Alternative computers - what's in your box?

Alternative computers - what\'s in your box?

Dell Dimension 2400. (P4 2.4GHz, Win XP Home. Used for gaming, primary net access and music playing.)

Commodore Amiga A1200 Revision 1A. (68030/50MHz, 64Mb RAM upgrade, 10Gb harddrive, OS3.0. Used for everything else! And nostalgia, and making musig with ProTracker...which is possibly the most initially scary looking program ever. What had they got against menus???)

Acorn Archimedes A3000 (ARM3 Processor overdrive, 200Mb Harddisk (On a Risc system, that goes a LONG way), RiscOS 3.11. Until I got the Amiga, this was used as a word processor, and for playing Lemmings, still has the best soundcard of any machine I have. Just now, this is in a drawer, because I don't have room for it as well as the Dell and Amiga...and that I stole the floppy drive and monitor from it for the Amiga. Will get it back in service at some point though.

Also have an archimdes A410/1, but a friend has posession of that machine just now.

I'm afraid that the major gap in my collection in that I do not posess a single Mac. I did have an old Macintosh Classic II, but that was taken out by the lightning strike that also took out my Atari ST 520E, Amiga 1000 and C64. Felt really cheated by that, Had everything unplugged apart from an old 386, and it got hit, and zapped everything else via the network cables...D'OH! Still, that was nearly five years ago, so no use in crying over it now.

Just curious to see what anyone else out there might have that they're still using.

(And yes, my avatar is a line drawing of an Amiga A1200.)

Re: Alternative computers - what\'s in your box?

I'm currently using a Dell Dimension 4500. 1.8GHz P4, 93GB worth of hard disks, Windows XP home, 19" Sony Trinitron monitor, etc. This is the computer I use for accessing CPF, updating my website, etc.

The laboratory computer I'm using now is a Gateway 2000, 233MHz P2, Windows 98, 17" screen, and an LED keyboard. This computer has the ProMetric system, a Radio Shack logging meter, and a spectrometer hooked up to it.

And my laptop computer is a Toshiba; I forgot the model # and the processor speed. I got this computer last year while I was "away", so I could check CPF. And it works fine for that. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Used as a notepad, is an Apple Macintosh Powerbook 140. It has a black and white screen that displays these moire patterns on the upper half, but does not display that "sad Mac" symbol when it comes up. So I don't know what's wrong with it. I can still move the notepad application to the good part of the screen, and type names and passwords into it.

Waiting in the wings... a Commodore SX-64, a Commodore 64, and a Commodore 128. And unless I get sniped out of it very early tomorrow, I've got my eye on a Commodore PET 8032. (Edit: I did not get sniped out of it, but won it with just 1¢ to spare!!! I'm also getting an MSD disk drive and IEEE-488 cable for it.)

There are also a couple of Windows pee cee computers around here somewhere, which I might be able to use in an emergency.

I used to have a Commodore Vic-20, a Radio Shack Model 1, a Radio Shack Coco 3, a Radio Shack Model 100 (early laptop computer that I lost in a hawk shop in the early 1990s), a Tandy handheld PC (traded a 3-channel handheld CB for that), and a Timex Sinclair 1000. I also had some terminals like a Hazeltine 2000 and a couple of others who's names escape me at the moment. But I used the Commodores most of all.

Re: Alternative computers - what\'s in your box?

main work machine is a mac powerbook 800/G4.

house server/file backup/mp3-dvd server/X10 control/temperature and weather monitor/database/alarm system/firewall/internet gateway/etc is a slightly older Mac powerbook G4/400. It was going strong as my main work machine until a year and a half ago or so when I was working with it on the couch and my year and a half year old daughter was sitting next to me. When she tried to go backwards off the couch I had to let the powerbook hit the floor in order to catch her. It would have survived but the screen was actually open when it hit just right and broke a hinge. Replacing the screen was half the price of getting a new one, so I got a new one /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif It still works fine, but the screen has a limited number of open/close cycles till it falls off...

