14 Feb
2002
14 Feb
'02
6:52 a.m.
--- Tothwolf <tothwolf(a)concentric.net> wrote:
By far, my most favorite "unusual" devices
are Pioneer cdrom
changers (which are now on-topic, since they started making them in
1990-92), and I just acquired 3 more thanks to a fellow classiccmper :)
I have a 4x4 (NEC?) - half-height internal IDE 4X CD-ROM changer, and
an external NEC 2X 7-disk changer (each disc is a unit under the changer's
LUN - not all OSes like talking to it). If big disks weren't so cheap,
it'd be cooler.
As for Packard Bell, I'd hope there is at least
one collector of Packard
Bell systems out there (I don't have the room nor interest). If no one
preserves their systems, we won't be able to show anyone 10 years from
now just how awful they really were compared to an IBM, Compaq, or other
brand system made during the same time period.
I was using a Packard-Bell 486 as my router until the PSU died about 10
days ago. It's unremarkable, but it was free. I kinda like the packaging
(the case screws are hidden in the front by a pair of drop-down plastic
tabs), much more so, say, than the Compaq 386-line from about 10 years
ago (full-height with custom drive bezels, not the slim-line desktop
cases like the 386N).
I do agree that in general, Packard-Bell stuff was crap. Nevertheless, I
was using one to pass hundreds of gigabytes from my cable modem (1-5 GB
per day for months). I would have just dropped a new PSU in there, but
I need to use VPN now, and my Linux Router Project floppy didn't have
ipsec support compiled in, and it was easier to replace it with an 802.11b
Barricade router than build a new router floppy from scratch.
This was the second router in 4 years that had an odd PSU that died (I've
been using undersized boxes on a top shelf, not full-sized desktop boxes
with ordinary power supplies and easy-to-replace fans). I'm not picking
on P-B in particular - consumer-grade PC PSUs can't take 24x7x365 usage
forever. They don't have fans that last.
-ethan
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