Classic/collectible (was: RE: STAPLES STORES WILL TAKE OLD COMPUTERS)

From: Tothwolf <tothwolf_at_concentric.net>
Date: Thu Feb 14 14:17:24 2002

On Thu, 14 Feb 2002, Christopher Smith wrote:
> > From: John Chris Wren [mailto:jcwren_at_jcwren.com]
>
> > A) Isn't the problem that *everything* is considered classic
> > by this group?
>
> That's a problem? Seriously, though, you'd likely get agreement from
> most of the group that there are a lot of Macs and peesees that
> certainly aren't classic, despite their on-topicness. :)
>
> The trouble is that we could never agree on _which_ ones... well,
> maybe we could agree that anything made by (the new) packard bell
> probably isn't. I don't know if there are any packard bell fans here,
> but most people I've spoken to about it specifically think the new
> company's never made anything good.

I'm a fan of the odd and unusual when it comes to PC/AT era hardware. I
personally like things like EISA, MCA, and even SCSI based systems and
cards. By far, my most favorite "unusual" devices are Pioneer cdrom
changers (which are now on-topic, since they started making them in
1990-92), and I just acquired 3 more thanks to a fellow classiccmper :)

Other than the original IBM PC/XT/AT and Microchannel systems, for the
most part, the only other PC/AT era systems I collect were ones produced
by Compaq. One of my favorite systems from their 386 line is the Deskpro
386/25M. That machine must have cost a small fortune brand new, and I
think the intended market for it was a high end workstation or network
server. It has an EISA bus, and most of the cards that came installed in
the system were also EISA. The one I have even came with a Compaq branded
ethernet board installed.

As for Packard Bell, I'd hope there is at least one collector of Packard
Bell systems out there (I don't have the room nor interest). If no one
preserves their systems, we won't be able to show anyone 10 years from now
just how awful they really were compared to an IBM, Compaq, or other brand
system made during the same time period.

-Toth
Received on Thu Feb 14 2002 - 14:17:24 GMT