Computers you've owned

[Medessec]

A lot of my friends are starting to buy Thinkpads from me, after losing their trust in their HP DV7, Dell Latitude, and Acer Aspire laptop computers constantly falling into disrepair and getting damaged- and it's really interesting to see how it's changed their outlook of laptops and mobile computing. The line of computers we've used over time can tell others the sort of computer user you are, and what you expect out of your hardware.

I'd like to share my personal line of computers I've "owned", or had the chance to use. I've only legitimately used laptops, which has long since psychologically linked my mind to the assumption that in using a personal computer, I'd also be able to take it wherever I go.

By the way I've also named my computers, because I'm 12 inside.

1 - "Larry", eMachines eTower 330, Pentium I 300 MHz, 6GB HD, Windows 98. Was used for MS Paint, and Roller Coaster Tycoon.
2 - "Resolute", IBM Thinkpad 760ED, you know what it has. Was my tinkering laptop for the longest time.
3 - "Achilles", Toshiba Satellite 1000, Intel Celeron 1GHz, Intel 830M, 512MB RAM, 40GB HD, Windows XP. Gift from grandpa. First school laptop. Old cruddy thing- ended up selling it.
4 - "Revolution", Toshiba Satellite A305-S6916, Intel Core 2 Duo T6400, ATI Mobility Radeon 3650, 4GB RAM, 320GB HD, Windows Vista. Was a proper Vista machine, so kept me exempt from the "Vista scare", where everyone updated their outdated XP machines to Vista and hated Vista for being so resource intensive. First multimedia capable machine-I started editing video and doing Google SketchUp, and PC Gaming. I still have this laptop, however in horrible visual and operating condition.
5 - "Hellion", Toshiba Qosmio X775-3DV82, Intel Core i7-2670QM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M, 8GB RAM, 2x500GB HD, Windows 7. A gift for my last year of High School. Was my first proper monster performer. The poor engineering eventually caught up with it-the motherboard popped last year. Sold what was left of it for spare money.
6 - "Sauber", Lenovo Thinkpad X60 Tablet, Intel Core Duo L2400, GMA 950, 2GB RAM, 60GB SSD, Windows 7. Was my first Thinkpad that I used extensively. Still use it with a different chassis unit with an L7400.
7 - "Basalt", Lenovo Thinkpad W700, Intel Core 2 Duo T9600, NVIDIA Quadro FX 2700M, 3GB RAM, 320GB HDD, Windows 7. Was my first performance Thinkpad that I used, ended up being my main computer to use between "Hellion" breaking and me obtaining "Darkstar". Now owned by Tasurinchi.
8 - "Darkstar", Clevo D900F, Intel Xeon W3570, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285M, 12GB RAM, 1.75TB combined HDD space+160GB SSD, Windows 7. My current main unit and most powerful machine. Replaced "Hellion", and bought from a craving of insane power and engineering quality(seen from working on D900Ts)
9 - "Doppelganger", Lenovo Thinkpad W700ds, Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000, NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700M, 8GB RAM, 500GB RAID 0, Windows 7. My "king Thinkpad" novelty unit, multimedia(3D/video/animation) productivity workstation and secondary computer to use.

Well... to best sum it up, I learned after using Basalt and Sauber, that really... a laptop that is built well always trumps a laptop that is built to a price point. New Cheapos are almost always surpassed by Secondhand Premiums in every way.

This is a list of computers that I have used constantly, for school or work, and living in general. I'm not counting computers I have strictly for novelty, such as my prized T43p, 760 and 770, A31p, etc.

You guys are free to share lists of your own... you don't have to explain that far in detail, but yeah.

[Cigarguy]

Interesting thread.

I've owned, used and abused way to many computers to list. I do have a few more sunsets than you do. My original was an IBM PC XT $2,800 bought in the late 80s while I was in high school. I worked all summer at a summer job and saved every dime for this baby. Every since then I've owned IBM PC or compatible desktops from a 80286 to my current Haswell desktop build.

My first laptop was a Thinkpad, a T40, given to me as part of work. That was when I feel in love with Thinkpads and got used to and entrenched with the classic Thinkpad keyboard. Currently I own about 12 Thinkpads (but only from T60 to T420/T520 generation) and growing, a Dell Lattitude and a couple of Elitebooks. For anything newer than Sandy Bridge, I prefer HP Elitebooks. Currently work provides me with a Lattitude E6430 for use.

Out of all of these my personal preference is the 4:3 T60 with X1400. I like both the 14" and 15" version of this series.

[WillAdams]

Mostly it's in my signature.

When I was a kid I cut grass one summer to buy a Commodore 64 and a Radio Shack PC-1 (w/ printer). First computer when I graduated high school was a 128K Mac.

In addition, I still have my NeXT Cube, and a SparcStation 5 w/ OpenStep 4.2 --- at one point in time, my machine at work was a Mac Quadra 950, so I was concurrently using Windows, Mac OS, PenPoint OS and NeXTstep machines of similar specs --- my favourite was the Cube (would still be using it if I could) and PenPoint made a perfect complement to it.

(there should also be an Epson ActionNote 500c in the list below)

[Cigarguy]

Mostly it's in my signature.

When I was a kid I cut grass one summer to buy a Commodore 64 and a Radio Shack PC-1 (w/ printer). First computer when I graduated high school was a 128K Mac.

In addition, I still have my NeXT Cube, and a SparcStation 5 w/ OpenStep 4.2 --- at one point in time, my machine at work was a Mac Quadra 950, so I was concurrently using Windows, Mac OS, PenPoint OS and NeXTstep machines of similar specs --- my favourite was the Cube (would still be using it if I could) and PenPoint made a perfect complement to it.

(there should also be an Epson ActionNote 500c in the list below)

Oh yes, forgot about my TRS-80, Commodore 64 and 128. Ah those were the days, upgrading from a tape drive to a floppy drive was nothing short of amazing.

[Tasurinchi]

I also lost track of all my computers used in the past (I'm some generations older as well ) I remember my first one was an IBM clone with an Intel 286 and 2MB RAM, forgot the details about the drive and graphics.

