An IT survey - something different! :-)

[topgear]

Heres something a little different... We've asked the question "how many cars do you have!" but... now is the time for a different question.
How many computers (PC's/laptops) do you have in your household?

Hands up.. let's see what you're made of!

[Jonathan]

It depends if you count the various dismembered machines scattered about the place! I've only got one desktop and a plamtop, but in the household there's another desktop, a laptop and another palmtop.

[D87 SMW]

Have two but one I dont use.

[Maria]

4. One for me, one for Chris, one which is used for entertainment - CDs, DVDs and a TV card with feed from TV, Sky and video downstairs, complete with one of those widgets which lets you change channel on the downstairs Sky box and video from upstairs. Also one ex-server which used to have the modem attached before we got broadband. Now used as testbed.

[malcsmaesty]

Only one for me,haven't mastered it yet.......:(

[tony]

Originally posted by malcsmaesty
Only one for me,haven't mastered it yet.......:(
same here:banghead:

[F690OTF(RIP)]

The options don't go far enough... We've got twenty-one. Why do I suddenly feel I'm on the wrong forum...? I can't imagine you're that interested, but I'll attempt to list what they are:

Desktops:
2x RM Nimbus 186 (8MHz, 1/1.5MB RAM, 20MB HDD)
2x RM Nimbus VX/2 (386 17MHz)
1x RM Nimbus M-Series (386 20MHz)
1x RM Nimbus S-Series (386 25MHz)
2x RM Nimbus S-Series (486 25MHz)
1x RM Nimbus D-Series (486 33MHz upgraded to ~83MHz Pentium)
1x RM Nimbus D-Series (486 66MHz)
1x IBM Pentium 75MHz
1x Custom Built (Pentium III 500MHz)
1x Evesham Zydec (Pentium III 500MHz)
1x Custom Built Mini-ITX (EBGA 500MHz)
1x Custom Built (AMD Athlon 1GHz)
1x Custom Built (AMD Duron 1.2GHz)
1x Custom Built (AMD Athlon XP 3GHz)

Laptops:
IBM Thinkpad (Pentium 75MHz)
Dell Latitude (Pentium 4 2.?)
Apple iBook (G3 800MHz)

And one Compaq iPAQ Pocket PC.

I'll crawl back into my hole now...

[D87 SMW]

J*s*s C*r*s*! How big is your house??? :laugh: :eek:

[tony]

which one makes the tea:laugh:

[F690OTF(RIP)]

We don't have a particularly big house; we just pack 'em in! My room is 4mx3m and I have 9 computers in it (although only 6 monitors plus the display on the laptop).

None of them make the tea; that's what my mum's for ;)

[topgear]

Wow, i am totally amazed! Congratulations. when's the 10th going to be born? Some of your earliers must be running on windows 3.1? What a operating system that was! :-)

[SimonR]

Sadly, there is anything from about 10 upwards in our house and a waste of space they all are too in my opinion. Thing is I'm always fixing them for people so they tend to come and go.....

The only one worth a mention if me beloved Acorn Risc PC which, it pains me to mention has the same type of processor (although lower spec :( ) to the mid-range Ipaq.

It's funny how technology marches on - in 1994 the SA110 StrongARM system knocked anything Intel-based out of the water, now, not only is ARM owned by Intel, but the StrongARM is only fast enough to run a glorified electronic calendar and solitare machine.

Still the best thing about the Risc PC: No Micro$oft Word! In fact, no M$ anything. The fact that when 'Doze 95 came out it was basically the same as RISC OS with it's 'innovative task-bar' has *nothing* to do with it! (Incase you were wondering the task-bar was innovative in 1987 when RISC OS 2 came out).

Anyway, got to go because I have to edit AOL 7 out of a W2K registry after the Uninstall failed. Funny, that.

[J199 HHG]

Well, I have the following:
2 Acorn Risc PC's (both StrongArm)
2 350MHz PC's (don't use them much, prefer above)
1 Acorn A4 laptop
28 BBC Model B's / Masters
1 Atom
1 Electron
10 Spectrums
1 Vic 20
1 Apple II

Total = 47

Do I win the prize?

