Uncreative Labs

Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 594 Location: Western NC

OK, I mentioned all the systems I have in my posession, thought I'd get around to some photos. Decided to load them up to Yahoo and provide links instead of putting a load on UCL's site. After the first photo loads, click next to follow along.

1/24. Here's my main system, a Celery 600 w/192MB RAM, 40GB HDD, Win98, USB Zip, External 33.6k and internal 56K modems (used largely for archiving software and "fast" {56K} surfing):

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/fordbd/detail?.dir=c0b3&.dnm=b30f.jpg&.src=ph

2/24. Needless to say, I've got a lot of work to do. You're only seeing the top half of the shelf, and all the boxes are full. Sometime when I retire, I'll get to it (around 2027). You can't see them, but there's over 2000 CD-R's waiting for burning.

3/24. Closeup of the Celery 600 at my favorite site Wink

4/24. 2 systems in the den. Left is a AST 486 (upgraded to POD83)w/1GB and 850MB HDD's, 48MB RAM, running Win95a. It dual-boots with DOS6.22 (it's a pretty decent retro-gamer) On the right is a IBM P166 (upgraded from P100) with 144MB RAM, 1.0GB & 3.2GB HDD's running Win98se. Not used very much anymore.

5/24. Closeup of the AST. Yep, there's more software to be archived sitting above the desk.

6/24. Closeup of the IBM. Note the external (parallel-port) HP CD-burner. I only got about 50% of the CD-R's to burn properly on it, thus it's not used.

7/24. Needless to say, when you get into computer repair, you need a LOT of books. The CD-spinner to the left of the photo is full.

8/24. "Staging area". Used to be a sewing room, now it's got systems that are in need of some TLC. Everything from a 386sx/16 to a Duron700 is sitting on the bottom row under the monitors.

9/24. From left to right: Compaq P166 (nearest to the Dustbuster); Siemens 486DX/33; Siemens "portable" 386sx/16; IBM PII-400; Generic Duron700; (2)Siemens Desktop P90s; Compaq Deskpro 2000; Zeos 386DX25. There's also a couple of Dell P90/100 systems and an old C-band satellite receiver in behind that can't be seen.

10/24. When it get's really cold and I cut back on heating the entire house, I move into an upstairs bedroom with a K5-133 tower (64MB RAM/1GB HDD/33.6K modem/Win95C). Yes, I know a bed is not the most ideal spot to keep a PC monitor/TV/Radio...

11/24. My old trusty Compaq LTE 4/25e in the dining-room (20MB RAM/209MB HDD/33.6 Modem, sound, and CD in docking-bay). Runs Win95a. Amazing how the slower systems seem to give less trouble.

12/24. To keep my addiction affordable, I gotta drive something cheap on gas. 95 Saturn SL-1 in foreground (44 MPG) and 2003 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 in background (30MPG). Winter can be rough around here and I have to get to work when it does... (not sure why I took this photo)

13/24. Now the really "scary" part. Entrance to the basement (dungeon). There's stacks of machines here, most of them needing a few "tweaks" Very Happy

. In all, I've got about 70+ machines stashed away (that's what you get for thinking PC's will "appreciate" in value...) In back there's an entire tote full of new 5 1/4" floppy drives... Shocked

14/24. More machines. The one without a cover is a generic 386sx/16 which I use to test "questionable" cards in. If it gets fried then it's no great loss.

15/24. Did I tell you I have a LOT of machines. The bottom 3 in this stack are Siemens rackmount servers. 3 Compaqs are above that and a generic K5-133 and P-Pro 200 above that.

16/24. Same pile. The 4 towers are (3) Gateway P-Pro 200's and a PS/2 Model 80 which just got removed from service (probably a battery issue).

17/24. Anybody need a keyboard? I got 66 of them for $4 in a company scrap sale (that's just over 6 cents each). I've only run into 1 defective one (so far...).