Since I build my own desktops I also lost track how many computers I had, I normally re-use the cabinet upgrading the components only.

For laptops is a different thing, since I started collecting Thinkpads not so long ago. I had a T30 that went to my brother in law. Then years ago I shortly had a R50 that went later to my father and a T60 wide that went for him too.

I then never gave any Thinkpad away (current collection listed in my sig)

7 - "Basalt", Lenovo Thinkpad W700, Intel Core 2 Duo T9600, NVIDIA Quadro FX 2700M, 3GB RAM, 320GB HDD, Windows 7. Was my first performance Thinkpad that I used, ended up being my main computer to use between "Hellion" breaking and me obtaining "Darkstar". Now owned by Tasurinchi.

That's a cool name, I'll keep the name in your honor. Basalt is now in the VIP place in my desk

[dr_st]

I too like to name my computers. But I am too embarassed to share the names here.

My first privately owned computer was a Pentium 100MHz desktop, bought back in 1996.

Before that I had the opportunity to play with a Thinkpad my father received from work. It was a 486-SX something (probably 355 series). That was when my love for the brand (and addiction to the trackpoint) started. That's also when I learned the tricks of computers and MS-DOS, and when I've beaten my first video games (Prince of Persia 1 and 2, and The Lost Vikings). So that Thinkpad will always have a special place in my heart.

[rkawakami]

I think this is a simple list for me... "none". "Owned" implies that I no longer have it. As my wife could tell you, I don't throw anything computer-related away .

Hmm... okay, there's one laptop that was stolen so I guess I'll have to list that. It was a DFI 8120 (I think that was the model number) that went missing in Sept. 2002 in Australia. If you want to talk about the dinosaurs that I still own, I have a home-built tower that has an Intel 486DX4-100 in it. Haven't turned it on in over a decade. Ran Windows 3.11/DOS and was the first family computer. Have a Zenith SuperSport 286 that was working last time I turned it on ( http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 60#p465360 ). Lugged that from Pittsburgh, PA, to DC and back to CA by way of STL, DEN, LAS, SNA, on a 3 week family outing about 20 years ago. And no, it wasn't done through those airports; I'm talking about 4 adults and 2 kids (7 and 3) in a Dodge Caravan. That came from work when they decided it wasn't useful any more. Sun Ultra 5 and Ultra 10 workstations purchased via eBay are gathering dust under my desk (about 5 years retired now). Those were running Solaris and were bought when I was writing test programs for an Advantest memory tester. Have a Windows 98 Gateway P600 tower still running, along with my last non-Thinkpad laptop (Gateway 450SX4, but hasn't been on in about a year). Both of those Gateways, along with my wife's Gateway tower were bought new. All the Thinkpads you see in my signature are eBay-sourced, except for the X41t which was a present from work when the company shut down.

[unix_joe]

Desktop wise, my oldest machines have always been a load of IBM PS/2s that were thrown out by a community college in the early 90's. I grabbed what I could over several trips, sold a few, and still have about a dozen machines sitting in the bedroom at my parents' house. Some are 8086, most are 80286, and the enterprising ones are the machines with over a meg of RAM and 10MB HDD. I believe those can run Windows 3.0, but not 3.1. The real takeaway from those PS/2s are the Model M keyboards, one of which has followed me a the majority of the 17 places I've lived over the past decade.

My *first* PC was a 486 Packard Bell. It was overclocked to 100MHz; even in those days, one case fan was sufficient to cool the internals, so all it has is the built-on heatsink. I always wanted to upgrade to a Pentium Overdrive 83 for better floating-point performance (Quake), but the price of those chips has stayed around $100 USD even after all these years. It still boots and runs, 545MB HDD and all. As a kid, subjected to those PC magazines always reporting that Packard Bells were cheap crap that would never survive a year, while touting the supposed superiority of Micron, Dell, and NEC, I learned to read between the lines...all their advertisements were for Micron, Dell, and NEC.

Later on, from middle school through college, I had the same white ATX case, that housed internals spaning from a AMD K6 and ending somewhere in the early AMD64 era. (BTW, it's AMD64, any attempt to call it x64 or x86-64 is revisionist history!) That machine was originally built to handle FreeBSD 3.2, and made it to FreeBSD 6.x, with incremental upgrades made every so often. The final motherboard died somewhere around the end of the KDE 3.5x era, after which I moved to Thinkpads, since a portable machine is more conducive to a military lifestyle.

All of laptops I've owned are in my signature. I entered around the T4x era, am typing away on an X201 whose chassis still reads X200, and will return to custom built machines (low powered ITX this time) when this is no longer sustainable. My thoughts about the direction Lenovo has taken are best saved for other threads, but I'm glad that we live in an era with the most consumer empowerment and diversity of choice that I can remember.

[jayton4]

My *first* PC was a 486 Packard Bell. It was overclocked to 100MHz; even in those days, one case fan was sufficient to cool the internals, so all it has is the built-on heatsink. I always wanted to upgrade to a Pentium Overdrive 83 for better floating-point performance (Quake), but the price of those chips has stayed around $100 USD even after all these years. It still boots and runs, 545MB HDD and all. As a kid, subjected to those PC magazines always reporting that Packard Bells were cheap crap that would never survive a year, while touting the supposed superiority of Micron, Dell, and NEC, I learned to read between the lines...all their advertisements were for Micron, Dell, and NEC

My first computer was a brand new Packard Bell Legend 22CD that my parents got me back around 1993. I still remember the specs off the top of my head as if it were yesterday:
-80486DX2/66MHz
-4MB RAM which was immediately upgraded to 8MB, and later upgraded to 12MB
-420MB HDD, which I used MS-DOS Doublespace (and later Drivespace) to get it up over 600MB
-Forte 16 bit sound card
-2400bps modem/9600bps when using it for Fax
-ISA Riser card with 4 ISA slots
-One of the first models with a double speed CD-ROM

The 2400bps modem died and I replaced it with a 28.8kbps Xoom internal ISA modem, and then later a 56K USR external serial modem

After 2 years, I wanted more graphics performance, so I got a new videocard by STB. I did not know about the new PCI interface and realized that my new card was not going to work with the ISA Riser card in my PC. Packard Bell offered a special replacement riser card that had 2 PCI slots in addition to the ISA slots. I swapped in the riser card with PCI slots, but it still didn't work. So I called Packard Bell tech support, and they said that I needed a BIOS upgrade in order for the new riser card to work with my system. They sent me the BIOS update on a 3.5" floppy disk. I booted to the disk and began the BIOS update. The BIOS update failed, and my 2 year old (still considered fairly new back in those days) computer instantly became a dead doorstop. I was one sad kid. I'll never forget the horror of losing my first computer, that I spent such a ridiculous amount of time using up until it died.