P.S. I am an Acorn fan incase you didn't notice!

[Wonko_The_Sane]

1 Mitac laptop (In car doom machine)
1 Home build Pentium Classic @ 100 MHz (Mums Current accounts PC)
1 Compaq Deskpro P2/350 (Mums NEW accounts PC...shh..doesn't know..)
1 Home build Celeron 1400 (My beastie. TV Card/DVD/2 CD burners etc etc).
1 Home build Celeron 400 W/CDR (Workshop PC, often used when the GF is doing college stuff on mine)
1 Pentium 233 (In service bay)
1 AMD K6/300 (Server)
1 Cyrix 5x86 (In Service Bay)
3 Intel 8088 PC/PCXTs (Garage, historical amusement, running DOS 3.1)
2x IBM PS2/386 model 30 (Naffed, door openers)
1 Mitac 386sx/16 (don't get me started..:banghead: )
1 Generic server cased insanity in a box system (Spare, stored)
4x P3 Laptops (In Service bay)
1 Apple Emate (RiscOS)
1 Amstrad PCW8256
1 Commodore VIC20 (Fried)

100MPs Cat5e Network with hub
Dialup modem :banghead: :censored: (Can't get broadband!)

Lowest M$ DOS: 3.1
Lowest M$ WINOS: Win95 OSR1
Lowest Other OS: CP/M+ 3
Highest OS: WinXP Pro, Release candidate 2600 Final.

New machines arriving monthly...:laugh: Schools and private customers mainly. I was a freelance service technician before I worked here..and people insist on my services to this day.

I had 4 rooms full 2 years ago..then I had a mass tidyout...thank god. Now..anyone want a laserjet III? :laugh: I seem to be collecting printers now!! :banghead:

I won't list the other machines I'm responsible for..the GFs family is as bad as mine..;)

[John S]

I have:-

Compaq Pentium Pro 200mhz tower with 14" monitor
Custom built 2GHz Athlon PC (internet & games) 21" (20" view) monitor
Compaq P60
Atari 1040STe

Oh yeah, and I had a Viglen 386sx 20MHz GENIE with no CD rom bays circa 1990, before some :censored: stole it the other week - must have thought it was worth something?! :confused: That was running Windows 3.0 non multimedia version.

[tony]

i have a computer, i turn it on,i turn it off:)

[Maria]

I have 2 BBC Bs and 2 VIC 20s in the loft too, and there's an Apple II, 2 Amigas and a Commodore 64 in the garage. :laugh:

[Wonko_The_Sane]

Rock on the 64's!!! :D

Maria..before you junk that 64..check this out...:laugh:

Commodore 64 @ 933!!! (http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/c64/)

Belting site..always makes me smile..;)

[Simon]

One laptop. Small, but perfectly formed.

[topgear]

wow! looks like ive really hit the nail on the head here! Im very impressed!!!

[e692wtt]

I've got just the one computer, but shifted a load of old monitors, mice (mouses?) and keyboards along with an old dot matrix printer or two at the weekend to the tip, all part of clearing the house ready for the 'great move'...

I've a mate who rings and says how he's built yet another computer/system and it's got so-and-so and so-much-ram and does-all-sorts-of-things that this poor old inert babbage number generator I'm using at the mo doesn't...

Sorry, but all these figures and features leave me cold. When my mate starts, I walk away for 10 minutes, go to the offy, go to the bathroom with a paper or go and fill the car up, and he's still on when I return having failed to notice my absence...

Could be worse, the programs on my works computer are complete b*ll*cks - but I'm impressed that it has 4 Gbytes and uses about 40 Mbytes. Just wish I could swap it without anyone noticing... what's a job anyway??? Would have got a computer free if I'd worked at The Accident Group...

The other other Rich.:laugh:

[F690OTF(RIP)]

The earliest of our machines (1985 vintage) run Windows 2.0, which is practically identical to Windows 1.0. Other operating systems include:

Windows 3.1
Windows for Workgroups 3.11
Windows '95
Windows '98 SE
Windows NT 4.0 Workstation
Windows 2000 Professional
Windows XP Professional
Mac OS X
Red Hat Linux 7.3
Red Hat Linux 9.0

I did neglect to mention a VIC 20 we have, actually.