I also have a Mac 8600 upgraded with a G3/450 that was the house server for a long time, now it's connected to the TV in the family room and my daughter plays kid games on it.

In the closet right now is an alpha processor machine loaded with linux that used to be my firewall and internet sharing machine. Worked nicely, don't need it right now. My wife is using an older Mac G3/400 powerbook, my sister has my first powerbook a 2400c which was one of the "sub notebook" sized ones. I loved that machine, carried it to work and used it in an all PC environment for a year, still runs for her to get email and web surf. I have some even older ones around here somewhere for testing software on old OS releases.

Hmmm, as of a year ago there is nothing in the house capable of running windows at all /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif (well, except every mac, and I do own a copy of win2k running in emulation for software testing and the like)

Want to get one of the new dual G5's ones as they are SO sexy at running multi-track recording and sequensing software like Digital Performer 64 bit chip and a gigahurtz system bus baby! Woooo

My first was a texas instruments 99/4, it's long gone now. I still have my mac+ which is half way through the conversion to a little fish tank /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Re: Alternative computers - what\'s in your box?

P4 1.8 ghz OC'ed to 2.2, 8500 Radeon, 80GB Western Digital special edition, Audigy Platinum with WIN XP Pro. It's getting outdated /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Re: Alternative computers - what\'s in your box?

Hmm, were I to include all the DOS/Windows machines as well.

Es-COM PCI-ET 4100/8. Cyrix 133 with more harddisks than I have SCSI cables.

Toshiba T5200/200 laptop...with a busted screen. Works fine with an external monitor though.

Toshiba T1200. 8086 4.1MHz CPU, MS-DOS 3.0. Seems to have developed a problem on the power board since it was last used...have to investigate.

Toshiba T3100SX - Was a 386, but is now dead. Internal battery leaked all over the mobo. Annoying, because it has an odd harddrive that I can't connect up in anything else, so the data on that drive is stuck there.

Toshiba T3200 - 286. Dos 6.22 and Win 3.0. Working, but in storage in our loft just now. (with the battery removed - learned my lesson by that point).

Various old Elonex PC-333's and the like scattered around the place.

I have more computers than I have space, unfortunately, few that are complete - most have a "floating" stock of parts like PSU's and memory! This ends up getting used for several machines. Just wish I had a spare 5200 monitor assembly.

Re: Alternative computers - what\'s in your box?

I've got a Dell Latitude C400 Laptop running XP and Solaris under vmware. A Compaq Deskpro 486-33 running freebsd as terminal/console server for my routers. A 1U homebuilt server currently an Intel Celeron 500. It had RedHat on it currently. A Cisco 2507, 2516, and 2524 two are running IOS 12.2 with firewall and the 2507 is 11.something. Two Lucnet Routers from the trash pile also. All in a 12U portable rak. A VIA MiniITX 500MHZ fanless in my truck, currently experimenting with a minimal slackware install from CF so the hdd can be dedicated to mp3's.

Re: Alternative computers - what\'s in your box?

I currently am due for a new desktop PC. Mine is homebuilt with an Asus mainboard, and a very early Athlon 650MHz CPU running Win 98 SE. I've been upgrading all the drives and other plug-in stuff over the last 1.5 years, but I'm afraid I've stretched out it's life almost to the end.

I'm currently typing this on my Sony Vaio noteboook computer. It was the cheapest one I could find back almost 3 years ago, with a 550MHz K6-2 CPU and loaded with Win 2000 Pro. I just had to buy an expensive new battery for it last spring, now there is no way I'm replacing it for the next 2 years. I bought it for work, and in reality it is used 50/50 work and home.

In a corner slowly being stripped of hardware for other people's emergency tests is my old homebuilt PC with a 266MHz K6-2 CPU. I have an older version Red Hat Linux loaded on it and it was a "self-training experience" project for me about 4 years ago. My computer illiterate older brother wants some kind of CD music recorder, I have all the needed spare hardware/software to put this thing together and give him the ability to created custom music CDs like he wants. I may do that soon and give it to him for his upcoming birthday. It'll be slow but not used too often.