My first laptop was in the year 2000 when I was in college. It was a 2year old IBM ThinkPad 390X 2626M0U that I got off of ebay for $500. I still have that 390X, and it was in daily use as recent as two years ago as my garage computer. I used it to look up automotive service manuals and to play music off the network while I worked in the garage. I think the heat got the best of the plastic casing while being in the garage, as the left hinge eventually busted through.

[kony]

I've owned many desktop PCs and constantly made upgrades to them, therefore I won't list them as it's all blurry now. I will mention, however, my first PC, as it will always have a special place in my heart:
It was Pentium II 233 MHz, 96 MB RAM (32 MB at first, but I upgraded it after a year or so) and Voodoo 2 3DFx - amazing gpu at the time Oh, it also have 4 GB HDD, I always had to choose what game to install and keep playing, as I couldn't have the OS and multiple games at the same time, so if I wanted to play Baldur's Gate I had to remove Diablo 2 etc. I always used Windows 98 SE on it.

I had only a few laptops so I can easily list them all. Listed from the newest to the oldest:
Lenovo Thinkpad T430: i5-3320M 2.6GHz, 8GB RAM DDR3, Intel HD 4000 (shared), 128GB SSD + 500GB HDD, 14" 1366x768,
Nov 2013, 4500 PLN (about $1500), OS: Linux Mint 15 Xfce
Toshiba Satellite L500: C2D 2.10 GHz, 4GB RAM DDR2 800MHz, ATI Radeon 4650 1024 MB VRAM, HDD 320GB 5400 RPM, 15.6" 1366x768,
2009-still works, 3500PLN (about $1100), OS: Windows Vista -> Ubuntu -> Windows 7.
Panasonic Toughbook CF-71: Pentium II 300 MHz, 96MB RAM DDR, NeoMagic 1 MB VRAM, upgraded HDD to 80GB 4200 RPM, 13.3" 1024x768,
2010-still works, 200PLN (about $70, the only second hand PC I bought), OS: Windows 98 SE.
Compaq Presario V2000: AMD Turion 64 ML-30 1.60 GHz, 1536 MB RAM DDR 333MHz, ATI Radeon Xpress 200M 128 MB (Shared), HDD 80GB 4200 RPM, 14" 1280x768,
May 2005-2007 (motherboard broke) , $1600, OS: Windows XP Pro + Ubuntu.

[Medessec]

I really did not expect to hear all these interesting outlines of really old machines... I guess I'm way too young for all this. All this talk of ISA and 286 and overclocking 100 MHz... good god.

I've always been fascinated by the old machines though... my friend and I once came across this really old IBM AT case, that came with some sort of Pentium I and a AMD K6 to spare. It had EDO RAM and I think 3 ISA slots with 4 PCI... and the motherboard PCB was yellow. Geez... shows how much I know. Dangit. I might have that motherboard with me though.

It still does bring back memories with my eMachines tower... half the time it didn't even look that way, I had the front bezel peeled off and the case inside exposed. And... because I was 7 more of my time was spent playing Roller Coaster Tycoon and Transport Tycoon than tinkering with it. Wasn't until I got that 760E that I really started screwing around.

That's a cool name, I'll keep the name in your honor. Basalt is now in the VIP place in my desk

AWESOME. I'm pretty sure that thing is enjoying Switzerland... it needed a change of scenery. But seriously, glad to see it's being treated right. I just need to keep up on my W700ds...

[Cigarguy]

I really did not expect to hear all these interesting outlines of really old machines... I guess I'm way too young for all this. All this talk of ISA and 286 and overclocking 100 MHz... good god.

Gosh, when do we come over to change your diapers you baby you? LOL

You would have enjoyed the earlier days of the IBM PC era. Machines of that generation were sturdy, well built and requires a certain amount of geekness to make them hum. As a geek that was one of the appeal. There were PC, Commodore, Vic 20 and Amiga clubs meeting out of community colleges and community centers. I remember how awed I was at seeing a full colour VGA graphic when the norm was a monochrome CRT moniter. It was a time when a HDD to a floppy drive is what a SSD is to HDD of today. And many many more. Yes you definitely would have enjoyed it. It came at a financial cost and a lot of time commitment but we didn't care.

[dr_st]

As long as we are on the topic of oldies,

I still own my second ever privately purchased PC. It is an AMD-K6 II desktop, which was sold to me with a 475MHz CPU (or at least that's what I was told ; there is no way to check short of disassembling the thing and looking at the CPU physically, which I am reluctant to do), somewhere in 1999-2000. About a year and a half into the cycle, the motherboard had to be replaced, and since then it's been running flawlessly. Of course it's been all but unused in the past ~7 years, which helps prolong its life, no doubt.

Back in those days, you had no BIOS settings to overclock/underclock. Instead you had jumpers on the board to set base clock and multipliers. It was set to 95x5 = 475MHz. When I changed the board, I realized I could probably try to set them differently and achieve some overclock. It worked perfectly on 100x5 = 500MHz. And as a bonus, it also gave me 1:1 CPU/RAM ratio, and RAM that runs at 100MHz.

Interestingly, the BIOS, Windows and all utilities recognize the CPU simply as "AMD-K6 II @500MHz". I could not find any indication anywhere what the actual chip is.

There was also a setting to get it to 550MHz, but it was not stable at that speed. I thought about increasing the voltage (this is done using jumpers too), but alas, the board did not have any settings between 2.2V (which is stock for that CPU) and 2.8V, which was considered way-too-high for it, based on whatever information I could gather online from overclockers of that time.

