If you've ≥5 computers, do you use them all or feel guilty?

[ThinkPad560X]

I though of selling off some of my ThinkPads and keeping around 5 but it breaks my heart to sell any so I built a small strong wood box cart to fit them in "Laid on sides like a book shelf" and small enough to store some place that isn't noticeable that way when I want to bring an oldie out I can. Mostly around winter time is when I mess with my old ThinkPads. Now need a place to stick all the docking stations.

I do have lose ThinkPads laying around in a box. 2 701c models with Win3.11 and 95 along with their port replicators, a 560X missing ram and battery. Sold the 2nd 380z and parts complete R51, still have a R50 and T40 motherboard and a IBM PC 300GL board laying around. I kept them because I know someone will needs parts some day.

[emeraldgirl08]

Former >5 computer owner here. In my case it was a liberating feeling letting go and looking forward in terms of keeping several computers around. These days I keep only what I need around i.e. desktop for heavy graphics (courtesy of my R9 270), Chromebook for school, Thinkpad x2001 (Frankie) for backup, and a TR4050e (also a Frankie) for a glorified typewriter (will part with this soon). In my case it is practical as money can be tight and as my current setup is working fine at the moment. I do have future plans which include upgrading the desktop to an i5 and maybe replacing the x2001 for an x230 non-tablet sometime soon. The TR4050e is just not seeing much use and I am ok with donating it to a local charity (e.g. Goodwill). That will soon bring me down to 3 computers on my no-nonsense tech diet

[Yandar]

Lets see...

One custom built desktop.
One HP Microserver Gen8
One fanless, silent digital signage pc repurposed.
One T41p (Retired)
One x31 (kids pc)
One X61 ( Linux test machine)
One X200s (General Windows test machine)
One x220 (Daily driver)

[BigWarpGuy]

I have five computers. One was recently upgraded to Windows 10, one is waiting to be upgraded to Windows 10 but currently running Windows 8.1 with Bing, one has a form of Linux on it but I want to upgrade it to a better Linux distro, one is a Chromebook and one has eComStation 2.2 but needs newer drivers from Arca Noae. I have three others; a Chromebook that does not work anymore and a Asus EEE netbook that does not work but it is more of a collectible since it has a panel on the back and the OLPC which I bought as a 'buy one give one' deal. I had others that no longer worked and I got rid of them. I use three of them on a regular basis. A couple I use every so often.

[Khipata]

Dear Emeraldgirl,

Please, DO NOT donate it to Goodwill, because they will keep the power adapter, sell it (adapter only) for $2 and trash the machine...
I know, seen them and been there... Majority of employees there have no clue... For example I bought brand new, boxed IBM serial CD drive for $ 4.99 plus tax and after 3 days I saw banged up (broken and torn cord) IBM USB floppy drive with $39.99 price tag on it...
If you want to get rid of that machine, I will gladly take it for actual shipping cost to Arlington, VA

[theterminator93]

Gee, now I have to count all my computers.

5 desktops, 16 ThinkPads, and 3 other laptops from other manufacturers.

Only one of the desktops is "modern" (A 2600K based machine) - the others are all at least ten years old and are on a private network in the basement for retro PC gaming. There's a ThinkCentre S50 with a Northwood 3.4, a custom P-III 600, Dell Optiplex P-III 866, a Dell XPS D333 P-II 333 and a custom Pentium MMX 166.

I use four of the ThinkPads (T420, T61p, T60, T60p) on a regular basis, another (T42p) gets used on a more semi-regular basis. The others are more for the "collection" but are turned on and get used every few months - either for nostalgic purposes or because some are used as retro gaming platforms. Over the course of a year they all get used or at least turned on a couple of times.

Of the 3 laptops from other manufacturers - the newest (Latitude D810) I use as a platform for tuning my car; the others are even older than my oldest ThinkPad - kept only for sentimental value and don't get used; a Compaq LTE Lite 4/25e and a Librex 386SX.

