On Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:13:11 -0500, ffu > wrote:

>On Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:53:15 -0400, D 2 > wrote:
>
>-->notbob wrote:
>-->> On 2009-09-14, D 2 > wrote:
>-->>
>-->>> I had DR DOS in my first machine. It was even better!
>-->>>
>-->>> Actually it was the same...maybe worse.
>-->>
>-->> I still keep a few versions of DOS (6.22, 98) on hand. You can never
>-->> tell when they might come in handy. I draw the line at 5-1/4"
>-->> floppies, though.
>-->>
>-->> nb
>-->
>-->This was DR DOS, not MS DOS. From the folks at Digital Research! Other
>-->than that is was about the same.
>-->
>-->Remember the 8" floppies?
>
>They were 5 1/4", I had 6 in my dos software. Then the 3 1/2 floppy came about,
>only had 3 in the dos software then.

This is a "mine was bigger than yours" fight! LOL! D2 probably
wasn't even alive back then.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

"sf" > wrote in message
news
>>
> I like the idea, but they have to improve the product to fit Amerian
> homes.


We used to have a boiler with a tank but it died. Our new boiler is a
'condensing boiler' and it sooooo much cheaper to run. As someone upthread
said, it heats only that water which is required and the heating for the
whole house. It stores no water.

Wayne Boatwright wrote:

> On Tue 15 Sep 2009 10:44:31p, ChattyCathy told us...
>
>> ffu wrote:
>>
>>> On Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:53:15 -0400, D 2 > wrote:
>>
>>> -->Remember the 8" floppies?
>>>
>>>
>>> They were 5 1/4", I had 6 in my dos software. Then the 3 1/2 floppy
>>> came about, only had 3 in the dos software then.
>>
>> http://oldcomputers.net/floppydisks.html
>
> Before there were 8" floppies, there were 10" floppies. Many of these
> 10" floppy drives were used in dedicated word processing machines.
>
> http://www.01datarecovery.com/what-is-floppy.html
>

I remember the 8" floppies. We had something referred to as "The Teltag
Machine" at work (in the mid-80s). This "machine" was a huge beast, had
two floppy disk drives - one to boot from and one for a data floppy. It
was hooked into the switchboard system the company had back then; it
was used to monitor the call durations and costs thereof - well, that
was the theory...

I got the dubious honor of operating/babysitting this contraption for
about a year. What fun - not. Damn thing seemed to 'chew' (often brand
new) data floppies for lunch (that's the OBFood: part) so we ended up
with little or no data on a regular basis. Then I'd have to call the
support technician(s) to come and fiddle with it and/or change the
drive(s)... It would be OK for a week or two and then same problem.
Sigh. Thank heavens they eventually chucked it out and got a newer
system. Heh. Not always 'the good ole days'.
--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy

On Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:14:46 +0200, ChattyCathy
> wrote:

>
>I remember the 8" floppies. We had something referred to as "The Teltag
>Machine" at work (in the mid-80s). This "machine" was a huge beast, had
>two floppy disk drives - one to boot from and one for a data floppy. It
>was hooked into the switchboard system the company had back then; it
>was used to monitor the call durations and costs thereof - well, that
>was the theory...
>
>I got the dubious honor of operating/babysitting this contraption for
>about a year. What fun - not. Damn thing seemed to 'chew' (often brand
>new) data floppies for lunch (that's the OBFood: part) so we ended up
>with little or no data on a regular basis. Then I'd have to call the
>support technician(s) to come and fiddle with it and/or change the
>drive(s)... It would be OK for a week or two and then same problem.
>Sigh. Thank heavens they eventually chucked it out and got a newer
>system. Heh. Not always 'the good ole days'.
>--
How old were you???? 2?

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

sf wrote:

> How old were you???? 2?
>
Um, no. Try 20-something...
--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy

On Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:34:03 +0200, ChattyCathy >
wrote:

-->sf wrote:
-->
-->> How old were you???? 2?
-->>
-->Um, no. Try 20-something...

Hey arn't you the 27 yr. old redhead babe that was at the pool party the other
night?

Ophelia wrote:
> "sf" > wrote in message
> news
>> I like the idea, but they have to improve the product to fit Amerian
>> homes.
>
>
> We used to have a boiler with a tank but it died. Our new boiler is a
> 'condensing boiler' and it sooooo much cheaper to run. As someone upthread
> said, it heats only that water which is required and the heating for the
> whole house. It stores no water.
>
>

Having done a bit of research as my current house water heater is
nearing it's last legs, the technology for tank less water hears is there.

