Mike’s Obsolete Computers
(Last update 1/6/26)

Barnes & Noble Nook HD+ Tablet
Acquired June 2013.

My first Android tablet. Very high-res screen (1920 x 1200), good CPU & GPU, and full access to the Google Play Store with over 700,00 apps avalable, also movies and music.

          CPU:  Texas Instruments OMAP4470 32-bit 1.5 GHz dual core.

          RAM:  1 GB (not expandable)

     Storage:  32 GB internal flash, plus a MicroSD  card slot

                     supports up to 64 GB,total max 96 GB storage.

      Screen:   9" 1920 x 1200 pixels (256 ppi) 

    Graphics:  PowerVR SGX544

Connectivity: WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth, USB port, HDMI

             OS:  Android 4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich)

B&N discontined these tablets so they were being sold at a great price - only $179 for the 32 GB version I got.

The screen is beautiful, bright and at 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution very sharp.

Despite the low price this tablet is not crippled in any meaningful way - it runs HD-resolution 3D games fast, no dropped frames or performance lags. Despite being a Barnes & Noble product it is not locked into the B&N ecosystem. You can install the Amazon book reading app if you want and buy movies from the Google store.

The only features missing are built-in cameras, which I don't miss since a tablet is not exactly the ideal form-factor for taking pictures, and an oleophobic screen coating which means I have to clean-off my fingerprints every couple of days. On the other hand an iPad with 64 GB of storage costs $600; the $421 difference buys a lot of screen wipes (I eventually bought an iPad Air in 2015).

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Samsung Galaxy S3 Smartphone.
Purchased new July 2012.

          CPU:  Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 32-bit dual-core

                    1.5 GHz Krait with 1 MB L2 cache.

          RAM:  2 GB (not expandable)

         ROM:  16 GB

     Storage:  Up to 96 GB maximum of flash memory, 32 GB

                     internal plus a micro-SD slot which supports up

                     to 64 GB microSDXC cards.

   Graphics:  Adreno 225 GPU

      Screen:  4.8" 1280 x 720 HD Super AMOLED screen,

                     16 million colors, capacitive multitouch.

         Audio:  16-bit stereo, 44.1 KHz sample rate.

Connectivity:  Verizon 4G LTE, 3G EV-DO, WiFi 802.11b/g/n,

                      Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0, NFC

                      (near-field communications) and DNLA media sharing.

                      Mobile 'hot-spot' functionality built-in.

   Cameras:  Back-facing:  8 megapixel stills, 1080p HD movies,

                     built-in LED flash.
                     Front-facing: 1.9 megapixel stills, 720p movies.

  Other
  Hardware:  Built-in GPS (American system) and GLONASS

                     (Russian) satellite navigation receiver,

                     6 axis motion sensor, LED RGB notification light,

                     mono speaker, stereo headset jack, HDMI-out.

           O/S:  Google Android 4.4.2 KitKat

This superseded my old Android Galaxy S (see below) which is now two years old. Just like between my old Windows phone (also below) and my original Galaxy, impressive progress has occurred. In comparison with my old Android phone, this one has over double the processing power (1.5 GHz dual core instead of 1.2 GHz single core),  2.5 times the screen resolution (921,600 pixels vs. 384,000), four times the memory (2 GB versus 512 MB) and three times the maximum storage (96 GB vs. 32 GB).
 

Like the original Galaxy S, this phone has a lower SAR(radiation) rating than is typically found with the current "super" smart-phones.

The phone originally came with Android 4.0; eventually Verizon upgraded it to 4.4.2 (code name "KitKat") which was released in December of 2013.  Currently as of January 2015 there are over one million apps available for the Android operating system, and the O.S. is currently installed over one billion devices.

This phone supports 4G LTE witch in theory can deliver 20+ megabits-per-second download speed.
 

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HP Touchpad 16 GB.
Purchased new August 2011.

          CPU:  Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8060 32-bit 1.2 GHz

                     dual-core processor (ARM A8 based) with

                     512K L2 cache.

          RAM:  1 GB DDR2 (not expandable)

     Storage:  16 GB internal flash memory

   Graphics:  Qualcomm Adreno 220 GPU

      Screen:  9.7" 1024 x 768 IPS LCD screen, LED backlighting,

                    16+ million colors, capacitive multitouch.

         Audio:  Stereo with Beats Audio, two internal speakers,

                     built-in microphone, headphone jack.

Connectivity:  WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1, USB 2.0

     Camera: 1.3 Megapixels, front-facing for video chat.

  Other
   Hardware:  3 axis motion sensor

            O/S:  WebOS 3.0.4

This was my first modern general-purpose tablet computer. At the time I couldn't justify spending $500 for an Apple iPad tablet; but when HP discontinued their version and sold the remaining stock at very low prices I couldn't resist.  The screen is the same high quality IPS panel used for the iPad and is gorgeous to look at. I eventually bought my first Apple iPad in 2015.

The Beats Audio speakers are a standout feature, putting out audio with a strength not normally heard from tablets.
 

The operating system WebOS has only been around for a relatively short time and so there are only hundreds of apps available, not the hundreds of
 thousands that the Apple and Android platforms have. However the available WebOS apps seem to cover all the common tablet tasks, such as web browsing, watching movies, reading emails, playing music, gaming, etc.

The CyanogenMod folks have a version of Android they have ported to the Touchpad.  Apparently it will allow the user to select either WebOS or Android when the tablet is booted.  Running Android will allow access to the 300,000+ applications to date written for that operating system.

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Music app 'moodagent' running on the Touchpad
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Samsung Fascinate (Galaxy S) Smartphone.
Purchased new September 2010.

          CPU:  Samsung 1 GHz Hummingbird 32-bit

                    (based upon the ARM Cortex A8)

          RAM:  512 MB (not expandable)

     Storage:  2 GB internal flash memory, plus an 16 GB

                     Micro-SD card (supports up to 32 GB cards).

    Graphics:  PowerVR SGX 540 GPU

       Screen:  4" 800 x 480 Super AMOLED screen,

                      16 million colors, capacitive multitouch.

          Audio:  16-bit stereo, 44.1 KHz sample rate

Connectivity:  Verizon 3G EV-DO, WiFi 802.11b/g/n,
                      Bluetooth 3.0, USB 2.0.

                      Mobile 'hot-spot' functionality built-in.

     Camera:  5 mexapixel stills, HD 720p movies @ 30 fps,

                     built-in LED flash.

  Other
  Hardware:  Built-in GPS satellite navigation receiver,
                     6 axis motion sensor, stereo speakers,

                     headset jack, infrared transceiver.

           O/S:  Google Android 2.3.5 "Gingerbread"
                     (originally shipped with 2.1)

This has superseded my old Windows Mobile phone (see #3 below) which I used for over two years. In that time tremendous progress has occurred in cell phones.  My old phone was considered state-of-the-art  when I bought it; in comparison this new phone has over double the processing power (1 GHz instead of 400 MHz), five times the screen resolution (384,000 pixels vs. 76,800), eight times the memory (512 MB vs. 64 MB) and sixteen times the maximum storage (32 GB vs. 2 GB).  Not to mention features that didn't exist on my old phone, such as GPS and a multi-touch screen.

This phone's screen is a new type of technology called Super AMOLED, which provides very saturated colors and deep contrast like a plasma TV (the blacks are really black, not the usual dark grey).  Also the screenuses less power which gives this phone good battery life in comparison with other big-screen super phones.

Besides the incredible screen the other reason I chose this phone in particular is that it has the lowest SAR (radiation) rating of any of the current super phones. This model puts out only one-third the radiation of the popular Motorola Droid X while matching or exceeding it in most areas (the 'X' does have a slightly taller screen and an HDMI port).

The other fantastic feature is the large number of application programs (usually refered to as 'apps') available for the Android operating system - over 70,000 currently.  Apps turn what would otherwise just be a device to make phone calls into a fully-functioningPC that fits in a shirt pocket.
 

