$200 (US) PC...

[D. Hugh Redelmeier]

[Warning: long and rambling.]

| From: Anthony de Boer <adb-SACILpcuo74 at public.gmane.org>

| Lennart Sorensen wrote:
| > Well I don't buy $200 computers.  I wait until I can afford a good
| > one instead.

There's merit in what you say, up until...

| >  I don't believe in disposible electronics.

As Anthony says, most electronics will or should be disposed of sooner
than one would like.

One problem: it is really hard to predict the useful lifetime.
Progress in the computer world comes by fits and starts.

A notebook is a worst case since it is hard to upgrade many
dimensions.  Batteries wear out and often they do so at a point where
it is hard to justify replacing them -- the battery costs more than the
value of the notebook with a good battery.

| Back in 2000, I spent about $2k buying a decent Thinkpad. Today I have a
| laptop that still boots and runs (on AC only) and is just hideously
| obsolete.  A $200 computer today runs circles around it CPU-wise, weighs
| just a wee fraction, and has built-in 11G and actual battery life.

Another data-point (I'm also mentioning it in case someone would be
interested in buying one):

I was looking at a used Toshiba Tecra M7 tablet in TechSource
yesterday.  They wanted $350 for a machine that was probably
$1800-2000 new in 2006.  In a number of dimensions it was fine:

- 14" 1440x900 screen with a decent digitizer (but the screen looked a
  bit dim).  That's quite good.

- Core Duo T2400 processor @ ~1.8GHz.  Fine.  It sure outperforms an
  Atom.  32-bit only, no virtualization.

- 2G RAM.  Fine.

- hinge slightly wobbly.  Would need some consideration.  Since they
  have several for sale, one could perhaps cherry-pick.

- 6 pounds.  Seems like too much for a tablet

- Windows XP Tablet Edition + OneNote.  If you need MS Windows, that's
  good but not as good as Windows 7.  I don't need Windows.

- 80G hard drive.  A little light by today's standards.

- the battery worked but might well be seriously degraded.

- well built.  definitely used.

That seems like a reasonable deal.  So, in the 4 years since the
introduction of that model, even without catastrophic obsolescence, it
has lost 80% of its value.

| Lesson: you may not want something that massively outlasts its
| upgrade-by date.  Take good backups for when the current machine dies
| and you need to replace it, but you were going to do that anyway.


Few after-purchase upgrades make sense for notebooks.

- I often max out RAM after purchase

- I have upgraded disks a couple of times, but not routinely

- I once bought a third-party replacement battery

I don't remember doing any other upgrades.


Non-notebooks *can* have longer lives.  I'm using dozen-year-old PCs as
network gateways.  Anthony knows that: he transported one from Ottawa
for me (thanks!).  These days, For most tasks, I find little practical
use for machines older than eight years (my Myth Box).

My oldest computer, an Altair, is over 30 years old.  It isn't
actually useful for anything.  I find it hard to get rid of anything
with the slightest perceived value.  I gave away some DEC Alpha-based
computers to Lennart -- thanks, Lennart, for allowing me a guilt-free
exit.  If you are going to keep a computer for a long time, it might
as well be a good one (an argument in favour of Lennart's orginal
point).
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