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Okay... So I'm rummaging through this guy's garbage...


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Come to think of it, I've never actually seen a laptop sitting on top of someone's lap! They always set them on a table, chair, stoop or anything ELSE!

 

Just like I never see a "fanny pack" on anybody's FANNY!

 

Or like most people I see with a "walkman" are usually RUNNING!

 

Or no gloves in the "glove compartment."

 

Whitefang

I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left!
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  • 3 months later...

I hit paydirt!

 

I was driving home from work and what did I see sitting out on the curb in front of somebody's house?

A tall tower pc. I loaded it up and took it home. When I went to boot it up, it booted to a certain point and then gave a "invalid system disc" error.

I did determine that it was a PII-266mhz w/ a 6gigHD and 32m o' ram. I was assuming the hard drive was dead. The original seal on the case had never been broken, so it was obvious no attempt had been made to fix it.

So I called my buddy who knows a bit more than I do to take a look at it.

 

I booted it for him so he could see what it was doing. He tried booting in safe mode and a few other things and told me it was more than likely a software error.

He took it with him and said he'd be back later.

That evening after I got off work, he stopped by and said it was all ready to go with a fresh install of win98.

He said after the first reformat and install, he thought he had it ready to go, but it soon went loopy on him. He said it hit him that the problem was a dead battery on the motherboard.

He replaced the battery and all is good.

 

He also determined that the computer is about 7 years old. He found out that the system (motherboard-TLA0918D) was actually a network server that was built up for home use.

 

It's not the fastest computer, but it was a nice one when they got it. PCI soundcard, pci video card, 4 more open slots, cdrom + 3 more open bays.

And for me it was the best kind of deal: free!

 

I'm gonna max out the ram, replace the cdrom drive

(it's a toshiba of a vintage nature and my buddy said it's picky about discs-he said it will read cdr's but not cd-rw's), and add another hard drive.

 

Looks like I'm getting up there with the big boys of PC collectors. I've got my primary computer (2.4 ghz P4), my previous system (400mhz PII), and my new garbage find. :D

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Oh yeah, he said the modem is dead. No big loss, since I don't see any need to have it online. When my little girl gets a little bigger, I'll probably set it up for her as her first computer.

For now, I'll probably turn it into a jukebox/stereo for the garage.

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I've toyed with the idea of an older laptop as portal for my stereo to the net (I'm using the new MusicMatch On Demand subscription service right now) and to my server. I'd stick a cheap 802.11b in it.

 

This would presume two important things: an acceptable sound interface (it probably wouldn't have FW and I wouldn't be hauling my 828mkII out, anyhow, for it) and quiet operation. My good laptop (a centrino-set unit) has spoiled me for quiet (although the fans crank up, ironically enough, when I do audio recording via the FW to the 828mkII).

 

My good laptop, of course, works great in this application. But I feel kinda guilty hauling it around all day and then coming home with the battery drained or near-drained and just slapping into hours of (admittedly low impact) use at home -- sometimes pretty much all night, since I like music in the wee hours, too, a lot of times.

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Okay, since we're dragging out this old thread that I started, I may as well give an update:

 

I purchased a new power adaptor for the laptop off of Ebay for about 20 bucks with shipping. It powers up just fine.

 

Unfortunately, it has no CD-ROM with it. Any additional drives for this computer were meant to be external. Sooooooooo, I'll have to buy a drive for it if I ever want to use it.

 

Maybe I should see if I can get a CD-ROM for it for cheap, and then throw the whole package on Ebay. I wonder if I could get some decent cash for it?

 

Oh, and congrats on your find, Stranger!

 

I hope it provides you with lots of use. Does the case conform to the ATX form factor? If it does, you may be able to upgrade it. Of course, if you do, you'll basically be replacing everything but the case....

 

Anyway, enjoy the computer! :thu:

Super 8

 

Hear my stuff here

 

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