Well, if we're going to mention peripherals as well...

Printers:
Epson LQ-400 (Dot Matrix)
HP DeskJet 560C (Inkjet)
HP DeskJet 640C (Inkjet)
Brother HL-1440 (Laser)
Samsung ML-1210 (Laser)

Scanners:
HP Something or other (It's temporarily in the loft, so I can't go and find out at this time)
CanoScan N670U (or something like that)
CanoScan LiDE 20 (which is practically identical to the above)

Modems:
1 ADSL Modem (for my student house; we don't have broadband here)
1 External 28.8kbps (Serial)
1 External 56kbps (Serial)
3 Internal 56kbps (2xPCI, 1xAMR)

UPSs:
Belkin Regulator Pro Gold 650VA
Belkin Regulator Pro Silver 350VA

4 10/100Mbps Ethernet Switches

2 Netgear ME102 Wireless Access Points

External Drives:
1 Parallel Port 100MB Zip Drive
1 USB (Powered) 100MB Zip Drive
1 Firewire HDD Enclosure (currently with 40GB drive inside)
1 USB 2.0 HDD Enclosure (currently with 40GB drive inside)

2 USB IrDA Adapters
1 USB->RS232 Adapter
1 Bluetooth 'Dongle'

1 Fuji FinePix A101 Digital Camera

1 Garmin eTrex GPS (not really a proper peripheral, but I do have a cigarette lighter socket on the back of my computer to power it during data transfer!)

Even I'm getting bored of writing this now. I'm rapidly approaching the point where it becomes difficult to decide what counts as peripherals, anyway (do 2 cordless keyboards and mice and 2 TFT monitors count...?). On top of all this, I really need to go to bed.

[e692wtt]

Eh?

The other other Rich.:confused:

[MaestroMatt]

Originally posted by Maria
I have 2 BBC Bs and 2 VIC 20s in the loft too, and there's an Apple II, 2 Amigas and a Commodore 64 in the garage.

Now you're talking! The BBC and the Amiga were the two finest home computers ever made. I have one of each in the loft at my parents' house and an Acorn Electron as well. I currently use a desktop and a laptop on a regular basis as well as a Nintendo Gamcube which, a couple of you will be pleased to hear, uses a RISC processor to make the PS2 and the X-Box look like the pathetic abacuses they most definitely are.

[Wonko_The_Sane]

F690OTF(RIP) -Flipping heck!! I wasn't going to count bits..it'd send me to sleep as well..:laugh: I have almost as many Maestro/BL parts as I do PC parts!

You say you have Windows 2.0?!?! IMPRESSED!!! My copy corrupted a few years back, and for the life of me I can't find another version online...

I just have a silly soft spot for those versions of Windows I grew up with..:laugh: I have all the others like you..except for MAC OS, and Linux..never had the time to play unfortunatly..:(

I have NT4 Server somewhere...heh.

e692wtt-I used to be like your mate...latest and greatest..spec is everything..etc, etc...now I just smile and think "out of date in 3 months tops". As long as my machinery fulfils my needs I'm a happy bunny..more money to use on the car!!:D

As I say..at work we have P2/3/4 running NT4...waste of money that is..we have so much stuff and NT won't allow us to use it..:rolleyes: XP in 10 days!!! I can't wait. Maybe this P4 2.0Ghz will actually start to run like one..:laugh:

[Maria]

NOOOO!! DON'T DO IT!! Stay away from Windows Fisher Price!! :eek:

[tony]

i can turn mine on and trun mine off,and i cant spell:)

[Simon]

Maria, you warned me about Windows FP but the only drivers for my graphics adaptor are written for FP. I'm getting used to it gradually.