[twisting_edge]

I basically use 3 machines regularly, although the specific sub-notebook can vary.

1. desktop - my main rig at home, piles of storage, lots of processor, etc, used constantly as a typewriter
   laptop - one of the x series thinkpads, this one changes around a bit. I use one on the train every day, where I get most of my personal (and more interesting) programming done
   work machine - the W series thinkpad, used all day, we've got a couple of rack servers I can grab a few machines from if I need it (used to happen a few times a month, hasn't happened in two years, now)

Then there's the junk machines I never seem to get rid of: an old dell, an even older HP, and one I plan to keep, an IBM XT (from the early 80s, donated to me by a friend) that I used almost every day from 1995-1998. I haven't booted that last in about ten years, so I'm a little nervous about it's condition. It's the only one I would keep for collector/nostalgia value.

It's scary to think that if I get an X24, I'll be using a machine almost as old as that XT was when I used it daily. Machines haven't changed as much over the past 15 years as they did from 1984-1999, though. If my X32 had another core (mostly to run antivirus) at the same speed (1.7GHz), it would be a perfectly functional, mid-range netbook today (2Gb RAM). I think my XT is 4.77MHz, with 640k. By 1994 (10 years later, current age of my X32), you basically had to have 33MHz and 4 Mb to do anything, and that would be on the low end.

[MikalE]

My very first system was an IBM Aptiva 133 or 166, I can't remember which, bought from RadioShack around 96 or so. Then it was another IBM Aptiva in '99 I bought from Circuit City.

I currently have five desktops and four laptops with an offer out for another that I've heard nothing about yet.

The five desktops were used as a network to run Microsoft Flight Simulator on a full-size, fully functional Boeing 727 flight simulator. Since I bought a new house and dismantled the 727, it hasn't been rebuilt yet and there is only one still in current service. That one is an Acer Core 2 Duo 2.5Mhz running Win XP Pro 32 bit. The rest are all pretty close to that except for a Pentium IV Dell tower.

I just started getting into the recent T series laptops. I bought an E530 a few years ago just to have a mobile system around the house and yard. Once I discovered how cheap these older T series are I can't stop buying them. I could never afford these when new.

I have a T500 with only 100 GB hard drive, 6GB RAM running Win 7 Pro 64. This one is used mostly for piping music to the back yard via iTunes Homesharing from either the E530 or T510. It is connected to a 100 watt amp and a couple of outdoor speakers in the back yard.

The T510 took over everyday use that the E530 was doing. I use it to program my radio receivers, bulletin boards, Photoshop editing, Google Earth, doing my taxes, keeping a budget, etc.

The E530 is going to be wiped and reloaded and given to my nephew for a Christmas present for school work. He started high school this season and his folks can't afford a computer for him.

The W520 that I don't yet have will take over for the T510 and the T510 will probably run WX Radar and Storm Prediction Center charts and diagnostics.

[excal32]

I only have as many computers as I need. I don't keep around machines I don't use (with one exception). I just use a lot of machines.

760, 2x X61, T61p (RIP, replaced by a widescreen T60, but the 61p lives on forever in my heart), X201, T420.

I have 2x X61 because one stays on a shelf. It works perfectly, but traveled with me very much, is a bit beat up and is covered in stickers from different places I played at. I played on a lot of different music performances and always selected this one X61 to come with me on stage. Now it is sacred to me. If it broke, I would still keep it on a shelf. If it got lost, I would be devastated. So, I have a second X61 that does not carry any sentimental value.

[pianowizard]

I forgot about this thread! I am happy to report that even though I now possess 14 computers, they are all used regularly. That being said, I could downsize my collection a little. My Gateway NX860X laptop has been on loan to one of my lab members. When he is done with it, I will sell it. Further, my Sony Pro13 and HP Pavalion x2 are somewhat redundant, and could be replaced by the Microsoft Surface 3.

The above was posted on Wed Aug 12, 2015, and I have made some excellent progress since. I am now down to 11 computers by selling the abovementioned Gateway NX860X and HP Pavilion x2, and also an IBM Thinkpad X31.