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HP Mini 311 Netbook.
Purchased new September 2010.

          CPU:  Intel Atom N270 32-bit 1.6 GHz with 512K L2 cache.

          RAM:  2 GB (expandable to 3 GB)

     Storage:  160 GB 5400 rpm SATA hard-drive,
                     SD card slot (supports up to 32 GB).

   Graphics:  Nvidia Ion (based upon Geforce 9400M).

      Screen:  11.6" 1366 x 768 LCD with LED backlight,

                     16 million colors.

         Audio:  Realtek 2 channel HD with built-in Altec Lansing

                     stereo speakers.

Connectivity:  Ethernet 10/100 Mbit, Verizon cellular modem 3G

                      EV-DO, WiFi 802.11b/g/n,  Bluetooth 3.0, also

                      three USB 2.0 ports, HDMI and VGA ports for an

                      external monitor, also audio in/out.

     Camera:  Webcam built-in

           O/S:  Windows 7 Home Premium

This is my first netbook.  Weighing only 3 pounds, it has the footprint of a letter-sized sheet of paper and varies in thickness from only .78 to 1.2".  This makes it much more easy to carry than my regular laptop computers, and battery life is also much longer. However, the N270 CPU was slow even by 2010 standards, making this computer a bit frustrating to use.

The built-in Verizon CDMA cellular modem allowed this machine to be connected while on the road which made it handy for providing emergency technical support to my clients.

The Nvidia ION-LE chipset supports playing HD movies and older 3D games; Portal and Call of Duty 1 run fine but Left 4 Dead does not.  Still, this machine's graphics capabilities are well ahead of most other netbooks and the HDMI output allowed me to use this little machine as a 'Home Theater' PC (streaming HD content from Amazon's Video On Demand service).

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ACN Iris 3000 Videophone
Made circa 2008, purchased used July 2011.

 
          CPU:  Freescale i.MX27, ARM926EJ-S 32-bit 400 MHz core.

   Memory /
     Storage:  Internal memory unknown, USB port and SD card

                     slot for add-on storage.

   Graphics:  Proprietary, supports H.263 and H.264 video codecs.

      Screen:  7"  LCD screen 800 x 600 color

         Audio:  G.711 and G.729 audio, built-in speaker, handset,

                     audio-out jack.

Connectivity:  Ethernet 10/100, USB 2.0, video-out,

  Other
  Hardware:  Built-in CMOS camera for video calls.

           O/S:  Customized version of Linux

Like my Sony Reader (see above), this is another device based upon a Freescale SoC ("System on a Chip") with an ARM CPU.

I purchased this item for $20. To function as a video phone, a monthly subscription is required, which I don't intend to get.  I bought this gadget  because a) it's cool looking, b) was very cheap and c) it functions as a digital picture frame when idle; it can show photos stored either on a USB memory stick or an SD card.  An actual dedicated photo frame with a 7" 800 x 600 screen would of cost considerably more than I paid for this gadget. The CMOS camera and video out features also work without a subscription.

More of my airshow photos can be found here.

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Samsung SCH-i760 PDA Cell Phone.
Purchased new December 2007.

          CPU:  Samsung SC32442 400 MHz 32 bit (ARM920T core).

          RAM:  64 MB (not expandable)

     Storage:  128 MB internal Flash Memory,
                     2 GB  Micro-SD card.

   Graphics:  Proprietary

      Screen:  2.8" 320 x 240 65,000 (16 bit) color LCD

         Audio:  16-bit stereo, 44.1 KHz sample rate

Connectivity:  Verizon 3G EV-DO, WiFi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth 2.0,

                       USB 2.0

  Other
  Hardware:  Built-in slide-out QWERTY keyboard, camera

                     (1.3 MegaPixels), stereo  speakers, headphone jack,
                     infrared transceiver.

           O/S:  Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional

This combination 3G PDA & phone was one of the first devices sold by Verizon that  allowed WiFi connections in addition to using their cellular network. When using the cell network for data transfer, speeds up to 2.4 Megabits per second are possible using the CDMA EV-DO protocol.

Programs bundled with this phone included the mobileversions of Microsoft Office, Media Player and the Picsel PDF viewer.  It has full support for sending and receiving emails including HTML formatting and message attachments.

Notable applications that can be downloaded for free to the phone include Google Maps and Microsoft Live Search.  However, like the original iPhone, this unit is not equipped with a GPS chip, so mapping programs cannot automatically show the current location.

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Nokia N800 Internet Tablet.
Purchased new October 2007.

          CPU:  Texas Instruments OMAP2420 330/400 MHz

          RAM:  128 MB (not expandable)

     Storage:  256 MB internal Flash Memory
                     One internal SD card slot 8 GB max
                     One external SD card slot 8 GB max.

   Graphics:  X-Windows, proprietary chip

      Screen:  4.1" 800 x 480 65,000 (16 bit) color LCD

         Audio:  Stereo

Networking:  WiFi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0

  Other
  Hardware:  Built-in web camera (640x480), FM
                     radio tuner, stereo speakers, stereo
                     headphone jack, mono microphone.

           O/S:  Linux-based Maemo 3.2 / Internet Tablet OS 2007.

Although made two years earlier, this portable computer in 2007 still has one of the highest-resolution screens available for something that can fit comfortably in a coat pocket;the screen's dpi is about double that of the Apple iPhone (2007 edition) or Touch. It can connect to the Internet either with WiFi or via Bluetooth through a compatible cell-phone.

Unlike most portable devices, the operating system is an open platform based upon Linux.  Being open means that anyone is allowed to write software for the device, and in fact a large collection is already available, much of it free (see www.maemo.org).

The list of tasks this little computer can do out-of-the-box is impressive; it comes with programs for browsing and searching the web, playing music and movies, listening to Internet radio stations, viewing photos (the external flash slot accepts both SD and MMC camera cards), making VOIP phone calls (Skype), instant messaging, sending and receiving email, and so on.  There is even an applet included for video-conferencing using the built-in webcam.
The built-in Bluetooth supports a wide range of wireless accessories such as stereo earphones and even keyboards.

My primary reason for purchasing this unit was the super high-resolution screen.  I looked at the Apple iPhone, but even though it has the best screen of any cell phone, I found it still to be a bit of a strain to view web pages. The Nokia has double the horizontal resolution of the 2007 iPhone's screen, and it does make a difference.  The primary drawback of the Nokia tablet is that in areas with no WiFi coverage it does need to pair with a cell phone to get online.

It even has a kick-stand!  This is another nice touch, most pocketable devices need to be held in the hand or propped up on something to watch movies.

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Sony PlayStation Portable (Model PSP-1000).
Purchased new April 2007.

          CPU:  MIPS R4000 333 MHz 32-bit

          RAM:  32 MB plus 4MB embedded DRAM (not expandable)

     Storage:  Internal UMD (optical drive) – 1.8 GB per disc.
                     Internal Memory Stick slot – 2 GB card.

   Graphics:  MIPS R4000 core, capable of 664 million
                     pixels / 35 million polygons per second.

      Screen:  4.3" 480 x 272 16.77 million color LCD

         Audio:  Stereo with built-in speakers

Networking:  USB 2.0 and WiFi 802.11b built-in

            O/S:  Proprietary

This is my second PSP-1000, purchased after the price dropped to $169.  I wanted a second one so that I could run Sony's latest firmware; my original unit (see below) cannot be upgraded since it would then loose the ability to run homebrew programs.

With Sony's latest firmware, the PSP can be used as a wireless web browser, it can stream multimedia content and games via WiFi from a Playstation 3, and (finally!) user-created video clips can be played from memory sticks at full resolution (the photo I took at right shows the unit playing back ATI's 'Ruby' video).

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Dell Axim X51v Pocket PC.

Purchased new April 2007.
 

          CPU:  Intel XScale PXA270 624 MHz

          RAM:  64 MB (not expandable)

     Storage:  256 MB Flash memory,

                     plus Compact Flash and SD slots for additional
                     storage.