All put together and not touched for 2 years or so is my Commodore 128D with an extra 1541 floppy, dataset tape drive, 1200 baud modem, and too many game controllers (2 joysticks, trackball, 2 paddles, light pen, and a Koala Pad). I've got an Okimate 10 color printer and Commodore mps-801 each without ribbons, and a floppy drive accelerator/disk duplicator cartridge. It was quite a setup before I bought my first 486 PC a long time ago. I also owned a couple of C-64's and a VIC-20 before the C-128D. The VIC-20 actually was passed around my family members and last used by my sister's 2 sons until 1989.

Does anybody remember Q-Link? I also remember my old CompuServe ID - 75557,1573 I haven't used that since AOL bought them out.

Re: Alternative computers - what\'s in your box?

Dells seem popular... I've got a bunch of old PCs alying around here, including one that was cutting edge when I built it with a 400 some mhz Celeron OC'd to about 500.

I've been using a Dell Precision 530 workstation at home for almost 3 years. It's still reasonably up to date, because I got tired of always chasing the cheapest deal only to be replacing my computer every year. So, I bought a 2.8 ghz machine when 1 to 1.4 gigs was the norm. Of course, I had to buy a double processor 1.4 ghz Xeon machine to do this at the time. It's hooked up to Direcway since I can't get cable or DSL here. I also opted for dual head video card and two flat screens, so I can multitask full tilt, as if I am working on two machines at once, and transfer data from one program to another without having to constantly switch programs on screen.

Alternative?

But, as to "alternative machines," I use one every day for work. It's a Fujitsu LT touch screen tablet computer. It's obsolete as hell, but runs great. It's a 233 mhz mobile processor, running Win 98. Very small, like less than 8 x 11 x maybe 1 1/2 inch thick. Overall, much smaller than the much hyped "Microsoft Tablet," which is a private labelled later model Fujitsu. Microsoft put out all this fanfare and hype when they introduced it, as IF MS was innovating - but Fujitsu has been pioneering handheld PCs for years now. Despite the slow processor it does an amazing job running Word, Outlook, and Excel, plus some proprietary software I have to use. It multitasks great, never crashes, and seems way faster than the specs would suggest. (God, I can't believe I just risked jinxing myself here.)

This thing kicks the crap out of a Palm type machine. Granted, it's bigger and heavier, but it runs anything a full desktop PC would run, and networks with my desktop seamlessly, sharing the satellite hook-up. It has a docking statio to which you can hook up full scale keyboard, monitor, printer, the works, just like a desktop. Or, I can go totally mobile and pop in a wireless network card and surf the net from the backyard with no wires. It also makes a great GPS viewer. Plug in a USB GPS, and fire up Delorme Street Atlas, and away you go.

The proprietary software is a HUD apartment complex inspection protocol program based on an Access database, btw. I inspect Section 8, low income, public housing, elderly and handicaped, multifamily complexes. Been doing it five years. Seen some wild stuff.

Best part of the Fujitsu set-up... cost me $500 on E-Bay "brand new/discontinued stock" and has been bulletproof. At that price, I bought two, so I would have a back-up and have never had to use the second.

I also occassionally use the VIK, Virtually Indestructable Keyboard with this machine. It's a thin, floppy, rubber keyboard that you can roll up. Plugs in via USB. Or, the Gyration Ultra wireless RF mouse and keyboard.

For presentations? (Or backyard movies?) A Sanyo Hi-Def TV LCD projector.

Gadgets and gee-gaws... Love 'em!

Re: Alternative computers - what\'s in your box?

Well I guess if we get to count Macs as alternative I get to be part of this.

It's a G4 450 witha 17" Sony Trinitron monitor. Got it early June. It's got a 20 gig HD and a 160 gig HD. It is my everything machine, that is, I use it for everything I do and it's my webserver too.

I have a Linux box that just needs a HD but I think I'm going to give up on it, give it away to my brother to use as a server perhaps, and get an old OS X capable Mac to become my dedicated server.

