Re: I recently found this hardware, AKA the Dumpster find thread.

Posted on 2021-06-10, 14:58

by

by Big Pink

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

DundyTheCroc wrote on 2021-06-09, 18:13: All Celerons are Socket 370, from old Cisco PIX firewalls. Hmm, might just buy a cheap PIX 506E then. I'll add that to my sprawling list of bookmarked eBay searches 😁

---

Re: I recently found this hardware, AKA the Dumpster find thread.

Posted on 2021-06-09, 15:14

by

by Big Pink

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

DundyTheCroc wrote on 2021-06-09, 11:38: Nothing special, only 17 Celeron 300A CPUs, they are common, but I love the way they work at 450MHz 😀 Slot or socket? Slot 1 seems to be common (on eBay, if that's an accurate measure of reality) but all the Socket 370 ones seem to be concentrated in Eastern …

---

Re: Is there any repair shop can fix IBM sticky laptop coating?

Posted on 2021-05-16, 18:13

by

by Big Pink

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I had the same problem with a ScrollPoint mouse. The stickiness came back after trying to clean it with alcohol, so I just opted to remove it with baking soda. Not as nice in the hand, but not a dirt magnet anymore.

---

Re: Strangest thing found on harddrives

Posted on 2021-05-05, 16:51

by

by Big Pink

in Milliways

in Milliways

When I started work as a postman in 2007 I came across enough PCs tossed on the street that I started carrying a screwdriver with me so I could 'techraid'. In one rough area I stripped a low-end turn-of-the-century Dell system of what I could carry (CPU, RAM, HDD). Seems the local youth gang had …

---

Re: ever buy job lots of CPUs etc?

Posted on 2021-04-29, 19:03

by

by Big Pink

in Milliways

in Milliways

What's behind that phenomenon? I'd really like to know how much profit someone makes after extracting gold from 15 AMD CPUs. There is no way that amateurs out there are making a profit on gold extraction unless they've been gifted: the tools and abundant chemicals required to process the material …

---

Re: Dual Slot 1/Socket 7

Posted on 2021-04-25, 01:08

by

by Big Pink

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I wondered the same thing as I received a Computer today where I thought that might be the case especially since the slot is marked with "slot 1" Are you sure that isn't just a slot labelled as 'slot 1' (primary slot) rather than proper noun 'Slot 1' (the CPU connector)? The key looks like it's …

---

Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2021-04-14, 21:00

by

by Big Pink

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Got this off the back of a Hong Kong speedboat. Paired with a Covington 266 and 1000W PSU... I reckon I'll have enough Bitty to retire by 4/20.

---

Re: Your saddest retro computer pictures, a feel bad topic

Posted on 2021-04-08, 16:15

by

by Big Pink

in Milliways

in Milliways

there is a trend now (actually its been around for while) to use old technology as mere decoration The average person isn't going to get much use out of a K6-2, alas; but viewing it as a decoration rather than a tool is really how modern devices are marketed. Once the rate of development plateaus, …

---

Re: Golden age of computing for personal computers

Posted on 2021-04-05, 16:37

by

by Big Pink

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

adalbert wrote on 2021-04-05, 11:59: Maybe blockchain would be a such example? I can remember the promises of flying cars on New Year's Eve 1999. I'm begging you: don't mention blockchain as an achievement from this century. 😜

---

Re: Golden age of computing for personal computers

Posted on 2021-04-04, 18:38

by

by Big Pink

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

It was accessible enough so those who wanted to get into computing could do it easily, in the meanwhile inaccessible enough to mostly keep the ignorant masses away. Try as I might to find some elaborate explanation about why the web was better before ~2005 (pre Web 2.0/Social Media) that doesn't …

---

Re: [8-Bit Guy] What Happened to America's Electronics Stores?

Posted on 2021-04-02, 17:38

by

by Big Pink

in Milliways

in Milliways

I just noticed Amazon US has been filled to the brim with no-name generic Chinese products, and by "to the brim" I mean more than usual. Is it the same for .EU and .AU? Yep. It's why I gave up even trying to search for anything on Amazon.co.uk. Also true of eBay, even if I search by UK sellers the …

---

Re: [8-Bit Guy] What Happened to America's Electronics Stores?

Posted on 2021-04-02, 14:35

by

by Big Pink

in Milliways

in Milliways

Regarding the breadth of choice versus limited floorspace in a store: When I was looking for a new monitor (that met all my criteria) in 2009 I went to PC World because I wanted to support physical business as even then I was getting wary of Amazon. The sales assistant basically told me straight up …

---

Re: The middle mouse button, was it ever useful?

Posted on 2021-03-26, 17:55

by

by Big Pink

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I love my IBM ScrollPoint II with separate middle button and trackpoint. Infinite scrolling has never been so effortless.

---

Re: Modern case's front panel HD Audio connector fried my AC97 Audio?

Posted on 2021-03-21, 15:40

by

by Big Pink

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

The design of AC'97 means the audio goes to the front panel first and then in the absence of headphones it gets looped all the way back to the I/O shield. So your motherboard must somehow still think the front panel is in use.

---

Re: Retro Hardware Collecting rants

Posted on 2021-03-11, 17:36

by

by Big Pink

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

It may also be that hardware that had become obsolete in the West continued to be used in the East later, putting them half a step back on the price curve from a Western buyer's perspective (expensive > landfill-bound junk > expensive)

---

Re: Retro Hardware Collecting rants

Posted on 2021-03-10, 19:31

by

by Big Pink

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I have no problem with goods coming into the UK or leaving to non EU countries. Haven't shipped anything this year to the UK, but I know things passing through the UK are messed up. All so a few rich men can dodge taxes (don't get me started on Brexit - biggest lie to be sold to us in my memory) …

---

Re: Retro Hardware Collecting rants

Posted on 2021-03-10, 16:40

by

by Big Pink

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

UK customs was a complete mess at the start of the year. I bought a GeForce PCX 5300 from a seller in Spain back in December (wanted it for a build on my week off at the New Year as several attempts to purchase a 5750 had fallen through at this point). After its departure scan on the 26th it dropped …

---

Re: Good value Win98 Graphic Card

Posted on 2021-03-09, 18:06

by

by Big Pink

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

Well, balls. I started work on a build using a free LGA775 board I got and obtained an FX1300 to see if I could put it to use running 98 on modern-ish hardware, but it sounds like that works out somewhere between very sub-optimal and awful. At least the Quadro card was dirt cheap.

---

Re: My ancient mystery Covox box

Posted on 2021-03-08, 15:47

by

by Big Pink

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

It's amazing how just a bunch of resistors in the right formation can yield working audio. It's up there with crystal radios in terms of simplicity.

---

Re: Looking for Tom Clancy's games

Posted on 2021-02-11, 21:36

by

by Big Pink

in Milliways

in Milliways

Apologies, mod. The games odd absence from any online store and its presence on the particular site led me to view it as legitimate, against my initial judgement. OP, since you already have an Eagle Watch disc could you not just buy a replacement for the scratched one and second hand copies for the …

---