ratfink wrote on 2024-06-17, 00:03:

With my old PC gear I downsized a bit, put things away, and for a few years that was how I've left it. But lately I've started to think I should admit the truth and get rid of more stuff, but it's finding where to start...

I could store a lot of things in the attic if I wasn't so afraid of the fire hazard. We have a saying that "everything that goes in the attic stays there forever". It's true. I have like 30 computer cases there that are probably mouse nests now. 40 C° during the summer and -10 C° during the winter so storing sensitive electronics would be a bad idea. I know I have to sell, I just don't want to deal with buyers complaining about 30 year old electronics not working perfectly out of the box.

I think that Windows Vista is better than Windows 7 and Windows 7 shouldn't even exist.
In my opinion Windows 8.1 Industry Pro is the best OS from Microsoft ever, it is on my everyday main PC.
I absolutely hate interface of Windows XP: default theme, buttons, icons, images, font, etc.
Low-res 16-color icons from Windows 9x are masterpiece for me.
I have a lot of retro parts I want to repair (mostly capacitors plagued) but I'm so lazy and unexperienced, and they're just collecting dust in the closet.
I like DOSbox and virtual machines but can't live without at least one retro PC. At the same time I get rid of all my consoles preferring emulation.
I think only the first Voodoo was that phenomenally good.
I believe that the Intel Netburst has not reached its peak and could have been very competitive with 1066-1333 bus on 65 nm tech process.
I tried using Linux several times: different distributives in different years. Something always went wrong.

Kruton 9000 wrote on 2024-06-18, 08:23:

I think that Windows Vista is better than Windows 7 and Windows 7 shouldn't even exist.

Curious, why? To me Win7 felt just like a service pack for Vista (it could have been that). It does everything Vista does and then a few things more/better.
What, in your opinion, does Win7 do worse than Vista?

Mandrew wrote on 2024-06-17, 16:56:

I browsed through my motherboards recently and yup, most of them are either budget boards or OEM models that are pretty much useless outside the original case. If I start downsizing I'll definitely start there. My biggest problems are the monitors though because I could never sell old MDA, CGA, EGA or early VGA monitors. They are my babies.

i admit i like those cheap, restrictive, feature poor oem boards intended to just sit in office PCs of the 2000's, something about turning them into awkward but functional systems in a cardboard or wood 'case' with sd to ide and so on is fun
crt monitors though, i let them all go years ago and no regrets. i'm glad some people like and preserve them though

Kruton 9000 wrote on 2024-06-18, 08:23:

I tried using Linux several times: different distributives in different years. Something always went wrong.

I would have said this years ago and been more sceptical about Linux than is generally considered acceptable among PC enthusiasts, up until recently Linux always managed to install while missing out sound, or having graphics problems and generally not quite working while throwing up alphabet soup error messages. but in the last few years i found it great, linux mint is my preference now but others work too - i've installed on older 64 bit systems with no special hardware so maybe it just works better for such long established mainstream things

Mandrew wrote on 2024-06-17, 17:08:

ratfink wrote on 2024-06-17, 00:03:

With my old PC gear I downsized a bit, put things away, and for a few years that was how I've left it. But lately I've started to think I should admit the truth and get rid of more stuff, but it's finding where to start...

I could store a lot of things in the attic if I wasn't so afraid of the fire hazard. We have a saying that "everything that goes in the attic stays there forever". It's true. I have like 30 computer cases there that are probably mouse nests now. 40 C° during the summer and -10 C° during the winter so storing sensitive electronics would be a bad idea. I know I have to sell, I just don't want to deal with buyers complaining about 30 year old electronics not working perfectly out of the box.

There are many reasons why storing computers in the attic is never a good idea. One is humidity. It gets really damp and cold in there, and if stored improperly without humidifiers, then it would end up damaging components or building up ratsnests. It's always recommended to store it at room temperature and away from UV rays, such as the sun, to prevent the plastics from yellowing and becoming extremely brittle.

