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Share: What do you use your old PC for?

I use them to program older Motorola radios. Many of the first "Programmable" non-crystal radios were programmed with XT or 286 computers such as the Syntor X-9000. The thing is, that you HAVE to use an older computer for the programming software AND the hardware to program the radio EEPROM at a certain pace. Anything faster, and you might get a "Divide Overflow" in the software or a Corrupted "Codeplug" (Radio personality) if you didn't. I have a Toshiba T3200 for this task. I also have a 286 clone and a few Compaq Portable 386's.
 
Trixter said:
Forgive my ignorance, but what is the purpose of programming older radios? Does programming them give them new capabilities? If so, what are those capabilities?
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Its to program the channel frequencies. The radios usually have 8-10 slots for channels.
 
I mainly use my IBM 5170 as a telnet client for bits and pieces of PHP scripting on my server.
Other than that, its decorative I suppose, my quadcore desktop is more than sufficfent for other tasks.
 
I use my vintage kit to have fun, because retro tech is just plain FUN!

Specially, I see those old machines as Lego computers (at least in the PC compatible realm): each function is embodied in a separate piece/card, and you can play and match them in multiple ways to achieve different results (new computers, on the other hand, are a motherboard with all-included, which is quite dull).
 
Pepinno said:
I use my vintage kit to have fun, because retro tech is just plain FUN!

Specially, I see those old machines as Lego computers (at least in the PC compatible realm): each function is embodied in a separate piece/card, and you can play and match them in multiple ways to achieve different results (new computers, on the other hand, are a motherboard with all-included, which is quite dull).
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I think you bring up an important concept in this context. Bang on!

When my kid started with Lego, I too started to play with it again. What was interesting is that as an adult, I found that I took a completely different approach to the one that I had taken as a kid. Now I was interested in concepts. Building with certain types of dimensions, or choosing a specific colour combination that turned me on. When I play with my boxes of old computer parts I take the same approach and indulge myself in conceptual design. Yes, it's way fun!
 
Other than for the fun, I occasionally use my old IBM PS/2 machines for writing documents and printing. My Dot-Matrix printers seems to last so much longer than my ink-jets, and for personal files they work really well.

My later Micron is taking its place as a document/file and print server; in fifteen years of work, it's already outlasted three modern computers. It's truly incredible just how reliable that old Micron seems to be.
 
Pepinno said:
I use my vintage kit to have fun, because retro tech is just plain FUN!

Specially, I see those old machines as Lego computers (at least in the PC compatible realm): each function is embodied in a separate piece/card, and you can play and match them in multiple ways to achieve different results (new computers, on the other hand, are a motherboard with all-included, which is quite dull).
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Cool, someone else who sees it that way.

I think I also dig the challenge old parts bring as well, hunting for obscure drivers using FCC ID's, chipset numbers, product ID's, OEM Part Numbers, and the like. Or like my 486 when the CPU fan went out, and I needed a new one when I got the new board and found it had the provisions for a new fan, so I modified a heatsink and installed a more modern (and efficient fan) on the CPU cooler that I could power off the motherboard.

Then there's the old software, doing retro stuff like working with Harvard Graphics, writing lyrics for my bands in WordPerfect 5.1 or Professional Write, talking on IRC through mIRC or LeetIRC in DOS or Windows 3.1x, drawing/pixel-art in Graf-X II for DOS (the BEST way IMHO). Playing big name classics and obscure old Shareware (and posting that old Shareware being played on Youtube on the original hardware it was designed to run on).
 
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