..

an example of this is the Novag Savant chess computer
released in 1981 and containing Dave Kittingers famous "MY CHESS" program ,it
was the first computer available to use a "touch screen" for the move input
system
the player would touch on the lcd piece he/she wanted to move and the piece
would disappear ,reappearing on the square the player chose

somewhat of a marvel in its day,it was rated about 1450 Elo

it cost about $600 brand new and was so popular for Novag they released two
updated versions for it,the Savant II and Savant Royale

the problem today is that there are no known fully working Savants in existence

the processor might still be working but not the touch screen display,rendering
the input system useless

most screens today are either totally blackened out or just blank

i know of no collector that has a fully working Savant today

there are those that hold out hope however..
every so often an auction appears for one and collectors will bid on it,in the
off chance that maybe,just maybe this one,will work

if they do find a working Savant the value of it would be astronomical

here is such an auction..the bidders are all collectors
they know full well that the computer will not work,but for a small bid,the
reward although remote in possibility will be great

i of course asked the seller if he tested the computer,but i received the
typical reply in a case like this,which was he didn't have the adaptor so he
could not test it

sure sign the computer is kaput

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5951855498

Best
Steve





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