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My eyes are on you Grench.PS/2 collectors will probably put a price on your head now
Stronger plastic this time?
- Thread starter Kelvin
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Wrath Of Khan
Soul soother...
fusion_power
Advanced Member
I remember a story that the first XBox one was kind of bullet proof. Gun-Crazy americans tend to shoot at their hardware it seems but the XBox turned out to be pretty durable.
Grench
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PS/2 collectors will probably put a price on your head now
Those PS/2 model 80s were not 'collectible' PS/2 units. Models 25, 30, 50 and 80 weren't anyway. I WAS a PS/2 user/collector at the time and had a PS/2 P-75 luggable hotrodded to 486/133AMD with 16MB RAM, 1.4GB disk, Ethernet & Token Ring, Soundblaster compatible MCA card AND a 256K SVGA card shoved in it. That plus a model 50 with a replacement motherboard to make it a 486/25DX and an IBM Server 720 (PCI+MCA 20 drive server with 6 Pentium 166 CPU cards and an 8 port MCA serial adapter). I also had a model 95, several regular model 50s, a black and white model 25, etc... My life had to become more mobile at the time, so I gave it all away to a friend who still has most of it to this day.
The collectors should not have any gripes with me. After all, I did significant field research on strength of materials under difficult conditions.
levi
Still fresh, damnit!
As long as you didn't shoot up any keyboards that came with those machines, I'll forgive you
Grench
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No keyboards, cables, drives or monitors were harmed in the process. Resulting metal and plastic bits went to a scrap yard. It was good fun.As long as you didn't shoot up any keyboards that came with those machines, I'll forgive you
Sadly this appears to be the most interesting thing to talk about these days. It's good timing for an update. We still haven't seen any pictures of a complete self-contained complete unit in a clear case.
Silent-Hunter
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I would have wanted one of those computers. My teacher tried to give me one in high school, but the bus driver wouldn't let me take it on, and my mom wouldn't come pick me up.
directive0
Very Active Member
What a tragic waste. Glad you had fun, though.
Grench
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If you're going to pine after PS/2 hardware, go for the model 70, 90 or 95. Then you'll at least have a Pentium - processor card in some of the model 95 units could be migrated around through a few models though it was never officially supported. The Server 95 was cool - not nearly as cool as the Server 720 and Server 704, but hey - those 700 series consume electricity at an alarming rate.
It's a rough debate whether the PS/2 P75 or the PC Server 720 was my 'best' piece of Micro Channel Architecture gear. No, I did not buy either unit 'new'. When they were new, either of those would push close to $20,000.
The 80 series were apparently designed by committee. They're a 40lb tower too tall to fit sideways into a rack mount. They have a handle that folds up/down, which sounds good, but these were never meant to be portable. Despite being huge and heavy, the interior didn't actually have much hardware - it was just arranged badly. Motherboard, two 1.44MB floppy disk bays, a single 5.25" full height 80MB MFM disk drive with a wonky proprietary connector mounted on edge.
Although we could discuss my hardware history for months in excruciating details, we need more Pyra news instead.
It's a rough debate whether the PS/2 P75 or the PC Server 720 was my 'best' piece of Micro Channel Architecture gear. No, I did not buy either unit 'new'. When they were new, either of those would push close to $20,000.
The 80 series were apparently designed by committee. They're a 40lb tower too tall to fit sideways into a rack mount. They have a handle that folds up/down, which sounds good, but these were never meant to be portable. Despite being huge and heavy, the interior didn't actually have much hardware - it was just arranged badly. Motherboard, two 1.44MB floppy disk bays, a single 5.25" full height 80MB MFM disk drive with a wonky proprietary connector mounted on edge.