There are a few things to know about them though befor4e making a switch.

You have to size based on hot water usage. Each major device, (dish
washer, shower, washing machine, etc.) and their concurrency of use is
what the consideration is. Each major is considered approximately 2.5
gallons per/minute in usage. There fore if you need to have two showers
going at the same time, then you need a water heater that can generate
hot water of at least 5 gallons per/minute.

Water pressure, and not supply is an consideration. You need defendant
upon the water hearer a min/max pr4essue on each side of the water
heater. That will be spelled out in the specs for that water heater. You
you are not careful, you could install a water heater that won't work do
to lack of enough pressure on the usage side. If there isn't a large
enough pressure difference when a hot water request is being made by a
device or faucet, the water heater won't start.

Other considerations:

The tank less water heaters cost more. In my case, a tanked replace for
me will run approximately $600. The equivalent tank less water heater
will run approximately $1000.

The plumbling will require modifications in most instances when
converting. Venting requirement will most likely require changes, and if
you are using gas vs. electric, you will likely need to modify existing
gas piping. In my case, approximate cost will be another $1000.

The major plus, is the water will stay hot continuously, so if you want
to take a six hour shower, you can :-)

Heating costs for your water will go down by approximately %50, as their
is now costs associated when not in use. Not even for a pilot light for
the gas ones.

Just adding my two cents.

Bob

"ffu" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:34:03 +0200, ChattyCathy >
> wrote:
>
> -->sf wrote:
> -->
> -->> How old were you???? 2?
> -->>
> -->Um, no. Try 20-something...
>
> Hey arn't you the 27 yr. old redhead babe that was at the pool party the
> other
> night?

lol

ffu wrote:

> On Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:34:03 +0200, ChattyCathy
> > wrote:
>
> -->sf wrote:
> -->
> -->> How old were you???? 2?
> -->>
> -->Um, no. Try 20-something...
>
> Hey arn't you the 27 yr. old redhead babe that was at the pool party
> the other night?

Nope. I was the grumpy old fart cleaning up the mess afterward...
--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy

cybercat wrote:

>
> "ffu" > wrote in message
> ...
>> On Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:34:03 +0200, ChattyCathy
>> > wrote:
>>
>> -->sf wrote:
>> -->
>> -->> How old were you???? 2?
>> -->>
>> -->Um, no. Try 20-something...
>>
>> Hey arn't you the 27 yr. old redhead babe that was at the pool party
>> the other
>> night?
>
> lol

http://www.brackenspub.com/beer.swf
--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy

sf wrote:
> On Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:13:11 -0500, ffu > wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:53:15 -0400, D 2 > wrote:
>>
>> -->notbob wrote:
>> -->> On 2009-09-14, D 2 > wrote:
>> -->>
>> -->>> I had DR DOS in my first machine. It was even better!
>> -->>>
>> -->>> Actually it was the same...maybe worse.
>> -->>
>> -->> I still keep a few versions of DOS (6.22, 98) on hand. You can never
>> -->> tell when they might come in handy. I draw the line at 5-1/4"
>> -->> floppies, though.
>> -->>
>> -->> nb
>> -->
>> -->This was DR DOS, not MS DOS. From the folks at Digital Research! Other
>> -->than that is was about the same.
>> -->
>> -->Remember the 8" floppies?
>>
>> They were 5 1/4", I had 6 in my dos software. Then the 3 1/2 floppy came about,
>> only had 3 in the dos software then.
>
> This is a "mine was bigger than yours" fight! LOL! D2 probably
> wasn't even alive back then.
>

We used 8" in college. I wasn't aware of 10" floppies. A good friend
of mine used to code with punch cards - now that's old!

D

In article >,
ChattyCathy > wrote:

> ffu wrote:
>
> > On Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:53:15 -0400, D 2 > wrote:
>
> > -->Remember the 8" floppies?
> >
> >
> > They were 5 1/4", I had 6 in my dos software. Then the 3 1/2 floppy
> > came about, only had 3 in the dos software then.
>
> http://oldcomputers.net/floppydisks.html

I remember not only seeing the 8", but seeing them in use. For this
particular application, they were color coded, as the user wasn't too
good at figuring out which ones to use for backups. These were the
accounts payable and accounts receivable applications for a large
university, so it was important to have good backups.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA

On 2009-09-16, D 2 > wrote:


> of mine used to code with punch cards - now that's old!

