[RESOLVED] he/she/they have the latest/greatest. So What!

[bohr]

Sorry in advance for the length of this message!
I don't know about you guys, but when I go to other pc sites like maximum pc,pcworld,etc. There are alot of people bragging about their systems from o/c celerons to PIIIs, Athalons, etc. I say so what!! We each should be proud of what we got and treasure, no matter how old or slow they are. For ex.) Here is my approx 2 yr old system that's had some recent upgrades. - Cel 466o/c525 MHZ, was a PII 266.
- Abit LX6 board with latest flash.
- 128 mb ram, was 64.
- ATI Expert@Play 8MB AGP.
- 2 Helios Voodoo2's 12 mb PCI SLI.
- Floppy 3.5"
- 100 MB zip ide internal
- AWE 64 Sound card
- USR 56k Sportster ISA modem
- 3com 10 MB PCI NIC
- Promise Ultra 66 PCI card, recent
- 2 6.4 Seagate Medalist Pro 7200 RPM Ultra 33 hd's.
- 1 13.6 Maxtor Diamondplus 7200 RPM Ultra 66 hd- recent addon.
- 36x ide ultra dma cd-rom.
- 4 x 8 Panasonic ide cdr.
- Full tower ATX case - 300 watt ps
- Win98 1st edition and sp1.
- 15" monitor, speakers, etc.

To me, this is my special system that should last me till XMAS 2000. It's all I need for now because that's all I can afford. My system could outperform some people's systems and alot of other ones can easily outperform mine. But we all should say so what! Everyone's systems should be something special to them only.

I still even have some of my older systems that still work to this day. I still find a use for them. Last summer, I invested in a 2nd hand dual p-pro 200 with 128 mb ram, a 6.4,4.3 and 300 mb scsi2 quantum hds, sony 2X4 scsi2 cdr, 24X ide cdrom, adaptec 2940 pci scsi controller, 8mb matrox mill. II videocard, sb16, 33.6usr sportster non-winmodem, 3com pci nic, etc, for $450 Canadian. Now that's a bargain! EH!! I'm using this system to learn more about NT 4.0, Redhat Linux 6.1 and upcoming Win2000.
I still have my old custom built pentium 200 classic with win95 osr2.1 on it.
I still also have my NEC 466 M - 486 dx4 100 system with win3.11/dos 6.22 and win95 upgrade.
My dad even gave me his 1987 TANDY 1000 SX (8088 processor going at 8 MHZ) system for me to use. It isn't y2k compliant, but it still works like a charm. Even it's old dos 3.2 and other misc 360k 5 1/4 floppy disks still works. I still like playing games that are 10 to 13 years old even though they'd suck by today's standards.
I plan to get a 1 ghz athalon system and a laptop in JAN. 2001, when prices are lower. For now, I like what I have. Everyone else should like what they have no matter the reason. What are your opinions and favorite systems? How crappy or good are they? It doesn't matter! So what!

[Eagle PC Diagnostech]

QUIT BRAGGING !!!!!!!!

[bohr]

Sorry if it sounded like I was bragging, I wasn't trying to show off at all. I was illustrating how older systems I had or anyone else has still can be used for a purpose. All other places on the net demand for the latest, fastest etc. Why?
Again, I apologize if it was interpretted as bragging!!! I didn't mean to portray it that way.

[Eagle PC Diagnostech]

It's because, software is finally catching up with hardware.
There is more demand for faster processing, and you'll see you will need more RAM to run the software.

[AlienDyne]

Eagle is right.
You can't use your own machine after a year or two. It's a fact! Well, not as long as your work needs newer versions of the software. That's our word nowadays.
Of course, you can use an old machine. It's not forbitten or something. If it can hadle Y2K and Windows, it can handle almost everything!


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God created human.
Human created computers.
God got mad and created customers!!!!!

[pcshark]

I beg to differ. I am a firm believer that function dictates form and not the other way around. It all depends on what you need your system to do. If you want a good book to read (non-techie, actual fiction work, if you can stand it! LOL), get your hands on "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand. It's about an architect that believed that every building has a soul that comes from the function that that building will perform. It's the same in our field.
Now, I would never sell a system such as this to a client today. But I have to tell you that for four years I have been using the following system, and so far I am not ready to upgrade:

Standard mini-tower AT form
AMD 486-133 (Yes, you read that right)
52MB RAM (4x1MB 32 pin, 4x4MB 32 pin, 1x32MB 72 Pin)
850MB IDE drive for the Operating Systems
8X CD-ROM
MediaVision Pro Audio Spectrum 16 card (bought in 1992!)
1MB Hercules video
640x480 14" monitor

Now, to be fair, I've added a 4.3GB EIDE drive in the last year to replace my aging 1.2 Gigger. And believe me, I'd love to get a new monitor (that's the next buy). But so far this system has worked just fine by me. I run Windows 95 OSR2, OpenLinux 2.2, and PC-DOS 7 on this guy, although I have at one point or another also run OS/2 Warp 3 and 4, Windows 98, and Windows NT Workstation 4.0 on it with no complaints.

My wife, as many of you know, still clings to her Packard Bell P-100 with 32MB of RAM, which she's also had about 4 years. We have a Novell NetWare 3.12 server which is a 486-66 with 32MB of RAM.

Anyone out there with bigger clunkers than these? I'd really like to know. It's not a matter of money, just a matter of justifying need versus want. Since we basically use these systems for Office 97 and Internet access, we really have no present NEED to upgrade. And aside from our Novell server RTC rolling over to 1980 (which was easilly fixed at the BIOS level), we have had no Y2K issues at all.

