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Tell HN: I used the same computer since 2007 (with minor upgrades)

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Re: Tell HN: I used the same computer since 2007 (with minor upgrades)

#191

Post by Termitiono »

marttt wrote: post #180
forty wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's interesting and very sad how all the comments seem to ignore completely the positive impact of repairing on the environment :( No wonder why we are in such a bad situation now.

For me, this is one of the main (subconscious) reasons why I stick with old tech for as long as I can. It is really frustrating to imagine a computer I would "throw away" to literally land on a landfill and rot there. In reality, this is not quite how it goes -- some parts get recycled; students in my country (Estonia) are currently refurbishing donated laptops for Ukrainian war refugees, etc. But there still is a lo…

If it's not broken, my stuff goes to ebay.

An advantage to buying better hardware in the first place: it will still be worth enough for someone else to buy it from me.

I sometimes also donate my stuff and repairing issues before. Like my two last laptops

Re: Tell HN: I used the same computer since 2007 (with minor upgrades)

#192

Post by Termitiono »

dijit wrote: post #8

I would have kept the same hardware forever too, but for some reason my tools seem to take more and more resources every year. Silly example is gmail, which loaded in 1s on my 2011 MacBook Pro when new, if it load it again today (I just tried) it takes 35 seconds before I can click anything. Another might be everyone’s favourite software to hate on: Teams. On my 2011 MacBook Pro: fans squealing, UI of the OS becomes…

While teams is super inefficient, 10 years ago no one was casually streaming 4k with a webcam feed in a remote team session with 2-10 people.

Re: Tell HN: I used the same computer since 2007 (with minor upgrades)

#193

Post by rkagerer »

I've been using the same workstation as my daily driver ever since I built it in 2010.

With several upgrades along the way, and help from tools like Total Uninstall to keep things clean and fight registry bloat and other artifacts trying to kill your performance.

One day soon I should get around to building a new PC, but it's *heavily* customized and takes weeks to load up all the software I use and get everything configured just right. So the incremental performance improvement hasn't quite been worth the hassle of a reformat.

It was a dream machine back in the day, and still holds its own. Specs for the curious:

  - Hex-core Xeon X5680, 3.33GHz stock, @3.6GHz
  - 48GB ECC RAM @1443MHz / CAS8
  - Areca ARC-1882ix-24 w/ 4GB BBU cache
  - 4x 960GB Intel SSD DS-S4610, 10% reserved spare, RAID0 boot
  - 8x 16TB Seagate Exos X16 in RAID6
  - Mellanox Infiniband
  - Legacy Adaptec SCSI card via PCIe x1 to PCI adapter
  - PCIe x1 to parallel + 4x serial, for legacy h/w programmer
  - Matrix Orbital BLK202A-GW LCD w/ 3x DS18S20 1-Wire temperature probes (http://goo.gl/9xLCE, https://goo.gl/iI7WpC)
  - Rosewill RCR-FD400 media reader, stock 3.5" floppy replaced w/ slim YD-8U10-2 USB model (https://goo.gl/E03WXf, https://goo.gl/gZDKAr)
  - Silverstone 1500W PSU
  - Coolermaster ATCS 840 case w/ top fans flipped upside down, beneath custom dust filter
  - Assorted Noctua NF-P12 and NF-S12B chassis fans, NH-D14 CPU cooler
  - RioRand 12V DC Temperature Controller hack for RAID card fan, in custom 3D printed enclosure (http://goo.gl/RZjg1u)
  - 3x LOGISYS ML12WT LED sticks on 5V-to-12V up-converter tapped into 5V ATX standby power,
    triggered by magnetic reed switch (https://goo.gl/ZjZqt5, https://goo.gl/zv5ZHE, https://goo.gl/6sRhkZ)
  - 2x SuperMicro M14T drive cage, fan removed (https://goo.gl/yKuOkF)
  - 2x TrippLite S510-18N SFF-8087 to 4-in-1 SFF-8484 (https://goo.gl/DGu1GH)
  - Dell UltraSharp U3011
  - 2x Samsung SyncMaster 213T, vertical (http://www.anandtech.com/print/1246)
  - Acer H5360 3D Projector (http://www.projectorcentral.com/Acer-H5360.htm)
  - Kinesis Contoured Keyboard (https://goo.gl/8fJp3B)
  - Saitek X52 Pro Flight Controls (http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/x52.html)
  - 3Dconnexion SpaceMouse Pro Wireless
  - HTC Vive Pro w/ Leap Motion accessory (https://youtu.be/oZ_53T2jBGg)
  - Canon imageFORMULA DR-C225 scanner
  - High-end USB 3.0 card
  - Saleae Logic Pro 16
  - Netstor NA211A-G3 External PCIe 3.0 expansion chassis
  - Many other accessories
  - 24x7 Prime95 stable, several Memtest86 passes
The internal illumination is a killer feature for maintenance. It's triggered by a Reed switch and hooked to Standby so it automatically comes on when you open the case, even when the PC is powered off.