But they took forever to die out. I remember getting bills and such
on punch cards clear into the 70s. "Do not fold, spindle, or
mutilate"

nb

"D 2" > wrote in message
news
>>
>
> We used 8" in college. I wasn't aware of 10" floppies. A good friend of
> mine used to code with punch cards - now that's old!
>

Hey!! lol We had an IBM system in the 80s that used punch cards. That
wasn't that long ago!

notbob wrote:
> On 2009-09-16, D 2 > wrote:
>
>
>> of mine used to code with punch cards - now that's old!
>
> But they took forever to die out. I remember getting bills and such
> on punch cards clear into the 70s. "Do not fold, spindle, or
> mutilate"
>
> nb

Still being used in some applications
Such as mini surveys inside trade mags, stock bins etc
just mark with a pencil (mark sensing) which then punches holes in the
card where the PENCIL mark goes

Often mark sensing machine would chuck a wobbly and out came the hand
punches (No RSI in those days )

Then they run through a card sorter . 30 seconds of work per run
much faster than data entry or bar code scanning on the replies.

Only TWO problems with card sorters
1
when the card gets jammed or torn
then data /sort is flawed


2 Very little data can be stored on one 80 col card
from memory 30 boxes of about 500 cards
you ended up with under 300 k of data .


Now my phone has more computing power and storage than
say many Data general IBM Univac ICL Nixdorf main frames
that would have filled a whole city block .


Nightmare was the paper tape ----------- shudder .

Thank the stars in those days we thought we were lucky
to have access to such "modern" kit .

Can still remember one night having to lick finger and place tiny
punched bits back into previously punched cards because a fire took
out the stocks of new cards and had to finish a task before 6 am


We even trotted out the ancient ICL 1004 and an old DEC machine
but the valves kept us warm

Job got done

Phil..c said...

> notbob wrote:
>> On 2009-09-16, D 2 > wrote:
>>
>>
>>> of mine used to code with punch cards - now that's old!
>>
>> But they took forever to die out. I remember getting bills and such
>> on punch cards clear into the 70s. "Do not fold, spindle, or
>> mutilate"
>>
>> nb
>
> Still being used in some applications
> Such as mini surveys inside trade mags, stock bins etc
> just mark with a pencil (mark sensing) which then punches holes in the
> card where the PENCIL mark goes
>
> Often mark sensing machine would chuck a wobbly and out came the hand
> punches (No RSI in those days )
>
> Then they run through a card sorter . 30 seconds of work per run
> much faster than data entry or bar code scanning on the replies.
>
> Only TWO problems with card sorters
> 1
> when the card gets jammed or torn
> then data /sort is flawed
>
>
> 2 Very little data can be stored on one 80 col card
> from memory 30 boxes of about 500 cards
> you ended up with under 300 k of data .
>
>
> Now my phone has more computing power and storage than
> say many Data general IBM Univac ICL Nixdorf main frames
> that would have filled a whole city block .
>
>
> Nightmare was the paper tape ----------- shudder .
>
> Thank the stars in those days we thought we were lucky
> to have access to such "modern" kit .
>
> Can still remember one night having to lick finger and place tiny
> punched bits back into previously punched cards because a fire took
> out the stocks of new cards and had to finish a task before 6 am
>
>
> We even trotted out the ancient ICL 1004 and an old DEC machine
> but the valves kept us warm
>
> Job got done


I remember the Hollarith cards. We programmed in Pascal. I recall running
down to the output center and watching and waiting as an IBM printer sheet
printed tons of pages of JCL for one sheet of output or failed to compile
debug.

I kept all my programs index card labeled/divided in a shoe box. When I
passed the class I took the shoe box in my apartment and shook it up in the
air. They came down like rain. I so enjoyed that moment!!!

Andy

Wayne Boatwright wrote:

>
> When I first started programming for IBM and Sperry Univac mainframes, all
> coding was printed by hand on huge coding sheets which were handed off to
> our keypunch department. A program could end up yielding hundreds of cards
> which were then read into the computers and stored on gigantic hard drives.
>

that was the way I saw most of the coding done
however often recompiling (at print speed with hand punch nearby saved a
lot of time )

was a very slow printer btw

D 2 wrote:
> We used 8" in college. I wasn't aware of 10" floppies. A good friend
> of mine used to code with punch cards - now that's old!