Among these 11 computers, 6 are used mostly by people in my lab, and only 5 are used exclusively by me:

Dell Inspiron 7500 laptop (at home)
Dell OptiPlex 9010 USFF desktop (at home)
HP 8300 Elite minitower (at work)
Panasonic Let's Note CF-Y9 laptop (at work)
Sony Vaio Pro13 laptop (at home)

Excluding the Inspiron (which is just a collectible), I have one laptop and one desktop at home, and one laptop and one desktop at work. I think that's very reasonable, and so I finally don't feel guilty any more!

[EvoT61]

Hmm, i have desktop - rusting in the cupboard
1xT61 in parts
T61 daily to watch movies, play,web prototyping
x220 - linux - daily
x230 - linux - daily
and in the end i use 3 thinkpads at once ...
well x220 and x230 mainly for challenging linux but x230 is my main one .. if i go - he goes

[systemBuilder]

At some point in 2005/2006 I decided that T42's were the best thinkpads of all time, with DDR1 and good benchmarks and they don't get hot on your lap, and because of DDR1 they out-benchmarked T43's, which have slower cheaper memory (double pumped), so they were temporarily better than T43's and beyond.

I have something like 8 Thinkpad T42 computers. It started with a $2200 purchase of a T42 (ATI 9600 SXGA+) in 2006. Eventually I was buying these for $200-$300 with a full version of office (buy MS-Office and get the computer for free), in 2010-2011. Some of them are T42p's. All of them are SXGA+ models with 3D graphics (ATI 9600 64MB or FireGL v2 which is an ATI 9600 with 128MB). And they are fun to work on, like bicycles, the repair manual makes it easy. So therefore, I bought a bunch of used / broken ones, intending to fix them all. Then I got involved in moving to a new house or two and they got lost for a while. I got slowed down and discouraged because Microsoft is so jerkey about Windows-XP reinstalls and makes you phone up the nice man in India who admits that they intentionally print the install code illegibly to make you call in order to reinstall Windows-XP (some were lacking hard drives). I have a stash of spare parts to keep them working for another decade.

But they won't play video above 480p reliably, and they run very slowly because background jobs (including virus scanners) on windows now expect to waste 1 cpu as if you're not looking .. After they waste that 1 spare CPU, there is nothing left for your browser or main foreground task to use ...

I also have a T60p with FireGL 5200 which I have upgraded to a T7500 CPU and 750GB SATA 7200 rpm and a bright new samsung screen and I reflashed the eDID (I'll never do that again!). It can still can play league of legends and a few other games respectably well. So I dumped about $200 into that $85 laptop shell.

My work laptop is a T430s but it's probably my least favorite laptop because battery life sucks and it burns my thighs.

[dr_st]

At some point in 2005/2006 I decided that T42's were the best thinkpads of all time, with DDR1 and good benchmarks and they don't get hot on your lap, and because of DDR1 they out-benchmarked T43's, which have slower cheaper memory (double pumped), so they were temporarily better than T43's and beyond.

T43 has faster memory, but with higher latencies.

T42 indeed may have been a better buy than the T43 when both came out. This was changed once people figured out how to do the SATA mod to unlock the potential of the T43's storage interface. Plus, T43 (like T6x) has ExpressCard and CardBus, so it enjoys both expansion capabilities. T42 is stuck with CardBus.

Even though I love my T42, it is definitely less useful in the modern world nowadays compared to a T43.

[thinkpadgeek91]

I have 6 systems.