18/24. West corner of the basement...er...dungeon. I'm pretty good about labeling anything I have and tend to keep it in boxes. Note the (long-since-used) IBM PC/XT buried underneath the boxes of Mice/RAM/CD-Drives. It was the first machine I ever really upgraded, and I'm sure I have almost $500 in it... Embarassed

19/24 Here's the bench where some real work get's done (when I have time). I have a Deskpro 386s20n on there now (testing HDD's) and another Duron700 awaiting a few "tweaks" on the right side. To the right edge of the picture is a NEC P133 (64MB RAM/320MB HDD/Win95C) "just in case everything else in the basement fails". And yes, they also sell telephone equipment in the scrap sales as well... Underneath the bench are several dead systems awaiting "cannabalizing"

20/24. (almost done) Other side of the bench. Foreground left is a PS/ValuePoint I just got through with a week ago. It's got DOS/6.22 and Win3.1 (used to restore tape backups from long ago). Background left-A Compaq Deskpro P90 (upgraded to a P100/48MB RAM/Win95C). Background right is a Cyrix P166 with a dead 1GB drive. I'll get around to it when I have time (probably go with NT4.0 on it when done).

21/24. Closeup of Deskpro system.

22/24. Closeup of IBM PS/ValuePoint system. I stuck an Evergreen K5-133 upgrade in it and it's pretty snappy for a DOS/W3.1 system.

23/24. As noted above, these guys have seen better days. I'll swipe whatever's useful out of them before they get tossed.

24/24. (finally-wheee!). A shot of the entire mess from then entrance. You can just see the top of the woodstove I use to heat during the winter months (activity usually picks up around Christmas when people want something built-up or repaired). Otherwise, I run a dehumidifier from April through October to keep it dry. I have a former room upstairs that I'll (eventually) be working on to move some of this mess there...

Guest

That reminds me of my house, actually I am in need of an XT keyboard or two (mine are dying) and an EGA/CGA or mono screen. Smile

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 2:38 am

Are they just dieing or are certain keys going bad? I've got a bag full of springs and keys if you need 'em.

Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 594 Location: Western NC

And I've got a (supposedly working) Crappard Hell EGA monitor (and several Mono VGA's)...

Your's for the asking...

Joined: 22 Oct 2005 Posts: 61 Location: sunny AZ

man, that looks a lot like my mess! only more organized.

I think the last time I counted I was getting real close to 100 machines, but I did give away several recently, mostly "new" stuff in the 200-400 mhz range.

Guest

Quote:

Are they just dieing or are certain keys going bad? I've got a bag full of springs and keys if you need 'em.

I don't think that would help, they work irradically and sometimes pop up an error code, and its not the key stuck one either. I only have one geniune IBM XT keyboard left and the zeniths 101 XT units are getting quite sporatic also, several keys are dead.

I would take the packard hell monitor if you can verify it turns on and gets bright if you have a el cheapo non-retail UPS shipper nearby. Its almost 50% cheaper to send packages through the local taylor rental than through UPS itself, very sad. Sad

I don't really need mono VGA, mono-ega/cga, and actual 9pin mono would work Smile

Though I did sell several IBM 8XXX PS/2 VGA mono screens for $35-$70 a few years ago for some reason. If they work sell them on ebay, you might surprize yourself.

Cheers

Joined: 19 Oct 2004 Posts: 138 Location: Lynnwood,WA

Reminds me of the shed from back when I lived in Alabama, only better taken care of. AT one time I had over 30 PC's on the premisis at my mom's house, working, non-working, complete, incomplete, and six of those 30 were either hooked into a 6 port KVM, or at one time I had 10 of them in my room, all except my Compaq CDS-520 run through various VGA monitors I had picked up around that time.

Actually....my house is NOW starting to look like that, and all because I needed an extra computer to use to study off my DSCE CD-ROM for work.....

Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 594 Location: Western NC

Quote:

man, that looks a lot like my mess! only more organized.

Quote:

Reminds me of the shed from back when I lived in Alabama, only better taken care of.

Actually, I consider it way too messy (it looks worse in person--trust me). Here's my idea of organized:

http://www.tmesis.com/VAXcave/

Quote:

I would take the packard hell monitor if you can verify it turns on and gets bright if you have a el cheapo non-retail UPS shipper nearby.

Therein lies the rub, I don't have any EGA cards/systems to try it out on... Embarassed

And FWIW, I finished with the Compaq 386s/20n seen on the bench. I left a 212MB HDD/CoPro and a Sportster 28.8 modem in it and DOS 6.22/WFWG 3.11 on it. I'll use it for a Geoworks machine (I've got almost a CD-full of GEOS/NDO stuff). Believe me, surfing on a 386sx/20 require a great degree of patience (even using Opera 3.62)...

Guest

Surfing on a 386 is a little less painfull with NDO but not much. Smile