My first computer was made by RadioShack. You had to type all your
programmes in and copy them to a
cassette tape.

Ophelia wrote:
> D 2 wrote:
>> We used 8" in college. I wasn't aware of 10" floppies. A good friend
>> of mine used to code with punch cards - now that's old!
>
> My first computer was made by RadioShack. You had to type all your
> programmes in and copy them to a
> cassette tape.
>
>
>

I probably had the same one (PC1). You had to save everything to
cassette as it only had 8KB of memory :-) I even splurged, and bought
the little three pen receipt paper size printer with it.

Bob

Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>
> When I first started programming for IBM and Sperry Univac mainframes, all
> coding was printed by hand on huge coding sheets which were handed off to
> our keypunch department. A program could end up yielding hundreds of cards
> which were then read into the computers and stored on gigantic hard drives.

As late as 1978 I used punch cards in my first full time
job in computing. There was a line for the 2400 baud
terminals. The next building had a room full of card
punch machines sitting idle. So I used punch cards and
submitted them at the data center in the time I could
have spent waiting for one of the 2400 baud dial in
terminals to come available.

The first gigabyte disk drive I saw was the size of a
wash machine. Funny that even wash machines have gotten
smaller over the years though nowhere near the rate of
Moore's Law. ;^)

Doug Freyburger wrote:
> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>>
>> When I first started programming for IBM and Sperry Univac mainframes,
>> all coding was printed by hand on huge coding sheets which were handed
>> off to our keypunch department. A program could end up yielding
>> hundreds of cards which were then read into the computers and stored
>> on gigantic hard drives.
>
> As late as 1978 I used punch cards in my first full time
> job in computing. There was a line for the 2400 baud
> terminals. The next building had a room full of card
> punch machines sitting idle. So I used punch cards and
> submitted them at the data center in the time I could
> have spent waiting for one of the 2400 baud dial in
> terminals to come available.
>
> The first gigabyte disk drive I saw was the size of a
> wash machine. Funny that even wash machines have gotten
> smaller over the years though nowhere near the rate of
> Moore's Law. ;^)

How true .
The washing machine analogy strikes home .
There was one particular programme that really used to
make those Jumbo disks rock & roll

two rows of 7 jumbo disks
& Eight Tape drives (about the size of a decent fridge)


When this program used to get to its giant sort stage
better than a star trek set Lots of flashing lights etc
and the computer room also used to heat up substantially.

and the disk machines really used to go into a sort of unbalanced spin
cycle . BIG Honeywell set up .


Strange thing was when we went over to a Univac set up
same application never got the machines to dance as much


In fact the Univac was very silent and engineers rarely had to visit
to fix the tape drives . (Made by Italian branch of singer as I recall)
Singer also made sowing machines go figure .
Got bought out by ICL later on many of staff from those days
incl myself got head hunted when Fujitsu bought our the singer side of
the operation when they came to our shores
obscene money (for a while ) but boy did they want their pound of flesh
.. Was a shock to the wallet when went into the Army but a lot easier
job and the food was certainly different

Back to food we used to get the replacement magnatrons (before
microwaves came on the scene )

And cook our food and brews up in a shielded set up in the wharehouse
imagine a microwave type set up inside a Faraday cage about the size of
a dining table . Could a leg of lamb and spuds etc we could never get
it to cook right through though . Fantastic days and was second job
until put on the green suite