T420, My main machine for everyday use and side work.
13" MacBook Pro, my video editing machine and media converter. (Wife is using it full time for school right now. )
Latitude E6430, my work machine.
Thinkpad A31, on loan to my little brother with linux on it. (He's learning coding with Raspbery Pi and I wanted him to try Ubuntu/Fedora)
T61, on loan to mom because she wouldn't let me touch their Lenovo desktop and and they let it run wild with virus' for several years.And toasted the HD. (She has no admin rights so she can't download or break anything. )
Latitude E830, wife's old machine, now it lives as my Battlefield 1942 and Vietnam machine. (Has a dedicated graphics card. )

This is a small list compared to the past. Also have a PowerMac G4 and G5 and a couple Powerbook G4's in storage. The G5 will get out of the garage when I finally have a home with space for a desk again. That thing converts movies like a champ. Not to mention it's a working quad 2.7Ghz PPC G5 liquid cooled that never melted down.

[TonyJZX]

I have too many laptops and stuff. But to me they are temporary companions... I used an X300 and X200 as general work machines, on the road on the train, at customers sites etc.

They are getting on, the 300 is just too slow. The X200 has a bad fan and they have a lot of wear but typical of TP they work ok. I also have T61 that was a useful machine up until the Nvidia bga thing made it a bit flaky.

Right now I basically use a T410/T420 as general home machine, they dont leave the house. They can but I dont feel like lugging 2kg.

My go to work machines are a T400s and a X200/X201 whatever.

I also have pile of Latitudes and Elitebooks I dont use too much either. What do you do with them?

Be that as it may, they're not worth anything but I hardly paid anything for them, the X200 I got for free, the T400s/410 I got for $50 and fixed it up with bits I had lying around.

Better than buying new trash from the high street stores.

I also live in a two story house so I leave one downstairs and leave them in various rooms rather than move laptops around. I also leave my work given laptop unusued and use my own. Any data on your own laptop is yours and they have no right to any BYOD laptop you use.

Also my T400/410/420s look the same as the work machines so no one minds.

[unix_joe]

I would have said that I only have three computers (two laptops, one desktop) and one on permanent loan to my father (X30 running Scientific Linux 6), but that is forgetting the IBM PS/2s that I have at my parents' house. I went home yesterday and counted at least five...8086 and 286 workstations, some with color monitors, some with hard drives, and all with Model M keyboards. I also found a PowerPC 7200/90 Macintosh that I have no recollection of acquiring, and more recent components of homebuilt systems from my college days.

The cool thing is, the PS2s are from the late 80's and have none of the discoloration typically associated with beige PCs...but the last desktop I built in college (about 8 years ago) has already turned yellowish-brown. Do I feel guilty? Not really. One day when I actually have a house, I will have a perfectly restored PS2 running FreeDOS sitting beside the Macintosh (which has also retained its beige color).

Was just browsing the thread tonight and a lot has changed in five years. Five moves, four countries, 3x the annual income and two kids later I no longer own any Thinkpads. Instead, I have four desktop systems, an iPad, an EliteBook, and the 12" Macbook Retina. For desktops, I have a fanless Haswell Compulab machine, a Mac Mini, a custom-built fan less i7 NUC, and a Sun Ultra 27 Quad core Xeon. I also have a FreeNAS server and a fanless/headless AMD build running as personal firewall/router.

So that's six desktops, two laptops, and the iPad Air that I'm typing on while I travel with a Zagg keyboard case/cover combo.

MOST of my machines have a specific purpose. I prefer desktops these days because of the screen real estate and the fact that most laptops have become absolute trash (off-center keyboards, useless trackpads, dumb keyboard layouts, short screens). So my primary machine at the house, the one that I spend most most of my time using, is the Compulab with OpenBSD and a couple of IPS monitors. For schoolwork, I have the Ultra 27 running Windows 10 with dual displays. My wife mainly uses the Mac Mini on a 30" Dell, but I also use it to sync photos from my iPhone (I switched last year; Android is a dead-end IMO). The MacBook Retina is my wife's travel computer, and the 2170p is my travel computer. AND THEN there's the fanless NUC, sitting unused, which might end up on eBay, but I'll never recover my investment. I could also get rid of the Ultra 27 once I'm finished with grad school [never ever].

