[mekrob]

From what I remember, most computers and their components are produced in China, Korea, Taiwan, or Japan, right? I know that most computers don't last that long. I was wondering, would they last longer if they were produced with 'quality' labor?

For the past few decades, I knew it never made sense to have very long lasting (a couple of decades) laptops and computers since there was always new technology coming out and so why spend a few hundred extra bucks on durability that won't matter, but since we're coming into PO and computer technology isn't accelerting like it quite once was, shouldn't we be turning to longer lasting computers.

[Twilight]

I don't think they could be made to last longer. They're already pretty good.

I've got various working Windows machines dating back all the way to 1990. I don't see a reason why the newer stuff can't last as long. I have found virtually all breakdowns are related to simple moving parts in the PSU, cooling fans and disk drives. The solid state stuff hardly ever fails. Friends have had capacitors blow, but what can you do about that? I doubt we could improve on quality there. Most of the time, all you have to do is replace the failed module and the whole works again.

The exception to this is Windows ME being able to destroy HDDs, but that's a special case.

It's all academic anyway, as you need very good power quality to run a computer, and if there's one thing the future does not hold, it's good power quality. You can already see this in the country, distribution is by overhead lines and every little voltage problem trips the breakers with barely a flicker of the lights. It's going to be frustrating using a PC when all our networks are like India's.

Anyway, before long I doubt we will have any use for the things. Anyone got any creative post-crash uses for a PC?

[ucosty]

If you buy a UPS you will have all the parts needed to ensure good quality power. All you then need is some input power of some kind. Even solar/wind/generator power with a battery bank will do.

[What_Went_Wrong]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ucosty', 'I')f you buy a UPS you will have all the parts needed to ensure good quality power. All you then need is some input power of some kind. Even solar/wind/generator power with a battery bank will do.

[Zardoz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Twilight', 'I') don't think they could be made to last longer. They're already pretty good.

I've got various working Windows machines dating back all the way to 1990. I don't see a reason why the newer stuff can't last as long. I have found virtually all breakdowns are related to simple moving parts in the PSU, cooling fans and disk drives. The solid state stuff hardly ever fails. Friends have had capacitors blow, but what can you do about that? I doubt we could improve on quality there. Most of the time, all you have to do is replace the failed module and the whole works again.

[I_Like_Plants]

Physical stuff like fans etc will fail first, then there are issues with capacitors, electrolytics first and then some chip types and tantalums. There will be lots of stuff to scrounge caps out of! Next is semiconductor failures, and with a lot of the unlabeled and custom chips, that's more of a problem.

But remember if TSHTF truly, there will be a fraction of today's population, with all of today's population's junk to play with.

[Eli]

Yeah I think computers don't stop running as much as their processors and memory get outdated.

At work I have couple of computers that were at least 6 or seven years old. It was a real toss up on whether or not to up grade or replace them.

They both only had 128k of memory, they were only used to run Xp and basically a couple of other programs at one time. To upgrade the memory in one of them to over 500k it cost me 140 bucks. It was some outdated memory design that never took off all that well. You can get 2 gigs of ddr2 for the same price.

The biggest driver in computing is software. Gaming and graphics is takes the most power and will show all too well how crappy a machine you have. If I tried to run a game like MS flightX in my old machines they would asspload.

I built my last two systems myself the last one was a dual core that cost me all of 350 bucks off of new egg.

[ohanian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Eli', '
')They both only had 128k of memory, they were only used to run Xp and basically a couple of other programs at one time. To upgrade the memory in one of them to over 500k it cost me 140 bucks. It was some outdated memory design that never took off all that well. You can get 2 gigs of ddr2 for the same price.

[Grifter]

I took Eli to mean 128meg. That was quite harsh.

[ClassicSpiderman]

I think today's computers are more durable (hardware-wise) than the home computers of the 1980s, but that is just speaking from from my anecdotal point of view. I'm more worried about the quality of software nowadays, or to be more precise, proprietary commercial software.

Did you guys know that mainstream support for Windows XP officially ends in 2008-09? You'll all be forced to "upgrade" to Vista which is a resource hog--even for the current generation of PCs sold on the market.

I switched to Linux (Fedora Core 6) about 2 months ago and haven't looked back since. I had a TV card that worked wonderfully in Win95 but worked like crap in XP (choppy video, guaranteed blue screen of death after using it for more than 10 minutes). This TV card, which is almost 10 years old works great in FC6 without needing to install any additional software.

I plan on getting 5+ more years out of my P4 2.2 GHz machine.

[Niagara]

I miss my VIC 20