Phil..c wrote:
> Doug Freyburger wrote:
>> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>>>
>>> When I first started programming for IBM and Sperry Univac
>>> mainframes, all coding was printed by hand on huge coding sheets
>>> which were handed off to our keypunch department. A program could
>>> end up yielding hundreds of cards which were then read into the
>>> computers and stored on gigantic hard drives.
>>
>> As late as 1978 I used punch cards in my first full time
>> job in computing. There was a line for the 2400 baud
>> terminals. The next building had a room full of card
>> punch machines sitting idle. So I used punch cards and
>> submitted them at the data center in the time I could
>> have spent waiting for one of the 2400 baud dial in
>> terminals to come available.
>>
>> The first gigabyte disk drive I saw was the size of a
>> wash machine. Funny that even wash machines have gotten
>> smaller over the years though nowhere near the rate of
>> Moore's Law. ;^)
>
> How true .
> The washing machine analogy strikes home .
> There was one particular programme that really used to
> make those Jumbo disks rock & roll
>
> two rows of 7 jumbo disks
> & Eight Tape drives (about the size of a decent fridge)
>
>
> When this program used to get to its giant sort stage
> better than a star trek set Lots of flashing lights etc
> and the computer room also used to heat up substantially.
>
> and the disk machines really used to go into a sort of unbalanced spin
> cycle . BIG Honeywell set up .
>
>
> Strange thing was when we went over to a Univac set up
> same application never got the machines to dance as much
>
>
> In fact the Univac was very silent and engineers rarely had to visit
> to fix the tape drives . (Made by Italian branch of singer as I recall)
> Singer also made sowing machines go figure .
> Got bought out by ICL later on many of staff from those days
> incl myself got head hunted when Fujitsu bought our the singer side of
> the operation when they came to our shores
> obscene money (for a while ) but boy did they want their pound of flesh
> . Was a shock to the wallet when went into the Army but a lot easier
> job and the food was certainly different
>
> Back to food we used to get the replacement magnatrons (before
> microwaves came on the scene )
>
> And cook our food and brews up in a shielded set up in the wharehouse
> imagine a microwave type set up inside a Faraday cage about the size of
> a dining table . Could a leg of lamb and spuds etc we could never get
> it to cook right through though . Fantastic days and was second job
> until put on the green suite
>
>
>
>
>

You bring back the memories...

DEC rl01 disk drives with consisted of 8 platters the size of albums on
a spindle that looked exactly like eight albums suspended in a portable
cake box, that had 5Mb on each platter (40Mb per "cake unit"). 16 track
Cypher tape drives, DEC/VAX pdp-11/34's, paper tape punch, card readers
that needed weekly manual maintenance to stay functional, etc. All
cutting edge in the day :-)

Bob

On Sep 13, 8:01*pm, Dave Smith > wrote:
> Bob Muncie wrote:
>
> * > I was being frugal. I stayed with my radio shack PC1 with 8k of memory,
>
> > and a three pen printer (no hard drive), until I just couldn't stand it :-)
>
> My Coco 2 had a port in the side to stick a modem or the interface for a
> disc drive. I bought a gizmo that stuck into that port that was supposed
> to allow up to four interfaces, but you could not use them together. You
> could not use the disc drive and the modem at the same time
>
> > And even if the 286 was cutting edge at that time, DOS sucked :-)
>
> I confess to having liked DOS. *I read the manual and even too a course
> on it and had a pretty good grasp on it. Early versions of Windows
> sucked, and they needed a lot more speed and memory so I upgraded to a
> 386. That seems like generations ago, at least incomputergenerations.

How often does everyone replace their home computer? I bought a
(used) Win95 machine in early '96, replaced that in late 2002 with an
XP box, and now there's one (Compaq Presario CQ5110F) running Vista on
the way from Amazon, with a free upgrade to 7 when it comes out.
That's about 7 years each. We're going to move data to the new one
and then run restore on the old one to where it was several years ago,
then give it to our son.

--Bryan

On 2009-09-30, Sqwertz > wrote:
> On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:39:58 -0700 (PDT), --Bryan wrote:
>
>> How often does everyone replace their home computer?
>
> Replace? I just keep upgrading. Motherboard every 1.5 years, other
> parts as necessary or as I acquire them.
>
> My case is probably 7-8 years old (a very upgrade-friendly Antec
> case and power supply).

Hardly ever. I just upgraded from a 10 yr old 450 PII to an 8 yr old
P4 after seven yrs cuz desktop/browser bloat had made the older system
unusable, it being so slow I couldn't watch youtube or flash news
vids. Also, I had to get another monitor, as my old Trinitron died on
me. This P4 system with a 2nd hand NEC CRT puts me back in the pink.
Why would I need more?

nb

Sqwertz wrote:
> On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:39:58 -0700 (PDT), --Bryan wrote:
>
>> How often does everyone replace their home computer?
>
> Replace? I just keep upgrading. Motherboard every 1.5 years, other
> parts as necessary or as I acquire them.
>
> My case is probably 7-8 years old (a very upgrade-friendly Antec
> case and power supply).
>
> -sw


I've switched to using laptops for everything. I keep using them until
something major breaks. I paid extra for a 3 year warranty this time
because I had 2 in a row break after 13 months. It's still going
strong, even the battery, after 2.5 years