      Display:  3.7" LCD TFT 640x480 resolution touch-
                     screen, 16-bit color.

   Graphics:  Intel 2700G chip with 16 MB video memory,

                    dual display support.

         Audio:  WM8750 sound chip with 16-bit stereo, 44.1 KHz

                     sample rate.  Output is via stereo headphone jack

                     or mono speaker.  There is also a built-in
                     microphone with full duplex recording & playback.

Networking:  WiFi 802.11b and Bluetooth wireless built-in, plus USB.

           Misc:  CompactFlash Type II and SD / SDIO Now! /

                     MMC card slots,  VGA output for external monitor,
                     also infrared transmitter/receiver.

            O/S:  Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0.

This is the last and most advanced Pocket PC made by Dell; they pulled-out of the PDA market in April '07. As such it makes an appropriate bookend to my old Axim X5 (see below), which was Dell's first PDA introduced back in 2003.

The X51v was one of the few Pocket PCs ever built with a high-resolution screen (640 x 480 pixels); this display had about four times the resolution typically found on other PDAs or PDA/phones for the time (2007).

SciFi fans: This model PDA and my Dell Inspiron laptop (#22, below) were frequently seen on the television series Stargate Atlantis.

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Toshiba HD-DVD player (model HD-A1).

Purchased new June 2006.
 

Why is a DVD player on a list of computers?  Normally it wouldn't be, but this particular player, the first machine sold that was able to play High Definition DVDs, is in fact under the hood a Pentium 4 computer with 1 GB of RAM, running RedHat Linux.
 

          CPU:  Intel Pentium 4 2.5 GHz

          RAM:  1 GB PC2700 DDR (one slot).

     Storage:  NEC HD-DVD drive, IDE interface, compatible

                     with 15 GB and 30 GB HD-DVD optical discs,

                     also backward compatible with the common DVD

                     and CD optical formats.
                     Dedicated 256 MB Flash drive for operating system.

   Graphics:  Proprietary, HD video 1080i with
                     HDMI and component outputs.

Networking:  Ethernet, one port, speed unknown.

           Misc:  2 USB 2.0 ports.

            O/S:  RedHat Linux (boots from flash drive)
 

Further info and photos of what's inside are available here.  It's been reported that this unit is costing Toshiba more to make than what they are selling it for.

Update 12/06:  At the end of 2006 I acquired the Microsoft HD-DVD drive for my Xbox 360 (see below).
 

Update 1/09:  The HD-DVD format was discontinued a year ago (February '08).  At that time I bought a third player at a close-out price, a Toshiba HD-A35.  Note that unlike my HD-A1, this final generation player is a more conventional consumer electronics unit, not a PC in sheep's clothing.

While the format has been discontinued, as of 2026 Amazon continues to sell HD-DVD titles.

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"Batman Begins" HD-DVD playback on 42" LCD-TV
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Home Theater PC Project.

 Built April 2006.

 Note:  This project has been scrapped due to the failure of the proprietary motherboard that came with the special transparent case. The major components were recycled to build a new computer for my wife in a more traditional case.

Update: For home theater streaming content, we got a Google Chromecast back in 2013, and then in December of 2014 we acquired a TV that connects directly to Internet content services such as Netflix.

Update 2023: In the past eight years we have stopped using the Chromecast devices and now use Amazon Fire Sticks and the Fire Cube for streaming video.
 

          CPU:  Intel Pentium 4 3.06 GHz CPU with
                     Hyper-Threading
          RAM:  1 GB - Corsair XMS ProSeries low-latency
                     (CL2) DDR400.  One slot still available
                     (system maximum is 2 GB).
     Chipset:  Intel i845GE

     Storage:  Western Digital WD3200 320 GB ATA 3.5”
                     drive; Shuttle silver internal DVD burner.
   Graphics:  PNY Geforce 6600 256 MB DDR AGP card
Networking:  Ethernet 10/100 Megabit
           Misc:  4 USB 2.0 ports, 3 Firewire, optical audio
                     in/out
            O/S:  Windows Media Center 2005 Edition
                     and Fedora Core 5 Linux (dual boot

                     set-up).

 Notes:  Based upon the FIC VG61 ‘Ice Cube’ small-
             form-factor (SFF) chassis and motherboard.

   The Hyper-Threading feature of the Pentium 4 3.06
   GHz chip appears to Windows as a second CPU.
   With hyper-threading, some processes (such as
   media encoding) show improvements in performance
   from 10% to as much as 30% faster.

   Windows Media Center is the home-theater-PC
   version of XP.  Linux was also installed to support
   using MythTV, a free DVR (Digital Video Recorder)
   package.

   These two photos show where I started; the first
   photo shows the bare-bones chassis with no
   drives or CPU; the second how things looked with
   the CPU and fan installed.

  12/06 Update:  Arrggh!  The FIC motherboard died,
   putting this machine out of commission.  I am going
   to have to rebuild using a different motherboard,
   probably also a new case (the small FIC case is
   pretty but has thermal problems, as in even with
   three fans some of the components get too hot).
  
  10/08 Update:  Decided it was time to resuscitate
   this project.  Accordingly, I acquired a  micro-ATX
   motherboard (see photo at right) which is compatible
   with the components I plan on salvaging from the 1.0

   version of this project (socket 478 CPU, DDR400

   memory, AGP graphics card, etc.).  Still need to get

   a new case and power supply...

  1/09 Update:  At low cost picked-up a Cooler Master
   Elite 340 mini-tower case and an Antec 500 watt
   power supply.  Now I just have to find the time to
   assemble everything together.

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New motherboard - a Foxconn 865M01-G-6ELS

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Microsoft Xbox 360 Premium

Purchased new January 31^st, 2006.

          CPU:  IBM 3.2 GHz Power Xenon Triple-Core
                     (1 MB L-2 cache, 165 million transistors total)

          RAM:  512 MB GDDR3 700 MHz (not expandable)

     Storage:  120 GB SATA 2.5” drive
                     Internal DVD-ROM drive (12x CAV)
                     Two slots for optional 64MB memory units

                     External HD-DVD (high definition) drive

   Graphics:  ATI 'Xenos' GPU (500 MHz, 332 million transistors),

                    HDTV resolution (up to 1080i).

         Audio:  Dolby Digital Surround 5.1

Networking:  Ethernet 10/100 Megabit

          Misc:  3 USB ports, wireless game controller,

                    wireless media remote, wired audio headset.

           O/S:  Microsoft proprietary (reportedly it is a descendant

                    of the old Xbox 1 OS, which was based upon a

                    stripped-down version of Windows 2000).

This is the second-generation game console from Microsoft; optimized for high-definition gaming. The IBM CPU has three symmetrical cores, all running at 3.2 GHz (in contrast, two-core CPUs were just becoming available for higher-end PCs in 2006). The Xbox 360 CPU is capable of one trillion floating point operations per second (commonly referred to as a ‘teraflop’). The custom ATI graphics processor is supposed to be able to pump out as much as 500 million triangles per second; in comparison, the old Nvidia TNT PC graphics card was capable of only 6 million triangles per second.
 
The 360 replaced my old Xbox 1 (see entry below) in my home theater set-up. The photo at right shows it in place, with the wireless controller and media remote.

The TV it was connected to was a Hitachi 50V500 High Definition set purchased in 2003; it was a LCD rear-projector unit with a 50" screen and a native resolution of 1366x768.

This photo shows how ‘Call of Duty 2’ looks on the 360 connected to the Hitachi TV.  No photo however can really do it justice - in this scene, snow is gently falling, and thanks to the Dolby 5.1 surround track you can hear all around you the crackle of gunfire, the dull heavy thumps of shells landing nearby and even the occasional scream as someone gets shot. Very immersive – so much so that after a short while you can imagine that you are really there, fighting street by street in the snow on the Russian front.

