Old computers and laptops

[hooverkeymatic]

Hi everyone!I know this isnt a site about computers,but does anyone own a computer over 5 year old.If so, could you post a picture of it and if possible, the specifications.

Thanks very much!

 

[tolivac]

I have an IBM "Aptiva" an early Pentium computer-the beast still works.I don't have the pics of it since I don't have a camera.the specs for it are still packed in a box somewhere from my last move.The computer survived the move OK-at my last house used it on the Internet.Now it is just too antiquated.Bought it from Radio Shack in 1997.

 

[hooverkeymatic]

Thanks.Sounds like a cool computer!

 

[DADoES]

At work I'm using a dual 233 Mhz that's creeping toward 11 years old. Built it myself in spring or summer of 1998, IIRC. Spent nearly $6,000 at the time, with a Hitachi Elite 19" monitor (long gone). Full tower case, Asus mobo, STB Velocity 128 video, two 9 GB SCSI drives, USR Sportster Voice 56K modem (running WinFax for fax/voicemail). WinNT 4.0 Workstation. It has been running 24/7 for the duration except during power failures that outlast the UPS, shut-downs for hurricane threats and maintenance.

Nine computers in my house at the moment. I went through the closets month or so ago, pulled out all the old systems for exam and trashing (but they're not trashed yet). The most decrepit of the four is a 133 Mhz with 96 MB RAM and no hard drives. I have some miscellaneous hardware, such as a Travan tape drive and an RLL hard drive, some DC2120 cartridges (not sure if there's a drive still around), a 100 MB ZIP drive (with a new disc still in the wrapper), an Epson Stylus Color 800 printer. There's an XT clone stashed somewhere at work, loaded with some version of MS-DOS, maybe 3.3, probably would still boot. And a Panasonic 24-pin dot matrix, and an ancient Mustek SCSI flatbed scanner.

 

[hooverkeymatic]

Thanks.Here are the two i own (not exactly old):

Toshiba Satellite L300D laptop.(160gb hard drive,2GB RAM)
Sharp PCMM1110 netbook.(15GB hard drive,256mb RAM)

The Sharp has a faulty hard drive.It is around 9 year old.Somebody give it to me for free.It was worth around £1000 when new.

The toshiba was given as a Crimbo present.It is currently 3-4 months old and is absolutely brilliant!

Keep the info coming!

 

[cadman]

Zach, if you're trolling for old iron you'll have to go back more than 5 years : )

Here's my daily driver. 17" PowerBook G4, introduced Sep of 2003. Came standard with 802.11G, bluetooth, FW 400 and 800, slot-loading DVD burner, gigabit ethernet, ambient light sensor, backlit kb, etc. etc. Plus the gorgeous industrial design. 2.5cm thick.

Back in the day the heavy lifting was video editing and burning from a nice little DV Cam. Today it's still extremely capable and used mostly for photoshop, surfing and music. The only upgrades were a RAM boost this past xmas and the addition of a USB 2.0 card for the PC card slot (onboard USB was 1.0? 1.1?) -Cory

 

[j2400]

I'm usually quite a few years out of date. My newest computer is a cheap Compaq, made about 2001.

Going further back in time, I have a Macintosh Quadra 650. Made in the early 1990s. I still regularly use this machine for some things, like writing. (I like older, simpler word processing programs. Plus I can be more productive without the distraction of the Internet.)

Going back even further in time, I have an old Apple IIc, made in the 1980s. I don't use it--it's a historical artifact. I also have either a Tandy 100 or close relative. Another artifact--sort of the early 80s netbook.

 

[j2400]

I can't do photos--I don't have a digital camera that works passably. Some specs:

The Compaq: About 730 mHz, 384 mB memory, 80 GB hard drive. Both memory and hard drive are larger than when I got it. Machine licensed--and "Designed For"--Windows 98. It came to me with Windows 2000. It now has Linux. Mostly, at the moment, I use Debian 5. I also have Ubuntu (6.06, 7.04, 8.10) Ulite (stripped down Ubuntu 8.04), PCLinux OS 2007, Mandriva 2009.0 XFCE One CD version, and (maybe) 2 year old version of Vector Linux. I also have Windows 98, although I almost never use it.

The Mac has a 68040 processor. The 600x0 series was what Apple used before the PowerPC. The 68040 was the best 680x0 chip ever used by Apple. The speed was considered 33 mHz, although I've heard that the chip's internal speed was higher. (This was the era before internal speeds were always higher.)That Mac runs System 7.5.1. I can't remember the memory--it's above 8 MB, which is more than enough for the software of the era. Hard disk space is about 256 MB. It's a SCSI hard disk, not IDE.

 

[redcarpetdrew]

Who remembers Franklin Ace?

I still have my old Franklin Ace 1000 which was a Apple II clone. They guaranteed 99.999% compatablity with Apple software, etc back then as a selling point. Apple sued them out of existance after finding out that they did this by copying the Apple auto-start rom and so on. OOOPPPSSS! You couldn't run ProDos on a Franklin as it asked the computer what it was and froze if it was anything other than a Apple IIE. I got around that by installing a chip from a Apple IIE and, boom, I could run prodos! I still used a 300 baud CAT accustic modem then. External direct connect modems were just coming out and were awful expensive then. Remember when 1200/2400 baud modems were the rage?

