Just throw it away?

Nath'aal · 12-08-2005, 08:45 AM

So, I found an ancient 386 sitting on the side of the road. It seems to be running fine, I just don't have a serial mouse/keyboard, so I've only been able to turn it on so far. My two questions would be where should I look for a mouse/keyboard for this relic and what would you do with something this primitive? In general I'm thinking purely for fun or as a learning experience.

soronil · 12-08-2005, 09:38 AM

just search ebay for "serial mouse" and "at keyboard" you'll find a ton. you'll also find little adapters to go from ps2 to at and ps2 to serial, which work well. I have no idea what you might do with a computer so old though, except play WarWizard!

http://www.bradmcquaid.com/WarWizard.htm

Orlun · 12-08-2005, 09:42 AM

There kind of fun to mess with in a nostagic kind of way. A few years ago, I dug out two old 486-50's from the office basement and took them home to play with. First impression is how fast they boot up and are ready for input. Made me realize how some things modern are not as good as they were. (this was to the dos prompt, by the way)

I ended up painting both computers black and installing them into my telescope observatory shed in the back yard. One ran a dos based freeware skymapping program and the other ran a homebuilt CCD camera that I built to capture images. Fun for awhile but I got tired of the outmoded software and grew away from that hobby as well.

As far as you, if you don't have a use for it, take it apart an marvel at how sturdy they built back then. Then recyle it in the trash. Otherwise, its going to take up space.

Whats the case look like? I've aways wanted to find an old IBM case and mod it to be filled with modern innards.

Razorwire · 12-08-2005, 09:54 AM

playing old video games is basicly what I would do with it. go find a copy of wing commander somewhere.

Slide · 12-08-2005, 10:39 AM

Put Linux or something on it.

Havelock · 12-08-2005, 11:30 AM

Old computers rule. I'm going to get an Apple IIe for my apartment once I get my new desktop and some new furniture.

Traldan · 12-12-2005, 06:32 PM

Linux is a good option. Hell, you could even get WINE set up and run old windows games on it through Linux. :P

If you find a cheap mechanical keyboard, let me know lol. They rock even today, because you get the 'buckling-spring' feedback, instead of pushing down on a little spongy membrane. It's a matter of taste I suppose.