Exactly. I prefer buying joblots of systems myself - more things to have fun with, and I can sell on the extra ones. It's also generally cheaper that way. Right now, P3-era systems are prime for saving; they're dirt cheap, easy to get parts for (for the most part) and to find, and are also pretty flexible in terms of what they can run operating system-wise (Windows 98, Me, 2000 and XP support for the vast majority of them one way or another, and you'd probably be able to get them onto Windows 95 or DOS if you really wanted to; hell, it's possible to use a P3 in a primary machine if you're not doing any real web browsing, and it'll be very snappy in XP if there is enough RAM available). A few years ago, it would've been P2 systems in that category.

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Right now, P3-era systems are prime for saving; they're dirt cheap, easy to get parts for (for the most part) and to find, and are also pretty flexible in terms of what they can run operating system-wise

I used to find loads of P3s so I didn't bother with them. Now they are uncommon (All I find is P4s)

I grab a P3 anytime I find it

A lot of people also do not hoard

Yet a lot of others do.

You strike me as a thrower-outer

Western Digital WD 95044-X XT-IDE 43MB harddisk for 10 euros! (really like to try)

Topless 60ns (very fast) 30 pin simms. Total of 8MB.

Seagate 43MB MFM 5.25 harddisk with a copy of disk manager.

Finally i got a SB AWE32 CT2760 with 2x 16MB simm modules.

PeterLI wrote:

In a few years the DOS generation will have moved on to other hobbies. The generations after DOS have very few enthusiasts. There are only a few communities like this online globally so vintage computing / gaming is still a marginal trend at best.

Buying big lots is problematic: a) shipping cost, b) storage space and c) time needed to test. Also: most vintage computer items on eBay usually do not sell (right away) anyway so making a profit after shipping and PayPal / eBay and packaging / fuel is not that easy. A lot of people also do not hoard: they have a machine or two and just want to relive their youth. They simply buy it and play games. When you have a relationship / kids / pets / cars the last thing you can get away with is piles and piles of obsolete hardware.

If you think that way, it maybe a good idea not to start with this hobby.. For my self when i started this hobby, i already thought about the goals i want to reach. And iam also more interested in the XT - Pentium 1 period.
Its nice to have the later machines as well.. But my heart is more to the older vintage stuff.

A) About the shipping costs, i know often it can get very expensive. But i dont have enough resources where i can buy this stuff.. Iam also think that alot of scrappers wont sell this stuff to consumers, because they know they earn more money from the gold processing so why would they sell it to consumer for less?

B) Storing space is for me no problem here, i have my own hobby room where i can store and do my own things here.. I only buying stuff that are special, i knowing i can use it.. (i ignore mostly the lower end stuff and budget ones)

C) Testing the hardware is not a problem for me too, i know its time consuming. But gives also a good feeling when i repaired something or bring it back to life.. Eproms / proms are very easy to replace if you have the right IC and program.

Soldering isnt also a problem. With some practise on test printed circuit boards and good equipment you really can get it learned as well.. For the most things i bought, worked just fine.. For now i only got 2% where non working.. Buying this stuff is mostly a gamble..(specially when its sold as scrap, but i know that it 90% really would work) But if you have some experience recognize this hardware and read good whats being auctioned then it would should be fine..

because they know they earn more money from the gold processing

Not likely true. The amount of gold contained is trivial. Add in the costs to melt it down
and there is little profit.

smeezekitty wrote:

because they know they earn more money from the gold processing

Not likely true. The amount of gold contained is trivial. Add in the costs to melt it down
and there is little profit.

That's true. For all I know, in Russia, where the law is optional to follow, the recyclers sell hardware eagerly. Although they do not have much business here anyway: people would rather through their stuff out than pay for recycling and companies would rather store it in the basement.

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PeterLI wrote:

Some people believe everything should be saved. In reality this is obviously not the case.

Not everything. But keep in mind, if you throw out everything without doubt, there will be no historic items in the future

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You got be able to say no. If I took in everything that has been offered to me I would live like these hoarders that you see on British TV 😀

I'm very selective and while I see lots of things getting thrown out there is no point in feeling responsible.

PeterLI wrote:

I rarely throw anything out BTW. My point is that there is not even a remote possibility to save even 1% of electronic waste. There is simply too much of it. I typically donate or sell.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_waste

IBM P76... My eyes are bleeding

It's not about trying to save arbitrary amounts of electronic waste - it's about not adding to it unnecessarily. If I have the skills to repair something, then I'll do it, although in my case I don't have the skills to repair individual components. I would save whatever I can, and find new homes for it where I have no use.

As for what I tend to prefer, well, I grew up with P3 and P4 era machines, so I tend towards those... however, 486s, P1s and P2s do interest me as well, because I have games from those eras.

PeterLI wrote:

In a few years the DOS generation will have moved on to other hobbies. The generations after DOS have very few enthusiasts. There are only a few communities like this online globally so vintage computing / gaming is still a marginal trend at best.

Buying big lots is problematic: a) shipping cost, b) storage space and c) time needed to test. Also: most vintage computer items on eBay usually do not sell (right away) anyway so making a profit after shipping and PayPal / eBay and packaging / fuel is not that easy. A lot of people also do not hoard: they have a machine or two and just want to relive their youth. They simply buy it and play games. When you have a relationship / kids / pets / cars the last thing you can get away with is piles and piles of obsolete hardware.

Not all is lost there are twenty somethings like myself who are into the dos era, I am not really in it for the games but the hardware. It is very good practice and takes a higher level of skill to work with than modern hardware. Believe it or not one will learn more about hardware in these forums than two years in college. Amazing how proud people my age are in this area thinking they know all only to get trumped up on just the basics of retro computing. Same goes for laptops and they are a dime a dozen thinking that Asus is the best thing since sliced bread and Lenovo's Ideapad is always a great deal not knowing just how bad they really are. Sucks when you have to fix their toys only to find numerous board level failures as well cracking plastics ect. As you can tell by now I like the older stuff like classic Thinkpads and old school Dell DTRs.

Memory is perhaps the best example of the trend....
New kind of memory - EXPENSIVE - this happened with pretty much every type.
New becomes the standard, and bulk makes it cheaper, the older memory may be more expensive.
The older type gets cheap, as it become outdated and is cleared, there's more around than people want.
Finally, as it gets dumped in old machines etc, there's very little around, now it costs more than the modern stuff if you can find it, probably cheaper in an old system.

Ultimately, the amount of viable old kit is only going to reduce.

Soldering isn't a problem, my father is an electronics technician so I've picked up the skill from him 😀 the problem is that I have no idea what crystal I'm looking for... I need a certain frequency and I've tried to look around but can't find pics. If anyone has one I might be able to find the part if I can grab the info from their crystal.
It's a shame that most of these older parts are now going to scrap... money talks before collecting this stuff. But I guess selling scrap is one persons bread and butter. I'd like to stock on socket 7 boards for this reason. Power supplies I can fix, a blown board I can't really.

dave343 wrote:

... the problem is that I have no idea what crystal I'm looking for... I need a certain frequency and I've tried to look around but can't find pics. If anyone has one I might be able to find the part if I can grab the info from their crystal.

I checked my card; it's a 33.86MHz crystal.

Thanks!!! 😀

Topless 60ns (very fast) 30 pin simms. Total of 8MB.

Are those RAM sticks with epoxy blob (chip on board) ICs?

smeezekitty wrote:

Are those RAM sticks with epoxy blob (chip on board) ICs?

Yes. I have the same brand of RAM in my CT3900. It was the first time I'd seen RAM with blobs!