Obsolete tech' you still covet?

Si_CreweSi_Crewe Posts: 40,202
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Funny how things work out isn't it?

I've always had a thing for sub-notebooks.
I do quite a bit of work in places where you can't take a lot with you so it's always been handy to have a compact PC.

I was just trying to help out a neighbour by finding them an economical Android Tablet when I discovered THESE on eBay.

I recall REALLY wanting one of these back when I bought my Dell X1 but I couldn't justify the £1,500 that they cost.
Having just discovered you can pick them up on eBay, now, for around £25 and upwards I've already picked one up.:blush:

Can't wait to see how it works.
Looking at the spec's, seems like it should be possible to bung an SSD into it, along with 2gb of RAM, and create something which is still fairly useful.

Been getting back into flight-sim's recently and I've just discovered a mod which allows you to use a scratchy old PC networked to your "main" PC purely to display flight instruments and it seems like, if nothing else, the HP tablet should be perfect to use as a dedicated "instrument panel" in flight sim's. :D

So, anybody else enjoy picking up old stuff that you thought was cool or managed to find a use for it?
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Comments

  • OrbitalzoneOrbitalzone Posts: 12,627
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    You might have trouble getting an SSD drive with an IDE connector for that HP....

    I love older tech and am loathed to throw things away but sometimes you have no choice. I wish I still had my first proper desktop, an Escom P60 with 8mb ram and Win95 :D
  • Si_CreweSi_Crewe Posts: 40,202
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    You might have trouble getting an SSD drive with an IDE connector for that HP....

    What I did with my Toshiba Libretto (another antique) was buy something like THIS and bung a 32gb CF card in it.

    The one I got was actually better than that though. It was mounted in a standard 2.5" frame and allows you to install two CF cards so I installed the OS on the "inboard" one and I can now pop off the HDD cover and use the "outboard" one to transfer stuff to and from the Libretto, which is handy because it has limited connectivity.

    Those IDE/CF adaptors are a terrific way to update an older machine to a SSD, assuming the PC works properly with it and you use a decent quality CF card. :)
  • RobinOfLoxleyRobinOfLoxley Posts: 27,040
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    Psion 5s weren't bad for 10+ years ago.

    https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=psion+5&pws=0&gl=uk&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=-wagVIu9B4nW7Qbxm4D4Dg&ved=0CDIQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=559

    We used them as handheld controllers for diagnostics. Piece of cake to program.
  • PencilPencil Posts: 5,700
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    I have a thing for MS Paint.

    At school, I used to get through tedious IT lessons drawing detailed art in Microsoft Paint. 20 years later, it's become a kind of secret hobby. I often spend hours drawing detailed stuff. It's more entertaining than TV and cleaner and cheaper than real drawing.

    When they changed Paint in Windows 7, the new zoom function really messed me up, so I had to download the old version (6.2) from XP which works perfectly in Windows 8.1.

    There's no other program like it.
  • RobinOfLoxleyRobinOfLoxley Posts: 27,040
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    I also want to know what happened to my Commodore 64 and my brother's Spectrum.

    We suspect Mum threw them out after we had left home a few years and got fed up of the junk.
    She denies all knowledge though.
  • Si_CreweSi_Crewe Posts: 40,202
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    Psion 5s weren't bad for 10+ years ago.

    https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=psion+5&pws=0&gl=uk&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=-wagVIu9B4nW7Qbxm4D4Dg&ved=0CDIQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=559

    We used them as handheld controllers for diagnostics. Piece of cake to program.

    I used to think they were a great bit of hardware but, at the time, WinCE was where it was at and Symbian (?) was a bit obscure.
    Kind of ironic that modified versions of Symbian went on to feature in heaps of mobile phones.

