I think for me it is more the "time machine" aspect of the whole thing. Part of it IS the hardware - remembering where I was when I bought a particular motherboard, or video card. Trying to re-create an older machine, or get as close to it as possible,

There is something nostalgic about older operating systems and other software also. Software was simpler, more streamlined. You also had a better idea of how the operating system actually worked than you do now.

When I look at my activities over the last few years, I definitely enjoy working with the old hardware 😀 I think I'm just too old to just play games. I enjoy building systems, benchmarking, creating YouTube videos and adding content to my website.

Well despite that fun I had re-creating a DOS-Windows 3.1 box out of an old pentium 233 MMX (the oldest board I have at this point) it is time to move on. I keep looking at 486 boards in Ebay, but it's looking and that is all - I really could not justify going any further backwards. it would be nostalgic for a week and after that it would be relegated to the closet. That thread about progression of retro-computing comes to mind.

I guess a lot of this comes down to what your objectives are. I had re-created a DOS box because I realized one of my games (Terminator future shock) was not playing right under windows - although I think the problem was speed-related. I also had some DOS programming languages (Turbo assembler, Turbo C) that I discovered where not working quite right under windows.

JoeCorrado wrote:

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

But if I have to choose between DOSBOX and a real 486 machine, I would choose DOSBOX

Blasphemy!

It is MORE than simply using old hardware to play old games. Playing the old games on DosBox may be easier, cheaper and faster... but it is kind of like kissing your sister.

Yes, but look at what the guy who kissed his sister had become. 😉

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

Yes, but look at what the guy who kissed his sister had become. 😉

😦

But seriously though, I agree with emulation in some situations - for example say there's a single, solitary game you'd like to play on XYZ system; emulate that sucker and call it a day. 😊

obobskivich wrote:

tincup wrote:

What I'd like is a widescreen LED monitor with actual knobs to adjust brightness, contrast, color, tint, screen scaling mode, etc. The digital age has brought us many wonders but the blasted up/down/left/right button & embedded menu selection system is not one of them.

If I remember right Barco makes or made such a monitor. 😊

Barco makes medical monitors and video cards which means $$$$$$$$ (many dollars) to buy one. I think they sell a Parhelia based video card for like $1500!

I love vintage computer hardware, like some people love classic cars. That's what got me started on the book idea. I'm still coming up with list of what to cover, find willing interviewees, probably a translator or two, etc...

This book (and my other side project) are labors of love, like a guy fully restoring a '37 mercury.

sliderider wrote:

Barco makes medical monitors and video cards which means $$$$$$$$ (many dollars) to buy one. I think they sell a Parhelia based video card for like $1500!

Barco makes a wide variety of products for different industries - medical imaging is one of them. They make (or at least one point made) professional graphics/video monitors in 20-30" size ranges that had physical knobs/dials/buttons on them to make adjustments. They make a fairly wide range of viz/sim products as well, for those so interested.

Specifically the model I was thinking of is RHDM-2301P, which according to the current Barco catalog is EOL. Sony BBSC offers similar hardware as well. Don't expect pricing on any of this equipment to be "cheap" - it's not designed for mass consumer appeal. 😊

Regarding medical imaging monitors, they're generally nothing I would suggest for home users - they're often monochrome and not designed for very high redraw rates; they're designed to be high contrast and high resolution, and to meet FDA/FCC requirements for installation in hospitals.

obobskivich wrote:

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

Yes, but look at what the guy who kissed his sister had become. 😉

😦

But seriously though, I agree with emulation in some situations - for example say there's a single, solitary game you'd like to play on XYZ system; emulate that sucker and call it a day. 😊

Not to mention the niceties like resolution smoothing, anti-aliasing, and the ability to use modern USB HOTAS system in DOS games.

ElectricMonk wrote:

I love vintage computer hardware, like some people love classic cars. That's what got me started on the book idea. I'm still coming up with list of what to cover, find willing interviewees, probably a translator or two, etc...

This book (and my other side project) are labors of love, like a guy fully restoring a '37 mercury.

That is exactly how I described this hobby to someone just a few days ago, I said "What is the difference between owning and restoring old gasoline cars and owning and restoring old computers, they are equally useless hobbies but at least the computer takes up only a small space and costs only a small pittance when compared to the automobile. It is only because the car has been around since the 20's and computers have only been around since the late 70's that there are not more people holding onto these older machines. As time goes on it will become more of a social norm, just as it is for classic cars now and not just something for historians and geeks."

