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I came across this site also:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T61p They are cheap as they are old and likely used up a lot. Laptops last a lot less than desktops, not much to upgrade. Good to use them as long as they last. It is the folks who work with, buy the latest find those who use older IT stuffs annoying. However, to each their own. Edited to add: T61 was released in 2006 and is a C2D with 4G ram. To me this is quite advanced as it will be excellent for videos and some more recent gaming also. |
My current bad luck, fridge has stopped functioning properly and is no longer cool. Just in time for summer. Landlady has to replace or repair but is super slow at these things.
At times like this, very dark classic audiobooks help me to appreciate the good things I still have. |
Atari Co-Founder Ted Dabney Dead At 81
Dabney developed the first commercially available video game. https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/...b0568a880c878b https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Dabney Edited to add: He was also involved with this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_E._Cheese%27s Related note worthy mention https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nolan_Bushnell The one thing this thread didn't focus much on is the people behind the old computers and software who made it all happen. This will be another interesting area to reflect on. |
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https://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:T61 I like the T61 best because they seem the right size to me, are tough as nails, upgradable to 8GB RAM (both of my are 4G but I upgraded by T400 to 8GB RAM), and the one I'm using now has a 15.4" 1680x1050 (WSXGA+) widescreen with a beautiful picture. I paid $52 for it if memory serves me, I don't remember if shipping was included but it's usually not more than $15 if it isn't. You just have to be looking at the right time to buy, know what to look for in signs of wear like shiny keys or a spots on the spacebar, does it still have the stickers on the palmrest, and most importantly buy from someone with a good sellers rep. Business lease returns are half my inventory but it's the luck of the draw which one they grab out of a stack. I've always had good luck. You want to watch for Nvidia chips made after 2008 as they overheat. Don't fall for the "Safe Date" spiel one guy has been trying to sell his with for the past 2 years. Both of my T61 use Nvidia Quadro NVS 140M but were made before 2008. |
Compare distro packages:
https://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?re...mpare-packages This is helpful to remember for old PCs. |
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Very nice tips, anymore such are welcome. Thanks for sharing in advance. What do you use your old laptops for ? |
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I listen to music the whole time I'm at the computer with some lightweight headphones, work with The GIMP on a daily basis and sometimes make wallpapers with it, do a lot of text editing, downloading of files, watch videos on youtube, convert the sound from videos into .ogg format, rip CD's, burn DVD's, listen to internet radio, occasionally watch a movie on VLC, transcoding of videos, surf the net, etc. I don't like using wine and don't often play games, but have played Moria and some others from the FreeBSD ports collection. I have a Win10Pro HDD I swap out for the OpenBSD HDD in my W520 to occasionally play Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, since it's the most powerful of my machines. A T61 with Core2 Duo @ 2.0GHz and 4GB RAM should be more than capable for anything you'd probably have a use for doing. It's what I've been using the whole time we've talked. |
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My main laptop at the moment is a Toshiba Satellite Pro that I bought for £60, it has a Celeron 1.3GHz processor, 2GB ram, 250GB HDD, & an 11.6" screen.