So, it's been running happily at 500MHz ever since. It has a 3dfx Voodoo 3000 GPU, a Sound Blaster AWE64, and a 80GB IBM Hard Drive (which was a later addition, originally it only had something like 17GB!). It has Windows 98 SE installed, booting into pure DOS, and serving as a DOS game machine most of the time, and an old Windows game machine (for those 3dfx games) the other part of the time. It's networked and capable of accessing the internet, but as almost every modern page brings it to its knees with 100% CPU usage, it hasn't been used for this purpose, for years.

[A31]

Honestly, I've owned too many to mention and I'm only 16. The last time I counted I think I was getting on for having owned close to 20 desktops in my entire life (usually owning more than one at a time) and of course I've owned two laptops (the A31 and the R40), and I hope to buy an L440 in the summer.

At the moment I currently own two machines - my custom-built PC with the ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 and the i5 2500K (see signature for specs), and an ASUS machine with a P5 motherboard and a Pentium Dual-Core E5300.

[thePCxp]

Here's my list of computers I've ever owned. Medessec, you're not the only one who likes to name their computers...I guess we're just kids at heart :

"Ray" - An eMachines eTower 366i2 with an Intel Celeron processor, CD-ROM, Windows 98, and unfortunately this is all I have on Ray. This was my first computer, which gave me a lot of experience on using one. Was used for MS Paint, music, and some other basic stuff. I got it brand new in 1999 (I was just 9). Its currently in storage.

"Richard" - An IBM NetVista A22p with an Intel Pentium 4, Windows XP Home Edition, 512MB of RAM (if I remember correctly), an NVIDIA GPU (can't remember which one it is), CD-RW, and I think it has a 40GB HDD (I can't really remember but it seems like that's it). This was my second computer and my 1st IBM computer. Was used for music, web, photos, basic photo manipulation/graphics work, schoolwork, and a bunch of other stuff. I got it brand new in 2002. Its currently stored in my closet.

"Steven" - My R51, with an 1.6GHz Intel Pentium M, an 80GB HDD, 768MB of RAM, 15 inch SXGA+ (IPS/Flexview), internal wi-fi (ThinkPad wireless), Bluetooth, 32GB ATI GPU, CD-RW/DVD-RW, and Windows XP Pro. This is my first ThinkPad, it was a top-of-the-line R51 back in its day. Was used for music, web, photos, more advanced photo manipulation/graphics work, schoolwork, word processing, basic video production/editing, and more. I carried this ThinkPad with me to school (I was in high school) and used it in class. I got it brand new in 2004 (at the innocent age of 14). It has been retired from daily use and is now really a collectors item.

"John" - An IBM PC300GL...unfortunately, I forgot the specs for this one. I got this (used) in 2006 (I think. Maybe it was 2007). My dad brought it from work. This is a pretty cool collectible, as I've seen and used them back when I was in school - it was the first IBM PC i've ever used (but not this particular unit, of course), and its really nice to have one of my own. It is currently in storage.

"T.K." (or "Theodore") - My T41, with an 1.6GHz Intel Pentium M, internal wi-fi (Intel Centrino, if I remember correctly), 32GB ATI GPU, CD-RW/DVD-ROM, and a 14 inch XGA. This is my 2nd ThinkPad. I bought this used as a barebones unit in 2007, after wanting to try out/own a T series for myself. I'm going to get it a new HDD and try to install Linux on it to try it out for the first time. This is more of an experimental/collectible ThinkPad, especially since I don't use it daily.

"Bobby" - My 600, with a Pentium II, CD-ROM, Windows 98, and that's all I have on it - I haven't really looked at the specs. I got this from a relative in 2009, who had it in storage and decided to give it to me. This, of course, is a collectors item, which I like to power up every now-and-then.

"Justin" - My T60, with a Core Duo 1.8GHz (could use a faster CPU), Centrino, 64GB (if I remember correctly) ATI GPU, a 14 inch SXGA+ LCD, 2GB of RAM, 100GB HDD (could use a bigger HD), Bluetooth, CD-RW/DVD-RW, and Windows XP Pro. I got this (used) in 2010, as an upgrade from my R51. Is being used for basic tasks like web, social media, word processing, photos, music, and the like. It is also being used for Photoshop & Illustrator (or in other words, graphic design). Was used for Pro Audio since 2010 (when I was just starting out) until now. I will be using this as a daily driver for a bit longer (because of limited funds to get a newer ThinkPad, and because its still pretty useful for modern tasks). I might also upgrade the CPU, as I feel that its pretty slow for me.

"Lance" - A Lenovo C440, with a Pentium (I G2030) 3.0GHz, internal wi-fi, 21.4 inch LCD (1920x1200) w/ touch, 1TB HDD, Intel GPU (not sure which one it is), webcam, CD-RW/DVD-RW, and Windows 8. My first Lenovo-branded computer and All-In-One desktop. I got this in 2013 brand new. This is one of my daily drivers, which I primarily use for Pro Audio, some basic tasks, and entertainment.

"Nathan" (or "Nate") - My T500, with a Core 2 Duo T9400 2.4GHz, internal wi-fi, internal WLAN, Bluetooth, Intel X4500HD GPU, 2GB DDR3 RAM, fingerprint reader, webcam, CD-RW/DVD-RW, and 15 inch LCD (1280x800). I just got this from Medessec last Wednesday. It has no HDD but I plan on putting an SSD + HDD in the Ultrabay, install Windows 8/8.1, and upgrade the RAM to 8GB. This will be used for DJing and mobile music production (Pro Audio).

[DDraper]

Had too many to name but the first was a commodor 64 (seem to remember being given something called Agent USA?)
But now I feel bad for all my old computers that I didn't name. BUt i did once have a dog called HAL, if that counts ...