    Back when email was a rare and wondrous thing, I used to have a HP Jornada which I could plug a PC-Card modem into and use to send and receive emails, which was a thing of great wonder to most people in the office at the time.
    It's also on my shopping list of "stuff I need to replace when I find one going cheap".
  • s2ks2k Posts: 7,410
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    I have an old 486 laptop in a drawer that I'm thinking of digging out again to have a muck around with. Admittedly I have no real use for it, but the nostalgia and the challenge of getting it going again and attempting to post on here with it seem like fun :D:p
  • MaxatoriaMaxatoria Posts: 17,980
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    I used to love the ICL FDS640 at the time as it could hold 640mb in the early 80's, by god the space was like a 4tb drive today and it would be fun if people had to lug one of those around ;)
  • 100andthirty100andthirty Posts: 445
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    I'm still a great fan of RISC OS (used by Acorn on the Archimedes) and BBC Basic. RISC OS still available to run on the Raspbery Pi, and you can even get BBC Basic for Windows. My trouble is getting enough time to do anything useful with them!

    If you want really obsolete, Sony once marketed a thing called an Elcaset (not sure if I've spelt it right). I always fancied one. It was twice the size of the original Philips compact cassette and used tape 1/4 inch wide and ran at 3 1/2 inches per second. The performance was fantastic, but unfortunately for Sony, Dolby B had come along and made compact cassettes "good enough", the kiss of death for innovation in quality in those days.
  • breppobreppo Posts: 2,433
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    I still have 2 Acorn Electrons - one with a Rombox - and an Acorn BBC lying around.
    All three in working order.
  • GormagonGormagon Posts: 1,473
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    I still have a 48K Spectrum in factory shipping box ( the brown box direct from the Timex factory in Dundee). I need to get a new membrane to get it working ( apparently can be had for £9 on ebay). I was given 2 microdrives and Ant Attack on Microdrive "things" that I've never tried.

    Always coveted MiniDisc and thought it would have made a better data format than ZipDrives.

    I think anyone that was a child in the 80's coveted a BBC Micro. Would love to get my hands on one these days. ( and a CUB display)

    I do have a Toshiba Libreto kicking around, I would love to get that working again.
  • etldlrletldlrl Posts: 6,162
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    I had a genuine DEC VT220 terminal (amber not green) until somebody dropped it. I'd like to have that back and working.
  • david16david16 Posts: 14,821
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    I'm still a great fan of RISC OS (used by Acorn on the Archimedes) and BBC Basic. RISC OS still available to run on the Raspbery Pi, and you can even get BBC Basic for Windows. My trouble is getting enough time to do anything useful with them!

    If you want really obsolete, Sony once marketed a thing called an Elcaset (not sure if I've spelt it right). I always fancied one. It was twice the size of the original Philips compact cassette and used tape 1/4 inch wide and ran at 3 1/2 inches per second. The performance was fantastic, but unfortunately for Sony, Dolby B had come along and made compact cassettes "good enough", the kiss of death for innovation in quality in those days.

    I remember Archimedes.

    I also remember the Apple Macs from the early 1990's as well when one of them went up in smoke with a 3.5 inch floppy disc at the YTS course in Stirling. The disc drive was below the monitor screen.

    Those BBC Micros you needed those thin bendy 5.25 inch floppy discs.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,168
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    Muzak is still played through a 1980s Kenwood record deck, until very recently all the music in the car was played through a 1994 Philips tape deck (replaced the car).

    Still use an Enterprise 128 for gaming duties occasionally, the games are never as good as I remember though. The rest of gaming duties are taken care of by an emulated Amiga A1200. Had the real hardware back then but sold it in 1996 :(
  • OrbitalzoneOrbitalzone Posts: 12,627
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    Yep Minidisk is something I still find very appealing, technology wise, the build quality and overall design of a Sony portable and a Sony deck is so good, really well engineered. Shame they faffed about and didn't take a punt in the mid 1990's to make a cheap PC MD deck to replace the floppy. Things may have been quite different if they had.
  • zapodzapod Posts: 661
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    Crumbs. I resurrected my Minidisc player a few years ago, sound quality wise it blew the iPod away. The problem was what we would now call 'syncing' music to it - you literally had to transfer by pressing 'record' on the device, then 'play' on the source (iTunes) so any kind of playlist took an hour or more to assemble :/

    I sold it on eBay for a pittance, wishing now I'd held on to it for nostalgia sake.
  • zapodzapod Posts: 661
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    One item I just can't part with - and this is *well* obsolete for reasons that will be clear - is my Sony Watchman. This is a tiny 2" CRT tv that runs on 4 AA batteries and before the analogue signal was turned off was able to show the full 625 line broadcast* - almost a retina display for its time.

