Old Technology

[dimmerwit]

For Christmas 2008 I was very lucky to get a 15" MacBook Pro - pretty sure I posted about it on the old forums. What might be surprising is that I'm actually typing this message on that very same laptop. The RAM has gone from 2GB to 8GB (the max it supports), the mechanical drive has been replaced by a SATA SSD and the battery has been changed, but it's still the same beast. I don't use it for serious stuff as I have a gaming desktop and a work laptop, but I still use it for a lot of non-work stuff. It can even run the latest MacOS with a bit of...ahem...help.

I also have a first-gen iPod touch which I got in May 2008 and still use reasonably frequently, and have two other iPods (15GB 3rd gen and 80GB video) that I do keep running. I also dug my iPhone 4S out to finally grab the photos off it which I posted elsewhere, although I haven't used it in years. Aside from my games consoles (of which my oldest is my PS1) it's the only really old stuff I've kept around.

Anyone else have a problem like me?

 

[shortkut]

Similar situation:

I’m rocking a 13.3" Mid 2012, MacBook Pro, MD102LL/A, i7-3520M @ 2.90GHz, 16GB, 250GB SSD

Had an iPhone 7 until last summer (battery wouldn’t hold a charge for a long time)

Packed away somewhere are an old iPod, iPod mini, iPod touch, 2 NES (worked last time I used them), Genesis3, psOne (the portable version), and a gameboy pocket

 

[Crystal]

I'm a game collector, so I've got tech from as far back as 1967. I also happen to have my original Motorola Droid still rolling around somewhere. Holds a charge, turns on, Wifi connects, perfectly fine

 

[Smacktard]

The only old tech I've hung on to are old games/systems and a CRT TV. My oldest tech I still own is my Vectrex and games.

 

[Mark]

I absolutely despise upgrading electronics, or anything for that matter. If I had it my way, I’d still be rocking the 6 disc changer in my V8 with a CD binder riding shotgun and a hand-rolled joint hanging out of my mouth like Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Hunter S. Thompson as I meander around. New vehicles? I hate learning the orientation of everything. New consoles? Now I’ve gotta remember my passwords. New phone? Let’s wipe the contacts *just* in case they format weird in a new phone book.

I have the same iPhone 11 I’ve had since a year after it came out, and I generally get between 4-6 years out of a smart phone. I used to make my old cell phones last longer, but planned obsolescence is a bitch. I just bought my first PS4 Pro about 2.5 years ago, because I had all but gotten out of gaming with the exception of a few that still launched on PS3. I just have no desire to keep up with or constantly update stuff like that.

 

[Fire Queen]

old hardware is great. you just can't find many devices these days that are compatible with a three and a half inch sloppy

 

[MC74]

Being a game collector, I still keep my old consoles. Never parting with them.

 

[Crazy Jamie]

When it comes to work I am by no means someone who upgrades tech every year or even two. I probably upgrade my laptop every 5 or 6 years or so, and similar with my phone. Not quite at the levels of some others in this thread though, but like some I'm also a retro video game collector, so have a lot of old tech from that perspective and still take a great deal of comfort in it. I just don't use it every day.

 

[Rachel]

story for the thread

When I graduated college, I decided to buy a Macbook Pro for a reward of those years of hard work. It was a 17 inch, which they don't make anymore. I believe Steve Jobs was still alive when I first got it to give a rough timeline.

It was my work horse for years. To this day, best laptop I've ever owned.

But then, years passed and I eventually couldn't upgrade the OS. I didn't like the direction the new laptops were going...almost no ports, whatever the hell the touchbar was supposed to be. Less ways to crack it open and upgrade. The problems with the butterfly keyboard. Basically NOT the ethos I remembered when I first bought the laptop.

So I decided to buy a Windows tower. I needed more power, I started playing some Steam games, and when I travel, my phone is usually enough, so at this point of my life I don't need a laptop. However, what I didn't understand is that it really, really sucks to transfer data from Mac to Windows. Not impossible, just really sucks.

So I set my Macbook Pro aside and figured I would deal with it later.

Years passed, we moved homes, and one day I finally decided I needed to do this chore.

I opened the laptop...and it wouldn't turn on. It turned on for like a few seconds and then it would turn off.

I'm not a hardware person but I grew up during a time where we still messed around with the PC and learned some things about how they worked. So I figured it was either the power supply, motherboard, CPU, or something like that...basically "not good" options.

I did a lot of research online, tried different things, but nothing was working. Spent at least a few hours working on this.

Eventually during this research my (at the time) three year old son came into the room and asked what I was doing. I explained, and he left the room. He came back with his toy toolbox and explained he was going to help me fix the laptop.

At this point I think it's toast, so I say "why not"--so I sit somewhere else and he gets to work.

First I think he sawed it with the toy saw, then he used the toy screwdriver on it, then the wrench.

Then, he hammered it with the toy hammer.



Then--hand over heart--it turned back on.

And stayed on.

He nodded, satisfied, gathered his toys, and left the room.

And I was able to transfer the data.

 

[shortkut]

story for the thread

When I graduated college, I decided to buy a Macbook Pro for a reward of those years of hard work. It was a 17 inch, which they don't make anymore. I believe Steve Jobs was still alive when I first got it to give a rough timeline.

It was my work horse for years. To this day, best laptop I've ever owned.

But then, years passed and I eventually couldn't upgrade the OS. I didn't like the direction the new laptops were going...almost no ports, whatever the hell the touchbar was supposed to be. Less ways to crack it open and upgrade. The problems with the butterfly keyboard. Basically NOT the ethos I remembered when I first bought the laptop.

So I decided to buy a Windows tower. I needed more power, I started playing some Steam games, and when I travel, my phone is usually enough, so at this point of my life I don't need a laptop. However, what I didn't understand is that it really, really sucks to transfer data from Mac to Windows. Not impossible, just really sucks.

So I set my Macbook Pro aside and figured I would deal with it later.

Years passed, we moved homes, and one day I finally decided I needed to do this chore.

I opened the laptop...and it wouldn't turn on. It turned on for like a few seconds and then it would turn off.

I'm not a hardware person but I grew up during a time where we still messed around with the PC and learned some things about how they worked. So I figured it was either the power supply, motherboard, CPU, or something like that...basically "not good" options.

I did a lot of research online, tried different things, but nothing was working. Spent at least a few hours working on this.

Eventually during this research my (at the time) three year old son came into the room and asked what I was doing. I explained, and he left the room. He came back with his toy toolbox and explained he was going to help me fix the laptop.

At this point I think it's toast, so I say "why not"--so I sit somewhere else and he gets to work.

First I think he sawed it with the toy saw, then he used the toy screwdriver on it, then the wrench.

Then, he hammered it with the toy hammer.



Then--hand over heart--it turned back on.

And stayed on.

He nodded, satisfied, gathered his toys, and left the room.

And I was able to transfer the data.

Nothing seems to kill my Mac laptops except the battery dying.

My first laptop was I think a MacBook Pro 15”. Bought it used in 2004, so it was older than that, and dropped it so many times that I was holding the case together with epoxy and superglue, but still ran like a champ. I saved up enough money to get a new MacBook 13” (white one, mid 2007 I think) and I replaced the battery many times and only replaced it within the last few years with a used 2012 that works like a charm. I rarely use it anymore, but never have an issue when I do

 

[Dead2009]

Other than my consoles, I have a gaming laptop thats like 10 years old and still kickin lol.