[emeraldgirl08]

Quick tally of comps I have either owned or currently own:

(1) ThinkPad T30
(1) ThinkPad R52
(2) ThinkPad T400
(2) ThinkPad R40
(1) ThinkPad R51e
(1) ThinkPad 600X
(1) ThinkPad T500
(1) ThinkPad X200
(1) ThinkPad X200tablet
(1) ThinkPad T61
(1) ThinkPad T60
(1) ThinkPad R60
(1) ThinkPad SL500
(1) Apple iBook
(1) HP TC1100 tablet
(2) Panasonic Toughbook CF-H1 tablets
(1) Dell Latitude E6510
(1) ThinkPad Frankenpad TR4050e (you can guess what two models are present without obvious hints right? )

and that about sums it up. I have since either sold (or passed on to family members) all but five models from my list. I am quite happy with the five I have kept so far I am planning on a desktop DIY soon for some light graphical applications.

[pointyhat]

I feel old now. In order,

1. Acorn BBC Model B / MOS
2. Acorn BBC Master (dual processor 6502) / MOS
3. Acorn A310 / RISCOS
4. Acorn A440 / RISCOS
5. Commodore Amiga 1200 / Workbench - hated it and got sold in a week.
6. Clone 286 / DOS
7. Acorn A5000 / RISCOS
8. Generic 386 / Windows 3
9. Acorn RiscPC 610 / RISCOS
10. Acorn RiscPC 710 (with 486 inside it as well) / RISCOS+Windows 3.1
11. Above with SA110 card in it and Pentium 60 / RISCOS+Windows 95 (I hated 95)
12. Compaq Deskpro P90 / Windows NT 3
13. Sun SPARCstation 5 / SunOS
14. Compaq professional Workstation 5000 / Windows NT 4
15. Sun SPARCstation 20 / Solaris
16. Sun Ultra 2 (this cost more than my new car at the time!) / Solaris
17. Compaq AP410 PII-450 / Windows NT 4
18. Clone Pentium III-500 / Windows 2000
19. Compaq AP400 / FreeBSD
20. HP Omnibook XE2 / Windows NT - this machine sucked.
21. Sun Ultra 60 / Solaris (last solaris machine - most expensive thing I ever bought apart from a house!!!)
22. Clone Pentium III 1GHz / Windows 2000
23. Dell laptop / Windows XP
24. Dell Precision (dual Xeon) / FreeBSD
25. Acer cheap desktop / Windows Vista
26. Dell Precision 690 / Windows Vista then Windows 7
27. Dell Precision T3500 / Windows 7
28. Acer Timeline notebook / Windows 7 (these rock)
29. second hand Lenovo T61 / Windows 7
30. second hand Lenovo T400 / Windows 7

Purchasing kit slowed down when I started using virtual machines.

Currently:

1. Early 2011 MacBook Pro - OSX 10.9.2 (portable main workstation)
2. 2x iPad Air (for the kids)
3. 1x iPad Mini Retina (for the wife)
4. Lenovo T400 - second one - Windows 7
5. Sony VPC-J1 - windows 8.1 Pro - kids/wife.
6. Xbox 360 - kids.
7. HP Z620 - 16 core Xeon / 32Gb of RAM - windows 8.1 Pro (main workstation)
8. various virtual machines / FreeBSD+windows
9. 3x 1U supermicro machines in colo in London (I run my business off these)
10. Raspberry Pi / Raspbian (kids)

Also "almost computers"

1. Casio FX7000
2. HP41C calculator
3. HP42s calculator
4. HP48SX calculator
5. TI85 calculator
6. TI89 calculator
7. TI Nspire CAS calculator - this sucked
8. HP50g calculator

Computers I built:

1. TTL computer - discrete logic 4-bit CPU built for my final year technical project at university. It does not survive today unfortunately as I sold the rather rare ALU I used for some beer money when I was a poor postgrad.
2. Z80 single board computer. Got half way through writing an operating system for it. Worked pretty well until I shorted the power rails and it caught fire. No idea what happened to it.

Edit: I've probably repaired and sold over 500 PC's and Sun machines over the years as well but I didn't really own them

[Takeda]

While working for IBM, they provided the following laptops:

600
T23
T43
T61
W500 -> turned in when I retired 3/12
W520
W540

I presently have a T21 (that was my sister's), T500, W520, and W540

[Adda]

I'll keep it simple, each of these machines have been upgraded and modified during the time I spent with them, except the PC20.

Commodore PC20
Custom built Pentium 75MHz@90MHz with 24MB ram.
Custom built Pentium 166MMX with 32MB ram.
Siemens Xpert Pentium II 233MHz with 128MB ram, Riva 128ZX, Voodoo 1, Matrox M3D, later a Voodoo 2 was added.
Custom Celeron 433MHz, 128MB ram, Voodoo 3.
Abit BP6 with 2x Celeron 366@550MHz 256MB ram, Geforce 2MX.
Packard Bell with Pentium III 600EB, onboard video.
Abit BX133-Raid with Pentium III 933MHz, 256MB ram, ATi Radeon SDR, later Geforce 2 GTS (can't remember how much it overclocked, not much due to the 133MHz FSB and i440BX chipset).
ASUS TUSL2-C with Celeron 1100@1650MHz, 512MB ram, Geforce 3 TI200, later Radeon 9700 Pro.
Some ASUS mobo with AMD chipset and Duron 1200MHz and 512MB DDR266, Radeon 9700 Pro (low budget system that allowed me to move on to DDR ram).
Abit NF7-S with Athlon XP-M 1800@2400MHz, 1GB DDR400, Radeon 9700 Pro, later Radeon 9800SE@Pro.
Abit AN7 with Athlon XP-M 1800@2500MHz, 1GB DDR400, Radeon 9800SE@Pro later Radeon 9800Pro@XT.
Abit AV8 3rd Eye with Athlon 64 2GHz@2500MHz, 1GB DDR400, Radeon 9800Pro@XT
Abit KN8 with Athlon 64 2GHz@3GHz, 1GB DDR400, Radeon X800 GTO (barely overvolted, and aircooled).
Pics of the KN8 system (all fan intakes had dust filters):
Internals: http://hwt.dk/images/users/4527/4527_03.jpg
Externals: http://hwt.dk/images/users/4527/4527_01.jpg
Proof: http://hwt.dk/images/users/4527/2007-10-26-2472024.jpg

But there are more desktops, those where just the main ones.
I have also had several Socket 7 (AMD K6-II/III) a Slot A system with K7.
An ASUS CUSL2-C system with Pentium III 600@900.
ASUS TUV4X, otherwise same as above.
ASUS P3C with all kinds of different CPU's, and Voodoo3 3500, 512MB RD800.
Intel 820 desktop board with 1GHz P3 and 512MB RD800.