    *not the smallest CRT display I have ;)
  • Si_CreweSi_Crewe Posts: 40,202
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    zapod wrote: »
    One item I just can't part with - and this is *well* obsolete for reasons that will be clear - is my Sony Watchman. This is a tiny 2" CRT tv that runs on 4 AA batteries and before the analogue signal was turned off was able to show the full 625 line broadcast* - almost a retina display for its time.

    *not the smallest CRT display I have ;)

    I still rue the day they switched off analogue TV.

    I have one of those portable TV/tape/radio players from the 1980's which is/was a really good bit of kit for camping etc but it was rendered useless when the analogue signal ended. :(

    Back in the days before laptops (or PCs, for that matter) I used to hook it up to my ZX Spectrum and run them both aff a car battery to create a 1980's style "portable computer".
  • Ancient IDTVAncient IDTV Posts: 10,127
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    I also want to know what happened to my Commodore 64 and my brother's Spectrum.

    We suspect Mum threw them out after we had left home a few years and got fed up of the junk.
    She denies all knowledge though.

    I sold my rubber key Spectrum 48k (plus all of the peripherals and games) in '85 so I could concentrate on revising for my 'O' Level exams. The Spectaculator emulator is a great substitute, though. I recommend it.

    Once the exams were finished I got an Amstrad CPC 464 with a colour monitor, which was great. It eventually went to the tip after lying unused for years after the monitor conked out. Again, the WinApe emulator does a great job as a latter day substitute.

    I have a Grandstand Video Sports Centre console (bought for myself and my brother in 1980 IIRC), though. That still works. I only have one (Supersportic) cartridge for it. The box has a photo of Kevin Keegan, curly perm and all, on it.

    The only other old gaming system I still have is a Sony PSone, which still occasionally gets used for retro. gaming sessions (eg Williams Arcade, Capcom Generations etc.) on my main tv set.
  • FaustFaust Posts: 8,985
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    I'm suprised no one has listed the iPhone 6 or is that a bit to controversial? :p
  • davidsevendavidseven Posts: 3,336
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    I've still got a couple of working CP/M machines, a Rair black box (S100 bus) and a Philips luggable.
    The Philips is interesting as it has a dedicated MS-Dos board with 640K and 8088 (upgraded to a NEC v20) so is dual boot and dual architecture.
    Still using a Psion Organiser ll, day to day too.
  • Y MeY Me Posts: 4,901
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    DPaint on a Vic 20 was one awesome programme.

    All run off 3.5" floppy.
  • cnbcwatchercnbcwatcher Posts: 56,681
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    I love old tech! I find it fascinating and it's also great for nostalgia. I've still got some of it. I still have my old Windows XP desktop from 2003 (if that counts as retro) and even an old DOS laptop from 1987! The DOS laptop doesn't work any more but I can't bear to get rid of it :D My first Windows was 98 and I've always got fond memories of it even though I'm nearly all Mac (with a hint of Windows 7 for games :D).

    I've also got an old VCR, my old Game Boy Color (which I still play sometimes) and an old Walkman lying around. I have a 14" portable CRT TV with built in video in a box somewhere. It was only used a couple of times when our main TV set had to go in for repairs. I just can't bear to get rid of old technology! It's amazing how times have changed though. I remember the hype surrounding Windows XP when it first came out.
  • whoever,heywhoever,hey Posts: 30,992
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    The performance was fantastic, but unfortunately for Sony, Dolby B had come along and made compact cassettes "good enough", the kiss of death for innovation in quality in those days.

    Ah, that old argument.

    The elite always know things can be better, but the market prefers things to be popular which means accessible. Tech has always been like this, such as now HDDs should never be sold as boot discs, but until they are dirt cheap its just NEVER going to happen. Or look at the most modern consoles of today, where there is never quite enough RAM or raw bus to push the GPU data!
  • CravenHavenCravenHaven Posts: 13,953
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    Y Me wrote: »
    DPaint on a Vic 20 was one awesome programme.

    All run off 3.5" floppy.
    It's what you do with it that counts- there's no shame in it.
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