Bob

On Sep 30, 10:27*am, notbob > wrote:
> On 2009-09-30, Sqwertz > wrote:
>
> > On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:39:58 -0700 (PDT), --Bryan wrote:
>
> >> How often does everyone replace their home computer?
>
> > Replace? *I just keep upgrading. *Motherboard every 1.5 years, other
> > parts as necessary or as I acquire them.
>
> > My case is probably 7-8 years old (a very upgrade-friendly Antec
> > case and power supply).
>
> Hardly ever. *I just upgraded from a 10 yr old 450 PII to an 8 yr old
> P4 after seven yrs cuz desktop/browser bloat had made the older system
> unusable, it being so slow I couldn't watch youtube or flash news
> vids. *Also, I had to get another monitor, as my old Trinitron died on
> me. *This P4 system with a 2nd hand NEC CRT puts me back in the pink.
> Why would I need more?

My CD burner no longer works, and one of my USB ports is unusable.
The SD card reader failed too. It was always running low on
resources ("ouit of memory on line 1" and "increasing size of disk
cache"). The brand new computer was < $300.00, and a new 18.5" LCD
for < $100. I like to be able to have several applications open. I
really needed a new one.
>
> nb

--Bryan

On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:38:11 -0500, zxcvbob >
fired up random neurons and synapses to opine:

>I've switched to using laptops for everything. I keep using them until
>something major breaks. I paid extra for a 3 year warranty this time
>because I had 2 in a row break after 13 months. It's still going
>strong, even the battery, after 2.5 years

We use a laptop while traveling and I drag one to court and to client
meetings - used to take it to the law library before the firm quit
making us beg for five seconds on Westlaw - but for everything else, I
need a PC. I can't keyboard worth squat on a laptop. I also plug a
mouse into the laptop, 'cause I can't stand the fingerpad mouse. Guess
that just makes me a quasi-Luddite.

OB: I have resisted putting Now You're Cooking! on the laptop when I
travel, as I'd likely spend most of my visits with close family
members in the kitchen!

Terry "Squeaks" Pulliam Burd

--

"If the soup had been as hot as the claret, if the claret had been as
old as the bird, and if the bird's breasts had been as full as the
waitress's, it would have been a very good dinner."

- Duncan Hines

To reply, replace "meatloaf" with "cox"

"Ed Pawlowski" > wrote in message
...
>

>
> I guess you can say it has been replaced over time. Next time something
> major goes, I'll probably buy a new machine, but that can be some time
> now. I'm not interested in upgrading for the sake of speed or features as
> this fits all my needs. Unlike going from an 8088 ($1000 with 10" monitor
> and no hard drive) to a 386 some years ago.
>

I had one computer for a long time. So long that when I got a new one I went
from Win 95 to XP. I think I kept it so long because when I bought it,
computers were really expensive. It cost around $2700, so I felt obligated
to keep it a long time. It was really cool, too, the first Sony VAIO with
built-in speakers in the monitor. Now it is so cheap to get so much
computer, I have two--one being a laptop more powerful than my desktop that
has Vista. I was so surprised to like Vista.

When my desktop P4 machine started making noises the wife & I went to
laptops. First some pc machines and for the last few years a Mac
Powerbook G4 (an oldie). 1.67 GHz, 2 gig ram, 26" screen via a Viewsonic
monitor. Works like a charm.



--
Jack N2MPU
Proud NRA Life Member
change nyob.com to verizon.net for email

On Thu, 1 Oct 2009 01:23:22 -0400, cybercat wrote:

> "Ed Pawlowski" > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>
>>
>> I guess you can say it has been replaced over time. Next time something
>> major goes, I'll probably buy a new machine, but that can be some time
>> now. I'm not interested in upgrading for the sake of speed or features as
>> this fits all my needs. Unlike going from an 8088 ($1000 with 10" monitor
>> and no hard drive) to a 386 some years ago.
>>
>
> I had one computer for a long time. So long that when I got a new one I went
> from Win 95 to XP.

my jump was similar, from millennium to vista.

