What is your oldest piece of computer-related tech still in regular use?
Like the title says, I'm wondering, what is your oldest piece of tech that still sees everyday use?
For me, it's my Intel InBusiness Storage Station. It has 2 30GB drives inside that are set up in a basic mirrored RAID volume, a P266 CPU (complete with F00F bug and workaround), 32MB of RAM, and an Intel 430TX chipset. I believe it uses an old, modified version of FreeBSD and Samba 1.9. I still use this old NAS for simple document storage/sharing around the house. It just sits up in my closet, happily humming away:
And here's a look at its web interface. I have to use Netscape 4.7 with whatever old version of Java is bundled with it. Newer browsers block the Java plugin, and some just don't work right.
Comments
Man a few years ago I would have some interesting pieces to share. Now it really puts it into perspective that the oldest thing I have is some Asus laptop that was made in the last 5 years. I miss my old PS\2 with the loud SCSI drives.
If its for PC...
Well that would be my IBM x31 type 2885 , stock except for a 60GB drive.
http://www.arachnosoft.com/data/contents/common/articles/ssd-upgrade-ibm-thinkpad-x31-ide-laptop/images/ibm-thinkpad-x31.jpg
Wait!
No!
Its my MicroSoft IntelliMouse Explorer!
I forgot about because I go it back from my dad just last month!
Still in regular use? That's a difficult one...
If I had to guess, it'd either be my HP Vectra VE series 3 5/120 from 1996. Still running (with questionable reliability) after all these years:
Intel Pentium @ 120MHz128MB SIMM72 RAM2111MB Seagate IDE hard diskSiS 6205 onboard video 2MBWindows 98SEEven the HP ISA 10Mb/ps Ethernet board still works!
It has had a few issues over the years though... The keyboard controller causes issues for it sometimes. BIOS code 1-3-1-3 (8742 Keyboard controller error) if you leave it plugged in overnight. Oh well, nothing that can be done about that.
It plays music. That's about it these days.
I have a Pentium M laptop that I utilize for running legacy software. It doesn't touch the network ever because XP is old and should not touch the internet. It's an Acer Aspire 9500. Nothing special, it works.
My oldest computer that I use is an iMac G3 Snow /600mhz from 2001
With Mac OSX 10.3 (Panther) and OS 9.22 I will use it for playing music and other stuff on it ^^
I use a Dell Latitude D610 quite often, though I hardly consider that old. I also use my various 90s machines a lot. One works well as a DVD player (P2-400) and another is used for old games (P2-350).
hp compaq dc7600 small form factor pc
I just looked up when some of the stuff was out....it was out since 2005
My pride and joy which is the 80286. It has the following:
And it runs MS-DOS 6.22
Dell Dimension 2400
CPU: Intel Celeron 2.4Ghz
Ram: 1.25 GB
HDD: 40GB Seagate
GPU: Intel "Extream" Something something
OS: It had Windows XP but it now has WINDOWS 7, it so amazing...
CD: The drive died, it had a motor attack. Oh, my you rest in peace Lite-on IDE CD drive.
Compaq Portable
CPU: NEC V20Co-CPU: 8087RAM: 640KBHDD: 2GB SD cardOS: PC-DOS 7.00 rev 1Commodore 64 with a $5 FM tuner on user port = Great Radio!
Nice color. My plan is to get one (FM tuner) myself in the future.
I have an older monitor that still works properly, but I don't use it too much. Itś a ViewSonic Optiquest Q71 CRT monitor. I used to use it several years ago for use with a PC I used to have, an Asus 52x Max running Windows XP, which I threw away a year later. Right now itś just sitting on the floor in my bedroom closet, getting vintage. I sometimes like to connect it to my Pentium II computer that I still have just to play around on. But for that I can just use my HP 2010i, a flat screen monitor that I also have.
Packard Bell MultiMedia L198
CPU: Intel Pentium @ 200 Mhz
HDD: 2 GB
RAM: Originally 16 MB as advertised on the sticker, Increased to 80 MB by the previous owner
OS: Windows Millennium Edition (miraculously, i have had no BSODs with it...yet)
I have a Dell Optiplex 960 SFF I use as a firewall. That's about 2009ish. I also have a Cisco 3750G from 2004ish.
