What is the oldest working computer that you own?

[Cam42]

Mine would have to be my laptop. Which, actually, is my primary laptop. Here's a PCWorld review of it, circa 2001. http://j.mp/cyFVqA
It's been upgraded to Windows XP and still runs wonderfully. Well, about as wonderfully as a 700MHz PIII with 128MB of memory can run.

[mamamia88]

own or use? i have an old compaq that's not hooked up that i got for free on craigslist. not even sure what specs it has but it had windows me when i got it then i put puppy on it

[McRat]

There is a S-100 bus Z-80 machine with 8" drives right next to me running. Circa 1980? Mitutoyo.

There is also a 486-33DX (1989?) hooked to it processing it's output. It cost $2200 new with 1mb of ram, Hercules B/W graphics, and a 40mb HDD, made by Zeos.

Both machines run 24hrs a day.

[lzfy]

There is a S-100 bus Z-80 machine with 8" drives right next to me running. Circa 1980? Mitutoyo.

There is also a 486-33DX (1989?) hooked to it processing it's output. It cost $2200 new with 1mb of ram, Hercules B/W graphics, and a 40mb HDD, made by Zeos.

Both machines run 24hrs a day.

What do you use them for?

[McRat]

What do you use them for?

They run a Coordinate Measuring Machine that is accurate to ± 1 micron. The data collected in routed into the 486, where a BASIC program translates it into CAD data formats.

[Calash]

I have a Z-80 at work that I decommissioned. Still turn it on for nostalgia.

Also have an Apple Macintosh Plus that still boots.

Oldest at home is an iBook G3 blueberry. I mostly throw Linux builds onto it for fun.

[KiraLexi]

Apple IIe.

[lisati]

The oldest computer I regularly power up is about 10+ years old. The monitor is a bit flaky and doesn't always work properly, but thankfully SSH seems to do the trick. I have a couple of Commodore 128s lurking around but haven't used them for a while.

[samalex]

Mine would have to be my laptop. Which, actually, is my primary laptop. Here's a PCWorld review of it, circa 2001. http://j.mp/cyFVqA
It's been upgraded to Windows XP and still runs wonderfully. Well, about as wonderfully as a 700MHz PIII with 128MB of memory can run.


own or use?

Ditto, I have an original Apple ][ with monitor that's from 1977, I traded some computer work for it years ago. I also had a complete IBM 5150 system from 1981 until earlier this year when I took it to Goodwill, which I'm still kicking myself for doing. The oldest system I guess I use (or will use very soon) is a Tandy 1400 FD laptop from the mid to late 80's which works great as a serial terminal for my headless Linux server.

Sam

[Penguin Guy]

ZX Spectrum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Spectrum) - still write the odd game on it occasionally, just for a break from Python/C++

[Warpnow]

Just got rid of my P2 300mhz. PSU died and wasn't worth replacing.


So, now, mmmm, my main PC, in my sig...I guess. My netbook is weaker but newer.

[wilee-nilee]

Thinkpad a21m 700 p3 chip 198 ram, run xubuntu pretty well and puppy like a champ. I don't use it though loaned it to a neighbor and let them use my wifi for free.

[CharlesA]

I've got a 486 50Mhz with 8MB of RAM running Windows 95 that just sits in my closet and acts as a door stop. Still works, but it's slow as hell.

I don't even know if it could run any linux distro with a GUI.

[Legendary_Bibo]

I have a decade old HP machine that had an the highest amount of RAM in its time (512mb), it has XP and hasn't been booted in a long time. I wasn't allowed to use it for my second machine for some odd reason, so I use a Dell Dimension 4600 which has half the RAM a third of the HDD space (40gb), same amount of video (64mb), and is only 7 years old. I get some use out of it. I see why there's no reason to throw away old computers with light distros out there now, they're all becoming user friendly, and they bring life back into old computers. Although I love finding silly nannies who throw away their old computers because of slowdown. :D

[AjC41]

i have an old KLH Pc with windows 3.x, i dont know much about it like the year. i still havent had much time to mess around on it

[slooksterpsv]

In our garage we have an 8088 running DOS 5.0 I believe. It has 4MB of RAM I believe and a 80MB drive.

We don't use it and it's collecting dust.

[K.Mandla]

They run a Coordinate Measuring Machine that is accurate to ± 1 micron. The data collected in routed into the 486, where a BASIC program translates it into CAD data formats.
Any chance you could show a picture of that? Inquiring minds want to know.

