Trusty kit you cannot part with!

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TheBay

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Feb 25, 2013
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I won't even begin to list all the items I've accumulated over the years, but some things I cannot part with and 2 things spring to mind here for me.

My IBM Lenovo X60 12" laptop, it's 7 years old, it has 3gb ram and a SSD, the thing will not die/crash or anything. It's lightening fast on Windows 7 or 8. It's defying the laws of physics.

It has no touchpad, just trackpoint (Which I prefer), it's been out in the rain, dropped, stood on. But I use it daily, it's got built in 3G, excellent battery life. I really have no need to replace it, the keyboard just types perfectly. If it ever does die I will buy another X series, I just love the stupid thing!
The size and weight is just perfect. I have had newer 14" i5's and i7's but I just keep using this.

Another is my Microsoft intellimouse optical 1.1, I bought this back in 2000 when I first saw an optical mouse (Apart from the optical mice I remember in the early 90's that you had to use a special mousemat with a grid on it), it's been used every day since then, works perfectly and fits like a glove!
 
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Mike

Member
May 29, 2012
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I usually cannot part with the old stuff because I do not have money for something new ;)
 

Jeggs101

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Dec 29, 2010
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Ha! Loved those mice so much. Wore out buttons on three over years.

I think for me Opteron 6128 2P system. No real reason to Keep it but stable!
 

Scout255

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Feb 12, 2013
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Amazed your intellimouse lasted that long. I went through 3 in a period of ~2 years. Apparently their was some design issue that caused the mouse to die. Eventually I got a 2.2 version (I think) and it stopped breaking.
 

TheBay

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Feb 25, 2013
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Amazed your intellimouse lasted that long. I went through 3 in a period of ~2 years. Apparently their was some design issue that caused the mouse to die. Eventually I got a 2.2 version (I think) and it stopped breaking.
Using it right now as we speak!



I hope it doesn't die now, it's managed 13 years so far! :)
 

mmmmmdonuts

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Mar 22, 2012
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I got a IBM thinkpad T43p from 2005 that is still running to this day. Been through undergrad, 2 screens, cracked motherboard, 3 hdds, multiple falls, beer and even my sister for 2 years before finally before being retired as pfsense router for the last year plus. Hopefully still running strong for multiple years as a router.
 

TheBay

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Feb 25, 2013
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I must admit I have a fetish (for want of a better word) for IBM/Lenovo business grade stuff lately, I've just bought an ultra small form factor desktop to use as either a router or squeezebox server for £50.

I'm itching to buy another X series!
 

RimBlock

Active Member
Sep 18, 2011
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I usually cannot part with the old stuff because I do not have money for something new ;)
I think it is more this way with me too.

Most of my IT stuff is just a means to an end so I don't have much attachment to it.

Thinking long and hard about it, I guess there are a couple that may fit in that category;
1. My old Kennsington Joystick in my pre PC days which I had for many years. It was built to last and stood up well to many hours of Daley Thompsons Decathalon (think Track & Field if that name means nothing to you)

2. More PC based, my old Dell 24" Ultrasharp (gen 4 IIRC) which was recently retired. It cost an arm and a leg and was a choice I have never regretted. I recently replaced it with a 27" Dell from the same range (latest revision of course). I really didn't want to step down to the 1080 screens but when the backlight was going so badly that there was a big halo on the screen I just had to bite the bullet and get a replacement. Luckily the wife was not to vocal about the cost.

As an aside, I advised my parents to get a Hanspree 24" monitor. It was cheap and was getting rave reviews in the UK. The first one they got failed after about a year so they put it down to bad luck and got another. The second one has now also failed. They have now been advised to get one of the Dell lower end units this time :D.

RB
 

TheBay

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Feb 25, 2013
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I think it is more this way with me too.

Most of my IT stuff is just a means to an end so I don't have much attachment to it.

Thinking long and hard about it, I guess there are a couple that may fit in that category;
1. My old Kennsington Joystick in my pre PC days which I had for many years. It was built to last and stood up well to many hours of Daley Thompsons Decathalon (think Track & Field if that name means nothing to you)

2. More PC based, my old Dell 24" Ultrasharp (gen 4 IIRC) which was recently retired. It cost an arm and a leg and was a choice I have never regretted. I recently replaced it with a 27" Dell from the same range (latest revision of course). I really didn't want to step down to the 1080 screens but when the backlight was going so badly that there was a big halo on the screen I just had to bite the bullet and get a replacement. Luckily the wife was not to vocal about the cost.

As an aside, I advised my parents to get a Hanspree 24" monitor. It was cheap and was getting rave reviews in the UK. The first one they got failed after about a year so they put it down to bad luck and got another. The second one has now also failed. They have now been advised to get one of the Dell lower end units this time :D.

