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Author Topic: When is a computer considered obsolete?
777
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I'm just hoping to understand the requirements for a computer to be considered hopelessly obsolete. Here's the situation: our family owns two family computers. Our best one was purchased relatively recently, in 2004:

Dell Dimension 4600
2.8 GHz w/ 512MB RAM and 80GB Hard Drive
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200

It performs moderately well, compared to more modern platforms. I can't call it 'obsolete' yet, as it still performs most fuctions as required. I wish I could say the same for our other computer, which I can't. It was bought in 1998:

Dell Dimension XPS T500
GenuineIntel Pentium II Processor w/ 128MB RAM and 16GB Hard Drive
NVIDIA RIVA TNT

On top of that, the CD/DVD has malfunctioned and become completely disconnected from the motor that ejects it, as well as from the disk reader.

Would this computer be considered obsolete? Or is a computer only considered useless when it can't be used?

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Stephan
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For a 3 year old computer your 4600 still sounds pretty up to date.

The second one sounds pretty useless for anything other then word processing and email.

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pooka
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It depends on how able you are to service it. Like, if you are able to obtain a compatible CD/DVD drive and connect it, then it would be functional and not necessarily obsolete.

Is there a word for a computer that is so new that it's no good? I guess "newfangled-ass" might work. Unless it was a laptop. That would just be wrong.

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Teshi
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I had a 900MHz processor until recently and that was pretty tough going. I would call a Pentium II completely obselete in the sense that you wouldn't be able to sell it.

However, I think that truly if you have a use for a computer and you don't use it for something that it can't handle there's no reason to get rid of it. My family was running a 486 for the DOS games for years until the BIOS gave out. If it works, it works.

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advice for robots
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I would say that when it can no longer run the software you need, it's obsolete. If you are like George R.R. Martin and still use WordStar 4.0, it's not obsolete.
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777
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Thanks for the tips. I guess the second computer isn't as obsolete as I thought it was; I'm using it right now to type this message.

It just isn't going to sell on the market, that's for sure.

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Nighthawk
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Q: When is a computer considered obsolete?

A: Before you're finished asking the question.

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hugh57
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Q: When is a computer considered obsolete?

A: When you first unpack it brand new from the shipping box, and successfully boot it for the first time, it is from that point onward considered hopelessly and irrevocably obsolete. [Wink]

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Zalmoxis
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My home computer is still the non-slot-loading Grape iMac I got back in 2000. It really was obsolete when I got it.
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Steev
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I wonder. It seems like the technology is slowing down a bit.

My first system a Pentium 200MHz with 128 MB RAM I keep around for my old DOS based games and some interfacing to electronics projects. I bought it back in 1996 and used it up until I got my current system. However, by 1998 I was seriously feeling it's obsolescence when I realized that the Pentium Pro and Pentium II had come out since then and the changes to the PCI Spec had changed so much that I couldn't upgrade any of my hardware so I couldn't run any of the latest games.

My current system is a Pentium 4 2Ghz 1Gb RAM. I bought in late 2002. I just upgraded the video card to an nVidia 7800 and added a firewire/USB 2.0 card to it. I'm able to run most of the new games out on the market with no problems. It should last me at least two more years.

I've got my eye one a dual core-duo system (that's 4 CPUs!) Placed in a rack with a HD bay that will hold 8 Hard drives and I can configure in to a RAID. Of course I plan on using it for video editing.

[Smile]

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Nighthawk
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quote:
Originally posted by Zalmoxis:
My home computer is still the non-slot-loading Grape iMac I got back in 2000. It really was obsolete when I got it.

But it was adorably expensive, isn't it? Kind of like jewelry.
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Tante Shvester
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We have an old computer that we've upgraded now and again so that it could keep up with what we wanted it to do. It's got to be over 10 years old, and serves us just fine. The few hundred dollars we've spent on upgrades is bubkes compared to getting a new machine.
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Jon Boy
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You can often buy new machines for a few hundred dollars.
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Boris
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A computer is considered obsolete when you can no longer perform your daily routine with it [Big Grin]

That said, I like to refer to a computer as technically obsolete when it is less expensive to build a new computer than to upgrade it.

My own computer is technically obsolete. It has an AMD socket A processor. It would cost 400 dollars for me to move to a newer processor. I would have to buy a new processor, motherboard, RAM, and video card just to upgrade the processor. So basically, I have no choice but to build a new computer if I want more speed.

In addition, computers have an average life expectancy of anywhere between 4-6 years. At that point, the electronics will begin to break down. Capacitors blow, circuits fuse inside the CPU, voltage regulators malfunction, all sorts of other bad stuff can start happening right around 4 years of use. So if you have a 4 year old computer, it's usually a good idea to consider upgrading. Typically, a 4 year old computer will cost more to repair than a 1 year old computer. This is because of technical obsolescence. Parts to repair the computer are no longer made, so you have to visit the refurbished/remanufactured market for replacement parts. These parts are always more expensive than they're really worth. If, however, you have a critical application that can't operate in a newer operating system, you may be better off trying to get another year of life or so by using refurbished parts. Once you get past 6 years, though, you're getting very close to being out of luck if everything breaks.

Now that I've said all of that, the CD drive in the XPS you have, 777, can probably still be replaced with something that is brand new (Assuming it's not a laptop). CD drives of all types have operated on the same hardware interface (IDE) for about 15 years. The computer industry is only now switching to a new interface (SATA) for drives. Regardless, the old interface will still be in use for a few years. CD ROMs don't really use the new interface yet, either.

