I used a PII/400 (upgraded) Compaq laptop as a "daily driver" through 2007. I had other, up-to-date desktop machines, but as I didn't game much on laptops, it was still usable up until that time for word processing (Office XP), internet browsing (I believe I actually used a tabbed shell on-top of IE6 - Avant? and K-Meleon), graphics editing (some ancient version of PS), and multimedia (VLC).

My understanding is that things have deteriorated significantly web-wise since then. Browsing on a 486 now makes one cry (almost literally). I guess this shouldn't be so surprising but I have strong recollections of telling folks years back when they needed a new computer "If all you do is browse the web and type word documents you can get by on a 486". I also recall browsing the web on a 486/66 as late as 2001 or so and it still being just fine (limited only by the network connection).

The idea that you need a multiple core behemoth to render a web page is still a bit unsettling.

I still use a P3 laptop as my main laptop these days (again, supplemented by a relatively modern desktop). As long as you aren't trying to play Crysis, playing back HD videos on YouTube*, or attempting to play 1080p video, it works better than you'd think. I'm a bit surprised when folks say their dual Tualatin rigs are unusable these days as the laptop I refer to is quite a bit less advanced. I still say it beats the pants off of Atom-based netbooks I dealt with a few years back.

*Though Adobe broke full-screen playback, SD or not, somewhere along the line with this machine's ancient Radeon driver.

As much as I love old computers, new hardware is so cheap and so much more efficient in terms of power / watt, that I don't see the point.

^
Not always just about the innards though... classic Thinkpad keyboard FTW!

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

As much as I love old computers, new hardware is so cheap and so much more efficient in terms of power / watt, that I don't see the point.

Agreed, when I sit down to send an email or do some banking over the interwebs then I want instant, consistent, secure, and quiet results.

I meant it more for non-internet requiring tasks. Obviously, the internet and most things that require a connection to it are simply unfeasible on older hardware. Anything that requires a connection gets done on my modern machines.

I've been spoiled by 4.3GHz worth of i7 power. Even activities as mundane as browsing the web feel quite sluggish on my 1.83GHz C2D laptop in comparison. The shit GMA 950 IGP may be to blame though; even browsers claim to be GPU accelerated these days.

Internet on a P3 or P4? Nope.

Even activities like watching movies or ripping CDs can be frustrating on older machines, unless you still watch movies on DVD or rip to WAV. But even if your old K6-2 can (barely) manage DVD playback, why not use a modern system with MPC-HC + madVR to greatly improve the picture quality of that DVD?

Old systems can certainly run word processors or serve files and printers, but newer systems can perform all of these tasks using less electricity.

I love using older ms office software on win95 and win98...I sometimes convert files from docx format on my newer core 2 duo rig and copy over to my win9x setup....Most of the time it is faster and more responsive than on win7 and winxp. ..I think I also mentioned it before that I used to use autocad2000 on win98 instead of newer versions on xp for work because it was so much faster and again much more responsive but only for simple 2D drawings. ..larger more complex files were better on newer hardware for sure. Older software just seems a lot better sometimes mainly because of no bloat ware and warnings always bombarding you asking to update an always being dependent on java and ms framework and all that crap. When possible I prefer to work offline.

Despite having newer hardware I use an old Northwood P4 system for almost everything, internet, image editing, gaming, word. It's probably familiarity and laziness in equal measures but it works fine for me.

When I need to get work done on the computer I want it fast, as fast as possible. I got an i7 with 8GB Ram and a hybrid SSD on a 27" LED monitor. The machine boots up really fast and I can get work done in no time. On the other hand I don't own a car and walk to work. So I guess everyone has their priorities.

For harder work I'm always amazed how fast my machine renders HD videos in Power Director. Video editing is a joy.

The i7 is a 3770 and should last me for a while. The main item that makes a machine fast these days is storage. I used to have a dedicated SSD but the hybrid SSD makes more sense for me and is easier to work with and back things up. I like it very simple 😀

I don't see any major technology breakthroughs around the corner so this machine should last me a few years. Another reason not to save on hardware. The performance jumps are tiny, might as well get the fastest available today.

I use (or "utilize" for a better fit) 386's, 486's and common Pentiums everyday for industrial purposes..😀

My 486 DX2/66 running DOS 6.22/WFWG311 runs 24/7 right next to my Windows 7 64-bit Pentium D! I'm often working on stuff on them both at the same time, and often times their tasks overlap. The Pentium-D is not that new either , it's 7 years old.

I use the 486 for all of the following
- E-mail
- Rudimentary Web Surfing
- Chatting on IRC
- Web Authoring
- Chatting on AIM
- Writing documents
- MiDi Music Composition
- Guitar Tablature
- PIxel Art/Graphics
- CD burning (52X CD-RW and CD Roast!)
- feeble attempts to learn to program
- and of course, DOS/Win16 Games

Web browsing for me is not that horrible. I mostly visit older sites (no Youtube/Facebook/Webmail). In a lot of ways that's easy because it's all retro-stuff that I'm visiting anyway like Uncreativelabs, or Vintage-computer.