Re: Tell HN: I used the same computer since 2007 (with minor upgrades)

#194

Post by herbst »

Until recently I rocked a T420 laptop as my daily driver. I upgraded to a 480s but only because I found it second hand for a price I can't ignore.

Other than my social circle I never was a gamer, I never felt pressure upgrading my hardware.

As a Linux user there was no real reason to either, my system got faster over the years with software updates not slower.

Same with my phone. I use it until it breaks apart which is at least 4-5 years.

As someone else said, this works because I buy quality items to begin with. Thinkpads <3

Re: Tell HN: I used the same computer since 2007 (with minor upgrades)

#195

Post by smartmic »

I am using a 2009 Apple MacMini as my home computer. Many years ago, I upgraded RAM from 1GB to 3GB. Of course, the original operating system Mac OS X is unusable and unsupported for a long time now. It took not long after the first end of life messages from Apple that I installed GNU/Linux on it and this runs the small machine very stable since then. I also enjoy improving the performance of this system by following KISS philosophy. That means I mostly run CLI/TUI applications, the most used GUI app is Firefox which I use for web browsing (when Links/lynx/w3m are not sufficient). And because of such a minimalist setup, this 13 year old MacMini not only feels but in fact is way faster than my 4 year old Windows 10 work laptop.

I hate that I have to replace that work laptop now with a more powerful machine just because Microsoft Defender is eating up too much resources permanently and Windows 11 installation is just around the corner. This exploitative way of acting by the industry is fatal for our environment and must change if we want to give future generations a chance. So thanks for this post - you have shown how it can be done differently and spread the word!

Re: Tell HN: I used the same computer since 2007 (with minor upgrades)

#196

Post by herbst »

dijit wrote: post #8

I would have kept the same hardware forever too, but for some reason my tools seem to take more and more resources every year. Silly example is gmail, which loaded in 1s on my 2011 MacBook Pro when new, if it load it again today (I just tried) it takes 35 seconds before I can click anything. Another might be everyone’s favourite software to hate on: Teams. On my 2011 MacBook Pro: fans squealing, UI of the OS becomes…

This is going to sound like fanboy talk. But both Mac and Windows tend to feel slower and slower over time, each upgrade somehow pushing your 'old hardware' to new limits.

On Linux it's often the opposite and a new update may even makes your old machine faster than it ever was.

Re: Tell HN: I used the same computer since 2007 (with minor upgrades)

#197

Post by herbst »

alophawen wrote: post #190
dijit wrote: post #8

I would have kept the same hardware forever too, but for some reason my tools seem to take more and more resources every year. Silly example is gmail, which loaded in 1s on my 2011 MacBook Pro when new, if it load it again today (I just tried) it takes 35 seconds before I can click anything. Another might be everyone’s favourite software to hate on: Teams. On my 2011 MacBook Pro: fans squealing, UI of the OS becomes…

FYI, I am running Arch on a Macbook Air 2011 and it handles Teams OK ;-)

This. People seem to think their hardware somehow slows down, when in reality their shitty OS just got more bloatet.

Re: Tell HN: I used the same computer since 2007 (with minor upgrades)

#198

Post by scrapheap »

aspyct wrote: post #160
Bancakes wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously? You're such a hustler that you can't afford maybe 2 hours per month maintaining your house/car/electronics? You can't afford to be self reliant and self sufficient? People used to write their own Haskell compilers, now they buy stagnant/slow computers as an upgrade.

You have a point, but I don't remember that time when people used to write their own Haskell compilers...

They still do - the rest of us are just lucky that they make them open source so we don't have to write our own :)

Re: Tell HN: I used the same computer since 2007 (with minor upgrades)

#199

Post by rhizome31 »

forty wrote: post #170
w10-1 wrote: post #119

Give yourself extra life. Buy the best tools you can. Don't let virtues learned by necessity become the vices that suck up your lifetime. You'll never get the time back that you spend working on unimportant projects, sustaining old builds, placating unhappy people, working on slow computers, etc. Unless it's the fastest way for you to deliver whatever good you have to the world, put it aside, especially if you've inv…

It's interesting and very sad how all the comments seem to ignore completely the positive impact of repairing on the environment :( No wonder why we are in such a bad situation now.

Not very surprising on a tech-focused forum. Most won't bite the hand that feeds them. But look, here we are, you're not alone :)

Re: Tell HN: I used the same computer since 2007 (with minor upgrades)

#200

Post by tremon »

w10-1 wrote: post #119

Give yourself extra life. Buy the best tools you can. Don't let virtues learned by necessity become the vices that suck up your lifetime. You'll never get the time back that you spend working on unimportant projects, sustaining old builds, placating unhappy people, working on slow computers, etc. Unless it's the fastest way for you to deliver whatever good you have to the world, put it aside, especially if you've inv…

I tend to look for yesteryear's best tools, not today's. Proven track record, initial flaws have been documented or corrected, and usually only half the price of this year's new thing.
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