[Wonko_The_Sane]

Whats the adaptor then? XP only drivers eh..must be pretty recent..:eek:

[SimonR]

I was very sceptical about 'Doze XP but (and this pains me to say it) so far it's been very stable. I began the migration at work by getting myself a new IBM Netvista with it preinstalled and really it doesn't seem too bad. The only unsurmountable problem I've found is that for some reason when dialling up I can't make it share file and printer resources on an NT domain, even with that feature enabled in the network preferences. Personally I blame our router.

Prolly the best thing about XP is that you can turn off the Tellytubby desktop scheme and make it look exactly like 2000 by treaking the preferences for things like the Start menu and task bar. It's also much nicer to install than 2K and infinately better than NT. If your kit is older than about 2 years then the chances are that all the drivers are already provided and it doesn't even take that long.

NT, of course, was written by a sadist. Why, oh why do I have to reboot everytime I change a setting...? Somewhere I've got a screen shot of an error message saying 'Please insert the Windows NT CD-ROM into drive A:'. Believe me, I nearly tried. Bitch-Ass thing.

Sadly, I've fallen into the Microsoft Trap same as everyone else - because their previous offerings were so terribly poor and shoddy, when they actually release something with functionality that is stable we all swoon over it. Just remember how bad Win 3.1 was before you think that Microsoft are good at what they do.

It is the same as the principle that Theodore Adorno outlined in 1944 in The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception with relation to popular culture: If you idolise the cheap you make the average look heroic. Wise man, him. I refer you to reality TV or indeed any Yoof Culture.

Ah yes, computers, I remember what I was talking about now. Hate em.

[Mat_C]

I try to have as little to do with computers as I can thesedays, but I do own a:-

Acorn Electron
BBC Master
Amiga 1000 (One of the very first, shipped from the states).
VIC-20
Commodore II PC
DX/2 66 PC
DX/2 66 Laptop
PIII 667 PC
Athlon 900 (my bro's)

The earliest PC OS I have is DOS 2 and the lastest is Red Hat 9.

I'lld rather stick hy head in a deep-fat fryer than use XP!

[Beaker]

We own

2 Spectrum 48K ( with over 150 games)
Amiga 1200
2 Games Consoles
2 Homebuild Athlon 1400 (DVD/CD writer/TV card/)
1 Homebuild Athlon 750
1 Laptop

Accesories

1 Laptop Printer
1 HP Deskjet Printer
2 Scanners
1 Spare Power Suppy
Numerous SPare Fans
1 Spare PC Case
3 Webcams
3 Mice
3 Keyboards
Network Cable
Numerous Spare Kettle Leads.

Not as impressive as ppl above, but it feels jam packed with electrical equipment in the box room

[Beaker]

Forgot to mention operating systems currently being used are

Windows XP and Mandrake 7

If only you could play games on Linux, life would be a lot better without microsoft.

[Simon]

Gx adapter is an ATI Radeon Mobility 9000 64 Mb in my laptop, which is 5 months old.

[Wonko_The_Sane]

ATI Radeon eh...Looking forward to these new machines we have arriving then..equipped with a Radeon. Heard good stuff about those!

I've got an Nvidia 32Mb..blindingly quick..and XP was written to use a lot of the Nvidia features apparently. With regard to stability, I've had..4 blue screens in 3 years. 1 TV Card conflict, 1 Fan failure overheat, 1 as a result of me accidentally deleting a system file, and the other seemingly caused by the girlfriend swearing at it..:laugh:

Not bad when you consider it's a testbed with things being connected/disconnected/overclocked/modified/thrashed all night long.
(especially when you realize I've had XP since before it's official release in this Country..by about 3 months thanks to the missus..heh.)

[Rich]

We have, my computer, Lee my housemate has his pc, a laptop and a 1980's Amstrad laptop that would break your lap!

My housemate Jason has a pc, the one in the dining room is also his, made up from bits which provides music downstairs via the mp3 files we all have on the network.

All the computers are networked through a broadband router which shares the broadband internet to all the pcs and networks them at the same time. Theres also 2 computers in the lounge that dont work, or they may work, i'm not sure. We also have a total of seven printers!

Its got to the stage where we need a bigger router as the one we have doesnt have enough ports on it, and it was once suggested that i put a RJ45 socket in the bathroom for the laptop......!

Rich