My inquiry is not intened as a challenge, only honest curiosity. I'd like to see how many "Fred Sanford's" exist out there (-:

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R. Bret Walker, CNE

[Zrock]

Well i midaswell get into this conversation ... My current system's contain the following
main system
P166
3.2 gig HD
64MB
48X cd-rom
viper 330 video
SB AWE 32
scaner
Canon BJC 4000 printer
17" Monitor

Second System
486 DX 4 100
50MB
560MB HD
510MB HD
2X Cd-rom
14" monitor

My main system is good for what i use it for ... crusin the net and the odd game and office programs. I have no need to upgrade but will in the next few months when i can afford it mainly so i can add another system to the network to play with and try some diffrent operatng systems ... The way i look at it if it still work and suits your need then why bother to upgrade ?

My second system is just mainly used for faxing and a answering service and file storage. other than that it sees verry little use

[crtlaltdel]

At our shop we bench test everything before we sell it so our systems change week to week, but out main driver and utility machine is a P233mmx,128megs,10gigIDE HD,
2.5gb Scsi HD,CD-Burner,nic for testing cables and network configs. Just a all around
work horse. I can't win98 still runs on this thing we've swapped everything from modems to
video, sound,nic's, hd, cd roms so many times
I wish every machine I ran into ran like this
thing, only software glitch right now is netscape 4.7 locks when I try to check e-mail
Just my $.02

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I didn't think Murphy's law applied here in the computer industry

[Jvaguy]

I wasted my money on this self built system and dont use half of it so i agree with some of them

500mhz AMD k6-2
196mb pc 100 ram
13 gig hd c:
13 gig d:
6x DVD E hardware decoder as well)
9100 8x cd-R F:
32mb TnT2 ultra
Sound Blaster Live!
Win2000, and Linux 7.0
ISDN modem
USR 56k modem (for telnet etc..)

ok so i have some speed .. but you know my old p200 did as well as this does but this does it faster on booting .. but all else is the same .. so dont waste your money on buying new stuff unless you use it

[Shinma]

Will you ever own a Ferrari F1? How about a tri turbo Acura NSX, BMW M3 or Callaway Corvette? The majority of us will not get to drive these vehicles (never mind, owning one!) but some still fantasize about them. Instead of fantasizing, some modify their personal vehicles to push the envelope(s) and get satisfaction doing it. Ditto for those in the computer field. If not for them, you would not have your current system. You would be using an Altair more than likely.

[FessendenTechnologies]

In many ways I like my 486 33MHz better than my newer ones, You can't do as much with it, but the stability can't be beat!

[murphy1]

Hmmm. when i started as a tech, the books i read all had a common theme when it came to upgradeing... unless the software, or the time needed to do a task, demanded a change, don't do it.
With this in mind, i run celeron 366 systems, with all cheapo parts. never had a problem, and i hope i don't.

I specialize in building low end net machines , these are 486dx4/100 machines with vesa or pci video, min 12megs ram, sound, cd, etc. These machines run quite a bit of programs, as well as being able to access the net in a speedy manner, via a 56k modem.
Most families that i market these systems too,are low income families that were under the belief that they HAD to have the latest greatest computer to do anything, because someone told them so.

It is downright amazing what you can get a 200 or 300 dollar computer to do. I know, i get them to do it every day

j-u-s-t a l-i-t-t-l-e s-l-o-w-e-r.
thanks for your time.

[cobrat]

Here are my systems:

p166MMX Toshiba notebook
48 megs RAM
2.2 gig HDD
20x CD-ROM
12.1 Active Matrix Screen
33.6 modem
Win95B

p100 desktop
64 megs EDO RAM
6.1 gig HDD
4x CD-Rom
33.6 Sportster winmodem
win95B

AMD 486dx2/80
32 megs RAM
1.2 gig HDD
4x CD-ROM
28.8 or 33.6 external modem on 16550 uart serial port
currently win95B...will put redhat 6.1 on it.

386sx/16
2 megs RAM
81 meg HDD
2400 internal modem
dos 6.22/win3.1
(My very first computer...)

Good for terminal internet access/dos gaming...

I agree....as long as a computer is useful for something....it should be used...

[Renée]

I definitely agree with pcshark. Need should dictate system upgrades so you don't waste money. I have people all the time telling me with shame in their eyes about their 3 or 4-year-old computers. My question is always, does it do what you need it to do quickly enough with few or no problems? They are always amazed when I don't recommend a new system because they think all techs would advocate for the latest and greatest no matter what you use it for. That just doesn't fit my philosophy. Besides, most of the people that I've talked to recently are folks that just do word processing, email, dial-up access, and maybe a game of solitaire. How challenging is that?


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GeekGirl
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[format c:]

Heres my main system
Intel Celeron 533
Gigabyte GA-6VX7 mobo
128 megs ram PC 133
10 gig drive
3-d blaster riva tnt 2 32 meg agp video
Creative ensoniq
Used modem
Acer cd rom drive 50 x
Fancey atx case with 300w power supply
Windows 98 se

My "file server " is
P233 mmx
Biostar mobo in old AT format
94 megs edo ram
8 meg hercules video card
6.4 gig Fujisu drive
my old 32 x cd rom drive
A basic AT case
windows 95 osr-2

My Dad's computer is a PB 130 PAckard bell
running at 166 mhz
64 megs edo ram
ATI 8 meg video card
SB 16

I like my newer system for it's performance and the 233 is great for a back up or lan games when my friend is over
You can always find use for an old PC or old parts,I am building one for my church group and all I need is a hard drive
Old PCs never die, They just get slower


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Format c:

[This message has been edited by format c: (edited June 19, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by format c: (edited June 19, 2000).]