So with all of that, here I am typing on an iPad Air 2. It just happened to be the one that was within reach here in the hotel. It is MOSTLY used by my daughter to watch Mr. Rogers Neighborhood or Pocoyo. The ZAGG keyboard case was originally intended for the iPad to be a sort of laptop, but limitations in iOS (wife needed to open a Word document on a USB drive) resulted in the Macbook Retina purchase instead.

All of my machines are plugged into UPS systems due to the poor quality electricity in the third world. No more Linux in the house (all BSD or macOS). No more Thinkpads either.

So maybe I'll revisit this thread five years from now to see where we are. Right now, if I could trade it all in for the iPad Pro with Razer keyboard, I would do it, but that would be a Zen-like reduction of my computing needs and would be a major lifestyle change. Moving around and traveling so often makes it desirable to just have one device for everything. I guess the grass is always greener.

[kfzhu1229]

I have like 8 working ThinkPads. 600, 390X, T22, T23, A30, T42 (technically no longer mine), 2xT43, T530i. 600 is a nice thing to keep. 390X I'm planning to sell. T22 don't get user much. T23 I use it to connect to my printer. A30 I use as speakers. 2xT43 are enjoying their lives in Windows 10 1607 and are my absolutely daily machines. T530i only gets used for things like video editing. There is a Dell OptiPlex GX520 also enjoying its life in Windows 10 1607 and I use it near daily basis as well. I don't feel guilty at all and in fact I feel the opposite because for my T22, T23, and A30, they were ready to go to the dumpster at my high school before I adopted them like three orphans.

[schen]

I don't know how exactly to answer this question. I have more than 5, but several belong to "us", not "me" specifically since I actually have an HTPC attached to all three of our TVs and our "home server" which backs up and serves media to all our machines. So I'm going to go with not counting them.

So here goes:
* Main desktop PC that I do the vast majority of my work on at home. It's a beast with 4 drives and 4 monitors.
* My personal laptop- a T430s
* My Android tablet- nVidia Shield Tablet
* Project machine- Z61m
* Project machine- R500

So, I guess that's my allotted 5. Of course, I'm not counting the misc "parts" machines, or ones that I haven't gotten around to selling yet. I suppose, 5 is a good number for me. I've had more, but when they are finished, I typically give them away. I don't have guilt about it.

[pianowizard]

I am now down to 11 computers...

The above was posted on Oct 15, 2015. After selling four computers, the tally is now down to 7:

Lenovo Thinkpad 8 tablet (personal use)
Sony Vaio Pro13 laptop (personal use)
Dell Inspiron 15-7568 convertible (personal use)
Panasonic Let's Note CF-Y9 laptop (personal use)
Dell OptiPlex 9010 SFF desktop (personal use)
HP 8300 Elite minitower (personal use)
HP 8200 Elite minitower (lab use)

I wouldn't mind selling the Panasonic CF-Y9 as it's almost never used, and here's the for-sale ad: http://www.forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopi ... 1&t=122679

I also made excellent progress downsizing my monitors. The lowest resolution I now have is QHD (2560x1440), and I can't imagine going back to anything shorter than 1440p. No more SXGA, UXGA, FHD, WUXGA, 2048x1152 or 2560x1080 junk!

[kfzhu1229]

No more SXGA, UXGA, FHD, WUXGA, 2048x1152 or 2560x1080 junk!

Not even QXGA? That's the highest resolution T4x/6x/R5x/6x can go! OR you mean that you are fine with something like UXGA resolution on a laptop?

[pianowizard]

Not even QXGA? That's the highest resolution T4x/6x/R5x/6x can go! OR you mean that you are fine with something like UXGA resolution on a laptop?

I was talking about monitors, not laptops. I once had a 21" QXGA monitor, but QHD is 17.2% higher than QXGA and I would not go back to QXGA.

I also used to have two QXGA R50p's and one QXGA T43p. That wasn't a good panel -- too dim and dull.

