Oldest piece of computer (or computer adjacent) tech you still use regularly

This is sort of the anti @dstrauss thread given how often he changes out equipment :slight_smile:

But seriously though, I have two things. One is a 2nd gen iPod Shuffle (the square one) that I use nearly daily when jogging. It does one thing and does it very well which is play music with minimal weight and distraction, and has genuine buttons which is handy when for example running in cold weather wearing gloves

Second is a 27 inch Dell Ultrasharp 4k. It was the first relatively affordable (for the time) 4k display on the market and while it’s a bit on the dim side and barely even meets the SRGB colorspace it OTOH has exceptional to this day uniformity and linearity (though I think I just lucked into an especially good sample. (And many did not get the results I did)

It is now serving as the display for the “family room” computer which for various work reasons, changes frequently. And it lives on in updated form (sort of) as gaming monitor to this day in the dell line.
Dell G3223Q Review - RTINGS.com

8 Likes

OK smart-aleck, that’s an iPod Shuffle… :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Touche for the typo :slight_smile:

1 Like

You also noticed I didn’t HAVE any regularly used old tech - at best probably the “computer” in my 2018 Honda Clarity PHEV… :crazy_face: :rofl:

1 Like

Nope, I got nothin’ of an older age that I use regularly.

1 Like

I still occasionally use a Fujitsu Stylistic ST-4110 when I need to scan something using an old Canon LIDE scanner, or when I need to control a CNC machine outside (it’s run by a Raspberry Pi 4 and I use VNC to connect to and control that).

Love these kinds of threads. For me it’s my Lenovo X220t. It’s a bit of a tank, but so many keys! So many status indicator LEDs! Such a great matte display! Plus a fingerpring reader that always works! And with two SSDs in it, it has plenty of space and it is remarkably zippy. Still use it weekly, dedicated to the occasional media download.

4 Likes

I guess it would be my Surface Pro 2. It is a one horse show as my Calibre device. It holds my e-books and nothing else.

1 Like

My oldest pieces of tech still in use are my old HP Note 8 BT keyboard, currently paired to my Boox Nova 3 Color Reader and my JBL Flip 4 Speakers that get daily use around the house. Of course my newer tech is also relatively old.

1 Like

An iPod Mini (2nd gen). You can stand it upright. Yes, the music hasn’t been updated on it in quite a few years - a clear sign that I’m getting older.

I should put a CompactFlash card and install RockBox on it, but it still works as it is.

I have one of the square Shuffles (3rd gen?) as well, but the charger is somewhere… and I use some Sony wireless earbuds with built in storage for exercise.

Other than that… I still have a Fujitsu EMR stylus, but the offset is terrible, so the Samsung ‘Pro’ S Pen or something from the Galaxy Note 4/Edge years.

2 Likes

Yes, I miss the various status lights that used to be standard fare on the better laptops. Ironically it used to be the low end systems that went without. But being able to see your HDD light blink with drive activity or the WIFI indicator pulse as it sent or received traffic was a quick useful way for example to see if a paused or unresponsive app was just busy reading/writing data or if the system was hung up.

Reps from the various OEMs have told us that customers prefer less blinking lights in favor of a “cleaner” look but I’m not in that camp. As with many “fashion” things with PC’, Apple sort of led the way with the Air which was among the first eschew the various LEDs on a typical windows PC.

And the more recent Surface systems have at most a power/charging LED and that’s it.

3 Likes

The continued appeal of older iPods is still a thing, especially among those who have multiple devices anyway. I think a core part of the appeal is the simplicity and single use focus of the devices.

And that definitely is part of the appeal of Kindles as well as they mostly just focus on being a good reading device. And for me, I’m a prisoner in notification hell on my more general use devices.

I would guess that we have a shuffle or two in desk drawers around here, but none in use.

Does taking a ten year old desktop and turning it into an unraid server for my own local cloud count?

Otherwise? Old cars maybe? Newest one is a 2011 Honda Pilot? :joy:

1 Like

'06 Tacoma is the newest. Nice detour.

2 Likes

Something has to give due to the cost of my tech habit. Plus I am kind of a Luddite except for my computer/tablet/phone setup. No Alexa, no smarthome stuff—not even a smart appliance.

I also really don’t like all the sensors in modern cars…lol.

Like I said—Luddite.

3 Likes

Nice, same here. Still have a shrink wrapped Google … Nest? that I got for free somewhere. Even Siri is set up to require a button press to activate.

1 Like

I am also a sort of Luddite. I own quite good and new desktops and tablets, but that’s all; no smarthome stuff either.

Until it died one month ago, my phone still was a 18 year old Nokia 3100. I thought of buying a smartphone, but It was eventually replaced by a brand new Nokia/HMD 3310 (2017). If, on the go, I need to be connected to the Internet, I almost always bring in my backpack a Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 with a 4G SIM card.

Now, that my old Nokia passed away, my oldest still active tech device is a Wacom Cintiq 12 WX I use as a second screen on my desk.

EDIT: Almost as old as my Cintiq, I still keep alive a HP PhotSmart B110 printer. In fact, I don’t need it because I also own two newer devices: a HP OfficeJet Pro 7740, with an interesting A3 scanner; and a brand new Epson ET-8500 for photo printing. But, because it still works, I don’t want to bury the elderly B110. For this reason, every week I print two or three pages with it; I’ve read that this is a good way of taking care of inkjet printers.

6 Likes

This wouldn’t classify as regularly using, but I’ve still held onto my MS 950XL. With the notion of converting it from windows mobile to WOA and having a pockable windows device.

5 Likes

Iphone SE 2016: use it exclusively for banking app. I teether it from my Note when I need to use it, otherwise it has no sim and is disconnected from everything else.

Asus Note 8: while I retired it from being my main companion computer, I still use it often to play old games. It was of perfect size, many old games doesn’t work on Win 10 but work great on 8.1, and I could reduce storage size taken on my new companion PC (Raytrektab). I’m having it on a tablet arm next to my bed to play some games and watch video at night.

6 Likes