1980 JVC R-S77 Stereo Receiver, 2nd oldest would be my first computer ~1991 Atari 65XE.
Ask HN: Which old, functional, electronics do you have?
21–30 of 67 posts
Re: Ask HN: Which old, functional, electronics do you have?
#22[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Which old, functional, electronics do you have?
#23I have a whole drawer full of android phones with broken screens, or in some cases bad headphone sockets, flakey USB sockets, etc. Some software to turn these into gadgets like a surveillance camera, doorbell camera / intercom, walkie talkie, etc would be cool. Basically the equivalent of a Nest camera / doorbell using the camera, and not using the screen so much (although its often still useable, just a bit too anno…
Easy to turn an old Android phone into a webcam (I wrote this up for a less tech-savvy friend): http://teadragon.org/?q=content/turn-old-android-phone-or-ta...
Once set up, you can plug the stream into a security software on a PC or NAS to record the stream, detect motion, etc.
Re: Ask HN: Which old, functional, electronics do you have?
#24I have a whole drawer full of android phones with broken screens, or in some cases bad headphone sockets, flakey USB sockets, etc. Some software to turn these into gadgets like a surveillance camera, doorbell camera / intercom, walkie talkie, etc would be cool. Basically the equivalent of a Nest camera / doorbell using the camera, and not using the screen so much (although its often still useable, just a bit too anno…
Easy to turn an old Android phone into a webcam (I wrote this up for a less tech-savvy friend): http://teadragon.org/?q=content/turn-old-android-phone-or-ta... Once set up, you can plug the stream into a security software on a PC or NAS to record the stream, detect motion, etc.
Password protected or not, something about that tutorial suggesting to forward ports to an old Android device running a camera software scares me.
Re: Ask HN: Which old, functional, electronics do you have?
#25I have a whole drawer full of android phones with broken screens, or in some cases bad headphone sockets, flakey USB sockets, etc. Some software to turn these into gadgets like a surveillance camera, doorbell camera / intercom, walkie talkie, etc would be cool. Basically the equivalent of a Nest camera / doorbell using the camera, and not using the screen so much (although its often still useable, just a bit too anno…
Easy to turn an old Android phone into a webcam (I wrote this up for a less tech-savvy friend): http://teadragon.org/?q=content/turn-old-android-phone-or-ta... Once set up, you can plug the stream into a security software on a PC or NAS to record the stream, detect motion, etc.
The issue is that mobile devices (phones, tablets) are not really designed to run continuously like that. At a minimum, you'd want to remove the battery and connect a separate power source. And even then, the electronics inside might still overheat and degrade.
Re: Ask HN: Which old, functional, electronics do you have?
#26Game & Watch Fire (1981)
Like this one: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lista_di_Game_%26_Watch#/media...
Re: Ask HN: Which old, functional, electronics do you have?
#271992 NAD 3020i hi-fi amplifier. Used most days. Still sounds great. Does that count? ;). How about a "Tesco Value" Microwave (yes that really was the brand), bought for £22 in 2006, still used many times a day?
Re: Ask HN: Which old, functional, electronics do you have?
#28Most of my electronic music equipment continues to function after 20+ years. Specifically the units that are self-contained, with embedded software systems that are not dependent in any way on a computer.
Re: Ask HN: Which old, functional, electronics do you have?
#29I'm not a minimalist, and I'm somewhat possessed by my possessions.
Stuff that comes to mind:
A few commodore 64's, a vic 20, C128, IBM 5155, RS/6000F80, Apple SE/30, Power Mac G3, Libretto CT70, ipaq hx4700, hp streambook 11, Lenovo T420, Olivetti M6 460 Suprema, Gameboy, Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advance, Playstation, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Super Nintendo, Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, Atari 2600, A couple Dell Optiplex 755, Victor V386MX, amiga 500, atari 1040 (not fully working, to be repaired).
On top of that, the hifi stuff, vhs players, a betamax, a video 2000, a few laserdisc players, crt tv's, various computer monitors, reel to reel players..
Some laptops and other crap, and some modern PC's and some rack servers and switches.. Probably less than 200 working items.
That said, I'd not donate anything, unless to someone who could appreciate it deeply.
Re: Ask HN: Which old, functional, electronics do you have?
#30I have an iPad 4 that's mostly used for email and reading HN/blogs in bed.
My daily Linux machine is a Thinkpad T430 from 2012.
I daily drive a 1993 Saab 9000 -- Can it run custom software? The electronics (HVAC, lights, wipers, etc.) are controlled by a Raspberry Pi, so kind of?
And some old phones lying around, including a working Razr and a Palm Treo that can still sync with Windows 10(!)