For both that monitor and the laptops, QXGA felt weird as it was just too narrow to view two side-by-side windows comfortably. QHD is far more usable than QXGA in my opinion. I am typing this post on my 27" QHD touchscreen monitor. This post is relevant: http://www.forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopi ... 6D#p772649

On a laptop, UXGA is too low. I like the UHD (3840x2160) of my 15.6" Dell Inspiron 15-7568. For very casual use though, FHD and WUXGA are okay on a laptop, such as on my Sony Pro13 and Thinkpad 8 respectively. (Yes, I use my Thinkpad like a laptop -- see http://www.forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopi ... 8&t=121458 .)

[kfzhu1229]

For both that monitor and the laptops, QXGA felt weird as it was just too narrow to view two side-by-side windows comfortably. QHD is far more usable than QXGA in my opinion. I am typing this post on my 27" QHD touchscreen monitor. This post is relevant: http://www.forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopi ... 6D#p772649

On a laptop, UXGA is too low. I like the UHD (3840x2160) of my 15.6" Dell Inspiron 15-7568. For very casual use though, FHD and WUXGA are okay on a laptop, such as on my Sony Pro13 and Thinkpad 8 respectively. (Yes, I use my Thinkpad like a laptop -- see http://www.forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopi ... 8&t=121458 .)

I guess you are different than most of us folks here. One of the reasons we have T61 series Frankenpad is because of UXGA or QXGA display coupled with the most modern specs. I like UXGA, but XGA is indeed garbage for me (I mean that depends on the model. XGA in a 600, 765 or 770 is awesome while XGA in A3x/T4x/T6x is completely garbage). But still, UXGA is above the HD standard by most home users. But with the fact that a Note 4 has higher resolution than my computer screen... I don't know what to say about that.
I guess 4:3 and 16:9 all have their advantages. I usually stack desktop icons vertically and in this way UXGA lets me stack more. I usually like to view in windows explorer in details grid and UXGA lets you see more too. For something like PDF viewing, 4:3 is better too. But then video playback will have black areas but doesn't matter to me too much since IPS display is sufficient enough to hide that.
The problem is unless you go for tablets or T540 or later, you don't get a very good IPS panel comparing to that in T4x.
In my opinion, I prefer SXGA than HD (I mean 1366x768) and UXGA than FHD but everyone has different opinions and I see how you like those resolutions better.

[pianowizard]

I guess you are different than most of us folks here.

And I guess that you guessed incorrectly. Die-hard 4:3 fans are very vocal on this forum, but that doesn't mean they constitute the majority. I believe most (i.e. >50%) folks especially the younger ones have already gotten used to 16:10 and/or 16:9 laptops over the past decade. I am not talking about 1366x768 crap, but more reasonable widescreen resolutions like WSXGA+, FHD, WUXGA, QHD, and UHD.

I guess 4:3 and 16:9 all have their advantages. I usually stack desktop icons vertically and in this way UXGA lets me stack more. I usually like to view in windows explorer in details grid and UXGA lets you see more too. For something like PDF viewing, 4:3 is better too...

It's really not that complicated. If you prefer to view just one window at a time, UXGA works better. If you view two or three windows side by side, UXGA is far too narrow.

I see how you like those resolutions better.

You can't see how I prefer FHD over UXGA unless you have viewed two windows side by side on your UXGA. Try it, and you will see that UXGA is terrible for this purpose! But no, I am not a fan of FHD; I merely dislike it less than UXGA. I can tolerate FHD only on 13.3" or smaller laptops. On 14-inchers or larger, it would be a waste to have only FHD. I am typing this post on the 8.3" WUXGA screen of my Thinkpad 8 and find this resolution appropriate for such a tiny screen (I once had a phablet with a larger screen!). In fact, I am not scaling up at all, but am using Windows 10's and Internet Explorer's default 100% scaling. After using smartphones for almost a decade, I have become very comfortable reading small text.

[kfzhu1229]

It's really not that complicated. If you prefer to view just one window at a time, UXGA works better. If you view two or three windows side by side, UXGA is far too narrow.

