Dumpster Diving

From: Paul E Coad <pcoad_at_crl.com>
Date: Sun Jun 22 03:00:43 1997

On Sun, 22 Jun 1997, J. Maynard Gelinas wrote:

>
> On Sat, 21 Jun 1997, Brett wrote:
>
> >
> > On Sat, 21 Jun 1997, J. Maynard Gelinas wrote:
>
> [snip]
>
> > > expensive Sun hardware... my bosses give me little time to play.
> >
> > Let me know the next time you guys *clean out the stockroom!!!!*
> > I am sure you can have some of that *expensive* Sun stuff end up
> > as *worhtless to repair* items after I get done looking it over 8-)
> >
>
> Hehe. This stuff won't be thrown away for several years.
> However, there are a *lot* of sparc 1s, 2s, and Sun 3/xx equipment
> floating around out here. I just missed a sparc 2 base for $270 out at
> the M.I.T. flea two months ago - and I was there, like, at 9am start, and
> at the table within 15 minutes of opening. Damn! That sucked. Sparc 1s
> can be had as cheap as $70 bucks base. I know this isn't really on topic
> for people looking for 4 and 8 bit computers, but you have to admit these
> kinds of prices are significant considering what this box will do. Where
> I work has several Sparc 1s and IPC/IPX's floating around still in
> production. Most of them are bootp servers, X-Terms, or snmp log
> grabbers. It's amazing that a computer that old is still so useful.
>

Hey this is on topic! I like the 4 and 8 bit stuff, but I really like
Sun machines.

Does anyone have a timeline for Sun machines and OS's?

IPC bases have been going around here $99 from dealers. Over the last
6 months the prices of sparc machines has dropped by 30-40%. Sun 3
systems can be had for prices which even I am willing to pay. It is
amazing to me that there are still so many around since they could
be used for trade-ins on Sparcs. The story I heard was that they
were ground up and recycled. This may be folklore.

There are a lot of uses for older machines. Until about a month ago
one guy in my office was still using a 3/60 for occasional work. Sure,
it was mainly used as an xterm, but it worked. Over 10 years old and
still in service. Anoter guy is using an IPX in the same way.

--pec
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Saved From The Dumpster Collection: http://www.crl.com/~pcoad/machines.html
Received on Sun Jun 22 1997 - 03:00:43 BST

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