I was still using it in 2000 when I finally upgraded to a P3 600Mhz with 256MB of RAM. I was in heaven!

Then I upgraded to AMD 2200+ @ 1.8Ghz with 1GB of RAM which blow away the P3 and thought I was GOD. j/k

Now I have my AMD 64 X2 5200+ @ 2.6Ghz and 2GB of RAM and could never imagine going back. I would die!

Also love my ASUS F3SV-X1 laptop…

1999: Phionex Custon 333Mhz w/ 32 megs of ram, 4 gig hdd, Windows 98

2001: Emachines 500Mhz Tower w/ 64 megs of ram, 10 gig hdd, Windows 98

2004: Custom 1.2 Ghz w/ 512 megs of ram, 40 gig hdd, Windows XP

2006: Micron 600Mhz laptop with Slackware Linux

2007: Custom 2.2 Ghz w/ 1 gig of ram, 320 gig SATA, Debian Linux

2007: Fujitsu Lifebook B2630 - 900Mhz, 256 megs of ram, 160 gig hdd, Slackware

I wonder, why laptops and no desktop PCs? I mean, you work at home and all that.

Up until last year, we were both full-time students and so our computers always came with us to school which is why we’ve had laptops. Even though we do work from home now, it’s always nice to have the option to be able to take our computers with us no matter where we go so that work can get done from just about anywhere. We both hook up a keyboard, mouse, and have a second monitor when we’re working at home, so it works out well.

we’ve been on about a one year schedule for buying laptops the last few years only because we keep them in really great condition and then sell them on eBay.

Ahh eBay.. I wish I still had that option over here

#2 2003 - Dec 2006 - Sotec Laptop (13.3″, 1.2 GHZ P3, 30 GB HD, 256 RAM, integrated graphics, Windows XP) peice of junk!!!

#3 Dec 2006 - Feb 2008 - Dell XPS 400 Desktop (Dimension 9200 in Canada) (2.13 GHz Dual Core 2, 2 GB RAM, 320 GB HD, 256 VRAM, Vista Premium) Great for what I use it for. Only use as HTPC now because of Computer #4…

#4 Feb 2008 - Present - 15.4″ Macbook Pro (2.4 GHz Dual Core 2, 2 GB RAM, 256 VRAM, 200 GB HD, Leopard) The best computer I have owned to date!

And 3 years ago when I started attended college, I got a free laptop from them.

There seem to be a lot of universities that are going that route these days. I couldn’t have imagined not having a laptop through college, but our university didn’t equip us with one.

Wow! What is really shocking is the amount of Apple II-E stuff that is still being sold on eBay about 25 years later.

Do we really need to? Probably not, but Ashley explained our reasoning well. In the end we can upgrade for next to nothing on a yearly basis, and we often avoid problems with the computers that way. After all, a lot of things start breaking after the first year of ownership, right?

$500 for floppy drives is crazy! Who would have thought that they would ever go out of style.

Yeah, we’ve had some of the same issues with out Dell’s. I would think that things would be getting better though since they are now offering Ubuntu on Dell computers.

Yes, we have looked at those. Cost wise though we always come out on top by purchasing a Windows-based version. They are the ones that if you look hard enough and wait patiently you can find some pretty crazy deals on. The Dell computers that we have purchased are typically $500 or $600 off the list price. Compliments goes to Slickdeals.net for finding some truly amazing deals.

What we listed are the computers that we’ve owned personally. Prior to that we had several other generations of computers that we shared with our family, and so we focused solely on our own PC’s. Ashley’s family actually started with a Mac, and mine started with a Windows 3.11 PC.

Soon… #6… MacBookPro.

Then, I worked at Radioshack during college for a few years and got:
RadioShack 386SX25 computer with CDROM!
RadioShack 486DX66 computer with MultiMedia!
(Radioshack purchased) IBM Aptiva P2-400, I think?

Then I built a machine that has been with me ever since:
AMD Duron 700 system
-since upgraded to the current status of Athlon 3000 with 7800GS AGP video

I don’t remember any dates, but I was in college from 92-96… the Duron system probably was built in 2000, I’m guessing.

