What's an used computer worth?

Too_Many_Tools

I think we all have at least one old computer laying...so what are they worth these days?

Looking forward to the discussion... ;<)

Heater.

Apple 1 computer - $365,000
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30447563


Anything else, check ebay.

Leon

Virtually nothing, unless it is a collector's item.

Heater.

We have had the Moore's Law thing going on for ages. Every two years or so a new machine was twice as fast. Disk drives, memory, displays have all been getting better as well. Not to mention that new standards are coming all the time, USB X, SATA, whatever.

So, Moore's Law might suggest a machine is worth half of it's new price after two years. Then anything you buy is typically only worth half what you paid for the moment you buy it. Two years of depreciation brings it down as well.

We end up in the situation that anyone wanting a cheap machine can get a low end new one cheaper than messing with whatever old one you have to offer, with the same or better performance.

After that you pretty much pay to pay to dispose of your old junk.

Too_Many_Tools

Good comments so far.

Does anyone find theirselves reusing old hardware/software?

Or do you find yourself buying new instead?

I have been involved long enough to have more than a few systems which have been kept around to support older developments...and for that they are unreplaceable.

True there is the collector's theme...but that is driven more by scarcity than by usefulness.

Also for Moore's law....how well would you say it applies to microcontrollers?

msrobots

I usually buy cheap computers at Walmart and throw them away when I spilled another drink on them, or such stuff.

But I usually do not have any software installed on my computers, except Parallax stuff, because all the work related things are on some server in Germany and I just use Remote desktop to go there.

So my personal computer is just some terminal connecting me. Easy replaceable. I usually keep the old ones for a while, just in case there is something missing, local, but after some month I just trash them.

After working as a programmer for 30+ years I found out that I personally do not really need a computer. Actual I even do not like them anymore. But that is another topic...

Enjoy!

Mike

Heater.

Does anyone find theirselves reusing old hardware/software?

I have never bought a PC in my life. Probably because the original IBM PC was such a brain dead design I would never imagine spending money on such a thing. People tend to like to provide them to me so that I can get work done. That means I generally end up with something other than the cutting edge. For example the PC I'm using to write this is a Intel Core2 Duo from early 2008.

Seems that Moore's Law maxed out a little while ago. New machines are not usefully faster than this 3.GHz box so I feel no pressure to get hold of a newer one.

I hate laptops. I have a bunch of them of various vintages here. They get forced on me when I have to travel.

We have an old machine running XP. Required by my better half. She uses programs that just won't run anywhere else and nobody wants to pay for the newer versions that do. Luckily I found the XP Professional installation CD the other day so we can keep that going for a long while yet.

Hmm...I do recall actually buying a new computer once. It was an Atari ST 520.

As for Moore's Law and micro-controllers. Sure it applies, why not? That's how come we have things like the STM32 F4 with it's 32 bits and floating point, very small, very cheap. On the other hand those micro-controlers in WIFI adapters, SD cards, and so on are approaching zero cost.

Heater.

msrobots,

After working as a programmer for 30+ years I found out that I personally do not really need a computer. Actual I even do not like them anymore.

I'm in the same boat. And feeling the same I think.

Some how I still love the idea of a computer and computing I just don't like any of the hardware you can get now a days.

Similarly I love the idea of programming but have come to dislike all actual programming languages.

The internet is a big disaster. With it's Facebook and Google and Amazon etc it's not the peer to peer distributed system I was looking forward to. It's a collection of a few very centralized systems.

Luckily we have things like the Pi and the Propeller to have fun with still.

msrobots

I had a couple of Atari computers too. The ST ones where very easy to program in Assembler. I think what got me into the propeller was the nice structure of PASM.

And @mpark's self hosted sphinx. What a fun to explore.

On the other hand programming in Assembler on a IBM/370 was not really funny. The worst thing ever was the IBM PC, all those segments and protected mode, real mode, what a mess.

Maybe I am still alive to see a P2.

Enjoy!

Mike

Heater.

msrobots,

Yeah, the 68000 was great machine to write assembler for.

I have a couple of 68000 chips here that I have been meaning to build into a working machine for ages now...

And very yeah, the 8086 is horrid. An instruction set adapted from the 8 bit 8080 with 64K segments bolted on. Blech. The 286 was worse.

The first almost nice machine Intel made was the 386. Getting up into 32 bit protected mode was a pain but once you were there things were a lot easier.

Maybe I am still alive to see a P2.

It's a disturbingly realistic possibility that we don't make it.

We just have to tell our families not to switch off life support until the P2 is released.

localroger

I am typing this on a laptop I bought in 2010 so that I could get it factory imaged with Windows XP. It is one of the few non bottom of the line machines I've ever bought; I think it was around $600.

I used to share Heater's hatred of laptops until I got a cheap one in 2003 to take on several trips to California, and the portability seduced me. I have a regular keyboard and full-size monitor hooked to it and a large USB hub for other goodies, but when the next hurricane comes I can just fold up the laptop, unplug and leave everything else, and run for my life with all my data.

I have replaced the display inverter twice and the battery and keyboard once each (keyboard didn't like the red wine). There are no drivers available for it for Windows 8 or higher and parts are getting scarce.

Meanwhile, there is another thread here about my new iCraig tablets. Except for having a smallish flash instead of a hard drive, their specs are nearly identical to my laptop -- the display resolution, dual core CPU speed, and RAM are about the same. Plug a $30 external hard drive and $30 USB-wired ethernet adapter into it and it's the same computer. But the tablet weighs only 2 lb, includes a touch screen and bluetooth, and cost $99 on sale. Unlike the Stream 7 the iCraig has separate real USB and power ports and a HDMI output for an external monitor. It can play video; I have one sitting under the TV as a video server. And because it's a "crappy" tablet with only 1 gb RAM it comes with a special 32-bit version of Windows 8.1 which actually runs most of my legacy software that "won't run on Windows 8."

So what does this mean? Essentially the laptop isn't worth anything. It is a bulky power-hoggy inferior version of a modern $99 tablet. The even older laptop I bought in 2003 is worth even less, and I'll probably just discard it soon. The battery are keyboard are bad and replacements are not available. It still works on line power with a USB keyboard and I keep thinking I'll use it for something but that never seems to work out. Goodwill won't even take it. And desktop machines are hardly worth the space they take up any more. Most peripherals that aren't built into even the most basic tablets come in USB versions, and peripherals and components have been changing so fast that the old game of expanding PC's with more memory or expansion cards has become a real nightmare.

I make a point of keeping all my data on the tablet on the SD card or external drive so that if the tablet fails I can just throw it away and replace it. It doesn't cost much more than the CFL inverter does for my 2010 laptop, and costs less than that laptop's battery.

Long story short when this laptop dies one of the tablets will probably take its place. It's a new world out there and, just as TV's are no longer something you call a service person over to fix most computers are now disposable.