Retiring the old gal

[jbltecnicspro]

A few days ago my three-year-old pounded on the keyboard of our Dell Latitude e6420. The display went black, or so I was told when I got home. Just finally sat down to do troubleshooting and I'm convinced he broke something on the motherboard. The backlight doesn't work on the screen and giggling the cable didn't snap it back on even for a moment. Since I confirmed it went out when he pounded on the keyboard (where the motherboard sits under), I've decided to write it off as a loss.

Strangely, I feel kind of sad that it's gone. We bought it in 2017 as a cheap replacement laptop for an old D830 we had. In 2020, when Covid lockdowns started, we discovered that it had an Nvidia NVS graphics card (so THAT's why the HDMI never worked!). I played my first co-op game on this machine with my son, who had just turned 5. Throughout the years it's been the sidekick machine. The little not-gaming laptop that could. Playing Streets of Rage 4 in a pinch on vacation, being a spare machine to do Warcraft 2 LAN parties with my kids. I know it's a worthless piece of shit, but it was MY worthless piece of shit.

A lot of memories will be going with this machine. Covid, caring for my now-deceased family member, my kids' first introduction to computer gaming.

Anyone else have the feels for a machine like this?

 

[TheHig]

I still have the i5 4670k , itx board and ram on my desk shelf that was the heart of the family PC since that cpu launched. It was just taken out of service last year. Each of my 3 kids had it as their first PC and all learned to use a computer, play games and do school work on it. As one kid got old enough for their own PC this one was passed to the next. Last year the then 11yo got his first setup and this one has been retired since. Kids are 18, 15 and 12 now. That PC started on windows 7 then a brief update to 8 and 10 once it came out. I keep thinking of letting the mobo combo go cheap or repurposing it but have plenty of other parts around for shenanigans. I’ve settled on keeping it intact as a memento.

 

[SeymourGore]

I can't say I get too attached to my previous system builds, my main PC feels like it's the same computer that I originally built back in high school - just upgraded with new hardware over the years.

However, my original 486 PC (manufactured by Canadian company, Seanix) was a different story. It was a birthday gift for my 9th or 10th birthday from my mother. Great time with this machine and it developed my love for PC gaming and hardware. I remember being mesmerized by DooM, and then being mesmorized again by the game when I received a soundcard for the computer.

A great early memory was my grandfather taking me to a computer convention where he purchased me a CD-Rom for the Seanix. I remember walking through the convention, and being impressed by all the hardware displays and software demos. There were also rows and rows of 'shareware' disks.

I wouldn't get a new system until my 16th birthday (a celeron-based Packard Bell) and then in the following years I'd learn to build and regularly upgrade my main PC, but that 486 was something special and created a lot of memories.

Several years ago I had the urge to find that old computer and see if I could upgrade it to a modern 'sleeper build', but I never did find it. It was stored in the crawl space of my parents house but probably got tossed out at some point.

 

[LukeTbk]

However, my original 486 PC (manufactured by Canadian company, Seanix) was a different story.

I think that would be common or you first built you paid for yourself after that, will have been common to agonize and research every parts for weeks before pulling the trigger, it was the majority of the asset you owned with direct control that day for some.

The sound of that 486 (would it be the post, the diskdrive having issues, the harddrive), texture of that hard keyboard you remember. The first sound blaster 16 sound that came out of mine was the dong at the start of Mortal Kombat, that quite memorable.

I imagine a lot of retro build are to make the uncompromised version of that build we all had in our heads. Those after that to now, not sure I could even get it right trying to list them, but the first one I remember all the parts pretty much.

 

[jbltecnicspro]

Trying to decide if I want to get another laptop or if I want to just get a used Optiplex or some tiny desktop. The Latitude was the kids' machine (writing reports, playing the occasional game, etc). Sigh...

 

[TheHig]

I loath laptops personally. Obviously self contained and portable are nice to haves but I’d make a mini pc in a briefcase build before a laptop ever again. But I’m an outlier. That or tablet with peripherals.

People sell mini PCs and good working knock around laptops on here for a couple hondo or less. Check the FS/FT section. Those are perfect for kids. Especially the younger ones.

 

[AlphaQup]

Dell Latitude e6420.

Anyone else have the feels for a machine like this?

Yes sir! These old e6420's and 30's were amazing little machines. I'd also add the old M6800's to this list, alongside the old E-Port docking stations...

Man, gone are the days of getting quality machines (and docks) like this from the big 3

 

[jbltecnicspro]

Yes sir! These old e6420's and 30's were amazing little machines. I'd also add the old M6800's to this list, alongside the old E-Port docking stations...

Man, gone are the days of getting quality machines (and docks) like this from the big 3

I have an M4700 still. And it's amazing what it supports without adapters. It has the following ports:

• Firewire
• USB 2/3
• eSATA
• HDMI
• DisplayPort
• VGA
• Ethernet

But for the lack of USB-C connector, it's one of the most compatible machines I've ever had.

 

[jbltecnicspro]

I ended up getting an Optiplex 7020 and a cheap MSI monitor for the kids. Scary how much computing power you can get for < $100.

 

[Axman]

Anyone else have the feels for a machine like this?

I still miss my Asus EeePC, I should have never junked it. I did take it apart and kept the screen, though.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

I ended up getting an Optiplex 7020 and a cheap MSI monitor for the kids. Scary how much computing power you can get for < $100.

No kidding. Just picked up a loaded HP Z640 this weekend (E5-2690v4, 64GB, RX 580 8GB, AX200 WiFi, 256GB NVME) for $90.
Case has some dents and scuffs, and everything needed a thorough cleaning and repasting, but still.

Have seen this on CL on and off for months, guess the seller just wanted some beer money.
Was originally $125, but the 1TB HDD was not being detected in Windows, and the seller figured the SATA hot swap bays were busted, hence the $10 discount.
Just needed to switch from RAID to AHCI.

 

[zandor]

I probably ought to sell or part out my old X79 rig. I haven't turned it on in over a year. Probably part out since there are some parts that just ought to be recycled and one I want to keep - the chassis. Fractal Define XL has lots of drive bays. 2012 OCZ "PC Power & Cooling" PSU should probably get mulched along with the 10+ yo hard drives and some of the SSDs. 1TB HD or 128GB SATA SSD from before 2012 isn't really worth selling.