When I picked up my first old machine it was to give linux
networking a try. My brother in law had an old 386 that he
couldn't use and I figured that it would be a challenge.
Then a 486 appeared and then another, then I picked up an
IBM XT because it was original and for $.50 cdn I figured
the paper alone was work that much. I then stared adopting
any unwanted and FREE machines, I then stretched that to any
I could buy with pocket change. Then I saw a MAC II si for
$15 it seemed like a good deal. My wife reminded me tonight
that she actually bought that one for me so I hadn't yet
spent more than pocket change on a machine yet. Tonight I
got her to buy me an Amstrad PC1640 it was only the second
one I'd seen and this one was complete except for the
joystick. The main power comes through the monitor and
there is a slot for batteries on top of the case. Well
there's still that AT&T unixPC calling me from across town.
I did just pick up 6 free machines (Mac si, (2)LC, quadra,
Toshiba 2400 and amiga2000) so with all that pocket change I
saved I'm not really going over budget like I would be if I
picked up a sparc 10.