> I was so surprised to like Vista.

from all the online ****ing and moaning, i expected an ordeal. it was not.

your pal,
blake

blake murphy wrote:
> On Thu, 1 Oct 2009 01:23:22 -0400, cybercat wrote:
>

>
>> I was so surprised to like Vista.
>
> from all the online ****ing and moaning, i expected an ordeal. it was not.
>
> your pal,
> blake



I had the same experience. My new laptop came with Vista installed and
I was prepared to go back to XP. I haven't had any problems with Vista
at all.

gloria p

zxcvbob wrote:
> Sqwertz wrote:
>> On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:39:58 -0700 (PDT), --Bryan wrote:
>>
>>> How often does everyone replace their home computer?
>>
>> Replace? I just keep upgrading. Motherboard every 1.5 years, other
>> parts as necessary or as I acquire them.
>>
>> My case is probably 7-8 years old (a very upgrade-friendly Antec
>> case and power supply).
>>
>> -sw
>
>
> I've switched to using laptops for everything. I keep using them until
> something major breaks. I paid extra for a 3 year warranty this time
> because I had 2 in a row break after 13 months. It's still going
> strong, even the battery, after 2.5 years
>
> Bob

It's just waiting till you get to the 37th month mark :-)

I bought a decent LCD 36 inch TV about 3 years ago which had a two year
on site repair warranty. At month 26, it died. The power supply
controller module needed to replaced, and cost $80 less than we payed
for the whole TV.

I'm getting to the point I don't want to buy anything costly other than
a car, unless it's been out for a while and had good reviews over time.

Bob

Gloria P wrote:
> blake murphy wrote:
>> On Thu, 1 Oct 2009 01:23:22 -0400, cybercat wrote:

>>> I was so surprised to like Vista.
>>
>> from all the online ****ing and moaning, i expected an ordeal. it
>> was not.

> I had the same experience. My new laptop came with Vista installed
> and I was prepared to go back to XP. I haven't had any problems with
> Vista at all.

I picked up a nasty case of adware or something and decided to
replace my pc. I was really worried about the Vista thing. I have
yet to figure out what all the yelling was about, I'm fine with it.

nancy

Bob Muncie wrote:
> zxcvbob wrote:
>> Sqwertz wrote:
>>> On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:39:58 -0700 (PDT), --Bryan wrote:
>>>
>>>> How often does everyone replace their home computer?
>>>
>>> Replace? I just keep upgrading. Motherboard every 1.5 years, other
>>> parts as necessary or as I acquire them.
>>>
>>> My case is probably 7-8 years old (a very upgrade-friendly Antec
>>> case and power supply).
>>>
>>> -sw
>>
>>
>> I've switched to using laptops for everything. I keep using them
>> until something major breaks. I paid extra for a 3 year warranty this
>> time because I had 2 in a row break after 13 months. It's still going
>> strong, even the battery, after 2.5 years
>>
>> Bob
>
> It's just waiting till you get to the 37th month mark :-)
>


I know that, but I only paid $600 for it, so I'm OK with getting 3 years
out of it (but I'd be a lot happier with 5+ years)

Bob

"zxcvbob" > wrote in message
...
> Bob Muncie wrote:
>> zxcvbob wrote:
>>> Sqwertz wrote:
>>>> On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:39:58 -0700 (PDT), --Bryan wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> How often does everyone replace their home computer?
>>>>
>>>> Replace? I just keep upgrading. Motherboard every 1.5 years, other
>>>> parts as necessary or as I acquire them.
>>>>
>>>> My case is probably 7-8 years old (a very upgrade-friendly Antec
>>>> case and power supply).
>>>>
>>>> -sw
>>>
>>>
>>> I've switched to using laptops for everything. I keep using them until
>>> something major breaks. I paid extra for a 3 year warranty this time
>>> because I had 2 in a row break after 13 months. It's still going
>>> strong, even the battery, after 2.5 years
>>>
>>> Bob
>>
>> It's just waiting till you get to the 37th month mark :-)
>>
>
>
> I know that, but I only paid $600 for it, so I'm OK with getting 3 years
> out of it (but I'd be a lot happier with 5+ years)
>
> Bob
I run both my laptop & my desktop 24 hours per day - generally I get 5+
years out of them. I really think the "trick" is keeping them cool, as cool
as possible. In addition I use the energy saver power setting on the
laptop - it runs a little slower but 200% cooler than the high performance
setting.


--
Dimitri
Coming soon:
http://kitchenguide.wordpress.com.