The last photo is a screen shot of the Xbox 360 version of ‘Far Cry’.  The jungle and water look amazingly realistic; so much so that it makes me want to go on vacation right away to some beautiful tropical island.

This system also acted as a low-cost 'Media Center' system - it could stream a variety of  PC-based media content, from MP3s to Amazon Unbox movies.

Update 12/2006: Added Microsoft's new external HD-DVD (high definition) drive.
 

Update 7/2007: Replaced 20 GB hard drive with the new Microsoft 120 GB drive.
 

NOTE: This is one of the 360 systems that could suffer from the "red ring of death", but it never failed while it was in use. In 2019 I acquired an Xbox One, so this system has been retired and the TV it was connected to sent to e-waste (I tried giving it away but no one wanted an old TV that was not a flat panel).

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Dell Inspiron 9300 Laptop with 17” wide-screen display.
Purchased new March 2005.

          CPU:   Intel Pentium M 760 2 GHz "Dothan"
                      with 2 MB L2 cache.

          RAM:   2 GB (maximum capacity)

     Storage:   Internal 60 GB 7200 rpm hard drive
                      Internal DVD+/-RW dual layer burner
                      External Seagate 300 GB Firewire drive
                      External Seagate 400 GB Firewire drive

   Graphics:   Nvidia Geforce Go 6800 with 256 MB VRAM.

                     Supports dual displays (DVI or VGA connection).

      Display:  17" LCD WXGA+ 1440 x 900 resolution

Networking:   Ethernet 10/100, WiFi (802.1a/g) and Bluetooth.

           O/S:   Windows XP Professional SP2

Notes:  This machine served as my main computer until January 2007, when it was replaced in that role by the result of my "new business PC" project (see my Current Computers page).  The photo at right shows the office as it looked in early 2006.

This laptop was one of the first ones built on Intel’s Sonoma architecture, which brought the PCI Express bus to laptops.  The machine has numerous USB 2.0 ports, Firewire, an SD card reader, DVI port and a built-in sub-woofer.
 

The 256 MB Geforce video card gives this laptop the graphics performance of at least a mid-range desktop PC, allowing this machine to play 1080p HD video clips and intensive graphical games such as Far Cry.  An external     LCD panel can be connected to the DVI port to provide dual displays as shown in the photo at upper right.  Most older laptops support simple mirroring of the primary display on an external monitor; in contrast the 9300 can actually use the external display to show additional content
such as a video full screen or an extended Windows desktop.

Update 6/12: Increased installed memory from 1 GB to 2 GB.

            

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Dish Network 942 high definition receiver & digital video recorder (DVR).
Purchased new in 2005.

          CPU:  MIPS64 300 MHz, 64-bit embedded

          RAM:  64-bit DDR 400 MHz, probably 64 MB in size.

     Storage:  Internal Western Digital 250 GB 7200 rpm SATA

                     hard drive.

Networking:  Ethernet, modem port.

     Special
  Hardware:  Three HD tuners (two satellite, one OTA). Two

                     remote controls, one UHF,the other infrared.

          Misc:  DVI, component video, also USB 2.0.

           O/S:  Linux (GLinux modified kernel)

Notes:  Like my HD-DVD player, this home entertainment device is actually a Linux computer 'under the hood'.

The official spec sheet is here. More info on the chips used in the 942, plus some photos of the inside are available here.

Update: I discontinued my Dish subscription a few years ago so this box is no longer in use.

2026 Update: I'm probably going to donate this box to the Goodwill, since it is not useful without a Dish subscription.

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Two Sony PlayStation Portables (Model PSP-1000). 
Purchased new in 2005.

        CPU:  MIPS R4000 333 MHz 32-bit

        RAM:  32 MB plus 4MB embedded DRAM (not expandable)

   Storage:  Internal UMD (optical drive) – 1.8 GB per disc.
                   Internal Memory Stick slot – can use up to 1 GB cards.

  Graphics:  MIPS R4000 core, capable of 664 million pixels /

                   35 million polygons per second.

     Display:  4.3" 480 x 272 16.77 million color LCD  screen

Connectivity: USB 2.0 and WiFi 802.11b built-in.

           O/S:  Proprietary

Notes:  Bought for entertainment purposes; also as a device for carrying and displaying digital photographs and movie clips produced by my Canon Digital
and Panasonic DV cameras.  The screen is very impressive, by far the best I have ever seen on a hand-held device as of 2005.

This original unit has the 1.5 firmware, which was the last version easily hacked (there is a  thriving community of folks who have written  'homebrew' applications for the PSP.

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Intermec 750 Color Mobile Computer. 
Acquired September 2003.

           CPU:  Intel XScale 400 MHz

           RAM:  64 MB (not expandable)

      Storage:  64 MB of Flash ROM

                      SD and CompactFlash Type II card
                      slots allow additional storage to be

                      added.

      Display:   3.8" Transreflective (daylight readable)
                      LCD 320 x 240 pixels 256,000 colors.

         Audio:  Mono with built-in speaker &
                     microphone, headset jack.

Networking:   WiFi 802.11B and Bluetooth transceivers.

                      Ethernet can be added with optional
                      CompactFlash I-O card.

                      Also supports optional cellular modem
                      (GSM/GPRS or CDMA/1xRTT).

      Special
  Hardware:  Laser Barcode scanner built-in,

                     Backlit keypad,
                     Lithium-Ion 14.4 watt-hour battery, 8-12

                     hour life.

            OS:  Microsoft Windows for Pocket PC 2002

Notes:  This rugged industrial handheld computer can survive repeated drops (5 feet to concrete), is water and dust resistant and can operate in temperatures from -4 to 140 degrees F.  It's primarily designed for warehouse and inventory data collection applications with the built-in laser barcode scanner and WiFi connectivity.

There is a good range of development tools available for this system, including Microsoft Visual Studio and a stripped-down version of SQL Server that is designed to run on mobile devices.

 

Apple iMac G4 17".
Built in 2003; acquired July 2011.

          CPU:  Motorola PowerPC G4 (7455) 1 GHz
                     processor with 256K L2 cache.

          RAM:  1.25 GB (expandable to 2 GB)

     Storage:  Seagate Barracuda ST380023A 80 GB 7200 rpm

                     Ultra ATA-100 drive.
                     Pioneer DVR-105 DVD-RW/CD burner.

   Graphics:  Nvidia Geforce4 MX AGP with 64 MB VRAM.
                     External VGA port (mirror only).

      Monitor:  Built-in 17" LCD Display, 1440 x 900 pixels resolution,

                     24-bit color.

         Audio:  24-bit Stereo input and output

Networking:  10/100 Ethernet, also 56k v.92 analog modem built-in.

                     Available slot for Apple Airport Extreme card.

          Misc:  USB 1.1 & Firewire 400 ports

           O/S:  OS X 10.4 (Tiger)

 This is my second iMac - the first was an older G3 iMac with a CRT screen (see #31 on my Antiques page). It originally came with OS X 10.2; I upgraded
 it to 10.4 (Tiger).

 As of 2024, I now have nine working Macintosh computers:

    Mac SE - 68000 8 MHz CPU (built 1987)
    Mac Performa 466 - 68030 33 MHz (1993)
    Power Mac 9500 - PPC 604 132 MHz (1995)

    iMac DV SE G3 - 400 MHz (1999)

    Power Mac G4 - 400 MHz (2000)
    Power Mac G4 MDD - Dual 1 GHz (2002)

    iMac G4 - 1 GHz (2003)

    iMac Intel Core Duo - 2.4 GHz (2007)
    Mac Mini Intel Core i5 - six cores 3 GHz (2018)

 I also have an old IIe Platinum, an IIc and a Newton, for a grand total of eleven Apple computers so far.

 The excellent Apple History site has detailed info on the iMac G4 here.

 7/16/11 Update: Installed an 1 GB SO-DIMM to increase the memory from the original 256 MB to 1.25 GB.
 