I find it funny that you’re replacing laptops so often. It’s the main reason I always tell people to avoid them - they are not upgradable, and fail too easily.

1. 1994 - IBM 386sx machine
2. 1997 - Dell Dimension
3. 2001 - Dell Dimension 4100
4. 2004 - Apple PowerBook G4
5. 2007 - Apple Mac Pro

At the moment, I’m using both the PowerBook and Mac Pro.

How do you justify the costs of replacing them? (just curious, maybe I could replace my stuff more often too :P)

I guess I should have explained… we’ve been on about a one year schedule for buying laptops the last few years only because we keep them in really great condition and then sell them on eBay. The year we sold the Averatec’s and bought the new Dell computers, we actually made a profit of about $200 by upgrading (mostly because we were going from a Tablet PC to a normal laptop).The next time around after selling our first Dell computers, we spent about $100 for each of us to upgrade.After the initial investment was made several years ago, we haven’t really had to spend much at all to upgrade.

Also, because we sell every year, we don’t have to worry about the technology depreciating so the laptops always sell for a great price. If you’re only a generation behind on processors, most people will find that acceptable when buying a used computer on eBay.

I guess you could say we’re the type of people that like to keep up with computer technology, similar to how some people like to invest in large flat-screen TVs or other technology (maybe cameras?). We don’t buy into other electronics, just computers and found that by selling on eBay, we get a great return and are able to keep up with the “latest” without spending money.

Hopefully that helps explain things.

Other than that, it’s great.

II. Second Computer was purely for my business and was a Vector Graphic running CP/M 86 (a better processor than the 8800). Came with a 10 Meg hard drive and still used a 5-1/4″ floppy. This was just when IBM came out with their PC, and the main reason the Vector Graphic was purchased is it had a BUILT-IN hard drive instead of one outside the case. A built in monitor was part of the system.

III. About 1988 bought a NEC portable with two 3-1/2″ floppies. Bought it for personal use mainly to learn MS DOS and see how it worked. I think this was my first experience with a mouse and remember how difficult it was to use.

IV. For the business about 1989, bought a no-name 386 with 1 Meg of memory and finally sold out to Microsoft running MS DOS. Later added another 3 Megs and ran VM386 (Virtual Machine)having three terminals wired to the main box giving four people use of the one computer. Quite sure it ran at 40 MHz.

V. Around 1994, left company and ended up with a Gateway 486 which I later updated with an alternative processor - don’t remember the manufacturer of the alternative processor. I think my first Windows machine and seem to remember waiting until Windows 3.1 was out.

VI. Fujitsu Laptop about 2000

VII. Bought a Gateway 6400 server about 2002. It did not include the operating system, so I purchased Windows 2000 Professional because I wanted to add a second processor sometime down the line which I did. Still use the computer on a somewhat limited basis (it’s right behind me so I just spin around) mainly for running my stock portfolio. It’s my Quicken machine too since it has a number keypad. I did add a decent 19″ LCD monitor a few years back.

VIII. Compaq laptop running Windows XP bought in 2004. I still use it in my living room where it is connected wirelessly.

IX. My main computer I bought just over a year ago. It’s a Dell laptop Inspiron 9400 running Windows Vista Premium. I got it with 2 Gigs of memory and a 17″ widescreen monitor. With the 2 gigs of memory I’ve had no problems with Vista (by luck I got a free copy of Windows Office 2007 so I didn’t have a problem there either). Widescreen and higher display setting allow me to make good use of Vista. I did add a USB number keypad so I could more easily run Excel.

Actually 9 in 26 years isn’t all that many.

After the ThinkPads no other laptop has felt as one: they mean business, serious business. No complaint.

The Inspiron 5400 had heating issues which finally got solved once I thoroughly cleaned it, unseated the processor and applied new thermal cake.

Now I am having problems with the 6400 charger. I don’t like Dell designs, seems like they try too hard to make something beautiful but still feels cheap.

As for the Pavilion, I had a lot of drivers issues with Vista (surprise!) even as it was sold as Vista Ready.

Commodore 64 > Amiga 2000 & Amiga 500 > HP ze5475 laptop & HP m9040n desktop