Interesting older PC setup:
http://englishrussia.com/2017/03/06/...agically-cool/

Local used electronics store is selling i3 Desktop with 320 GB hd, 4 gb ram etc., for C$200 including tax.

Very nice read, it is a reminder that there are Laptops with older CPUs more as they are easier to store:
http://www.osemotions.com/a-penguin-...rating-system/

General Old PC related reflections from a contact:

When it comes to laptops, cleaning the dust out of them and maybe even replacing the thermal paste and
fans will probably contribute more to the life of the product than putting it on a UPS or unplugging
it in a storm.
if someone has a laptop and leaves it turned on all the time, they may find
that their thermal paste will dry up after a while.
The thermal paste helps transfer heat from the processor to the heatsink.
And on laptops the heatsink sometimes has a long metal run and additional fins at a location
other than directly over the CPU.
If the thermal paste dries up the processor will of course get hotter and the fans will be working harder.
If any of the fans fail, the processor will heat up very fast and could easily fail, memory is typically more vulnerable to static electricity... which is worse in the winter time in colder regions because of the lack of humidity in the air.
Imagine what happens when a 386 laptop has a broken CD drive.
you won't be able to reload your OS, or boot from a liveCD to repair it.
And it won't boot from a USB external drive.
And it'll be hard to find a replacement drive.
Finding parts is the reason to consider the P4 to be the bare minimum level of PC right now.

I keep one spare dvd drive, well actually two, one small external usb for the devices that can handle usb boot and another regular old IDE for ones that can't. They are basically dedicated to my toolbox just for loading an OS if/when needed as I don't have much need for these drives otherwise.

Opening and setting up a 1988 IBM PC for the first time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLy_jEbuY-U

Edited to add:
He smells all over this older PC soon after opening it, moans and shivers as he sets it up. Really touching experience.

Using older laptop as emulator for older PCs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBANAFSfLQg

Free E-Book Silicon Jungle:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/54360...-h/54360-h.htm

This is a nice old book on computer revolution, covers lots of retro stuff.
Amazing find. Glad it is being offered for free. Must grab, share with all and enjoy )

Interesting old computer ads:
http://www.sadanduseless.com/2010/01...-computer-ads/

Some computer jokes:
http://www.rd.com/jokes/computer/

Posting from my 1998 Jornada 820 Win CE device running Debian-Arm, 2.4.31 from a CF card.

Attached Thumbnails

 

''

Link to info. on above device:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jornada_820

Thanks for your post, welcome to this thread and continue to share.

Best Wishes.

The first ad in the first link was far from funny at the time. I worked for CDC then, who was most likely the manufacturer of the 80/300mb disks (9762 and 9766 models), and maintained a fair number of computer systems using System Industries disk controllers. I even went to a couple day training class at System Industries plant in Silicon Valley, a nice trip from Denver where I lived at the time. In 1977 getting 300mb disk system for under $20,000 US was a very good price. Just the drive without controller retailed from CDC for close to $25K.

The good old days. The 300mb 9766 disk was a free-standing cabinet aboout waist high, using a removable 10 platter 14" disk pack. Just the pack weighed in around 20lbs or so, the drive itself was probably a couple hundred pounds. Here is the spec sheet: http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stut...hure_Mar77.pdf

As an aside, CDC was one of the first disks to use the voice-coil actuator, which was far superior to other mechanical actuators used to position r/w heads. Voice coil actuators are still used in spinning disks today. On of my co-workers at CDC serviced even older systems using disks with hydraulic actuators ftp://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stutt.../841_Feb71.pdf

I remember those! Ours came in transparent plastic cases with a carrier handle at the top. You had to take it out of the case and drop it gently onto the drive. I'm a small woman so I found it quite a load.

I remember also. My first IT job was nursing three drives with packs like that, Data General servers and storage. I had washing machines smaller and lighter than those beasts.

I have this one but it has a bad display https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_200LX