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Dell Precision Workstation 450.
Built in 2003; acquired November 2011.

          CPU:  Intel Xeon 2.4 GHz with hyper-threading and 512K L2 cache;
                     socket available for second CPU.

          RAM:  2 GB ECC expandable to 4 GB.

     Storage:  Seagate Cheetah 73 GB 15,000 rpm SCSI

                     drive model ST373453LW,
                     Samsung SM-348B 16X / 24X / 48X DVD-ROM /

                     CD-RW / CD-R burner,

                     NEC 3.5" floppy drive.
                     LSI Logic Ultra 320 SCSI card with
                     external high-density SCSI port.

   Graphics:  Nvidia Quadro FX 1000 Professional Graphics card

                     with 128 MB of VRAM and two DVI ports (supports dual
                     monitors).  Up to 3840 x 2400 pixels resolution on a

                     single display, or 1600 x 1200 on dual displays.

         Audio:  SoundMax Integrated Digital Audio AC97 stereo 16 bit

Networking:  Intel Gigabit Ethernet

          Misc:  One PCI-X 64-bit slot, two PCI 32 bit
                     slots, one AGP Pro slot.

                     Four USB 2.0 ports.

           O/S:  Windows XP SP3

This machine was designed for professional use in the fields of CAD/CAM, graphic design, etc.  As a result, it has a lot of higher-end tech that consumer
PCs usually lack, such as error-correcting memory, a hard drive that spins at 15,000 rpm (consumer drives usually range from 4,000 to 7,200 rpm), not to
mention a server-class Intel Xeon CPU and an available socket to add a second CPU.

The Intel Xeon CPU is designed for use in workstations and servers.  The version in this machine is a member of the "Prestonia" family, and supports
multi-processors (more than one CPU in a system) plus hyperthreading (two threads can be executed per CPU).  The Workstation 450 supports two CPUs; this is similar to today's dual-core CPUs but in dual-core both processors share the same die.  Since  Xeon supports hyperthreading, with two CPUs installed up to four threads can be executed simultaneously.
 

The Nvidia Quadro FX 1000 is my first "professional" graphics card.  While similar hardware-wise to consumer versions, professional graphics cards
have firmware that emphasizes drawing accuracy over pure speed.  Up to 3840 x 2400 pixel resolution is supported for a singe display, or 1600 x 1200 on dual displays. The GPU is based upon the NV30 Geforce FX and supports DirectX 9 and OpenGL 2.0.  The card also features an output port for 3D stereoscopic viewing, intended for engineering and scientific applications.
 

So far I have only tested the card with some consumer-style applications such as playing back videos and gaming.  The card appears to have no trouble playing 1080p video and older games such as Call of Duty 1.  On the other hand, it couldn't  render the graphics properly in the recent game "Left 4 Dead", but this is not surprising considering the age of the card.

Links:

  GPUReview page on the Quadro FX 1000

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Quadro FX Professional Graphics card
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Opened up
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Dell Axim X5 Pocket PC.

This color PDA was purchased new in early 2003.

        CPU:  Intel XScale 400 MHz

        RAM:  64 MB (not expandable)

   Storage:  48 MB ROM for system software, 1 GB flash memory

                  (SD card).  CompactFlash slot also built-in.

    Display:  3.5" 65,000 color 320 x 240 pixel touchscreen.

       Audio:  Stereo sound via headphone jack, also mono speaker

                   and microphone.

         Misc:  Infrared transceiver

    Special
 Hardware: Two Compact Flash accessory cards,
                   a Wifi 802.11B adapter and a GPS
                   receiver (see update info below).

          OS:  Microsoft Windows for Pocket PC 2002.
 

Update 12/06:  I turned this unit into a low-cost handheld GPS navigation system by adding a GlobalSat BC-337 GPS receiver card (see photo at right) and Microsoft Pocket Streets  software.

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Microsoft Xbox.  Purchased new in 2003.

            CPU:  Intel Pentium III 733 MHz 128KB L2

            RAM:  64 MB DDR SDRAM (not expandable)

       Storage:  Internal 8 GB 5400 rpm hard drive,
                       Internal DVD-ROM drive,
                       Memory card slot (8 MB proprietary)

     Graphics:  Nvidia NV2A Graphics Processor (125 million

                      polygons per second), supports up to HDTV (1080i)
                      resolution for games.

           Audio:  Dolby 5.1 Game & DVD play-back.

  Networking:  100 Megabit Ethernet

Accessories:  Microsoft wired controller

                       Logitech wireless controller

                       Xbox DVD Movie Playback Kit (infrared
                       receiver dongle and matching remote
                       control).
                       High Definition AV Pack

                       MadCatz MC2 Racing Wheel for Xbox

             O/S:  Reportedly a stripped-down version of
                      Windows 2000.

Purchased after the price dropped from the original $300 price down to $150 with several games bundled in. This was the first game console I ever owned (I now have at least eight in my collection).
 

Bought to connect to my HDTV for gaming– however only a few Xbox games actually support HD resolutions.  Games that can do at least 480p (progressive scan) look surprisingly sharp. I have one game that supports 720p and the increased detail is clearly visible.  This machine is however quite noisy; it sounds like a small vacuum cleaner when running! Hopefully the upcoming Xbox 360 will be quieter;  it’s also supposed to have better support for HD gaming.

Update 1/31/06:  I now have a new Xbox 360 in the house;  this old Xbox “1” has been moved to the bedroom. Sadly, the 360 is not quieter than the original Xbox.

Update 12/6/08:  Picked up a used MadCatz MC2 Racing Wheel and pedals for $8.

Halo 2 screenshot (from Bungie)
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Three (3) Compaq Evo D500 Small Form Factor PCs.

Built circa 2002; purchased used in February and March 2009.

Machine #1:

          CPU:  Intel Pentium 4 1.7 GHz 256K L2 cache

          RAM:  576 MB SDRAM PC133 (expandable to 3 GB)

     Storage:  30 GB Hitachi Deskstar Ultra ATA/100
                     7,200 rpm hard drive.
                     LG CED-8080B CD-R/RW 32x/8x/4x
                     optical drive.

           O/S:  Windows XP SP3
 

Machine #2:

          CPU:  Intel Pentium 4 1.7 GHz 256K L2 cache

          RAM:  1 GB SDRAM PC133 (expandable to 3 GB)

     Storage:  20 GB Maxtor D740X-6L Ultra ATA/133 7,200 rpm

                     hard drive.
                     Lite-On LTN-486S 48x CD-ROM drive.

           O/S:  OpenSUSE Linux 11.2
 

Machine #3:

          CPU:  Intel Pentium 4 1.8 GHz 256K L2 cache

          RAM:  512 MB SDRAM PC133 (expandable to 3 GB)

     Storage:  20 GB Seagate Barracuda ST320011A
                     Ultra ATA/100 7,200 rpm hard drive.
                     HP GCR-8483B 48x CD-ROM drive.

           O/S:  Drive currently blank - case has Windows XP COA

                    sticker with activation key which allows OEM version

                    to be legally installed.
 

All Systems:

     Chipset:  Intel 845

     Storage:  3.5" Floppy drive (1.44 MB)

   Graphics:  Nvidia Vanta (TNT) with 16 MB RAM in
                     low-profile AGP 4x slot, capable of
                     1600 x 1200 pixels at millions of colors.

         Audio:  Integrated AC'97 Stereo with line in/out,

                     also front-panel microphone, built-in
                     speaker and a headphone jack.

Networking:  Integrated Intel PRO/100 Ethernet 10/100

          Misc:  2 half-length, full-height  PCI slots,

                    4 USB 1.1 ports, serial port, parallel printer port.
 

Notes:  Bought all of these working machine used for less than $200 total; original retail price was around $1,200 each in 2002.  I intend to use these systems as Lightwave 3D render nodes; also to explore alternative PC operating systems such as Linux.