With this I surf the web, watch videos, & play music files, but sometimes I need to record my playing to post to one of my forums, so I plug in a USB mic, & record with audacity. I have given away to my nephew a Toshiba 1GB ram, 80GB HDD, dvd-rw, 12" screen. Freecycle'd my old HP 540, 1GB ram, & just recently, my Advent 12" laptop, 1.5GB ram, with an external 20GB HDD. I also gave away a 19" WXGA monitor that I just found to be too big for comfortable use. Other than my Tosh laptop, I have set up a Raspberry Pi3B 1GB ram, with an externally powered 320GB HDD, & an 11.6" HDMI monitor on my computer table, it's a lovely quiet setup. :) Downstairs, I use an Acer A0722, 2GB ram, 11.6" laptop with a 64GB SSD for checking the weather & my emails first thing in the morning. I'm not bragging, just showing that whilst I could buy a new computer/laptop, I just don't have a need to. :) |
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All it needed a new HDD so I replaced it for about $50, it's my OpenIndiana box now. That wouldn't have happened with a T61. They have rubber rails on the HDD caddy to cushion it from things like that. I felt bad about telling him that's all it took but he was just happy I got it to work. |
Member response
Hi,
My main Laptop is a Dell XPS701 refurbished for a great price and is 5 years old this month. Upgrade to a SSD & 16GB memory running Slackware64 with Windows on a secondary drive. I'll keep it as long as it can be maintained. I did buy a new battery pack and replaced the wireless module because of erratic signal. I've got several refurbished Dell Laptops but are used minimal limited times and will remain in use. Hope this helps. Have fun & enjoy! :hattip: |
My laptop, Littleboy, is a second-hand Samsung from Computer Exchange. I bought it as a birthday present because I felt it was high time I learned to use one, but I'm not really very taken with it. It only has 1 GB of memory, whereas my old desktop machine, Bigboy, has 2 GB. And I really prefer using a proper keyboard and mouse. When I use Littleboy, I always feel that I'm playing with a toy, not using a computer.
All my peripherals were foundlings. |
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Thing about online purchase is that I am in Canada, so there is the shipping, customs, exchange rate, clearance fees etc., etc., all these addup. Hence, rather buy local, i3 laptop on sale for $150 locally. Checked recently and good to be aware about.
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But seriously, there are tons of these that have come off of lease in the past year and you can get these company machines for incredible prices. I would go for something with a better cpu than the one in the link though. Among the small machines the X220 is one of the best and I got one this spring in excellent shape for $113 incl. shipping. It has a Sandybridge cpu. If you want a bigger machine its big brother the T420 is also awesome. |
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harry@biker:~Edit: old Chromebooks are getting cheap and the intel based ones are real good linux laptops. My Acer C710 runs AntiX just fine and dandy. |
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https://www.ebay.ca/ I've never had to pay a customs fee for anything I bought no matter where in the world it came from and I've done business in several countries, I honestly can't remember if Canada was one. The exchange rate can be calculated, but that's really only needed on the fly for bidding at auction in another country where different currency is being used. If I want it you might as well not bid, I can out-snipe a bot and it's mine anyway. I lost the first auction I bid on then I saw how it worked. ;) I looked at the link rokytnji provided but payday is coming up so I closed the page quick or I could be looking for #9. After the '20 series, as in T420, W520, etc. Thinkpad changed its keyboard to what's known as the "chiclets keyboard" which are considered inferior and some people don't think of them a "real" Thinkpads. My T43 is a pleasure to type on and my T61 have a reinforcing metal plate under the keyboard for support my T400 does not, from what I understand. All mine have the old style keyboard and if I switch over to my Gateway it takes a lighter touch. |
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The other last but vital thing is that I have pet birds and these drop feathers and feather powder etc., that collect inside stuffs over period of time. These are easier to clean inside desktop but laptop is smaller, so harder to clean and would also need it more often. They were selling P4 for 120 bucks locally last year used with tax. but certainly not worth it. I keep an eye out and watch the trends but for now I have enough old desktops to last my life time of computing needs for the most part. |
Rok, great find on the T430.
Netbooks are fun devices and I've had several of them. If one can find an Acer C720 Chromebook with 4gb ram those are pretty solid too and as you know, the firmware is upgradeable to run full Linux distros. |
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CLI friendly distros are amazing, so arch is good in this regard:
https://linuxhint.com/best-linux-dis...ns-old-laptop/ This home page is also interesting: https://linuxhint.com/ |
cbc.ca - this site is not working under dillo or links. Only works under regular PaleMoon browser.