Cars are far more profoundly a cultural identity in the USA. Computers are not and never will be.

So you say, but I can tell you quite a few 20-year-olds I talk to know more about their computers than their cars. 🤣 You underestimate the draw of the video game market I think.

Consoles are very different from PCs. That is comparing apples to oranges. Also: disposable incomes and the middle class are disappearing. So you will have a lot more relatively poor people with no $ to spend on collecting and a much smaller group of really wealthy people of which only a small % will care about collecting PCs. And cars already have an established real presence: TV shows, real life auctions, magazines, societies, clubs, companies restoring them and the list goes on and on. PCs / consoles have none of this (except some small hobbyist phenomena). Conclusion: comparing classic cars to obsolete PCs is nonsensical.

I never once mentioned consoles...
At any rate I'm not going to argue my point because obviously somewhere you missed the insane prices on ebay for some of this stuff especially boxed copies of certain PC games and console games. It's a growing community of people, all you have to do is look around at all the youtube channels dedicated to this, all the sales of equipment on ebay, all the forums for the various systems (especially the Commodore 64 and Amiga crowd of which I am now a part), and all the small businesses selling vintage games and systems. Of which there are a few in my local area (albeit they mainly focus on "vintage" game systems. Nes, SNES, N64, Intellivision, Atari, etc.). It is a growing sub culture that in my mind will grow to be just as popular as gear heads working on cars, especially since gasoline is expensive right now and it's only going up.
Also I can see where cost might enter into it but since I usually obtain my systems for around 10-25$, around 2-10$ for components and pay between .99-10$ for a nice copy of a video game cost is barely a factor if you don't use Ebay for everything you would ever want. You have to remember, what is one mans garbage is another mans treasure. There is always stuff to buy out there for CHEAP.
Also the turnover on some of these video games is just silly. I recently sold a copy of Home World 2 for 25$ on ebay, I paid 2$ for it from a thrift store.

Whoops went on a rant. 🤣

Maybe 5% of vintage PC items sell for a lot. 95% sell for very little. The stores you mention are hobbyist driven small stores in C or D locations. Those stores are focused on consoles almost exclusively. Community websites have a few hundred / thousand active members. Nothing significant compared to the massive commercial nature of vintage cars. So your arguments are not persuasive in the least.

Ummm alright... I'm not sure why this analogy bothers you so much. Don't you collect old hardware? and isn't this a site dedicated to that or did I somehow miss something? I'm not really trying to prove anything to you. 😒

The disposable income of the middle class isn't disappearing, what are you talking about PeterLI? Oh wait you mean in your country - sometimes I forget that Australia isn't the whole world.

And King_Corduroy what exactly are you banging on about? Retro hardware / software prices are insanely high and they're increasingly sought after by a growing army of collectors - soon to rival that of car nuts - but at the same time you're picking up stuff CHEAP because a lot of people consider it garbage?

I'm not sure why, but this discussion is angering up my blood.

Yes if you go onto the internet, it's expensive. If you find the original owner (aka buy it at a garage sale, find it in the garbage or save it from a recycling center) it's usually dirt cheap. All I was saying is collecting old computer hardware / restoring old hardware is kind of becoming more popular and it has just as much validity as a hobby as restoring a classic car. Which for some reason prompted PeterLi to try to disprove it's validity for some reason unbeknownst to me. 😒

Also I never said "soon" I said it could and probably will someday since it is a mass produced product that is becoming more and more rare as time goes by. After all it's just as useless as a muscle car when gas prices are 4-5$ a gallon and rising.

Of course vintage computing is a valid hobby. In principle any hobby is valid as long as people enjoy it. I just disagree with comparing vintage computing with classic cars. Classic cars is a multi billion $ industry. Vintage computing is a peripheral hobby with a few thousand enthusiasts at best. Also: popularity of vintage computing is increasing somewhat but based on the very limited # of websites and so on it is still extremely small compared to mainstream hobbies like sports / classic cars and so on.

The middle class is shrinking in the developed world and growing in the developing world as middle class jobs move from the developed world to the developing world. That is a fact of life.