Well good point here. I actually prefer to use one window at a time or stack windows. I use Samsung phones all the time and this kind of feature was there like 5 years ago (When I used Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Mega 6.3) but I don't use it much because it gets distracting for me. I tried to use window side by side in a T530 too, and I just can't focus. So in case I need to copy/reference to something that isn't long enough to be worthy to use Ctrl C or doing essay work which you can't plagiarize, I usually put the window that I need to copy to right beneath the text I need to copy/paraphrase so that I don't get distracted by other stuff.

You can't see how I prefer FHD over UXGA unless you have viewed two windows side by side on your UXGA. Try it, and you will see that UXGA is terrible for this purpose!

Well that's not bad at all to me because it's like viewing two smartphone screens at the same time. The only time I use this feature often is when I use my computer to display music sheets two pages at a time when the files are jpg instead of pdf
If you want, you can split into two ultrawide screens too
Again, that's only my opinion and no offence to you.

[ThinkPad560X]

I guess I can do an update. I did sell some ThinkPads but ones I never been using but for 5min to mess with them and then turn them back off and back on the shelf. Sold to collectors. I still collect mine but still use them for small task daily stuff.

Sold:

IBM ThinkPad 700T
IBM ThinkPad TransNote
IBM ThinkPad s30
IBM ThinkPad 850
IBM ThinkPad 360CS
IBM ThinkPad 755CD
IBM ThinkPad 760C
IBM ThinkPad 701C (Sold 2 with it port replicators) Kept my personal one.
Lenovo ThinkPad SL300
Lenovo ThinkPad SL500



Have:

DELL Latitude D630
IBM ThinkPad: 700C,701C,760XD,770Z,600X,560X,560Z,570,310ED,380Z,390X, i1200,i1400,240,A22m,A22e,A30,G40, R31,R40,R50,R60,R61,R61i,R400,T20,T23,T30,T40,T60,T61,T400,X21,X30,X41,X41T,X60,X60T,X200,X201,Z60m,Z60T Olympic Edition
Lenovo ThinkPad T410,T420,X220,X300,X100e,X120e

IBM Desktops and Towers: IBM X3200 Server, IBM PS/2 Personal System 50Z 8550, IBM NetVista M41 6792, M41 6790, X40 | Aptiva 2170 | IBM/Lenovo ThinkCentre S50,S50 Ultra Small ,A50p, M50, M51 Tall tower, M82, M55e
DELL OptiPlex 780 Tower

Hand Helds: IBM WorkPad 20X, Z50

[Ernest Nest]

I used to have 1 computer, 2 laptops, 1 i-pad, when I moved I only kept 1 Mac, and an I-pad, and I'm Ok with that, before I "needed them all" .

[pianowizard]

I can no longer answer the question "If you've ≥5 computers, do you use them all or feel guilty?", because I now have only four! This is the first time since this thread started in Oct 2006 that my computer count has dropped below 5. There were two previous times when I claimed that I had fewer than 5 computers, but both times I cheated by not counting computers that I let people in my lab use. I currently have:

HP 8300 Elite minitower bought in 7/2012
Dell OptiPlex 9010 SFF desktop bought in 11/2012
Sony Vaio Pro 13 laptop bought in 1/2014
Microsoft Surface 3 detachable bought in 5/2017

The Pro 13, which was Sony's last and greatest laptop, has been on Craiglist for nearly two months but still hasn't received a single response. I just dropped the asking price to $320, which will hopefully get some attention. After selling it, I can visualize myself getting a 17.3" UHD laptop at some point, but I doubt I will have 5 computers ever again. The Surface 3 meets my needs so very well that I don't feel any need for a mainstream or ultraportable laptop, although a desktop replacement laptop might still be nice to have.

[Thinkpad4by3]

I personally like 16:10 because it has more relestate than 4:3 without being toooo wide. Good for side by side,windows. Also, editing 4:3 photos are better with the side room for other stuff.