Sometimes during the Summer, when It's hot, I exchange the 486 out with the 286 because it keeps my "Man Cave" cooler and is a bit quieter. Still do almost all of the above save for CD burning since I don't have a CD-ROM in the 286.

senrew wrote:

I meant it more for non-internet requiring tasks. Obviously, the internet and most things that require a connection to it are simply unfeasible on older hardware. Anything that requires a connection gets done on my modern machines.

+1

Of course, CPUs/graphics/whole systems are getting much more efficient (as well they should be). And oh the size. What were big chunky boxes in the 80s 90s are now thin tablets. No arguments there.

For some people like me however, you don't need blazing fast machine for distraction-free typing. And this costs more than picking up an old Thinkpad (some insane price going on amazon right now, I'm afraid it's discontinued already 🙁).

Other than typing/writing though, I think there are some who are still tied to old devices or programs in their working environment. Which is obviously more interesting for the purposes of this forum than... um, daily business or video editing 😜. ISA anyone?

creepingnet wrote:

My 486 DX2/66 running DOS 6.22/WFWG311 runs 24/7 right next to my Windows 7 64-bit Pentium D! I'm often working on stuff on them both at the same time, and often times their tasks overlap. The Pentium-D is not that new either , it's 7 years old.

Oh sure, you can still do plenty of stuff with a Pentium D. It might be harder to find things you couldn't do with one.

- Chatting on AIM

Is that still a thing..?

- CD burning (52X CD-RW and CD Roast!)

On a 486? Not at full speed, surely?

Jorpho wrote:

Oh sure, you can still do plenty of stuff with a Pentium D. It might be harder to find things you couldn't do with one. […]
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creepingnet wrote:

My 486 DX2/66 running DOS 6.22/WFWG311 runs 24/7 right next to my Windows 7 64-bit Pentium D! I'm often working on stuff on them both at the same time, and often times their tasks overlap. The Pentium-D is not that new either , it's 7 years old.

Oh sure, you can still do plenty of stuff with a Pentium D. It might be harder to find things you couldn't do with one.

- Chatting on AIM

Is that still a thing..?

- CD burning (52X CD-RW and CD Roast!)

On a 486? Not at full speed, surely?

Burning CD's and even DVD's is doable on a 486 if you can get DMA working right and use a drive with buffer underrun protection.

I'm curious what creepingnet uses as a web browser - IE 5? I remember it being very crashy 10 years ago and even then it was the most advanced win16 browser and I don't think there's been any further web development in that arena since. The fun* thing about WFW is it's still possible to rig it up to a modern Windows network, if you are so inclined.

*depending on your definition of fun.

I used to burn so many coasters even on a Pentium II with Win98. If only buffer underrun protection had been there in the beginning.....

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

As much as I love old computers, new hardware is so cheap and so much more efficient in terms of power / watt, that I don't see the point.

I agree. Especially when it comes to GPUs. Even with a 600watt power supply and 6 core I7, you should save a lot more power at idle, or light tasks. Heck, there are very powerful quad core i7 laptops that only need a 95 watt power brick (that's like a light bulb).

@mau1wurf1977
That's a nice system you got there. It is unfortunate no one bothers implementing super sampled scaling for dosbox and emulators. Unless you like interpolation, that is the only thing needed to avoid an interpolated soft look, and make the most out of overlay effects and dfps.

I would say I use a Pentium 4 HT 3GHz PC to read 3" floppies. I also use it to LAN play Counter-Strike when my friends come over (GeForce 2 GTS still goes strong). And I might put the IBM Deskstar 80GB drive to good use soon (maybe as a home network drive). I also use it for Doom95 (with XGlite onboard, sound hangs after playing), and ReVolt as well. And it is a hopefully temporary DOS emulation machine. Sadly it's rediculously loud, but one of the case fans has a built-in fan controller. I might put up pics sometime, but my little brother uses it for flashgames a lot.

I still use my 1996 Packard Bell Platinum 55 to run Excel 97 so that I can balance my checkbook. It's more of a novelty to use such an old computer but I love the simplicity of Excel 97 and Windows 98 so there really is no real reason to use anything else. I do have a USB PCI card installed on the computer though for fast backups.

I do however still use Libre Office on my Fedora 20 computer for serious word processing, using an old printer on that Packard would be a pain in the neck not to mention the wallet.

I'm seriously considering going back to an Epson LQ-870+ for printing receipts. Nothing beats it in terms of printing cost and it's blazing fast as long as you keep away from True Type Fonts 😀

Aren't ink ribbons for ancient printers in short supply?