My biggest retro shame was in not taking the video card and sound card out of the old Zeos 486 DX2-66 tower I told my parents to take to e-waste back in 2011. I was leaving the country, and felt that anything I would have played on that system was covered by DOSBox. And I was right, for the most part, and DOSBox Staging is even better now! I DO regret recycling the WD Paradise VLB graphics card and AWE64, though, and wish I had removed those before sending the whole thing off.

The first retro PC I bought - a Compaq Deskpro EN SFF Pentium III - was actually my ideal retro PC, and everything I've bought since sometimes feels like a futile attempt to chase something that suits me better, which probably doesn't exist?

The Deskpro is compact, beige, has decent-ish onboard ATI Rage graphics, and onboard ISA ESS Audiodrive sound, as well as floppy and CD. Given my main priorities are late DOS and early Win9x games, not much 3D, and having something compact and quiet, it actually ticks every box.

The only thing I don't like about the Deskpro is the totally proprietary PSU, which kind of scares me will fail and won't be replaceable with anything newer. And the lack of an AGP slot.

When I think about it, every other system I've bought since has kind of been trying to find something of that era which is similarly compact and quiet, but uses standard components - a bit of a paradox really?

The first retro computer I bought is one that I remember well in computer stores, but never owned, and didn't want because it was everything I hated. Almost everything is proprietary and it has no extra drive bays and few slots. But it seemed nobody wanted it on eBay and I remembered seeing them around so I gave it a home. And who cares about those things when it's only a toy now and I have other systems?

Confession. I mostly play around with my retro computers for a while and grow tired after a while and leave them standing around. Maybe play a game on them once a year but it is getting more seldom.

I think it has to do with my repair work is in the same room and i don't have time to finish it so I stay away from that room. 😖

I recently splurged on another vintage pen plotter.

{This time, a Roland DXY-1100. It can do 8 pens, with fixed stationary stalls, and up to 11x17 paper.}

Joakim wrote on 2024-06-25, 14:49:

Confession. I mostly play around with my retro computers for a while and grow tired after a while and leave them standing around. Maybe play a game on them once a year but it is getting more seldom.

I think it has to do with my repair work is in the same room and i don't have time to finish it so I stay away from that room. 😖

Me too. The fun really starts when shopping/buying and gets boring after I've restored and set it up the way I want.

1. I don't play on my actual hardware nearly as often as I should. Like others have said, I spend a lot of time setting it all up, doing any necessary repairs, for it to sit for weeks at a time not getting used. I only have 2 "retro" systems setup, so that's not the issue. If I'm truthful, I just don't have the time and space I need to truly enjoy them as I want. However, I won't make the same mistake I did several years back and sell it all off. It's far too expensive to replace it these days.

2. I love emulation and virtual machines! Let's be honest, the hardware we all grew up on and love isn't getting any younger, and while I truly do love having the real hardware in my hands and running my games, I am no purist. In fact, I own no game consoles anymore, and I had a large collection of them and games, sold them all off years ago, and while I may regret that from time to time, replacing them all with Raspberry Pi machines that look just like them and play all the games just fine has made my life so much easier.

3. In my old age, I have forgotten more than I will ever know. Much of it comes back when I get on one of my nostalgic retro kicks, but not all of it. I find myself having to refresh my memory much more often, only to forget it all as the hardware sits for long periods of time. Nostalgia is one hell of a drug, and it keeps me repeating that process over and over.

4. I love my modern activities just as much, if not more, than my retro ones! 3D printing, modern gaming, learning to use Ubuntu with some level of competency, designing modern tools and circuits using micro-controllers or an SBC, learning to program it all, and I thoroughly enjoy building modern "retro" and homebrew systems like the Z80-MBC2. I spend far more time doing those things than any of my "retro activities".

I think that about covers my retro confessions, for now. 😀

For many classic games, I prefer to play modern ports or mods on a modern computer. For example, if I feel like playing X-COM, I'll play OpenXcom instead. That one's mainly quality of life features. However, I'll play Brutal Doom instead of the origin Doom. For text adventure games, I'll use an auto mapper on a computer instead of graph paper.

Like many people here, I also spend way more time on hardware compare to actually using my retro computers. I'm trying to change this.