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Glenn Arnold
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That's funny, my Mac IIsi still works fine, (17 years old) and so does my PowerPC 7200 (13 years old. I'm writing this on an IMac DV+ 450 (8 years old). In my experience, electronic components last pretty much indefinitely. My stereo is 28 years old and still works fine. I have a 25 year old TV that plays green until it warms up, but then works fine. My mother-in-law has a top loading VCR that needed fixing once... 20 years ago.
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Blayne Bradley
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the onus with a desktop is that ild consider them not particularily obselete until it is nolonger feasible to upgrade it. Once the MOBO is unable to be further upgraded to keep up with the next gen its gone poof out the window.
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Boris
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quote:
Originally posted by Glenn Arnold:
That's funny, my Mac IIsi still works fine, (17 years old) and so does my PowerPC 7200 (13 years old. I'm writing this on an IMac DV+ 450 (8 years old). In my experience, electronic components last pretty much indefinitely. My stereo is 28 years old and still works fine. I have a 25 year old TV that plays green until it warms up, but then works fine. My mother-in-law has a top loading VCR that needed fixing once... 20 years ago.

Ah yes, but this is equipment that was made during the heyday of expensive electronics equipment. They won't do that anymore. A computer that is six years old is far more likely to break than one that is 13 years old, simply because the older one was made with much higher quality components.
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Samprimary
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- Have a computer that you use for X.

- One day, you see and use another newer computer for X.

- You marvel at the difference in how well X is done.

- Returning to your own computer makes X seem infuriatingly inefficient on it.

- Envy phase solidifies obsolescence.

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NotMe
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Boris, I'm pretty sure that's not as true as you think it is. There really wasn't much of a change in overall component quality between 1994 and 2001, especially for Macs. The thing is that any computer from 1994 that is still running was one of the lucky ones. People tend to think that "they just don't make them like they used to" because we remember the one that lasts forever better than we remember the hundreds that die after just a few years. Older machines do put less stress on some components (like capacitors), but the newer designs take into account the change in load.

Up until last fall, I was using a Pentium 200Mhz system with 64Mb of RAM. The motherboard's hard drive controller died long ago, and the card I used to replace it wasn't well supported by Windows. That led to a chicken and egg problem with trying to get Windows installed, so I just quit using Windows on that machine.

I switched to Linux, and never looked back. I was able to customize the software to take into account the limitations of the machine. It really is amazing what you can do when the software is efficient. I knew what I wanted to do with the machine, and I stripped out all the functionality I didn't need. After that, the system was very usable and responsive. The only real performance issue I had was the long start-up time for big apps like Firefox and Openoffice. Fortunately, I rarely had to use those heavyweight apps.

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Sterling
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Sometimes an "obsolete" computer can be moved to another function. My wife's old computer (a Celeron 533) is hooked up to the television in the front room to play Dance Dance Revolution. [Smile]
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Scott R
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quote:
You can often buy new machines for a few hundred dollars.
...if you live in a place that has a thriving...er..."second-hand-wink-wink" market place.
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Glenn Arnold
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I should add, every laptop I've owned died within a couple of years. I wouldn't expect a Mac Mini to last very long, but if I bought a MacPro quad core today, I'd expect it to last ten years at least. What it comes down to is: you get what you pay for.

In the Windows world you've got a whole different ballgame from the Macs, because so much of it is cut-rate cheap. Yeah, you can buy a new machine for a couple hundred bucks, and you expect it to last through one Moore's cycle before it craps out and you buy something faster and more up to date.

You could also spend $2000 on a Windows machine that's a real hot rod that doesn't last long, or it could be a really well built machine that lasts forever. I have no idea how you'd know the difference, however...

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Samprimary
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quote:
Originally posted by Scott R:
quote:
You can often buy new machines for a few hundred dollars.
...if you live in a place that has a thriving...er..."second-hand-wink-wink" market place.
Naw, man -- it's true.

Work with newegg.com and the like and you can get yourself a decent machine for 400 and up.

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fugu13
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You can get a computer that's remarkably modern, new and preassembled, for slightly under $400 nowadays.

Buy a slightly older used computer and you can get a remarkably modern, preassembled, and more reliable for $300 to $400. For instance, here's a Turion 64 1.8 GHz with a gig of RAM, 200 GB HD, DVD burner, windows XP (media center, for some reason) and wireless built in, refurbished by the manufacturer, for $309: http://www.ubid.com/HP_Pavilion_Slimline_s7520n_Turion_64_1%2E8GHz_1GB_200GB_WiFi/a11016973-c1000-s2.html

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Eduardo St. Elmo
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Q: When is a computer obsolete?

Nighthawk said "before you finished asking the question." I wonder if that means * before you could type out the question (which is pretty quick) * before you could verbally utter the question (a mite faster still) or * before you're able to form the question in your mind?

hugh57 said that it would be obsolete after opening the box and booting it for the first time.

My guess would have to be somewhere in between those two. "My new computer's got the clocks, it rocks, but it was obsolete before I opened the box" When in doubt, look to Al. [Big Grin]

But seriously, No useful advice from me on this topic since I'm still using a computer that was bought in 1999. It works, though admittedly a bit slow, but since I use it mostly for word-processing (not that much) and MP3 storage, it still suffices.

TTFN

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