The case of this model is very compact at 14" by 13" by 4" high, but it's built like a tank with a lot of metal parts. The drives are mounted internally on a special tray that pivots up 90 degrees to give easy access to the memory slots underneath (see photos at right). Besides their small footprint, these machines need only a moderate amount of power to run (200 watts each) and their P4 CPUs support SSE2 which is required by the latest version of Lightwave. 

With cover off  (Larger version)

With drive tray tilted up  (Larger version)

OpenSuse Linux running on Machine #2
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Apple Power Mac G4 MDD (Mirrored Drive Doors model). Built circa 2002; acquired January 2011.

          CPU:  Dual Motorola PowerPC G4 (7450)
                     1 GHz processors with 1 MB L3 cache
                     each.

          RAM:  1.25 GB (expandable to 2 GB)

     Storage:  One Seagate Barracuda IV 80 GB 7200 rpm

                     Ultra ATA-100 drive.
                     One Quantum Fireball 60 GB ATA drive.
                     Internal Superdrive DVD/CD burner

   Graphics:  ATI Radeon 9000 Pro AGP card with 64 MB VRAM,

                    supports dual monitors with ADC and DVI connectors.

      Monitor:  Apple 23" Cinema HD LCD Display (1920 x 1200 resolution).

         Audio:  16-bit Stereo input and output

Networking:  Gigabit Ethernet, also 56k v.92 analog modem built-in.

          Misc:  Four 64-bit PCI slots, Adaptec Ultra SCSI card,

                    USB 1.1 & Firewire 400 ports.

            O/S: Currently OS X 10.5 Leopard

This is my second G4 Mac - the first (see below) is an older 400 MHz single processor model.  I also have a iMac G3, PowerMac 9500 and a very old Mac SE from 1987 - see my Antique Computer Collection page for details on these systems.

Released in August of 2002, this Power Mac featured dual CPUs standard and a faster bus speed.  Known as the "MDD" model due to it's mirrored drive doors, it was the last major Power Mac G4 model, the last one featuring Apple's translucent design motif, the last one with five expansion slots (1 AGP, 4 PCI), last one with easily upgradeable CPUs and the last Power Mac still able to run OS 9.

I have to admit I like Apple's translucent designs more than the current metallic look that they introduced with the 2003 G5; along several Power Macs I also have a couple of matching translucent Apple Studio Displays (see below) and the gorgeous translucent white Apple keyboard that was only available for a limited time.

The excellent Apple History site has detailed info on the MDD Power Mac here.

In May 2011 I picked-up a used Apple 23" Cinema HD display for this system (see photo at right).  This flat-panel display cost $2,000 when new and is packaged in a beautiful clear case with chrome trim; with the 17" version I got in 2008 these may be the best- looking pieces of computer gear in my collection. Like the 17" model, this display uses the proprietary ADC (Apple Display Connector), which carries both video and power in the same cable. This means that the computer's video card directly supplies the electricity for the monitor to operate; luckily both of my G4s came with the special video cards required for this to work.

Other peripherals: I have an Epson Stylus Photo 1280 large-format 13" x 44" printer (see picture at lower right) and an old HP Scanjet 6100C Professional Series SCSI scanner.  This scanner, given to me by another nice client, is about ten years old but is a rugged heavy-duty professional model. HP's best desktop scanner at the time, it has a larger than usual scan area of 8.5" x 14", 30-bit color / 10-bit grayscale imaging and cost around $1,000 when new.
 

9/24/11 update: Acquired used copy of Apple Final Cut Pro Studio with matching color-coded keyboard for this system (see pic at right).

OS X 10.5 desktop

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Apple 23" Cinema HD display

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Apple Final Cut Studio
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Two (2) Wyse WT3235LE Winterm Thin Client systems.
Built circa 2002; purchased used in February 2009.

          CPU:  x86 compatible 300 MHz, probably a
                    National Semiconductor Geode GX1.

          RAM:  64 MB (not expandable)

     Storage:  32 MB flash memory

   Graphics:  Up to 1280 x 1024 x 16 bit color, VGA out.

         Audio:  AC'97 16-bit 44 KHz stereo with speaker
                     and microphone jacks.

Networking:  Integrated Ethernet 10/100

          Misc:  Keyboard with mouse port built-in,
                    4 USB ports on system, supports USB
                    printers.

           O/S:  Windows CE .NET 4.10 (build 486.4)

Notes:  Picked-up these thin client boxes for $10 each. A thin-client is a stripped-down lightweight appliance computer that is used to connect to larger computers or the Internet.  This particular model is tiny at only 7.5 by 6 by 1.7 inches high and comes with the following software built-in:

      Microsoft Internet Explorer
      Microsoft RDP client
      Citrix ICA client
      Terminal emulation for a variety of terminals such
      as the Wyse-60, IBM TNxxxx series, DEC VT420,
      etc.

 ELO Touchscreen support

 Product Datasheet (pdf)

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Unit with monitor, keyboard and mouse connected

Sony Vaio GR270P Laptop with 15” LCD screen.
Purchased new in November 2001. Spec Sheet.

          CPU:  Intel Pentium III-M 1 GHz 512K L2

          RAM:  512 MB (max capacity)

     Storage:  Internal 30 GB IDE drive,
                     Internal combo DVD-ROM & CD-R/RW
                     optical drive.

      Display:  15" LCD-TFT 1024 x 768 resolution

   Graphics:  ATI Rage Mobility Radeon-D 16 MB AGP

         Audio:  Stereo, built-in speakers

Networking: 100 Megabit Ethernet, V.90 modem

          Misc:  PC Card slots with Cardbus support,
                     built-in Sony Memory Stick drive, also
                     Firewire and USB 1.1 ports, TV-Out,
                     VGA out, parallel port.

     Special
 Hardware:  Adaptec SlimSCSI 1460 PC card
                    Linksys WPC55AG WiFi 802.11a/b/g
                    card
                    Belkin USB 2.0 PC card

                    External 1 GB Jaz drive (SCSI)

                    External flash card reader (USB)

                    LG External DVD burner (Firewire)
                    IDTECH barcode LED gun scanner

                    Sony dock & port replicator

          O/S:   Windows XP Professional (SP2)

Notes: This was my primary laptop until I purchased the Dell 9300 in 2005.  The Sony was designed for video & audio work: It came bundled with a ton of multimedia software including Sony's digital video capture software, Sonic Foundry Sound Forge, Screenblast Acid and the 'lite' versions  of Adobe Premiere & Photoshop.  Sony also threw in MS Word 2002 and Quicken for good measure.

The Mobility Radeon graphics chip in this machine is powerful enough to run early 2000s 3D games such as Star Wars: Episode I Racer (see picture at right).
 

The amount of technological progress between the Toshiba laptop I purchased in '97 and this one is remarkable.  My '97 laptop ran at only 100 MHz, had less than 1 GB of storage and no audio, optical disc player or 3D graphics.  This machine, made only four years later, has a CPU clock speed ten times faster, has over thirty times more storage plus stereo sound, a combo optical DVD player /  CD burner and a Radeon 3D graphics chip.

The Pentium III-M (code name "Tualatin") was the third and best revision of the Pentium III architecture, with performance that matched or exceeded the early Pentium 4s while using significantly less power.  In fact in 2006 Intel discontinued development of the Pentium 4 "Netburst" line and switched to a new CPU architecture partially based upon the Pentium III-M, named "Core".

Update 12/06:  I purchased a new fast 60 GB 7200 rpm drive to replace the old 30 GB 4200 rpm unit, but haven't had time yet to install it.

Update 10/07:  Updated to XP SP2. Purchased high-speed USB 2.0 card to better support external hard drives.
 

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Larger version (from Gamespot)

Compaq Deskpro EN Small Form Factor PC.
Built 2001; purchased used in March 2009.