Ensign Nemo wrote on 2024-06-28, 22:47:

For many classic games, I prefer to play modern ports or mods on a modern computer. For example, if I feel like playing X-COM, I'll play OpenXcom instead. That one's mainly quality of life features. However, I'll play Brutal Doom instead of the origin Doom. For text adventure games, I'll use an auto mapper on a computer instead of graph paper.

Like many people here, I also spend way more time on hardware compare to actually using my retro computers. I'm trying to change this.

This is very true for me as well, if there's a source port or modded version out there for a classic game, I often prefer that to the original. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy playing the classics on original hardware, I just really enjoy all the "updates" done to the game that help "modernize" it, allowing old geeks like me, and new players who would otherwise never get to enjoy these classics, to play them on modern hardware with modern controls and at modern resolutions with ease.

EDuke32, RedNukem, ECWolf, OpenRCT2, 7th Heaven, and several Doom ports like Brutal, GZDoom, PRBoom, and Doomsday, are some of the ones I use.

StriderTR wrote on 2024-06-29, 17:54:

Ensign Nemo wrote on 2024-06-28, 22:47:

For many classic games, I prefer to play modern ports or mods on a modern computer. For example, if I feel like playing X-COM, I'll play OpenXcom instead. That one's mainly quality of life features. However, I'll play Brutal Doom instead of the origin Doom. For text adventure games, I'll use an auto mapper on a computer instead of graph paper.

Like many people here, I also spend way more time on hardware compare to actually using my retro computers. I'm trying to change this.

This is very true for me as well, if there's a source port or modded version out there for a classic game, I often prefer that to the original. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy playing the classics on original hardware, I just really enjoy all the "updates" done to the game that help "modernize" it, allowing old geeks like me, and new players who would otherwise never get to enjoy these classics, to play them on modern hardware with modern controls and at modern resolutions with ease.

EDuke32, RedNukem, ECWolf, OpenRCT2, 7th Heaven, and several Doom ports like Brutal, GZDoom, PRBoom, and Doomsday, are some of the ones I use.

I can most of the time relate. Playing through Baldur's Gate 2 enhanced edition atm and its amazing on my laptop from 2018. You can zoom in and out and most bugs are gone (I think). It is also more accessible, i can sit in the sofa or even outdoors if I like to. Modern mods are also available.

I have probably cracked about 4 or 5 Athlon XP dies since I got into this hobby

I have to Confess, It’s the BIG White Clickity-Clack keyboards that keep me coming back to these Retro Computers.

It was a Magical time ( The 1980’s and 1990’s ) having Classrooms and Businesses full of White and Beige computers.

They just Brighten up the Rooms and Make People feel good.

These Black case computers today are Doom and Gloom.

Intel486dx33 wrote on 2024-06-30, 18:08:

They just Brighten up the Rooms and Make People feel good.

These Black case computers today are Doom and Gloom.

You can literally brighten up a room with today's PCs. 😁

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-06-30, 22:14:

Intel486dx33 wrote on 2024-06-30, 18:08:

They just Brighten up the Rooms and Make People feel good.

These Black case computers today are Doom and Gloom.

You can literally brighten up a room with today's PCs. 😁

Always could. All the rgb you've ever wanted on any vga+ monitor ever made.

Ensign Nemo wrote on 2024-06-28, 22:47:

For many classic games, I prefer to play modern ports or mods on a modern computer. For example, if I feel like playing X-COM, I'll play OpenXcom instead. That one's mainly quality of life features. However, I'll play Brutal Doom instead of the origin Doom. For text adventure games, I'll use an auto mapper on a computer instead of graph paper.

Like many people here, I also spend way more time on hardware compare to actually using my retro computers. I'm trying to change this.

as with others I'm broadly the same, though i don't like mods or ports that change the game much. for me something simpler like zdoom with everything left pretty much the same as it was originally for instance, that's enough - just something to run it and maybe support some sensible things relating to saving games or controls etc, maybe some fun things too.

spending time on the hardware though... vintage hardware is the 'game' when it comes to vintage gaming, to some extent anyway