And now the laptops:
Unknown i386 laptop with monochrome display.
Old Compaq Armadas.
Several Compaq Armada E500's.
Some Fujitsu Siemens laptops.

ThinkPads:
380
390
570
X20
A21m
T22
A30 x3
G40
R50p
R51 x2
T41 x2
T43
T43p x3
T61p
T500
T510
W510

I probably forgot something.

Edit: Ah yes forgot a QDI Legend-V with Pentium II 266MHz.
Edit2: oh and the ASUS mobo with Ali chipset and both SD and DDR ram slots and Tualatin CPU support.

[ansible212]

First computer was a BBC Micro Model B, followed by various Commodore Amiga 500s (I worked in a computer shop part time so kept refreshing it as different variants were released).

Around the time I had the Amiga, I picked up a couple of Sinclair QLs (just for fun).

My first IBM compatible PC was an Amstrad 286 portable (I will not call it a laptop - it was huge with an excellent full size keyboard), followed by a Commodore 386SX and there was a VTech 486SX after that (again thanks to the working 'in the trade' so to speak).

From this point on, I started to build my own PCs, starting with a machine built around an Intel Endeavor motherboard. A slot-based Pentium III followed and from then on it was AMD all the way - XP 2400, followed by a Clawhammer AMD 64 (which I overclocked the living daylights out of) and then a 64 X2. That was the last desktop I built and it rarely gets used these days.

Somewhere in the mix in late 2000 I bought my first Thinkpad - an A30. This served me well until 2009 when I replaced it with an X200s - I'd started doing some consultancy so needed a portable machine as I was travelling mostly by public transport.

The X200s was joined by an Acer Revo 3610 nettop which I used to make my TV 'smart' years before most people had even thought of that (based on a form of Parkinson's law - that is, the number of devices connected to my TV increased in line with the number of HDMI connectors). A QNAP NAS also arrived at this time, and I was also given a ThinkPad T23 which I upgraded with cannibalised components from my A30 just for fun.

The X200s was still going strong in 2012, however the moment I saw the new keyboard on the X230 I purchased the X220 which I'm typing this on now which remains the best and most satisfying computer I've ever owned (once I'd doubled the RAM to 8GB and upgraded the mechanical disk to an SSD).

I have no idea what I'll replace the X220 with. To an extent my interest in technology has moved on to mobile devices, but I suppose that is just the zeitgeist in action...

Update: the above have now been joined by a Raspberry Pi (model B) which I use as a Google Cloudprint printer with other uses planned for the future

[600X]

A list of my computers:

1. Athlon XP Tower PC: Got this one back in 2000 when I was just 4 years old. Started out as a family PC with 1,8GHz, 512MB RAM and 64MB nVIDIA 4 series graphics (64MB) running Win 98SE. Soon became my PC and was upgraded a few times. Currently has the same 1,8GHz Athlon but 2GB RAM and a 512MB GeForce 7800GS running Win 2000. I used it for gaming until 2011. I do not use it anymore so my dad installed Win XP a few days ago because he needed it for something.

2. Asus EEE PC: My first mobile PC, got it as I was fourteen in early 2010. My entry into the world of mobile computing. Held up pretty well until spring 2011. I almost miss it. Very slow with the N450 CPU but great battery life. (10 hours)

3. IBM ThinkPad 600X ("Zeus?"): As a sturdy replacement for my EEE PC. Was great for surfing and my other needs at the time. Loved the build quality and speakers. Can't remember what name I called it. Served me well until summer 2011. Had a 500MHz CPU, back then it was enough for 240p YouTube.

4. Lenovo ThinkPad X220i ("Chronos"): Things were starting to get serious, I wanted a "proper" laptop, it had to be a ThinkPad. A good friend of us recommended a X201 or X220i. I went for the X220i, not sure why. Had it for the longest time, from summer 2011 to late summer 2013. Though i never liked its design, build quality or 16:9 screen, it did serve me well. Battery life and performance was great. I was able to play games with an eGPU. Got an IPS Display and SSD in late 2012 and some other upgrades as well. (16GB RAM, 9c battery)

5. Lenovo ThinkPad X301 ("Nyx"): My X220 just wasn't like the 600X I loved so much so I finally got my dream ThinkPad, a X301, back in late 2012. My favorite ThinkPad so far. I use it every day.

6. IBM ThinkPad 570E ("?"): Can't remember its name. Wanted to try out some older ThinkPads again. Only used it for a short time in spring 2013.

7. IBM ThinkPad A22p: Died of BoD soon after receiving it.

8. Lenovo ThinkPad W500 ("?"): I wanted to play some games and the cheapest ThinkPad with decent graphics was a W500 with broken chassis. I fell in love with this machine, even upgraded the standard WUXGA to a new SHARP WUXGA. Used it during spring and summer 2013. Can't remember its name.

9. Lenovo ThinkPad T500 ("Hippocamp"): Since I loved the W500 so much I got myself a pristine T500 with similar specs. One of my favorite ThinkPads, used it from autumn 2013 right up to a few days ago. Sold it to get something with better speakers and more performance. Wasn't an easy decision.

10. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 ("Poseidon"): Always dreamed of one of these ever since I saw it back in 2011. Fullfilled my dream after selling my X220i. One of the sturdiest and best looking laptops I have ever owned. I rarely use it.

11. IBM ThinkPad X30 ("?"): Can't remember its name. Bought it to try it out and for listening to music. Decent soundcard, but wasn't worth keeping it just for that.

12. IBM ThinkPad T43 ("Gaia"): Always wanted one of these. 14" with Intel graphics. Nice to look at and touch, but I don't really have a use for it. I like to surf the internet with it on Sundays.