          CPU:  Intel Pentium III 1.0 GHz Coppermine

          RAM:  512 MB SDRAM PC133

      Chipset:  Intel 815e

     Storage:  20 GB Seagate Barracuda ST320011A
                     Ultra ATA/100 7,200 rpm hard drive.
                     Lite-On LTN-486S 48x CD-ROM drive.

                     3.5" Floppy drive (1.44 MB)

   Graphics:  Intel 82815 integrated graphics controller

         Audio:  Integrated AC'97 Stereo with line in/out,

                     also front-panel microphone and
                     headphone jacks.

Networking:  Integrated Intel Pro Ethernet 10/100

          Misc:  3 PCI slots, 2 USB 1.1 ports, 1 serial
                    port, 1 parallel printer port.

           O/S:  OpenSUSE Linux 11.1
 

This system cost only $15 used but came without an operating system installed.

Update 10/09:  Increased memory to the maximum 512 MB (using a recycled PC133 module that cost $5), attached a Viewsonic 17" color CRT monitor (cost $10) and installed the operating system OpenSuse Linux (free).

The screen shot at right shows OpenSuse Linux on the Compaq; the graphical user-interface is KDE 4.1.

 

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Linux running on the Compaq (Larger version)

Apple Power Mac G4 (Gigabit Ethernet).
Built 2000; acquired January 2006.

          CPU:  Motorola PowerPC G4 400 MHz

          RAM:  1.5 GB (expandable to 2 GB)

     Storage:  One 20 GB ATA drive
                     One 80 GB ATA drive
                     Internal Superdrive DVD/CD burner (Panasonic)
                     Internal Zip drive 250 MB

   Graphics:  ATI Rage Pro 128 AGP card with 16 MB VRAM,

                    up to 1900x1200 @ 32 bits/pixel, ADC and VGA

                    connectors.

   Monitors:  Apple 17" LCD Studio Display

                    Apple 17" CRT Studio Display

Networking:  Gigabit Ethernet

          Misc:  Adaptec Ultra SCSI card, USB 1.1 & 
                     Firewire 400 ports

            O/S: OS X 10.3 Panther & OS 9.2

This particular model was the third revision of the Power Mac G4.  Released in August 2000, it featured AGP graphics and Gigabit Ethernet.  Ever since the first Power Mac G4s came out in '99, I have wanted one to play with, but  couldn’t justify the expense since all of my paying work is on Windows PCs. Years later a very nice client let me have this old machine that they had retired. This system is pretty well equipped for an old G4, with 1.5 Gigabytes of memory and OS X 10.3 (“Panther”).

The excellent Apple History site has detailed info on this model here.

Update 7/27/08: Replaced original Apple DVD-ROM drive with a Panasonic "Superdrive" DVD/CD burner.

Update 7/19/08:  Acquired a used Apple 17" Studio Display in good condition for $30 (originally cost $500 when new).  The monitor is housed in a attractive
transparent case (see pic at right).  The Diamondtron flat-screen CRT has a fine 0.25 mm grille pitch and unusually supports a high 100+ Hz refresh rate. It uses an ADC connection (video and power combined into a single cable).
 

Later in 2008 I purchased the LCD version of the Apple Studio Display. This flat-panel display originally sold for $1,000 new and is packaged in a beautiful clear case with chrome trim. The display uses the proprietary ADC (Apple Display Connector), which carries both video and power in the same cable. Luckily both of my G4s came with the special video cards required for this to work.

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IBM eServer xSeries 230, Dual-Processors.
Manufactured in 2000, acquired in February 2009.

          CPU:  Pentium III 1 GHz x 2 (dual CPUs)

          RAM:  512 MB ECC, expandable to 4 GB

  Graphics:   S3 Savage4 integrated with 8 MB VRAM

    Storage:   Adaptec AIC-7899G Ultra160 SCSI dual channel

                     integrated controller.
                     IBM Netfinity ServeRAID-4L Ultra160 SCSI RAID

                     controller PCI 64-bit card.
                     Three IBM 18.2 GB 10,000 rpm Ultra160 SCSI

                     slim-height drives in hot-swappable drive slots (six total).

                     Three additional drive bays for non-swappable drives.

                     IBM integrated Ultra DMA/33 IDE dual-channel controller.
                     CD-ROM 40x drive IDE.

                     3.5" 1.44 MB floppy drive.

       Audio:   PC speaker built-in (sound card can be

                    added using the PCI slots).

Networking: 10/100 Megabit Ethernet IBM integrated
                    AMD AM79C975.

         Misc:  3 PCI 64-bit slots, 2 PCI  32-bit slots, 2
                    USB 1.1 ports, 2 serial ports, 1 parallel port.

          O/S:  Currently Windows 2000 Advanced Server.

     Monitor:  Dell 15" CRT

Notes:  My first industrial-strength server machine; features dual processors, 10,000 rpm hot-swappable drives, error-correcting memory, 64-bit PCI slots, a hardware RAID controller, can be run on either 110 or 220 volt power and is built like a tank.

The IBM ServeRAID-4L hardware RAID controller card has an Intel i960 100 MHz processor and 16 MB ECC cache memory.  It supports up to 14 drives and a dizzying array (pun intended) of RAID modes including 0 (striped disks), 1 (mirrored), 1E (two-way mirroring), 5 (striped with parity), 5E (mode 5 with integrated hot-spare), 10 (striped and mirrored)  and 50 (striped with distributed parity).

 

Windows 2000 Server desktop - larger version.
See this and other Windows 2000 screen-shots

at the GUIdebook GUI collection.
 

Video Editing System, Dual-Processors.
Custom-built in 1999 (rebuilt in larger chassis in 2001).

          CPU:  Pentium III 500 MHz x 2 (dual CPUs)

          RAM:  1 Gigabyte (max capacity)

            MB:   Tyan Tiger 100 S1832

  Graphics:   Hercules/Guillemot Nvidia Geforce-256 DDR-DVI AGP

                     card with 32 MB DDR memory, VGA and DVI ports.

    Storage:   Adaptec 39160 dual-channel ultra-160 SCSI controller card.
                     Internal 126 GB in four Quantum Atlas 10K 10,000 RPM

                     drives (72 GB used for dedicated video array).
                     Asus 50x CD-ROM drive.

       Audio:   4 audio channels in/out via DPS card (see below).

Networking: 10/100 Megabit Ethernet

           PS:   PC Power & Cooling 425 watt Turbo-Cool

     Special
 Hardware:  DPS Reality & Velocity - high-end professional non-linear

                    video editing card and software, able to do un-
                    compressed D1 (full broadcast-quality) video capture,

                    dual video stream playback, 4 audio channels in/out,
                    on-board UW SCSI controller.

    Special
  Software:  DPS Velocity NLE, Eyeon Digital Fusion,
                    Adobe After Effects 4.0 Production,
                    Newtek Lightwave 3D 6.5, Bryce 3D 4.0.

         Misc:  5 PCI slots, 2 ISA slots, 2 USB 1.1 ports,

                    2 serial ports, parallel port.

          O/S:  Windows NT 4.0 Workstation and NT 4.0
                    Server (dual boot).

    Monitor:   Sony GDM F500 21” flat-screen CRT.

     Video
  Equipmt:   Sony Trinitron 20” NTSC program monitor,

                   Panasonic AG1980 Professional S-VHS deck.

Notes:  This machine was built to professional video editing standards and is capable of outputting uncompressed standard definition broadcast-quality video.

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Lightwave 3D 8.0 (from Lightwiki)
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DPS Velocity

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Dell Dimension XPS T550.
Built 1999; purchased used in September 2005.

          CPU:  Intel Pentium III 550 MHz 512K L2 cache

          RAM:  384 MB (expandable to 768 MB)

     Storage:  2 x 10 GB Western Digital WD100EB
                     ATA-100 5400 rpm drives (20 GB total).
                     Sony CD-RW CRX140E 32X/8X/4X optical drive.
                     Toshiba DVD-ROM SD-M1212 6X DVD /  32X CD

                     optical drive.