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https://responsive.cbc.ca/hc/en-us/s...BC-ca-Redesign The most vital questions: https://responsive.cbc.ca/hc/en-us/a...e-CBC-website- https://responsive.cbc.ca/hc/en-us/a...-the-old-site- So basically, the site is being redesigned to be more mobile phone friendly as most are using their phones to access the web. Hence, indirectly users of old tech are being blocked out, specially those using CLI only and other limited browsers. cbc is a major media site in Canada. If others follow this trend, then those using old computers will be basically limited to: 1. IRC 2. Sites that provide older media like gutenberg and librivox.org 3. Email 4. Use their PC offline for other personal things. 5. Downloading where it is allowed. |
As I age, I don't feel like dumpster diving for big desktops anymore, harder to carry them around. I am glad that I got what I can when I could in the past. Don't feel I am upto opening desktops and changing parts, doing troubleshooting either, feels like a big drag. Wonder how I changed so much in 6 months to a year.
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The cheapest desktop available locally for now used is 75 bucks with tax almost and similar to the one below:
https://www.pcworld.com/article/132004/article.html |
I picked up two HP Elite 8000 desktops last year on ebay for $50 each. Probably the last desktops I will ever buy. People are getting rid of desktops so should be pretty inexpensive now.
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I had the good fortune to find both a thinkpad x220 and t420, for about $100 or so each, and I discovered that as far as the linux kernel is concerned, they are the same system, so rather than setting up two complete systems, I just swap the SSD between the two. Nothing changes, networking, everything is seen as the same, which was an added bonus. The only thing I have to change is the SSD adapters, since the two use slightly different internal bay sizing.
I honestly don't know why anyone buys new laptops when this generation of Thinkpads are so inexpensive used. Just replace the SSD, assuming it ran windows and is worn out, max the ram, ideally with better quality ram like micron or crucial, and you're good to go for the next 10 years or so. Note that I asked at thinkforums before buying mine, and was told there is a keyboard issue on the t430/40 and x230/40 series, so I was told to avoid those. As anyone who has used a real thinkpad (NOT thinkpad Edge, which is a consumer grade laptop using the thinkpad name to sell it! I discovered this fact when taking an Edge apart for a friend, and finding horrible cheap internals that were basically impossible to fix) knows, they have arguably the best laptop keyboard in the world. The polar opposite of the post 2015 macbooks, which have probably the worst keyboard ever put on a laptop, which is of course why apple is now getting sued in a class action lawsuit because of the ongoing failures... |
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I have a Dell tower with a P4 and 2GB RAM I was using as a pfSense router/firewall. I loved it but it sucked down electricity like I can Mt Dew. I run 3-4 laptops 24/7 and it doesn't make a dent in my electricity bill. I need to re-purpose one of my laptops to fill that role. |
HP Inc Tops Revenue Estimates, Raises Forecast on PC Demand
https://money.usnews.com/investing/n...ps-893-percent Edit: As opposed to what others shared here and even I believed, HP is doing amazing in the PC business and forecasting even more growth. |
Best CLI Linux Distro discussion:
https://www.reddit.com/r/commandline...st_cli_distro/ |
CLI Screen Alternatives:
https://www.howtogeek.com/114582/2-a...-multitasking/ |
This might be good for older mobile phones etc., is Linux based:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailfish_OS |
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My INFJ Backward Pull Historic Interests:
1. Different ancient kingdoms and wars. 2. Natural disasters 3. Classic Fiction 4. Classic Travel 5. Challenges faced by poor such as Immigrants etc., 6. Misc. Specific Instances US Historic 1. Red Indians 2. Slavery 3. Irish Famine 4. Civil War 5. WW1 6. WW2 7. Espionage stories OTHERS 1. Sermons from sermonindex.net 2, DOS Games 3. Times of plague I get all the above from gutenberg.org and Librivox.org For researching and enjoying these old computer is enough. Regarding old computers I am leaning more towards software and Linux, so this means more CLI. In regards to CLI there is learning the CLI manuals, learning the basics and trying out different linux distros in CLI mode. (I need to return to this again). All of the above are making me move away from retro hardware more towards retro software. Hence, my lesser interest, patience in retro hardware for now. This is also coupled with the clutter issue, aging. In this regard it is vital to not get oneself cornered with obscure retro hardware. Always have backups and if an IT hardware you have is obscure then better to know about this and be careful in advance. Good backups are a must. |
Historic Mind Map, all historic events involve around the following:
1. Events 2. Products 3. Services 4. Circumstances 5. Conflicts/DrawBacks 6. Actions 7. Outcomes Removing the associated feelings is very vital to see the true picture, moreover related feelings are very likely uncorrect as there is Presentism: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/presentism Not but not least, there is also the Old Computer, Linux factor that is used to view the past. Edited to add: So basically what this means is even with a more recent computer, I have no need for more intense gaming, graphics. Even if I get a more recent PC, I will still use it for the things that I enjoy and appreciate. |
My net constantly disconnected a few times today. Rebooted, router, modem and PC didnt help. Replugged all cables, will see if this has helped now.