13. IBM ThinkPad X20 ("?"): I'm to lazy to check its name. Since they are praised so often I thought I'd try one. Really nice build quality, but not of much use with its old hardware. Might upgrade to a X24 one day.

14. FrankenPad ("Athena"): I was longing for 4:3 after the last the 3 purchases made me realize how great that aspect ratio is. Originally wanted to buy a T60 with ATI so that I could play some old games like Age of Mythology on the 4:3 screen, but the motherboard was dead so I thought what the heck, might as well make a FrankenPad out of it. Has a nice SXGA+ FlexView screen and serves me well as a T500 replacement.

15. Lenovo ThinkPad X301: I love this thing so much, I got myself a second one.

16. Dell XPS 15 l502x: Should arrive in the next couple of days. Some of the best notebook speakers ever, great screen, good performance and build quality, all for less than 400€. I couldn't say no.

[pianowizard]

I maintain an Excel file listing all the computers I've owned chronologically, and I've copy-and-pasted them below. All the desktops are grayed out, and my favorite computers are enlarged and bolded. Notice that I consider only one desktop, the Dell OptiPlex 9010, a favorite. This is because even though I use desktops 90% of the time, I see them merely as tools and it's hard to "fall in love" with a tool. The small-form-factor OptiPlex 9010 is rather cute though.

Packard Bell Legend 11CD
Dell Inspiron 8200
IBM Thinkpad 600E
Ambra NC425SL
Umax H1P233MTX
Packard Bell Synera 406
Gateway E-3200
Toshiba Satellite T2130CS
Apple PowerBook G3
Packard Bell Pack-Mate 5996CDT
Dell Inspiron 700m
IBM Thinkpad 240
Dell OptiPlex GX110
Compaq Armada 1573DM
IBM Thinkpad 365X
HP Pavilion XE783
IBM Thinkpad X20
IBM Thinkpad X40
IBM Thinkpad X20
Toshiba Portege 7020CT
Toshiba Portege R100
Compaq Armada 1750
IBM Thinkpad 240
IBM Thinkpad X22
IBM Thinkpad X20
IBM Thinkpad 240
Compaq Presario 5002US
IBM Thinkpad 600
Dell Dimension B110
eMachines T1140
Sony Vaio PCG-K23
Packard Bell Force 51CD
Fujitsu LifeBook B-2131
IBM Thinkpad T23
IBM Thinkpad T21
IBM Thinkpad T43 (14.1")
Gateway GP7-500
IBM Thinkpad 240X
IBM Thinkpad T20
IBM Thinkpad 600E
IBM Thinkpad T23
IBM Thinkpad A31p
Dell Inspiron 6000
Dell Inspiron 600m
IBM Thinkpad X22
Lenovo Thinkpad X60s
Lenovo Thinkpad T60 (14.1")
IBM Thinkpad R50p
IBM Thinkpad 570E
IBM Thinkpad X21
IBM Thinkpad R50p
IBM Thinkpad T42 (14.1")
IBM Thinkpad T23
IBM Thinkpad T21
IBM Thinkpad X41 tablet
IBM Thinkpad X40
HP Compaq nc2400
Lenovo Thinkpad X61 tablet
IBM Thinkpad X40
IBM Thinkpad T30
Dell Inspiron 5000e
IBM Thinkpad X40
Dell Dimension XPS T550
IBM Thinkpad T43p (15.0")
IBM Thinkpad R32
IBM Thinkpad G41 (15.0")
IBM Thinkpad 390X
IBM Thinkpad T23
IBM Thinkpad A20m
Lenovo Thinkpad Z61t
IBM Thinkpad i Series 1400
IBM Thinkpad S30
Compaq Presario 5WV232
Compaq Armada M300
IBM Thinkpad i Series 1124
Dell Dimension 8200
Gateway E-3400
Dell OptiPlex GX280
Dell OptiPlex GX280
IBM NetVista M42
Dell Dimension 4300S
HP Mini 5101
Dell Latitude D820
Sony Vaio PCG-Z1A
Panasonic ToughBook CF-Y4
Dell Precision M90
Dell Dimension 8200
Dell Precision 390
Dell OptiPlex 740
Dell OptiPlex 760
Panasonic ToughBook CF-Y5
HP Compaq 8200 Elite
HP Compaq dc7900
Dell OptiPlex 760
Dell Dimension 9150
Dell Inspiron 7500
Dell Latitude E4200
Panasonic ToughBook CF-Y7
Sony Vaio VGN-X505ZP
Gateway NX860X
HP 8300 Elite
Sony Vaio VPCX113KG
Dell OptiPlex 9010
IBM Thinkpad X31
HP 8000 Elite
Dell Latitude D810
Dell Latitude D410
Dell Inspiron 8600
Apple Powerbook G4
Sony Vaio SVP13213CXB
Sony Vaio VGN-P530CH
Panasonic Let's Note CF-Y9
HP EliteBook 8740w

As you can see, despite the fact that I'm no longer a Thinkpad fan, it's the most represented brand among my favorites: 5 Thinkpads, 4 Dells, 2 Sonys, 2 Panasonics, 1 HP. That's why I am still on this forum!

[A31]

Fantastic variety there!

I've had a lot of variety too in my times. I've owned so many desktops now that I can't list them all but I think I've owned about 20 in my whole life - all from different manufacturers (but mostly HP) and I've also owned quite a few custom builds too since when buying desktops I prefer to custom build.

Usually I own more than one desktop/computer at once, hence for the large number of machines I've owned (and I am only 16, remember).

Currently I own 4 machines:

- Custom built desktop with the i5 2500K OC'ed to 4.3GHz, 16GB RAM, ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3, Vertex 4 128GB, 1x3TB WD Green, 1x2TB WD Green, LG Blu-Ray Burner and Windows 8.1 Enterprise x64.
- ThinkPad L540 (specs in sig).
- A little ASUS desktop with a Pentium E5300, 4GB DDR2, 160GB HDD, Windows 8.1 Pro x64.
- An older HP Pro desktop with an Athlon 64 X2 4450e, 2GB DDR2, Windows 7 Pro SP1 x64.

Custom built desktop and the ThinkPad get used everyday. Other two desktops are just 'backups'.