                     Sony 1.44 MB 3.5" Floppy drive.

   Graphics:  Diamond Viper V550 Nvidia TNT card with 16 MB VRAM

                    (in AGP 2x slot), capable of 1600 x 1200 pixels at millions

                     of colors.

         Audio:  Yamaha XG 64 Voice sound card, with Altec Lansing

                     speakers and sub-woofer.

Networking:  US Robotics V.90 voice/fax modem,

                     Kingston 10/100 Megabit Ethernet card.

     Special

  Hardware:  Quadrant CineMaster 3 DVD decoder card with composite,

                     s-video and SPDIF (Dolby AC-3) outputs.

                     PCMCIA to PCI adapter card.

          Misc:  2 USB 1.1 ports, 5 PCI slots (one free), 1 ISA slot.

           O/S:  OpenSUSE Linux 11.2

Notes:  I bought this machine in 2005 for only $99 (it originally cost $2,600 new six years earlier).  The previous owner removed the original hard drive before selling it for security reasons.  I purchased a new 80GB hard drive for this system but ended-up having to use it for another project; I eventually got two old 10 GB drives from a good friend (along with an additional 128 MB memory module and an Ethernet card) to finally get this machine up and running.

In the summer of 1999 this system was the top-of-the-line model from Dell, and was also on the top of PC World's list of "fastest" PCs.  Today no one would call it "super fast" but a Pentium III machine is still very useful for a variety of tasks.

This is the only system I have that came with a dedicated DVD hardware decoder card.  This is an interesting artifact from the days when a system's CPU and video card were not powerful enough to decode and play back DVD video smoothly.  The CineMaster card takes care of decoding a DVD's MPEG video and AC-3 audio streams, and has ports which can be used to directly output these streams to a TV and a Dolby surround sound receiver.  This card also connects to the system's regular video and audio cards via internal cables so that DVD video & audio can be routed to the system display and speakers.  On more modern computers, DVD decoding and playback is now done in software, with the MPEG video processed directly by the system video card. 

Also unusual is the PCMCIA-to-PCI adapter, this allows laptop expansion cards to be directly plugged in to this desktop PC.
 

1/25/09 Update:  Purchased a used Radius S-3F 15" 1024 x 768 LCD monitor to use with this system (cost $30).

11/29/09 Update:  Finally got this machine operational by installing two used 10 GB hard drives, an additional 128 MB of RAM, an Ethernet card and OpenSUSE Linux 11.2.

           

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Radius S-3F monitor

Gateway Essential 400c Micro-ATX Tower.
Built 1999; purchased used in February 2009.

          CPU:  Intel Celeron 400 MHz 128K L2 cache
                     socket 370 version ("Mendocino").

          RAM:  32 MB (expandable to 256 MB)

     Storage:  Maxtor 6 GB 5400 rpm hard drive
                     Acer CD-ROM 56x drive
                     Mitsumi 3.5" Floppy drive (1.44 MB)

   Graphics:  Integrated ATI Rage 128 VR AGP with 8 MB VRAM.

      Monitor:  Gateway EV700 17" CRT

         Audio:  Creative Labs Sound Blaster AudioPCI 128D

                     with stereo line in/out and microphone connectors.

Networking:  Netgear Fast Ethernet 10/100 card, Lucent V.90 winmodem.

          Misc:  3 PCI slots (1 free), 2 USB 1.1 ports,
                    1 serial port, 1 parallel printer port,
                    1 game port.

           O/S:  Windows 98 SE

Notes:  I paid $20 for this system including the monitor; the original system retail price was $1,000 in 1999.

The Mendocino Celeron was Intel's second generation 'budget' processor.  With full speed cache memory on-chip, this CPU is supposed to be almost as fast as it's bigger and more expensive parent, the Pentium II.

I intend to upgrade the memory, replace Windows 98 with a more modern O.S. and use this machine as a Lightwave render node or for Linux.

Windows 98 desktop - Larger version
 

Custom Desktop Business System – Dual-Processors.
Built in 1998.

         CPU:  Intel Pentium II 450 MHz x 2 (dual CPUs)

         RAM:  512 MB (expandable to 2 GB)

           MB:   Tyan Thunder 100 S1836DLUAN-GX

                    with Dual-Channel Ultra-Wide SCSI

  Graphics:  Nvidia TNT 16 MB PCI

     Monitor:  Viewsonic 21PS 21” CRT

    Storage:  Seagate Cheetah 36 GB 10,000 rpm
                    Ultra-160 SCSI drive, internal.
                    HP DVD200i DVDWriter combo DVD+R

                    /RW and CD+R/RW drive, internal.

        Onstream DI30 30 GB tape drive, internal.

        Conner Travan TR-3 3 GB tape drive,
        internal.
        Quantum Atlas 9 GB 7,200 rpm
        Ultra-Wide SCSI drive, external.

        Seagate Scorpion DDS4 40 GB DAT
        tape drive, external.

       Audio:   Creative Labs Vibra 16XV 16-bit stereo

Networking: 10/100 Megabit Ethernet

           PS:   PC Power & Cooling 300 watt Turbo-Cool

    Special

 Hardware:  Adaptec combo USB 2.0 + Firewire card.

                    Canopus DVRaptor Firewire card.

         Misc:  6 PCI slots, 1 ISA slot, 2 USB 1.1 ports,

                    2 serial ports, 1 parallel port.

          O/S:  Quad boot configuration:
                     Windows 2000 Professional
                     Windows XP Professional
                     Windows NT 4.0
                     Windows 98SE
             

Notes:  This machine is ten years old now but still usable thanks to it’s dual CPUs and to the numerous upgrades that have been done, such adding a DVD burner and a 10,000 rpm Cheetah drive.

While this system has four versions of Windows installed, the one I used the most was Windows 2000 (see screen shot at right).

2007 Update:  This machine is no longer my primary business system.  In March 2005 I started using my Dell Inspiron laptop as my primary; then in 2007 I switched to the water-cooled super-system that I built during my long-running 'next generation' computer project (see my 'Current Computers' page for details on that system).

9/24/11 Update:  Acquired used HP Pen Plotter (see
pic at right).  Since only Windows 98 has a driver for this printer I will likely attach it to this computer.

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Windows 2000 desktop - Larger version
 

HP Plotter  - Larger version

Gateway E-4200 Retro PC Project.
Built 1998; purchased used in November 2008.

          CPU:  Intel Pentium II 400 MHz 512K L2 cache

          RAM:  384 MB

     Storage:  IDE Drive emulator with SD card slot.

                     Acer CD-R/RW 4X/4X/32X optical drive.
                     3.5" Floppy drive (1.44 MB).
                     5" Floppy drive (1.2 MB).
                     Zip drive 100 MB.

   Graphics:  STB Powergraph/32 (S3 Trio32 chip)
                     PCI card with 1 MB RAM.
                     One available AGP slot.

         Audio:  Sound Blaster compatible audio card.

Networking:  Zoom Faxmodem V.92 card

                     Best Data Ethernet 10/100 card

          Misc:  4 PCI slots, 2 ISA slots, 2 USB 1.1 ports,
                    2 serial ports, 1 parallel printer port.

           O/S: Various using SD cards.

Bought this working machine used for only $20; original retail price was around $2,000 in 1998.

Historical note - unlike most modern PCs, this model could be purchased from Gateway in three different form factors - desktop, mini-tower and the version I acquired, a full size tower.
 

12/20/08 Update:  Increased RAM from 128 MB to 384 MB using memory salvaged from a non-working iMac.  Also purchased an Ethernet card for the system (cost $10).

Circa 2020, I used this machine as the basis for a "retro" PC, it being quite similar to the retro Gateway PC featured on the popular YouTube channel "LGR". I got an IDE emulator that allows SD flash memory cards to be used in place of old spinning hard drives, and created bootable operating system images on various cards. So far I have set-up cards that can be used to boot DOS 6.0, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000 and Windows 2003.

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