Worth the $20?

Twiggy

I came across this just now on a local classifieds website, it is weaker than my deskpro however it does have a "5.25 floppy drive, and that is a good thing, it means I could write/read "5.25 floppies for my Packard Bell, and upload my "5.25 copy of Windows 3.1 onto here as someone requested previously.

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-desktop-computer ... nFlag=true

Also, it's not like I have to throw out my deskpro. I can just use the tower one in a room in the basement or something when I need it.

Before I buy though, do you think it's worth it for the reasons I have mentioned?

BigCJ

Everyone needs a computer that can read 5.25" diskettes. Whether the price is right is up to you, but I'd look very hard at that listing if I were you.

Twiggy

Well it would be the cheapest computer I would have bought since I was in high school.

Considering my Toshiba t2100 486DX2 laptop was $25.

BigCJ

What I meant was to read the ad carefully and inspect/test the system before paying for it, just to protect yourself from throwing good cash at a garbage pile. Since it's local, you should be able to give it at least a short test run before you actually hand over any money.

Twiggy

BigCJ wrote:

What I meant was to read the ad carefully and inspect/test the system before paying for it, just to protect yourself from throwing good cash at a garbage pile. Since it's local, you should be able to give it at least a short test run before you actually hand over any money.

True, I should.

And if I can't get the Acros working. The next 486 desktop with a CD-ROM drive I buy, I will make sure to test the shit out of.

[Deleted User]

Interesting how the title on the homepage displays as "Worth the ?" while the title here is fine: "Worth the $20?"

Maybe the dollar signs in front of the 20 cause PHP to think it is a variable.

Twiggy

Erito17 wrote:

Interesting how the title on the homepage displays as "Worth the ?" while the title here is fine: "Worth the $20?"

Maybe the dollar signs in front of the 20 cause PHP to think it is a variable.

weird, just noticed that now. lol.

stitch

Erito17 wrote:

Interesting how the title on the homepage displays as "Worth the ?" while the title here is fine: "Worth the $20?"

Maybe the dollar signs in front of the 20 cause PHP to think it is a variable.

Nope. 100% nope, my code would never allow for that =P. It was within the templating engine, specifically in it's calls to preg_replace() and how that function handles the replacement data.

Twiggy

fudge,m seller just said that with shipping it'd be $80.....

To have a computer capable of running 98 decently and have a "5.25 drive, would be a good thing though.

I am returning the Acer Acros, so I may use the money from that to pay for this, though.

English Invader

If it's in working order (i.e. boots without any POST issues and the floppy drives read, write and format), $20 is a steal.

altracker9

You need proof that this is a working PC.
Can the seller post pictures of the PC screens booting Windows 98.
If not, you say this is a local classified ad. How far away is the seller?
Put a monitor, keyboard, (2) power cables and a mouse in your car and go pick it up.
Test it before buying and save yourself the shipping cost.
I never buy PC equipment without some assurrance that it WORKS!
For all you know, the seller could have found this is someone's garbage!!

jamie1130

$20 is not bad for that system. Are you able to pick it up yourself? If so, that'd be a wonderful deal.

[Deleted User]

stitch wrote:

Erito17 wrote:

Interesting how the title on the homepage displays as "Worth the ?" while the title here is fine: "Worth the $20?"

Maybe the dollar signs in front of the 20 cause PHP to think it is a variable.

Nope. 100% nope, my code would never allow for that =P. It was within the templating engine, specifically in it's calls to preg_replace() and how that function handles the replacement data.

My apologies.


My limited knowledge of PHP coupled with my tendency to have an annoying know-it-all attitude towards things seems to have gotten the better of me there.


-- Erito17

Twiggy

This computer has been purchased.

Due to it being about 2 hours away from me, I didn't get to see it myself, but it still has the OS on it (Windows 98) and the seller says it works.

Another one who doesn't know to at least format their hard drive, but it's safe with me, I'm just gonna go into device manager, see what video and sound card it has, find the drivers for them, then format and do a fresh install of Microsoft Windows 98.

BigCJ

popeyewinter wrote:

Another one who doesn't know to at least format their hard drive

Don't you just love it when people do that?

My, I guess you could call him my step-uncle, wanted a bunch of pictures (about 40Gb worth) salvaged off his computer. His USB ports were all fucked up and wouldn't accept any input; I came to the rescue with one of my PS/2 keyboards and a spare hard disk. He just let me keep it once he got what he wanted, knowing full well that I had access to everything on his disk. Another time, an elderly man who ran a small graphics design business passed away and his wife just let me have his main PC without even looking at what was on it herself.

Luckily, nothing really important or confidential was on either system, but people need to be more careful of what they give away all willy-nilly.

Totengeist

BigCJ wrote:

Don't you just love it when people do that?

I had a similar experience with a computer donated to my middle school. I found a hidden directory with porn in it that nobody had wiped. That was an interesting thing to tell the teacher about.

Twiggy

Totengeist wrote:

BigCJ wrote:

Don't you just love it when people do that?

I had a similar experience with a computer donated to my middle school. I found a hidden directory with porn in it that nobody had wiped. That was an interesting thing to tell the teacher about.

