Opry99er Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 I posted this in another section, but I would love the opinions of those of you here as well. ***** Stumbled on a few 'nice' items at thrift today. The Dell is complete with branded keyboard and matching monitor. It is the one with the 256MB of RAM. The other computer here is sort of a mystery to me. It is obviously older and the case is built like a German tank... Metal throughout. 64MB of RAM on this one. The Dell, being complete, is the most tempting at $25. $25 for any complete, tested and working conputer seems like a good deal to me. The other one is also $25, but only comes with an aftermarket keyboard and mouse... No monitor. Thing is, I don't know what the hell I want to do with this rig. I have been wanting a DOS machine, one that could be set up to run from floppy or HD. I thought about potentially just upgrading the RAM and giving it to my son for Christmas as a word processor... Get him a printer and maybe a few games. I do not know. I feel like there is value here... But I don't really know what is possible do with either of these. 64MB of RAM should run most DOS games. 256MB of RAM should be able to run most games from the 90s from CD. What should I buy and why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 I think you can find a "free geek" like place that will give you a better machine for free. or find better ones on craigslist for similar pricing.. Greg 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinphaltimus Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 I agree with arcadeshopper - Although $25 doesn't seem like much for a complete system, you can and will find much better at cost. My concern is these things weren't built like TIs, at that age, it could tank at anytime. Mostly caps or thermal issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted August 20, 2016 Author Share Posted August 20, 2016 Thanks fellas. Living in a small town, though, there is not much in way of 'free geek' places or even electronics recyclers. It is uber rare to find any computer stuff for sale ANYWHERE, so finding all three of these in one place was pretty amazing. I have looked on craigslist and golsn and the other local sales sites including the facebook local yard sale groups. Nada. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted August 20, 2016 Author Share Posted August 20, 2016 cookeville craigslist listings for "computer" http://cookeville.craigslist.org/search/sya?query=computer&sort=rel golsn listings for "computer" http://www.lsn.com/electronics/?query=computer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinphaltimus Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 Thanks fellas. Living in a small town, though, there is not much in way of 'free geek' places or even electronics recyclers. It is uber rare to find any computer stuff for sale ANYWHERE, so finding all three of these in one place was pretty amazing. I have looked on craigslist and golsn and the other local sales sites including the facebook local yard sale groups. Nada. Well there is that to consider. Location Location Location. I did a salvation army run last weekend and same thing. Nada. And no real "thrift" stores around here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-DC7900-Desktop-Computer-4GB-160GB-Intel-Core-2-duo-DVD-Rom-Win-7-Ready-/112102146996?hash=item1a19cf03b4:g:MpYAAOSw9NdXt49X free shipping bidding is below 25$ http://www.ebay.com/itm/3GB-RAM-DELL-OPTIPLEX-745-TOWER-COMPUTER-DVD-/172307254634?hash=item281e500d6a:g:hysAAOSwV0RXsc-- 29$ so far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Ragan Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 Fifteen years ago, I knew an optometrist who was running his business on a computer with just 64MB of RAM. He wondered why his computer was running so poorly... well, that was your first problem right there! 64MB was far too little for a computer in 2001, and I can't imagine what you would do with a machine like that now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted August 20, 2016 Author Share Posted August 20, 2016 Thanks guys. I am not looking for a modern computer to use like a modern computer. I am looking for something old, obsolete, to see if there is anything useful that can be done with it. Word processing is one thing... Playing some CD games, maybe some Age of Empires, 7th Guest, stuff like that. Not super useful for much else, but at least something semi-classic and obsolete enough to warrant an effort. These 'may not be the computers I'm looking for', but I am on the scent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+InsaneMultitasker Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 When you do get that old, obsolete machine give it a nice run through with a few test programs. I spent today trying to read a few of my EZ135 platters on one of my Shuttle PCs (2.8Ghz small form factor) that I've had for a long time. Thing kept restarting at random times, generating errors on programs and DLLs, but nothing consistent. Wasn't until I tested the RAM with memtest86 that I discovered 100,000+ errors within the first 60 seconds. For some reason, the ram went bad. Tested all 6 sticks I had, and three of