For actual productive work, probably my HP 200LX that I often use for spreadsheets and personal finance (and some other stuff). Released in 1994, it has 2 MB RAM divided between system RAM and C: RAM disk, plus a PCMCIA slot with a 64 MB compact flash card in it right now. It's essentially a pocket-sized XT-class machine that runs on AA batteries with DOS 5.0 in ROM and a CGA-compatible greyscale display. The built-in Lotus 1-2-3 2.4 is still better than any spreadsheet I've tried on a smartphone.
Does it actually has 2 MB? Or did you mistyped? Because for 1994, 2 MB sounds little, for example, Windows 95 needed at least 4 MB of RAM
Yup, 2 MB. There was a 1 MB model, too. It's purely DOS-based, with no XMS support. The memory mapping features of the 80186 allow for using everything above 640 KB as a (persistent) RAM disk, or as EMS with the appropriate driver.
It can run Windows 3.0, but only in real mode, so that's not particularly useful.
Polaroid HR-6000 film recorder.
I use it to back up important photos onto film. Really wish I had the 8000.
I have many old simms in sealed static packs maybe 90 pieces, over the years I collected a lot of these and maybe a few hundred Ram from varied eras.. My Win95 Laptop have to go look to remember the specs but its pretty old. I have is probably the oldest I have right now. Unless you want to count my old chip pullers that still work great on circuit boards when I come across them.
I regularly use my old HP Vectra QS/20, manufactured in late March 1991. It has a 386 running at 20 MHz.
Mostly it's a Solitaire machine.
The outright oldest computer related thing I have is a 1986-era Quasar CRT TV. I would guess it to be 640x480 @75Hz (I have no idea what the specs are). It's used with a mostly-good condition NES, a (also Quasar) VHS player, and a 480i DVD player.
The oldest computer I have was a 2003-4 (ish) Computer Technology Link computer (don't remember the model number). There's not much left in original hardware besides the ports. It ran Windows XP Pro (now Windows 7 Pro), had 2GB RAM (still 2GB), 6 USB 1.1 ports, and a few extra ports for things like keyboards/mice. It's used as a secondary desktop until I can get a new one.
Well,gotta be my Unysis PW2 3256 386 25 MZ,DT with 16mb,SCSI HD,5.25 1.2FD,3.5 FD,had W95 running like a champ when stored,but had to reformat drive,so just Dos 6.22 atm.Using Teledisk to Archive some of my LARGE STASH of old software....
My oldest piece of computer hardware that's still in actual everyday use is a Dell 1907FP 19-inch 5:4 monitor which is hooked up to my Windows 7 desktop.
On most weeks, I often use my Dell Optiplex GX150 (Pentium III tower from the early-2000s) for floppy disk usage and some retro gaming. Although it's much older than the previously mentioned monitor, it's not exactly used "every day", so it's probably a close second in this sense.
One of my KAYPROS I have about 9 of them ALL Working and ALL have complete software for them and manuals to boot. They didn't work when I got them I had to repair them to get them up and running. But yes I do use them to write new software for the CPM env. Kaypro 2, 2x , 10 W/HARD DRIVE, some more are doubles of what I have all ready and ALOT od aspare parts I just baught complete ones for using as parts for my better ones to keep them going if they break down. I like adding the new modern stuff to the older computers.
Literally the oldest thing i still use is this Lenovo b575 that came with win vista but runs xp better on it. Its SATA hdd so i dont think you can actually consider it old? its about 11 yrs old though got it in 2009.
I'd say you could classify anything older than 10 years as old. The trouble is that technology has progressed so much in certain areas and stagnated in others that 10 year old machines are still pretty usable even today. That wouldn't have been the case 10+ years ago.
Yeah. My Dell Latitude D630 from 2007 (now running Windows 2000) still works fine for most tasks. I even watched a 1080p YouTube video on it this morning.
I'm typing this message from a Dell Inspiron 6000: 1.6GHz Pentium M, 2GB RAM, Windows XP. It's less useful than the D630 but I keep it in the bedroom for browsing forums at night before I go to bed. It's fast enough for that. It's kind of funny. I have a Dell Latitude netbook from 2011 (I get lots of Dell PCs for free or cheap) and this Pentium M from 2005 is faster than the Atom CPU in the netbook.
Dont you think thats a bit un-safe, going to the internet on win xp? Besides, what browser on the Dell are you using because IE 6 is garbage at this point.