Re: Alternative computers - what\'s in your box?

Athlon running at 1001MHz (143x7 mildly overclocked) nForce2 Ultra400 mobo with two 256MB sticks in parallel. WD 8mb cache 80GB drive and a Geforce2 GTS video card running XP Pro. Next spring I will add a Barton cored Athlon and Radeon card with VIVO and bump the ram to a gig.

I was supposed to do that upgrade this summer but the flashlight thing got in the way. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twakfl.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/broke.gif Anyone add an extra hard drive and run linux?

Re: Alternative computers - what\'s in your box?

amd xp [email protected] 512 megs a ddr 3200.a visiontek 4200@300x590

Re: Alternative computers - what\'s in your box?

[ QUOTE ]
BentHeadTX said: Anyone add an extra hard drive and run linux?

[/ QUOTE ]

I've done that in the past. You just install Linux last and LILO gets installed to the boot drive usually by default. You simply select which OS to load at each boot.

Re: Alternative computers - what\'s in your box?

BentHeadTX, you don't have to add another drive, just repartition that 80 gig.

Joe

Re: Alternative computers - what\'s in your box?

yeah lots of the distos suchs as redhat the and mandrake will do it for ya.jamd is a nice distro .linux is fun there are some many distros.

Re: Alternative computers - what\'s in your box?

We've got Dells, Dells, Dells. "Alternative" around here is "Non-Dell" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

As a professional Linux-type-person, I recommend:
A) get a (legal) copy of VMware or VirtualPC
B) get a second harddrive, or
C) get a copy of Partition Magic to non-destructively rearrange the existing disk.

VMware/VPC is fun in itself. 14 operating systems, one PC. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Re: Alternative computers - what\'s in your box?

[ QUOTE ]
BF Hammer said:
All put together and not touched for 2 years or so is my Commodore 128D with an extra 1541 floppy, dataset tape drive, 1200 baud modem, and too many game controllers...

[/ QUOTE ]
That reminds me...in addition to the computer stuff I listed earlier, I have a Commodore C2N datassette, a 1541 floppy, a 1571 floppy, a few containers of Commodore floppy diskettes with stuff on them, an Okimate 10 that needs a ribbon, a Commodore 300 baud modem, a Koala pad, a 1702 monitor, maybe a 1902 monitor (that could have become broken in an earthquake), and some joysticks. If I remember, there are also some cordless joysticks, but I've never used them so I don't know if they work or not. Guess I need to find me a copy of "Master Of The Lamps" (a game that breaks joysticks) & a couple of 9v batteries, and fire them up. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Re: Alternative computers - what\'s in your box?

* Pieced together PC, Athlon 1.4MHz, 200MB and 80MB partitioned HDDs,512MB DDR RAM, XP Pro, GeForce 5600.
* Pieced together PC, Intel 300MHz Celeron (overclocked), Win98
* Generic, *heavy* PC notebook, 486-100MHz, 64 RAM, large TFT display, Win 3.1, still works.
* TI 99-4A with Extended Basic module which gets you to 32(not MB) RAM. Hooks up to the TV for a monitor. Use a tape recorder to store data or load programs into memory. IIRC, the expension slot for the coveted 51/4" floppy and extra RAM was about $550 in it's day.

All the other equipment has been given away, but I've been through a number of computers through the years. The first PC I personally purchased was a 386-16sx and I remember 1MB of RAM cost me $200.

Re: Alternative computers - what\'s in your box?

Yea, vmware is great. I have had on my laptop under vmware:
Windows nt4 server running Checkpoint firewall as a testlab
Windows 2000
Windows 2003 server
Sun Solaris
Redhat 9
Slackware 8
Mandrake ??ver?? I forgot
Suse ??ver?? I forgot.

On my desktop at work I had a virtual SQL server, virtual Domain Controller, two Virtual load balanced web servers and two vitrual load balanced COM+ application servers running application center. Those you start the bootup and go to lunch.