"HeyBub" <heybub@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:13ss610qeihllca@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Pete Dashwood wrote:
>
> [...]
>>
>> As noted above, if you decide to leverage some of your "old"
>> equipment and hit problems, I'm really happy to help. This has been a
>> really fun project... :-)
>>
>
> Cool. If you want a hobby. With lickty-split computers, pre-laden with
> Vista, available for under $300, it's not economical to put a 386
machine
> on life-support.
Actually, I never suggested using a 386 machine, although I would if it
made
sense. Pentium 3 (petesp3 is actually an AMD equivalent) on the other hand
is quite a serious processor. How can spending $300 be more "economical"
than spending nothing :-)?
You would have to pay ME $300 to take a machine with Vista on it,
"lickety-split" or otherwise... (Did you see the recently released email
exchanges between senior MS executives, regarding Vista? Glad to know that
the user community was not the only sector affected by this farce. I like
MS
and I use their products regularly, with a high degree of satisfaction,
but
Vista is just a joke... Hopefully, Windows 7 will rectify the damage. If
it
doesn't, I'll be going Linux.)
>
> You could donate grandpa computer to a school, but the computer doesn't
> have any software and the school will forever be calling you up for
help.
Also, the batteries on the really old machines no longer function, so they
require mains power. Kind of inconvenient for a notebook... :-)
> Besides which, the paperwork for a tax deduction is overwhelming.
Hmmm... that's a point I hadn't considered. As my earnings have been close
to negligible in the last tax year, it isn't a problem, but definitely
worth
considering once I start generating revenue again.
>Many municipalities forbid putting them in the trash and recycling
centers
>sometimes demand you pay a fee to take them.
That was one of the factors that which made me consider re-use as a viable
option. It is the main reason they are sitting in the attic...
>
> No, the only thing you can do with ancient computers is to leave them in
a
> school yard during the dark of the moon. I've done this several times,
and
> even once with a refrigerator. Works swell.
In Texas, I'm surprised they didn't use them for moonlight target
practice;
a refrigerator would be very visible in a playground...:-)
I'm not suggesting people shouldn't buy new equipment. More that, as
computer professionals, we should be able to leverage more use out of the
equipment we have.
Pete.
--
"I used to write COBOL...now I can do anything."
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