[McRat]

Any chance you could show a picture of that? Inquiring minds want to know.

I'm at home now, I'll try to remember in the AM.

I used to have 4 of the Mitutoyo Z-80 computers (MicroPak 21), but now I'm down to 2. Parts stopped being available 20 years ago.

So one by one, they are getting new controllers as I run out of spares for them.

I will miss them. I unsoldered the CPUs, and replaced them with a faster chip (NEC V20?). I found a Zenith CP/M computer to make backup 8" disks. I found out how to rebuild 8" floppy drives. I found how to adapt modern power supplies into them. I figured out how connect them to an IBM PC by customizing a RS-232<->Parallel Port converter and writing custom software to process the signal.

I am probably the only MicroPak 21 "hacker" in existence as far as I could find. Necessity is a Mother of something.

[TRoe]

There is a S-100 bus Z-80 machine with 8" drives right next to me running. Circa 1980? Mitutoyo.

There is also a 486-33DX (1989?) hooked to it processing it's output. It cost $2200 new with 1mb of ram, Hercules B/W graphics, and a 40mb HDD, made by Zeos.

Both machines run 24hrs a day.

wHHOOOAH!?! :shock: Very cool... you guys are making me nostalgic!

I've got an old PowerMac 6500 that can run an earlier version of Yellow Dog linux. Surfs great with Lynx! :)

OT: I've often considered doing a case mod that guts an old VT100 terminal. (Not that I have one, but I'm always looking at yard sales and auctions)

[dragos240]

hmm..... probably that z80 computer in the back..........

[Windows Nerd]

I posted this (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1485300) thread asking the forum what to do with my 15-year-old laptop.

I am probably going to put some blueflops or Basic Linux 3.5 of there...I saw here Yellow Spore Linux or something like that, got to look at that.

Though some of these machines...holee crow those are old.

[Hman242]

I have an old Compaq up in storage that should still run that has Win98 on it.

[Spr0k3t]

The oldest running computer system I have: Amiga 500 rev 5a. Oldest non-running is a TRS-80.

[Breambutt]

C64 (C) with a genuine 1541 (C) floppy slacker. Too bad I don't own a TV, would be great waiting all day to play 5 minutes continuously until the next floppy switch.

Law of the West - possibly the greatest game of all time.

[clarknick67]

lenovo laptop, cannot remind its detail type

[ePierre]

The oldest running computer I own is an Amstrad PCW (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amstrad_PCW). Black and green monochrome screen, internal speaker for sound and a 3" floppy drive (yes, three inches, not three and a half!). Later on, my father bought a mouse and a printer for it, and he was using "graphical" softwares on it to create covers or simple drawings for documents.

As a child, I loved it because of games like Batman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_%281986_video_game%29)!

One day, it stopped working and my dad needed a computer to keep working, so he bought a 486SX33.

But nostalgia kept me aware, and a few years later, I discovered the problem came from the floppy drive (there was no hard drive inside, so everything had to be loaded through the floppy, even the OS!), and I tried to find a new one to buy... and I met a guy who explained me how to fix my current floppy drive with a piece of rubber!

Yes, back then, computers were a bit like car mechanics, you could still repair them without having to change everything :)

Since then, it works like a charm, but to be honest I don't use it very often :) (especially now it's stored at my mother's, something like 10000km away from where I'm currently working!).

I'm not sure if Amstrad every sold any computer in the US, though (I'm from France, and Amstrad was a British brand)...

[McRat]

Any chance you could show a picture of that? Inquiring minds want to know.

First pic is the machine I started by business with in the back of an upholstery shop in 1993.
It has XYZ resolution of 1 micron, but can interpolate to a 1/2.

Next, the 8" Z-80 that processes it's output. It has a custom O/S and BIOS, with 64k of RAM. The discs hold the operating system and application software, and hold 1.1 meg.

Next is the Zeos 80486DX-33. This was a VERY advanced computer in it's day. Dual fans, 8 bays, 486 Daughterboard, 7 ISA slots. Bios date 1989. I bought the first month they came out, and fully loaded systems were $8,000+. I got the "stripper" instead. Just the 486 CPU sold for $1100 back then. 16mb of RAM was $1600. That single speed CDROM (no writing back then), was about $450. It has been run pretty much every single day since purchased. I probably have spent $5000 on it by the time I was finished.