RB
Daley Thompson's decathlon and track and field, know these all too well! The joystick snapper!!!

Looked in my garage the other day and found 2x
Spectrums, oric one, c64, Atari 2600, Amiga 500+, 2x Apple Mac se, cheetah joysticks, Atari joystick, etc I cannot throw any of it away. Though none of it has been used for 20 years+!

Though did have a clear out recently and scrapped a wang 286, MFM 20mb hard drives, 21" Sony trinitron CRT monitor (BNC connectors) mac IICI , mac LCII, mac PowerPC 6500, some pentium 3's and a 486!


It wasn't a Dell 2407WFP by any chance? I'm repairing one of those right now
And either need to find a part or sell it for parts.
 
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RimBlock

Active Member
Sep 18, 2011
837
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Daley Thompson's decathlon and track and field, know these all too well! The joystick snapper!!!

Looked in my garage the other day and found 2x
Spectrums, oric one, c64, Atari 2600, Amiga 500+, 2x Apple Mac se, cheetah joysticks, Atari joystick, etc I cannot throw any of it away. Though none of it has been used for 20 years+!

Though did have a clear out recently and scrapped a wang 286, MFM 20mb hard drives, 21" Sony trinitron CRT monitor (BNC connectors) mac IICI , mac LCII, mac PowerPC 6500, some pentium 3's and a 486!


It wasn't a Dell 2407WFP by any chance? I'm repairing one of those right now
And either need to find a part or sell it for parts.
Will check for you when I get home.

Not sure where our Spectrum 48K went or the +3 for that matter but just before I moved over here my folks moved house and found the old Dragon 32 in the loft. Not sure what they did with it.

There is quite a retro market on EBay for that stuff though.

RB
 

TheBay

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Feb 25, 2013
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Will check for you when I get home.

Not sure where our Spectrum 48K went or the +3 for that matter but just before I moved over here my folks moved house and found the old Dragon 32 in the loft. Not sure what they did with it.

There is quite a retro market on EBay for that stuff though.

RB
Thank you :)

I had the 48k, ZX81 and the 128k+2, I wasn't allowed the +3 as it was too expensive!

Ah the Dragon 32, I never had one of those, but they were made 30 miles away from here in Port Talbot!

Yeah there is a retro market, but these things bring back some fond memories for me and when I have children I will get them going and show them what life was like when I was growing up. Plus they can only go up in value.
 

Patrick

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Dec 21, 2010
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My Kit:
1. 4GB, 8GB and 32GB flash drives (transitioning to USB 3.0 versions and micro SDHC cards in USB/ SD adapters.)
2. USB DVD RW drive "just in case" - happy that this is down from a drive in every machine
3. An old 20" LCD with DVI and VGA
4. A screwdriver with replaceable bits! (likely #1)
5. Thermal paste
6. Extra CPUs/ memory
7. My Spotswood chassis
 

Bunker

New Member
Mar 10, 2013
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Like others.. Got a Lenovo x61 that I use every day for network testing, billing, play and now for posting on STH. Four years ago I nervously sold my x31 to buy it, last year it got ssd and 8gb for our anniversary. No paint on keyboard anymore... A true love affair.
 
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TheBay

New Member
Feb 25, 2013
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Oops!, I seem to have ordered another 3 Lenovo M58 Ultra small form factors on ebay!

I have X61's, X201's all in my watch list as well and I know it's going to be a C6100 I'm going to click "buy it now" next, someone please come here and block eBay!

@Patrick,

Regarding your USB DVD RW Drive, I still use a NEC USB floppy drive!, I only have 1 floppy disk that works but it's been a life saver at times, especially for BIOS flashing on legacy kit.
 
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cactus

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Jan 25, 2011
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I have a MacBook 2,1(2007) that I still use, if I could put more than 2GB of ram in it it would be amazing. 32GB SSD to replace the 3rd dead 5400k spinner and OSX 10.6.

Multiple Dell monitors, but the more useful one is an old E156FPb. To think a 15in CRT was common amazes me after using a 15in LCD and thinking it is so small it is also cute. I also have a Sony G420 tube that is to big to go on my desk.

I have 3 old 939 systems that I cant part with along with a P4 3.0GHz. The P4 was my first water cooling project back in 2007. I got it to 3.8GHz and thought I was bad a$$. I feel like my place is turning in to an episode of Hoarders Buried Alive, so it might be time to get rid of stuff.:rolleyes:

My parents recycled a working 386 a few years back; that made me sad. lol
 

TheBay

New Member
Feb 25, 2013
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Mean these? Like $80? lenovo m58 | eBay
Yeah paid 50 a peice, with Windows 7 pro licences and were made 2 years ago.
They are fantastic little energy efficient machines and tiny! Exactly the same size as my X60
As my X60 docking station sits on top. Far better than any Atom machine.
 
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