Latest Poll Results - How Many Computers?

There are 74 people with more than 6 computers in their house! Where do they live, the Pentagon?

 

Those seem like some pretty impressive numbers until I think about it a little. Before I moved away from my parents' house we collectively had around 10 operable computers in the house. We normally only used six of them. There were four people in the household - my father, mother and I all had a work laptop and my father, brother and I each had a desk top. We also had a few old laptops that were no longer in regular use but still worked.

Currently I have only two in my house - my work laptop and my desk top.

 

My dad's got more than six computers of his own at his house (including a laptop and one desktop functioning as a server), to say nothing of the two that are "mine". At my house (how I voted), there's only three: the one I'm typing on now that's mainly used for internet, an old computer that kept having things go wrong with it but is functioning well now that it's no longer connected to the internet, and my laptop.

 

Once again, I am blown away by how wealthy the denizens of SP are. Given how expensive computers are, I am astonished at how many of them people can afford to keep buying.

Although, I do have a 5k Commodore Vic 20 in a cupboard somewhere. I’m sure that might work if I plugged it into the TV. Does that count as an operable computer? That would double my number from 1 to 2.

 

Harbourboy: The thing is that the system value goes down too fast for the system to be really worth anything after a certain time period.

Add in buying used computers for cheap and you got those with 6+ computers.

I had at best 20+ usable computers.

 

Actually, I find that to be an argument against selling old computers. "You'll pay me HOW little for a computer that still does everything I want it to? Forget it."

I find it's also useful to have more than one computer for the same reason that I never sold my original Nintendo: some games just won't work on newer systems, but they're still as good as the day I got them. One game I have, for example, is Win95-specific, meaning it won't run on anything other than Win95. It's still a good game, and I like to play it every once in a while, just like I return to old favorites like Chrono Trigger (and other RPGs) on the SNES, some FPSs on my N64, and a couple of arcade games on my original Nintendo, in addition to the newer games on my PC and Gamecube. Heck, one of the computers at dad's is primary boot to DOS, and has some kick-a$$ DOS games.

 

I have my PC, my wife's PC, and my laptop on a home network and all three get used. I often use my laptop to be on line while I am playing games. I find this very usefull for using walk throughs when I get stuck.

As for cost, I got my wife's PC when I started school ($1200), then I got my Dell from my dad when he upgraded, then my laptop I got when he died because my mom had no use for it.

 

Yeah you pretty much can't give away old laptops around here so they generally sit in a cupboard gathering dust until someone bites the bullet and throws them into the trash.

They do come in handy from time to time when something goes wrong with the current computer - or if you need a really big paperweight.

 

I have 4 computers, but they are split between two houses... and I would have a third, but it is with my sister at college.

Note: They aren't mine, but my family's....

 

Well, in some cases I think you've just answered your own question there. And typically, "ancient" means just more than five or ten years, the way computer technology has been progressing so far. But in my case, it was because it wasn't doing everything I wanted it to when I got the other computer, but then it settled down. (Dad just collects them, I think. )

Basic explanation of the five I consider 'mine' (including two at my father's house):
-Adele: for internet, downloading, testing things prior to installation on other machines, and minor applications. She serves almost like a buffer between any possible nastiness and the other computers, as she's best able to take care of herself.
-Old game computer: for old games. Can you really blame me if I don't want to play FF7 upside-down on Adele?
-Laptop: Portability, school, and the latest games.
-Louie Jr.: Old game & internet comp at dad's.
-Louie Sr.: DOS comp at dad's.

Then there's the failed Louie Jr. that dad uses for spare parts, but this is about the functional ones.

My experience was the opposite: DOS games never ran properly on Windows machines for me, even with DOSBox. After a final experience of trying to get World of Xeen to work on a Windows box and having the screen freeze and then the computer proceed to shriek at me through the PC speaker (meaning no volume control), I pretty much gave up on it.