It's running an app I wrote under W3.11, but had DOS with it when bought.

Next is it's "brother" with my guy Brian running it with 250x Video Microscope attachment active. Normally these have synthetic ruby-tipped touch probes made by Renishaw. It has an IBM desktop hooked up to it. It's a Pentium? I forget. Win3.11.

Last pic is a "backup" computer that was taken off line. It's a Microchannel PS2 286? Really freaking rare now. Microchannel was the most advanced bus design for the first 10 years of PCs, but never caught on. IBM wanted it proprietary so it died. A lesson that has implications today.

[McRat]

ignore

[kingtiger01]

I know it a bit like reviving the Dead, but there isnt a new Thread, and no point in starting a new one!
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Oldest i own is...

Laptop:IBM THINKPAD 390 - Good ole' Thinkpad, Pentium MMX 233mhz(Bios clock 232mhz), 64mb of Ram, upgraded it to a 20gb ATA HDD. Ran Ubuntu on it since hardy, had Gnome even running smooth up untill 10.04...

Would post pictures, but unluckily, i had it stolen with other unused parts from my parts bin... i rarely used this laptop, but it was the strongest(Physically) laptop i owned. You could throw it out of a 747 at 10k FT and it would survive... So it was great for Field-Work in poor conditions.

Desktop: Custom/AMD-AthlonXP 2.4ghz - Its stripped righ now, i ran it for quite a long time as a server. Served me well for that... 2gb of ram, Forget the mobo now but i think it was a MSI(i went through 4 including a Foxconn from a Emachine Pull... had 40 Power supply's go that year... Poor house wiring) - No hard-drive or PSU now... just sits in the parts bin...
Also have a Intel-Pentium 4 Northwood(433fsb-2.4ghz), and 2 Prescott(800fsb-3.0/3.4) of the same class. The 3.4 is my old gaming comp, running 3gb of ram(2x dual-channel / 2x 1gb, 2x 500mb - Matched timing, all DDR-5600), DFI Lanparty L875P-B2, Geforce 7800GTS, and i kept the Processor clocked at 3.997ghz... It was amazing in its day...

Server: Compaq/Proliant(?) - I dont remember the Model Number, But it ran two Pentium Pro (233mhz) Processors and 128mb of EDO-Fastpage ram(not sure on the clocking either, i think it was 64mhz)

When it came into my posession, the power-units for the processors were already going. So i only had Memtest and Windows Server 2k running on it for a short time(few hours)... Was quite powerful for its day, but the RAM was its biggest limitation...

I have two from this series, I also have a 2x Pentium 2 (533mhz) Slot-style Version as well. But it suffered from the same issue with the power-controller as well. So only one CPU is operational at this time...

Worse off, i dont have any ECC Ram for it, and some one swiped all the SDram from it while in storage... AND the other proliant server(idk how they carried away a 75lb Pedestal Server to begin with!?)

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Will update with pictures when i can!

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Continue this Thread!!!!

[sudoCrushMS]

Both machines run 24hrs a day.


Afraid they won't come back if you shut them down? I used to have a machine like that, we always thought twice before rebooting that machine for fear it would go down and stay down... :?

[Buntu Bunny]

A custom built 2003 desktop. Still has a floppy drive but I no longer have any floppies. I do like XP if I have to use Windows though.

[neu5eeCh]

So far, I think I've got all of you beat. Yeah. The poet from New England.

A fully functional and still, sometimes, utilized TRS-80 pocket computer I bought in 1983 (I think) containing a whopping 1.2 k of memory. I even have the fully functional tape back-up.:popcorn:

[DarkAmbient]

Custom built desktop that I bought in 2002~.
I've overclocked it from 1666mhz to 1700mhz (wow, right?) and it has 3 * 256MB's DDR-sticks, and a Nvidia card with 512MB DDR3. (4th GPU for that computer, the rest is original)

It's still fully working, got Arch Linux w/ xfce. Still do some programming on it from time to time. :)


I wish I had my C Vic-20 around, which I got when I was around 10 years old. That one was badass!

[lykwydchykyn]

TI99/4a -- I suppose it's somewhere between a computer and a console, but it does have productivity apps and a BASIC interpreter. I plug it in now and then, the kids have fun playing the old games and my oldest messes around with TI-BASIC. Those were maybe 1983-ish.