Although we could discuss my hardware history for months in excruciating details, we need more Pyra news instead.
rygD
Nihilistic Mystic
I can think of at least 2 threads to discuss old hardware. One thing I like is that we have a variety of interests in old hardware here, unlike some places that are a little more devoted to a particular manufacturer or whatever. I enjoy learning about the "best" from different companies in different eras. The big problem with this is I want to experience using those things I missed out on back then, and that could lead to losing money and space when I buy all this stuff. I must resist or end up in the dog house, but there is so much great history out there that I can have and use.
TheOldOne
Fallen Paladin
Did you ever use a TRS80? We liked to call it the "Trash80".I can think of at least 2 threads to discuss old hardware. One thing I like is that we have a variety of interests in old hardware here, unlike some places that are a little more devoted to a particular manufacturer or whatever. I enjoy learning about the "best" from different companies in different eras. The big problem with this is I want to experience using those things I missed out on back then, and that could lead to losing money and space when I buy all this stuff. I must resist or end up in the dog house, but there is so much great history out there that I can have and use.
rygD
Nihilistic Mystic
I messed around with some occasionally but didn't have regular access to one. I know someone that attributes her interest in computers to them (I think that was also where she began programming).
God Ginrai
Godmaster
I remember a story that the first XBox one was kind of bullet proof. Gun-Crazy americans tend to shoot at their hardware it seems but the XBox turned out to be pretty durable.
Pretty sure that's a myth. I've never heard of anyone shooting at their consoles unless they set it up to be shot at like Grench did with those PCs. The first Xbox did have a reputation for being near indestructable, tho'. I remember seeing a video of it years ago being run over by a truck or hummer while being plugged into a TV and still working. They then took a sledgehammer to it, and it took quite some hits before it stopped working.
-God Ginrai
Letalis Sonus
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Well, my brothers first gen Xbox was one of the (surprisingly few) items that did not survive having over 300V on our house's supply power - it looked rather toasty inside. I couldn't see anything that I'd consider extra sturdy, though, a classic IBM-PC can surely take more than that - the disk drive and HDD on top surely offer the highest protection for the motherboard.
levi
Still fresh, damnit!
I once disassembled an Epson 8088 based machine, and that was contructed out of 8th-inch folded steel box inside other 8th-inch folded steel boxes. The machine case was a box, the motherboard was in a box, and IIRC each of the floppy drives were also in similar boxes. I've no idea how that stuff would react if hit by a bullet, but I know it took our hydraulic crusher a couple of attempts to swallow, even disassembled to its constituent boxes.
iprice
Certified Guru
The GameCube was actually tougher than the PS2 and XBox in a number of tests as seen on YouTube (sorry at work now, can't view them to post links), including being dropped from heights etc. Nintendo consoles and handhelds were designed to take a bit of a beating. Not sure what happened with regards to the DS's problematic hinges though...
Wrath Of Khan
Soul soother...
Game boy advances were tough as well- nightmare in metroid fusion was a fucking nightmare until I figured out how to beat him- by then the gba had been dropped on the floor in frustration at least 3 times.
rygD
Nihilistic Mystic
My original (brick) GB had a rough life, was not treated gently by any stretch of the imagination, and was still working when I last saw it. It had no screen cover, there was a lot of wear to the case, and there were a few dead columns on the display. Now with replacement screen covers, cases, and other parts, and knowledge of how to fix the display, I could make it even better than it was before (or get it back to seeming stock, but that's boring, and those screens really were terrible, so why not back light it, at least?).
I treat my Nintendo handhelds better now, but they, GB through GBA, were definitely made for stupid kids to (ab)use. I still love them.
I treat my Nintendo handhelds better now, but they, GB through GBA, were definitely made for stupid kids to (ab)use. I still love them.
God Ginrai
Godmaster
Well, I meant compared to other game consoles. I'm sure there are plenty of more rugged PCs out there. I'm sorry if my wording mislead you.
I've seen that video. It was a bunch of biased tests done by X-Play. The PS2 failed out at the beginning, and the Xbox "failed" because the front panel came off, so Morgan claimed that it failed because she "couldn't turn it on", without trying to reseat the panel. Here's the video:
-God Ginrai
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