Nancy Young wrote:
> Gloria P wrote:
>> blake murphy wrote:
>>> On Thu, 1 Oct 2009 01:23:22 -0400, cybercat wrote:
>
>>>> I was so surprised to like Vista.
>>>
>>> from all the online ****ing and moaning, i expected an ordeal. it
>>> was not.
>
>> I had the same experience. My new laptop came with Vista installed
>> and I was prepared to go back to XP. I haven't had any problems with
>> Vista at all.
>
> I picked up a nasty case of adware or something and decided to replace
> my pc. I was really worried about the Vista thing. I have
> yet to figure out what all the yelling was about, I'm fine with it.
>
> nancy



I've been told by People Who Should Know that the major problems with
Vista arise when it is used on underpowered computers and most newer PCs
have enough memory to handle it.

gloria p

Gloria P wrote:
> Nancy Young wrote:

>> I picked up a nasty case of adware or something and decided to
>> replace my pc. I was really worried about the Vista thing. I have
>> yet to figure out what all the yelling was about, I'm fine with it.

> I've been told by People Who Should Know that the major problems with
> Vista arise when it is used on underpowered computers and most newer
> PCs have enough memory to handle it.

Ah. I knew it was a hog, I would never have tried to upgrade
my old pc to Vista.

nancy

Dimitri wrote:
>
> "zxcvbob" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Bob Muncie wrote:
>>> zxcvbob wrote:
>>>> Sqwertz wrote:
>>>>> On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:39:58 -0700 (PDT), --Bryan wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> How often does everyone replace their home computer?
>>>>>
>>>>> Replace? I just keep upgrading. Motherboard every 1.5 years, other
>>>>> parts as necessary or as I acquire them.
>>>>>
>>>>> My case is probably 7-8 years old (a very upgrade-friendly Antec
>>>>> case and power supply).
>>>>>
>>>>> -sw
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I've switched to using laptops for everything. I keep using them
>>>> until something major breaks. I paid extra for a 3 year warranty
>>>> this time because I had 2 in a row break after 13 months. It's
>>>> still going strong, even the battery, after 2.5 years
>>>>
>>>> Bob
>>>
>>> It's just waiting till you get to the 37th month mark :-)
>>>
>>
>>
>> I know that, but I only paid $600 for it, so I'm OK with getting 3
>> years out of it (but I'd be a lot happier with 5+ years)
>>
>> Bob
> I run both my laptop & my desktop 24 hours per day - generally I get 5+
> years out of them. I really think the "trick" is keeping them cool, as
> cool as possible. In addition I use the energy saver power setting on
> the laptop - it runs a little slower but 200% cooler than the high
> performance setting.
>
>

I completely agree. I also believe most of the heat failures is due to
not performing vent cleaning, and if necessary, occasionally opening the
case to vacuum a bit also.

Someone earlier in the thread mentioned the pc started making noises (or
can also start going silent even when on). That normally just means that
a $15 fan is going bad, and is easier, and quicker to replace then
performing an oil change. True, the noise "could" have been the hard
drive, but that's not often the case these days. It's usually the amount
of dust bunnies inside the case or clogging the vents.

Bob

Bob Muncie wrote:

> Someone earlier in the thread mentioned the pc started making noises
> (or can also start going silent even when on). That normally just
> means that a $15 fan is going bad, and is easier, and quicker to
> replace then performing an oil change. True, the noise "could" have
> been the hard drive, but that's not often the case these days. It's
> usually the amount of dust bunnies inside the case or clogging the
> vents.

My computer at home has been making noise for several years now. It's
the integral fan on the processor assembly. I don't think there's any
way to lubricate that fan bearing. I'd have to swap the whole assembly,
so that's not cost effective. I can tell the fan is still turning.




Brian

--
Day 242 of the "no grouchy usenet posts" project

On Thu, 1 Oct 2009 14:14:31 -0400, Nancy Young wrote:

> Gloria P wrote:
>> blake murphy wrote:
>>> On Thu, 1 Oct 2009 01:23:22 -0400, cybercat wrote:
>
>>>> I was so surprised to like Vista.
>>>
>>> from all the online ****ing and moaning, i expected an ordeal. it
>>> was not.
>
>> I had the same experience. My new laptop came with Vista installed
>> and I was prepared to go back to XP. I haven't had any problems with
>> Vista at all.
>
> I picked up a nasty case of adware or something and decided to
> replace my pc. I was really worried about the Vista thing. I have
> yet to figure out what all the yelling was about, I'm fine with it.
>
> nancy

have any of you vista users tried the voice-to-text program?

your pal,
blake