Please tell me you copied it to a USB for CD or something for yourself first?

yourepicfailure

What is with you boys and porn? At least spend some of that time learning how to get a real partner.
I'm sorry.

>popeyewinter, just because the seller says it works, doesn't mean it does.
Just because a Ghanaian prince promises to pay me millions of cedes if I give him my bank information doesn't mean he will.
You are also making a mistake in your total. Sure the item cost "$20," but in reality you spent $80.

Offtopic,
I still remember back in advanced school a few years back when some fool placed pornography on an instructors computer. Unfortunately, he had a split monitor set-up with the projector and didn't notice until the projector was powered on(and said content was displayed).

Twiggy

yourepicfailure wrote:

Offtopic,
I still remember back in advanced school a few years back when some genius placed pornography on an instructors computer. fortunately, he had a split monitor set-up with the projector and didn't notice until the projector was powered on(and said content was displayed).

Fixed it for you.

BigCJ

yourepicfailure wrote:

You are also making a mistake in your total. Sure the item cost "$20," but in reality you spent $80.

Yup. Since this thing was supposed to be local, you could have just picked it up yourself for $20 if you had your own car.

Also, the world doesn't need to know about your pr0n. Let's keep it clean and professional, shall we?

Twiggy

BigCJ wrote:

yourepicfailure wrote:

You are also making a mistake in your total. Sure the item cost "$20," but in reality you spent $80.

Yup. Since this thing was supposed to be local, you could have just picked it up yourself for $20 if you had your own car.

But I don't and I doubt my parents would let me take theirs in for a 4 hour drive (2 hours two ways) to get another computer. They say I have too many already. It's bad enough when they need to let me drive to the post office for pick-ups.

BigCJ

Then it might be a good idea to quit dropping hundreds of dollars into old computers for a while and buy a car instead. Like most adults, I have a decision to make every two weeks, the interval at which I am paid. I must choose between blowing all my money on stuff I want (old computers and parts), or to spend it on things I need, like keeping my truck in good running order with enough gas to get me back and forth to work. An unpleasant decision to make, but very easy nonetheless.

Twiggy

BigCJ wrote:

Then it might be a good idea to quit dropping hundreds of dollars into old computers for a while and buy a car instead. Like most adults, I have a decision to make every two weeks, the interval at which I am paid. I must choose between blowing all my money on stuff I want (old computers and parts), or to spend it on things I need, like keeping my truck in good running order with enough gas to get me back and forth to work. An unpleasant decision to make, but very easy nonetheless.

I already have a plan figured out when it comes to getting a car, and am following it. I'm gonna buy my parents old car, when they get a new one. Also, when you live on farm with multiple acres in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, you can't just easily take a bus or a train.

Anyways, this is getting off-topic.

I got an e-mail today form the seller that it has been shipped, along with the tracking number.

I'm not sure, but I think it's rare to find a computer capable of running Windows 98 decently, which also has a "5.25 Drive. I've heard that by that time, people were no longer using them, and pre-built systems weren't really coming with them anymore.

BigCJ

They could still be added in by the user. Most PCs of the era came in the standard style with two 5.25" drive bays. The first one (the one on top) usually had a CD-ROM drive. The second one normally was covered up until a floppy or a second CD drive was added.

SomeGuy

popeyewinter wrote:

I'm not sure, but I think it's rare to find a computer capable of running Windows 98 decently, which also has a "5.25 Drive. I've heard that by that time, people were no longer using them, and pre-built systems weren't really coming with them anymore.

Quite right. By 1998 most new software was on floppy or CD. Few machines shipped with 5.25" but some users required the backwards compatibly, either to import old disks or interoperate with older equipment, and added their own 5.25" drive. But motherboards kept that support for a long time (one of the last few MBs that even had a floppy controller still had 5.25" support), although many did away with secondary drive support. You are probably most likely to find 5.25" drives in generic custom built ATX machines. Of course, it is easy enough to add one.

66659hi

BigCJ wrote:

They could still be added in by the user. Most PCs of the era came in the standard style with two 5.25" drive bays. The first one (the one on top) usually had a CD-ROM drive. The second one normally was covered up until a floppy or a second CD drive was added.

The second one usually housed a second CD drive. I have computers as new as from 2007 with dual optical drives. There's also the smaller floppy bay, remember? That's where the floppy drive was installed by OEM or system builder.

[Deleted User]

@66659hi: I second this. A friend of mine who lives in Canada had a local computer shop add a DVD drive to his desktop, which only came with a CD drive. The computer shop added the DVD drive to the second 5.25" bay, leaving the CD drive connected as-is. So the computer now has two functional disc drives.

BigCJ

66659hi wrote:

There's also the smaller floppy bay, remember?

We're talking about the big floppies that actually flop. A 5.25" drive will obviously not fit into a 3.5" drive bay.

Anyway, I have come across several old PCs that didn't have anything in the second 5.25" bay. Usually the owner wanted me to install a second CD drive, as you mentioned.

BlueSun

Back whenever I was building my first custom built PC, I had always planned to add a 5.25" floppy drive to it for maximum compatibility... but I never did. Even if I had, I probably wouldn't have gotten much use out of it since I had long since gotten rid of all of my 5.25" floppy disks.