[kfzhu1229]

Now my computer count is around 12-13.
Here are the newly salvaged Dell desktops (with Windows 10 Professional and DVDRW drive for all):
Dimension 9010 MT (media use such as Netflix) bought for $30:
Pentium 4 640 @ 3.2ghz
3.5gb RAM (came with 1GB)
Radeon HD 5450 1GB with a fan mod that balances temperature/lifespan and noise (the fan is quieter than the CPU and PSU fan)
80GB SATA (Seagate ST380815AS), 320GB half working SATA, and 200GB 7200rpm IDE (Seagate ST3200827A) for file backup purposes (came with no hdd)
Windows on the 80GB SATA
Connected to a 60" Samsung LED TV (I know the TV itself has Netflix and YouTube too, but I want a full Windows 10 experience for little to no money)
OptiPlex GX520 DT (bought for $30)
Pentium 4 650 @ 3.4ghz (original is 630)
3GB RAM (came with 1GB)
80GB SATA HDD
none of the following were included:
PCI riser with the following cards (and even with these stuff the 220W PSU is starting to struggle):
Radeon HD 3450 512mb PCI
eBay miniPCI to PCI adapter with Intel 2200BG wireless connection from TPT4x series
ESS ES1946_1938 PCI AudioDrive (using it to drive a old home theatre speaker directly)
OptiPlex 755 DT (bought for $40)
8GB RAM (original: 1GB)
Xeon X3363 @ 2.83Ghz, OC to 3Ghz (original: Pentium E2160 @ 1.80ghz, 4 times slower)
120GB Kingston SSD (original: 80GB 7200RPM drive in Dimension 9010 right now)
MSI GeForce 730 (1GB GDDR5) this is the bottleneck, thinking of getting a 1050 for this, since it has a PCI/PCIe riser

GX520 is in my room since it has a WiFi card
755 is beside the router
5010 is behind the TV, so each have their unique purposes and gets used

[thinkpadcollection]

Snip
OptiPlex GX520 DT (bought for $30)
Pentium 4 650 @ 3.4ghz (original is 630)
3GB RAM (came with 1GB)
80GB SATA HDD
none of the following were included:
PCI riser with the following cards (and even with these stuff the 220W PSU is starting to struggle):
Radeon HD 3450 512mb PCI
eBay miniPCI to PCI adapter with Intel 2200BG wireless connection from TPT4x series
ESS ES1946_1938 PCI AudioDrive (using it to drive a old home theatre speaker directly)
OptiPlex 755 DT (bought for $40)
8GB RAM (original: 1GB)
Xeon X3363 @ 2.83Ghz, OC to 3Ghz (original: Pentium E2160 @ 1.80ghz, 4 times slower)
120GB Kingston SSD (original: 80GB 7200RPM drive in Dimension 9010 right now)
MSI GeForce 730 (1GB GDDR5) this is the bottleneck, thinking of getting a 1050 for this, since it has a PCI/PCIe riser

GX520 is in my room since it has a WiFi card
755 is beside the router
5010 is behind the TV, so each have their unique purposes and gets used

Hi kfzhu1229, I forgot to tell you one more thing that you can deal with undersized power supply for your GX520, There is 280W version DT type are for both GX520 and GX620 and several dell models I have a DT, optiplex 760 and needs to get upgraded to 280W from 255W. Also make sure your 755 also have 280W supply as well.

Ebay has them, one of example for good price: I prefer that you should spend little more on parts ( better HDs, I had played with one of 1 head 80GB HD booting and shutting down windows 7 took *forever!* (aorund 5 minutes even on 4GB ram) and this power supply are nowhere cheap anyway but this one is 40 with shipping included and import cost is not a problem as well.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Dell-D280P-00-0R ... Sw~AVYtZ57

PS: I had a complaint from my friend about slow notebook and turns out it was a 1 head 160GB HD in it. Swapped for 2 heads 320GB and that sped up lot even they were both 5400rpm drives. Also your 80GB seagate is also 1 head. I have two of them on dresser doing nothing.

Cheers, thinkpadcollection