VOGONS


First post, by Brawndo

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Just a random question, but how many of you use hardware which you are able to find new in the box? I am building several retro rigs right now and I've scored some decent deals new in box, with the original intent to use them in my builds, but now after thinking about it I'm having a hard time even opening the boxes, much less use the hardware. Thinking about just leaving them as is for display purposes and bragging rights. I mean this stuff isn't getting any easier to find! So far the new hardware I have:

Pentium III Coppermine slot 1 667 Mhz
Pentium IV 641
3Com 56k modem
Gigabyte Intel 440BX motherboard

My original thought was to build the systems with as many new parts as possible and use them, since new stuff should last pretty much forever considering they'll see very limited use. I just hate to destroy the newness, like finding an original first gen GTO with only 5 original miles, and deciding to drive it around for the weekend. Ouch!

Reply 1 of 17, by Anonymous Coward

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Although it hasn't happened recently, I wouldn't hesitate to open NIB unless it was something really rare like a 3D Blaster. That said, if I open something I still try to preserve the box and manual as best as possible. CIB is good enough for me.

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Reply 2 of 17, by cyclone3d

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Stuff that I already have and /or there are already scanned documentation and imaged discs available for I probably wouldn't open.

That being said, the only NIB stuff I normally buy is stuff that doesn't meet those criteria.

I currently have at least 3 pieces of rare hardware I will be opening at some point in the not too distant future.

Yamaha modified setupds and drivers
Yamaha XG repository
YMF7x4 Guide
Aopen AW744L II SB-LINK

Reply 4 of 17, by cyclone3d

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wirerogue wrote on 2020-01-26, 03:13:

if it's shrink wrapped, i always open it because some people suck.

You mean the put something else in the box and then re-wrap it people? Yeah, those people so suck.

Yamaha modified setupds and drivers
Yamaha XG repository
YMF7x4 Guide
Aopen AW744L II SB-LINK

Reply 5 of 17, by boxpressed

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I built a BX system that was almost all NOS parts without realizing it: motherboard, CPU, HDD, floppy, case, PSU, PCI sound card. I used old memory, ISA sound card, and AGP video card, the latter two because my NOS examples weren't all that great. It wasn't too expensive, either. This was about six years ago, I think.

Reply 7 of 17, by Horun

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Yes would build a system using some NIB, NOS, new, whatever vintage parts if that is what I had.

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 8 of 17, by red-ray

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I got a NIB Orchid Kelvin 64 ISA last summer and used it to test the SIV ISA GPU support. I was looking for a used card, but could not find one. I eventually plan to use it for a system running Windows NT 3.10 as this is what I used back is 1993/1994 when NT was initially released. Not only did I use it, but I also bought some DRAM to upgrade it from 1MB to 2MB.

My view is all working hardware should be used, that said the registration card is still in the box and will be staying there.

Reply 9 of 17, by Brawndo

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red-ray wrote on 2020-01-26, 11:09:

My view is all working hardware should be used, that said the registration card is still in the box and will be staying there.

Yeah, good point I reckon. I have no use at all for a 56k modem anymore, don't even have a phone line at the house, so the 3Com will likely just stay in the box, and I can get a working pull P4 for less than ten bucks on ebay so I'll probably keep that one in the box as well, but I'll likely use the PIII and motherboard since I already have plans for them. I suppose NIB processors are not a big deal. Now if I had some NIB Voodoo cards...

Reply 10 of 17, by imi

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I don't really have any NiB hardware apart from 2 AT cases that I fully intend to use.

apart from that NiB stuff is usually way too expensive anyways, I'd rather keep saving hardware from scrappers and use that... but if something NiB would fall into my hands that I already have I'd probably use it for display only, if it's something I don't already have I would use it probably, but I would preserve the original packaging very well.

Reply 11 of 17, by Mister Xiado

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I've purchased a few New-Old-Stock items on eBay in the past, but not because they were new. They were pretty low cost, and I had great confidence that they wouldn't arrive as broken garbage. One PCI video card for my AMD K6-2, and two Linksys ISA ethernet cards for my HP Vectra 486 66/XM and a 486 tower that is still in need of a drive controller card. I don't care enough to invest in such a card, so that project is on indefinite hold.

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Reply 13 of 17, by lost77

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I only buy stuff that I'm actually going to use. Not that I wouldn't mind having things on display, I just don't have room.

It feels like a shame just to put it in a box in the cellar. Better let someone else enjoy it then.

Reply 14 of 17, by SirNickity

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Well, think about it this way -- who, exactly, are you displaying it for? Nobody but a select few care about your shiny new hardware still sealed away in plastic wrap, so in reality, it's mostly just for you, right? That can be fun, but I look at it like this:

If I can get something I want to use for a reasonable cost BNIB, I might do so because that's at least a pretty good assurance that the previous owner(s) haven't screwed with it. I'm OK with used stuff, but some people are untrained gorilla savages with hardware. And apparently, others store old hardware in a box full of rusty nails and old saw blades. Then there are those that feel like they should add fans to everything including their sound card's mixer IC, and start soldering wires all over the place, cutting holes or gluing things down, etc... So intact shrink wrap usually means the hardware is free of such abuse.

For software, I'm a little more sentimental. I have been collecting DOS, Windows, and Office in shrink wrap. I think it's amusing and it kind of reminds me of the days when I would walk the isles of Computer City, particularly when Win95 was released and everyone seemed so excited about computers. I keep those at my office, where visitors come by and reminisce over them on occasion, so that's fun. But in all those cases, I can also download an ISO or buy a cheap disc-only copy that I can use for real. Hardware can't be downloaded yet.

I like for things to be shiny, perfect, and new just as much as anyone else. But.... to me, it's much more of a downer to think there's perfectly good stuff out there that isn't being used, and may never get used, because of too many people too obsessed with keeping it pristine. It's a bit of a struggle, and if I could have one of everything tucked away in a brand new box on a shelf, I probably would -- but only in addition to working stuff, and to serve as a replacement if/when the original stuff wore out.

Reply 15 of 17, by foil_fresh

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pros:
-shiny
-clean
-probably comes with cds and manuals
-unboxing experience/nostalgia

cons:
-price
-risk of scam (rewrapping)
-price
-risk of components being bad (never opened = never tested)
-price
-risk of being seen as a shrinkwrap collector

Reply 16 of 17, by SirNickity

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^^ To that point: I did spend a lot of dough on a sealed copy of a Sega CD game to find that the disc had come off its retaining hub -- thanks to Sega's ridiculously oversized jewel cases, for which they had to provide a foam block to keep the disc in place. Well, that never guaranteed anything, so I paid more for a copy that spent 20 years bouncing around loose in the case. It was a very clean, fingerprint-free, perfectly mirror-finished disc with a bunch of wounds in a specific radial cluster. Yay me. 😉

Reply 17 of 17, by Baoran

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I got a new gainward GeForce4 ti 4600 cheap last year and of course I opened it and put in good use in my pentium 3 pc. It is of course nice to have all the stuff that comes with the card, but I don't see the point of keeping things wrapped unless you buy them in purpose of making profit by selling them.