<I can pick up a VAXstation 3100 (just the box, no monitor/keyboard/etc).
<Is this worth messing with?
Yes for OSs there are three choices, VMS, Ultrix and NetBSD. There is a
free license for the first one and the last one is not quite ready for
prime time(unless you really like to work at it).
<What's in it processor wise?
Vax! Without a specific model number it's hard to be more specific.
They are all VAX, the difference being speed and added performance.
Of it's an older one it's like Cvax, later Nvax, most recent SOC.
Most 3100s are SCSI for disks and tape, have eithernet and several serial
ports so they can be quite useful for routers, mailservers, WWW servers and
the like.
< Can I rig it to a VGA monitor?
Never tried, uses some high scan rates and very high resolution.
However if that fails you can plug a terminal into the back and
talk to it that way.
<Should I let it pass?
I'm biased, never!
Allison