the 6 generated errors. One of the three wouldn't even allow the PC to POST. I tested the remaining good sticks in both systems for over an hour with no errors, now I need to figure out if any of my image backups were affected by the memory glitch. Anyway, not sure if there are caps or some other reason for the memory failing like this; sure caught me off guard. Good luck in your hunting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted August 22, 2016 Author Share Posted August 22, 2016 (edited) Good advice there, thanks Tim. Really, I want a cool machine for my son to do some word processing and play some old games. I tried to get him into TI-Writer, but I am thinking it may be a bit too arcane for him to get much use out of it. Been looking at a Mac SE lately and remembering fondly, as we had one in the late 80s, early 90s. It has a semi-decent word processing program available and the use of a mouse... It is still retro and cool enough inside of its cube to warrant a second look. A nice bridge between the TI and modern stuff, I think. Edited August 22, 2016 by Opry99er Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxpressed Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Here's a video from one of my favorite retro computing Youtube channels that may convince you to get the Dell: Conventional wisdom is that the P4 era marks the end of DOS/98SE gaming, but this video argues otherwise. You just have to make do with PCI audio, which can be passable for many DOS games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted August 22, 2016 Author Share Posted August 22, 2016 Holy cow, I can do that with the Dell?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxpressed Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Yes. The Celeron in the Dell won't be as powerful as a P4, but it will be plenty fast to play Windows 98 and DOS games. However, if you're interested in a DOS/98 box, the Athlon is much more interesting than the Dell. It is probably a Socket A Athlon Thunderbird given that it is running at 1.2 GHz. This kind of box is much rarer than Dell P4s and better suited to play retro games. There's a chance that the motherboard has an ISA slot, which would be a huge boon because it means that you can use an ISA sound card for DOS games. Some Socket A mobos have ISA. (My fastest DOS box with ISA is a 2.4 GHz Athlon XP / Socket A rig.) If I were just starting out in retro computing AND that Athlon mobo has ISA, $25 is a good price if it is in working condition. You'll need to spring for a copy of Windows 98 SE. (Also, a high-quality CRT monitor is a big plus if you have the room for it. Many aren't working quite right anymore, though. The good ones are now rare because of recycling.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift838 Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Or maybe one of these small form factor PC's. HERE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinphaltimus Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 (edited) This is just great. Thanks a lot Opry99er. Keep it up and I'll have to go and dig out my windows 98se Box. I started installing many games on it about 7 years ago with the intention of virtualizing it afterwords. It was just soooo many games I packed it away and never looked back. Now between this, the Amiga I took out of the closet and my TI, I'm going to get in to a lot of trouble. :/ Edited August 23, 2016 by Sinphaltimus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 Throwing away money. I get the idea of the thrift store in many cases. A lot of them are really collecting money for a cause and the items they sell can just be considered throw-away trinkets. Especially in this case. I would rather give them the money, but that would be charity which puts them into an entirely different tax problem. Those old Dells are from a series with bad caps on the motherboard, for one. But the age alone... I often cannot give the damned things away and wind up sending them to hazardous waste recycling. Buy the TI for $20. All I got for ya. In fact, I just sent three Core2Duos to a local thrift shop because no one would take them, at least in my circles. Even a guy who reconditions machines for needy families; he told me he cannot take anything older than a Gen. 1 i3 because they need the performance for the software required in school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted August 23, 2016 Author Share Posted August 23, 2016 The TI is $40, no cables. Interesting thoughts there, CS1. I am torn, but it doesn't really matter now, as I no longer have the spare $25 to blow. Maybe next payday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinphaltimus Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 (edited) Opry99er- I will dig through my inventory (I have many old pcs saved away) and see if I have anything that meets your criteria. For the cost of shipping. I'd even be willing to gut it and not include a case to reduce the cost since cases are easy to come by cheap. If you want. I just need this weekend to do the searching first. Edited August 23, 2016 by Sinphaltimus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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