I still remember cutting my teeth on the old Commodore PET's and the CBM's which were the business version with a built in cassette drive... oohhh!

The printer was an old Diablo 1610 Daisywheel. I had to buy a special wheel with a heavy metal 'period' so pictures could be printed. Try waiting forever for a picture to print as a daisywheel did line after line of dots (periods) to make it. HEY! That was cutting edge tech back then in the time of the dinosaurs before dot matrix printers such as the Epson...

I still remember the old Timex-Sinclair mini computers that you bought at Long's Drug and built it yourself. EEwwww!

GOD, I'm old...

RCD

 

[alr2903]

my first one (1995) was a canon yes the whole system, i think right after the purchase canon stopped labeling or mfr. except printers. around 2000 it was one of those big ole compaq's with that strange trim the crt for it is still here..(why i don't know). 2007 a dell. i usually just try to get a new one every 5 to 6 years, it just eliminates a lot of frustration, with outdated systems. in 1995 it wasn't exactly plug n play as it is now. there was what seemed like a zillion cords/ wires to connect.

 

[DADoES]

Oh, well, if going back to one's first computer, I had an Atari 800. Came with 48 MB of RAM, right at the time they upped that as standard instead of 16 MB. Some serious excitement when I opened the box and found that! Had the cassette drive at first, then got a 5-1/4" drive. Those disk drives weren't reliable, went through several replacements. Had the Atari-rebadged Oki printer, then later the Atari LQ printer.

 

[qsd-dan]

Compets

WOW, I haven't thought about one of those in nearly 20 years! This was the first computer I ever saw and used in school in late 1985. By 1988, we got our first batch of Apple II's and the Compets slowly disappeared. I remember getting a lot of use out of the cassette that contained the game "Lawnmower" lol. I can't remember even one command line now though.

I have a mid 90's Dell at work that is a true survivor with all of the original hardware. These days it only does minor monitoring that a new computer couldn't do any more efficiently but it did get hard use in its younger years. I have been constantly shoeing away IT from trying to decommission it the past few years. Call me old fashion, but I see no logic in destroying a perfectly good computer (or a perfectly good ANYTHING) for no reason.

 

[sudsmaster]

I still have my first computer: a Mitsubishi made Leading Edge "Model M". It's a very well made machine, physically, but... 8088-2 (oooo, you could boost the 4.77 MHz cpu clock speed 50%!). It came with a state of the art (for the time) CGA color monitor - which could display all of 16 colors. LOL. Also have a collection of 80286's, 80386's, and Pentium 1's (I was in computer field and ran my own biz for a couple of years). Still have a 386-sx Toshiba Satellite, which is another gem. DOS only (well, it would run Windows 2 but only with much pain). Unfortunately a firmware update gone awry rendered the hard drive inoperable, but I still admire how well the thing is put together (and it's virtually impossible to get at the hard drive without destroying the system!).

I learned about computers on an 8080 in a computer electronics class.... now that was a very basic thing.

Sorry, no photos at this time... I'd have to dig the systems out of the pile and I know I'd be in there for days reminiscing... lol...

 

[joeinfl]

I think the oldest one I own is this IBM PS/2 Ultimedia. It's a 486/66 with 32 MB of RAM and a 500 MEGABYTE SCSI hard drive. I no longer have the monitor for it. The operating system is OS/2 Warp 4. The pic is a stock photo from the internet as I don't have one of mine. I need to get that out and play with OS/2 again, it's been a while. These things could easily set you back $10,000 when they came out in the 80's.

 

[mattl]

I've got a stack of Digital Pentium Pros sitting here from the mid to late 90's. Pulled them out of service last year when we closed the offices. Tried a few versions of Linux on them but Win 2000 seems to run best on them. Was thinking of donating them to some seniors or someone who did not really need to do much more than browsing and email.

These things are built like a tank and use passive cooling for the processors.

 

[hooverkeymatic]

Thanks guys.Keep them coming!

 

[mistereric]

ho boy...

Lets see.

I have been collecting for quite a while. Have an original Apple ][, few Apple IIe's, 3 Apple //c's and a IIc+, a completely BITCHIN' Apple IIgs ROM 3 setup, a Tandy TRS-80 Model 1, a PC Junior....

The Macs are a Mac 128, a 512ke, a Plus, a IIci with a PowerPC card, a Mac Portable (non backlit), a Color Classic with an 040 card, a few PowerBook 100 series, 200 series (Duos with the associated docks), a 520c, a box of mostly dead PowerBook 5300 laptops (Apples Worst Laptop EVER), an original PowerBook G3 Kanga, and a bunch of accessories, an Apple SilentType, a LaserWriter IIg, a Quadra 700 in its original box, a pair of Quadra 950's, a Mac IIFX...

I'm probably forgetting a few things (laughs).

 

[redcarpetdrew]

OMG!

I forgot about the Apple IIc's. Little guys! AND a Trash80! Holy Cow! The thing I remember about the Commodore CBM's were that 'chicklet' keyboard... Ewwww...

RCD

 

[douglasdc6]

I have a couple of compaq model 5030`s & there monitors that I bought back in 1998 that are still in there original boxes .

Never booted up .