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Have you more than one client node in your network, or only one PC? (I am thinking about how you could isolate the issue to the pc, the router, the modem, or the isp.) |
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Just found out that the mice had gotten to the Cat 5 cable also, hence the net dc again. So I tried 2 other cat 5 cables that had been obtained by dumpster diving. These two blue cables didnt work, I tried connecting them between router, modem and then to PC. So have kept these separate to discard, they don't seem damaged on the outside, so not sure what the issue is.
Now my router stopped connecting to net. Hence, had to use PPPoe to connect PC directly to net sans router. Whew, took like 2 hours, will see if this connections stays around or not. Resetting router, rebooting it etc., didn't help. |
Wow, net got DC again after all this. Wonder if the modem adapter is affected. Need to check this next.
Edited to add: Modem adapter and related wire seem ok. Modem also doesn't power off randomly. Tried shaking wires on the modem and it didn't DC or anything. So then perhaps can this be something at the ISP end ? Will monitor more and see. Someone suggested I try this to see if ISP is having issues: https://downdetector.com/ It was very hot yesterday, went to 38C with humidex, wonder if my modem overheated causing the issues. Will monitor from this point now and see. Edited to add yet again: Temp. is ok now , even went to 13C outsides overnight. The DCs are still happening. Wonder if the modem is reaching the end of its life ? Decided to try a spare modem of the same kind that I had bought extra. Will see how this one works out. If this offers more stable connection then the older modem is Kaput. If not then will have to call ISP at this stage. |
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https://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?t=364823
Above indicates what happens when the cable modem starts to die. Must be same for DSL modem also. Incidentally, trying out the spare modem helped out a lot. The signal has been consistent for 6 hours almost now, no drops, will test it for 24 hours and see. There is a switch to turn off modem when not in use, I need to use that more often. This older modem has lasted me 3 years or so atleast, perhaps even 4 years I forget. However, I have pet birds with constant feather droppings and also had severe roach infestation, all those particles could have lead to more internal heating and hence reduced life span. Edited to add: I spoke too soon. Even with new modem, in about 6 hours the connection dropped !! However, it came back again fast. Will monitor some more and see before I call up my ISP. Edited to add yet again: Router is working ok with new modem again, so this is a positive. :) |
Few modem issues related videos:
DSL modem disconnects solved (Wifi): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uFt8Nuxn90 Why Does Your Internet Connection Randomly Stop Working? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXbidC6q5-Y I cleaned the outsides of the old modem and blew around its outer surface. 1.Must consider updating the firmware of the older modem. 2. There are screws on this modem, can open and check if everything is ok, if there is dust then can clean it better. 3. Perhaps if it is just overheating, it will work better when the temp. cools down outsides again, like around October. Will reserve that for future. Edited to add, how long ADSL modem lasts: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/573749 |
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