If you had this pc lying around...

AstroTurf

AstroTurf

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What would you do with it?

My old desktop pc has not been doing much since we bought a laptop.
It really is a very old girl.
The case comes from a pile of old pc's my dad brought home years back (it still has the "designed for Windows NT4) sticker and the PII sticker on the front (although the PII sticker has a PIII and P4 sticker stuck over it), weighs a ton, very solid old case.

Anyway currently it's specs are as follows:
19" CRT Monitor
P4 2.66Ghz
1GB RAM
total of around 340GB Hard drive space
Geforce 6200 (512MB)
TV Card (very old, not to great picture quality and very finicky to set up, Using a free copy of Show Shifter 2 I got off a PC format mag years back).

I was considering setting it up as a dvr/show shifter or using it as a media player in one of the rooms.
Also is a DVI to HDMI Adapter worth it for the machine? (will I get any significant speed increase if I use one?).
 
It wont handle HD content. Use it as a home proxy or as a downloading box.
 
As I live in Africa HD is not an issue as yet.
If I use it as a dvr it will only be till TopTV activate the usb port.

Also I only have the two pc's so a proxy would be pointless.

I live on a plot, telephone cables get stolen within 48 hours of getting installed.
We have a telephone line that goes from our house to a pole in our garden, from there it goes to a pole about 25 meters away and after that it is cut off (even the other poles are missing).
 
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lol, its already full of abandonware and freeware but thanks for the idea, stored for future reference.
 
Unless you use it for a torrent box, it's worthless. You can buy that much HDD space for ~R300. Donate it now while it's worth something.

There are too many such boxes collecting dust in a garage somewhere. When, in 5 years, you move or spring clean you will find it and donate/throw it away. By then it really is worthless.

Domestic worker have any kids? Any friendly okes around who might want it? Otherwise a church or charity. Not sure what you'd get if you flogged it. That 19" CRT sounds like the most valuable part...
 
If you're in Durbs I'll gladly take it off your hands, got a young niece & nephew who could with some exposure to technology ;)
 
My old home PC is your PC's great grandfather. Used it to backup data till I got a 1TB external.
Reinstalled all software on it afterwards and now the old folks are using it to get PC literate
 
I thought of giving it to a family member but that would automatically mean I am there new IT guy.
Way to many Sundays wasted "Just quickly" fixing a pc for someone to fall for that one again.
 
Plugged into my TV as a PVR and entertainment system.
Used a stereo to AV cable for the sound to the pc, an AV to AV cable for the picture to pc, a stereo to stereo cable for the sound to the TV and a DV to HDMI Adaptor with HDMI cable for the picture to the TV.
Current resolution is 1280x720 but It can go up to 1920 × 1080. I left it at the lower res to increase performance slightly but did not want to take it down to far (I have a nice crisp image of windows, wallpapers, photos, movies e.t.c. without compromising on performance). I might buy it more RAM (yes I can get RAM for it) but am still contemplating it.
I am getting near DVD quality live pausing and recording (720x288) wich is plenty for TopTV.
Using a copy of ShowShifter 2 for recordings/pausing tv that came free with a Pc Format years back.
I will also be using my old Sony Ericsson K810I Cellphone as a remote and will get a Microsoft wireless keyboard and mouse combo
As the cell is blu-tooth I can hide the old pc behind the tv, I also have the software to customise and modify the remote features keys (and what they do on the pc).

I have my brothers old pc at home that has very similar specs to this old one so if something breaks I have spares.
 
that thing is new
igot a p3 700mhz 32mb gpu ram 256 mb ram 8gb hdd
i use it for testing viruses and w3 and programming
its about 8-10 years old
 
AstroTurf said:
I thought of giving it to a family member but that would automatically mean I am there new IT guy.
Way to many Sundays wasted "Just quickly" fixing a pc for someone to fall for that one again.
Click to expand...

haha... Funny! It's the main reason I don't give away any old computer lying around.
 
RaptorSA said:
haha... Funny! It's the main reason I don't give away any old computer lying around.
Click to expand...

Wrong! The trick is to give it away to someone you DON'T know, tell them it is "as is" and comes without an on-site maintenance contract, and preferably without leaving your contact details. A worthy charity is best!
 
Oldest working pc I have at home is a celeron300Mhz (from the PII era) running windows 98.
 
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