Also just acquired a working PowerMAC 6500/250, circa 1997-era. Neat little computer, though we don't have much software for it.

Got several pentiumII computers that run Debian, but we don't use them much anymore.

We do regularly use a K6-II laptop from around 1999 that runs Debian Squeeze and Win2k. Mostly my youngest boy uses it for Tuxpaint or Starfall.com.

[szymon_g]

HP Jornada 690 from 1999. 133mhz cpu, 32mb of ram + 2gb CF card in it. Easily runs windows... CE :)

[PatrickD-52761]

For me, that's a toss-up. I have two that are about the same age. A Dell Dimension 6550 (which is on it's third motherboard--don't even get me started on that mess) which is my Mythbuntu machine (running two Hauppauge HVR-1600 tuners), or a home-built one that I made in 2003. That's running an AMD Athlon XP 1800+ processor with 2GB of DDR-266 RAM. It hosts my Amahi Home Server.

Both work better than the E-Machines that I'm running right now, even though it's about 5 years newer (and 64-bit). And I have a Toshiba laptop that's from about 2006/2007, which is running Ubuntu 12.04 (all of these, except the Dell, were my Windows 7 beta testing machines, but I got tired of BSOD's).

Have a great day:)
Patrick.

[mastablasta]

spectrum 48+ from 83 with 48k RAM and z80 CPU :-P

second place goes to 1994 - 486 DX2/80Mhz with 32MB ram and 850 MB hard disk

third one doesn't really count since it was upgraded too much. but the case and system hard disk is from 1997. i kept the ati rage card which btw works very well in linux (no high end 3D though).
another disk upgrade failed to boot on it's image (tried clonezilla as well as redobackup). linux found disk errors/file system errors strange... disk is now ext4 formated and works in the linux computer as data storage disk so far without a hitch. i keep all data backed up on another disk just in case. another upgrade or new maschine is due soon as hardware issues have been spotted recently.
.
.
.

[stalkingwolf]

I have an old fujitsu life book. 233 processor i think and 64 mg of ram. I bought it for 45.00 when i first started working on laptops. it works great as long as its plugged in. the battery lasted about 15-20 minutes playing solitaire.
at the time they wanted 90.00 for a battery.


Necessity is a Mother of something. sometimes necessity
is just a muther.

[Swagman]

Dragon 32 in the loft. It worked the last time I bothered to connect it all up which was about a year ago.

[georgemc]

Still have a "DTC Mk2" vintage mid '70s, dual 8 inch hard sectored floppy, Uber 48KByte ram and a screaming 4MHz Intel 8080 CPU.

Did every thing we needed to do back then.

George

P.S. And yes I'm an old timer.

[Petro Dawg]

Does an atari game system count?

[alan21276]

zx spectrum 48k (the rubber keyboard one)

is BASIC still alive?

[mips]

I've still got a working toggle switch. Does that count?

[Old_Grey_Wolf]

So far, I think I've got all of you beat. Yeah. The poet from New England.

A fully functional and still, sometimes, utilized TRS-80 pocket computer I bought in 1983 (I think) containing a whopping 1.2 k of memory. I even have the fully functional tape back-up.:popcorn:

WOW. I remember looking at one of those. I could never convince myself that I really needed it. I was still paying for the computer I already bought. As you know, computers were very expensive in those days.

[Old_Grey_Wolf]

I've still got a working toggle switch. Does that count?

I am surprised that anyone else has even used one of those. I am really surprised that it still works, and more surprised that you kept it.

We built one in the lab at university in the early 1970's. If I remember correctly ours used an 8-bit 6800 processor. When I graduated I began working at NASA in Houston, I remember using a PDP-11 with the toggle switch input. It has been so long ago that I am not sure which model PDP-11 it was. I think it was the PDP-11/05 that looked like the attachment.

[mastablasta]

zx spectrum 48k (the rubber keyboard one)

is BASIC still alive?

it's the + version with solid keys keyboard and also additional keys for easier manipulation. well the keyboard membrane went bust back in the 90's but my father managed to find someone with a spare one who knew how to fix it... it has been working ever since. i just dont' use it anymore (go figure) and have it packed in the box. i switched to ZX emulators. they just load faster whic is the only thing that really bothered me. i always wanted to get microdrive but at the time when they were available it was hard to find them behind the "iron curtain" or in nearby countries.