Usually I get my desktops for free from clients of Dad's who are going to throw them out. That's how I got the ASUS and the HP Pro and my ThinkPad A31 and R40 (which I don't own any more).

Obviously I bought my current custom built desktop and the ThinkPad myself.

[Medessec]

That's quite a cool list.

I do agree mini-desktops are quite cool- I had a couple of GiadaPCs and sold them to friends, and I liked them and they liked them.

I can see you've got an NC2400 in there! My high school teachers in the science wing had those- and I always had to help them fix problems with them(not hardware of course, ) but I really liked the style of those machines.

And there's that iSeries i1124! Cool Thinkpad I'll say. I'd love to have one.

Also seems you have an 8740w... you have one with the DC panel?

[pianowizard]

And there's that iSeries i1124! Cool Thinkpad I'll say. I'd love to have one.

I bet you never will, or anyone else on this forum for that matter, because it's by far the rarest Thinkpad ever. Selling it is something I will regret for the rest of my life.

Also seems you have an 8740w... you have one with the DC panel?

Nope. For what I do with this Elitebook, it's not worth spending the extra money for the Dream Color. Though it uses a TN panel, it's actually quite good, just like most other WUXGA laptop screens.

[larso]

This is my list:

1. An old pentium 2 desktop (dont remember brand) 133mhz 32 mb ram it had 2 1 gb 5,25" hard drives and a speaker ampifier with equalizer in a 3,5" bay. It also had the turbo button.

2. A desktop computer built off a fujitsu siemens computer with 733mhz pentium 3 128 mb of ram (upgraded to 640mb). It had an ati rage fury 32mb graphics card.

3. A fujitsu siemens desktop with 2ghz celeron, 256mb ram (upgraded to 1,25 gb),64mb nvidia mx440.
All of the above were given to me by family members when I was a kid.

4. Custom built desktop with amd athlon xp 1,8ghz overclocked to 2,2ghz, 1 gb ram, geforce 6800 agp 256mb. I regret ever building this one, it was based on components from an auction and was just not powerful enough.

5. My first laptop, a hp compaq 6735b 2,2 ghz amd turion, 3 gb ram, radeon hd 3200, wxga 15,4". This one eventually got a faulty motherboard twice so i didnt bother trying to rescue it.

6. My first good desktop, custom built all new parts, finally. It had a amd athlon ii x3 435 2,9ghz, 4gb ram and a radeon hd 5670 1gb gpu. This computer have since gotten all parts replaced one by one, merging into my current powerful desktop, amd fx6350 @ 4,2ghz 8gb ram, geforce gtx 670 2gb, 128gb ssd + 1gb hdd.

7. Second laptop. A hp probook 4330s 2,3 ghz i3 sandy bridge, 4gb ram, 320gb hdd, upgraded to 128gb ssd, 8gb ram. I hated it. Low res screen, crappy keyboard and touchpad.

8. Since i hated the probook i got a cheap hp workstation notebook on an action with wuxga screen. The mainboard was ruined by an uncompatible charger twice (again) but i loved using the trackpoint mouse on it.

9. Thats when I bought my first thinkpad. A used t400 with a broken screen (vertical lines) cheap. I bought a new screen, but I was stupid enough to remove the old screen with the battery still inside, shorting something out and again ruining the motherboard.

10. Then I got really frustrated about wanting a good laptop, so I bought a refurbished t60p, the latest one with lenovo logo, sxga+ screen. But I soon wanted better sata speeds and driver support (firegl v5250) so I was lucky and found a t61 4:3 intel laptop for parts and fortunately it had a functioning motherboard, then i started frankenpadding. End result my current laptop with t9300, 8gb ram, 128gb ssd and 320gb hdd in cd bay. Uxga flexview, upgraded from the sxga+.

11. Then one day I bought a x31 used. 1,4ghz. I upgraded it to 2gb. It was fun to use for a couple of hours, then I got bored. Now it is just lying on the floor.

My next laptop will probably be the next gen thinkpad if they return the trackpoint buttons and has a good screen. This list could be a lot shorter if I just bought what I wanted in the first place instead of cheaping out and eventually pay for repairs and upgrades anyway.

[Temetka]

11. Then one day I bought a x31 used. 1,4ghz. I upgraded it to 2gb. It was fun to use for a couple of hours, then I got bored. Now it is just lying on the floor.

Lol. Poor X31.

[james008]

I've lost count of how many I've owned, there's been at least 30 that I've picked up for for free or out of hard waste collections. I do remember a few of the main ones and those which were not freebies.

1. IBM Model 30-286 - 286 (10Mhz I think) 1MB RAM, 20MB HDD Windows 3.1, I still have this and fire it up once a year or so, first PC I ever used.

2. Custom box Pentium 100, with a 133 turbo button, 32MB RAM, windows 95 and a busted 15" monitor that had to be given a hard hit every hour to get it working again.

3. IBM Aptiva Pentium III 667Mhz, 128MB RAM, 10 or 20GB HDD, Windows 98, still working, but now has a PIII 800Mhz and 256MB RAM. I use it for vintage games.

4. Custom box Pentium 4 3.2 GHz, 1GB RAM, 120GB HDD, nVidia FX5200, Windows XP. That died and its now sporting a C2D @ 2.6GHz (can't remember model number), an Asus mobo, 3GB RAM and an nVidia 8600GT.

5. Acer Travelmate 4601 Pentium M 1.6GHz, 1GB RAM, 60GB HDD, still limping along, screen stuffs up sometimes, battery is dead and now has to run Ubuntu to feel reasonably quick but it's alive... First laptop

6. Custom box from hard waste AMD something or other 1.6GHz, 512MB RAM, 40GB HDD, Kubuntu.... haven't used this thing in a few years

7. Acer Veriton 5600G P4 2.6 GHz, 768MB RAM, 60GB HDD, Windows XP, got this from school, used it for 2 years whilst I was doing my Cert II in I.T

8. Custom box from the hard waste with a P4 2.26 GHz, 512MB RAM, 40GB HDD, Windows XP. This was my main PC until I built my new custom box (below), now its mainly used for tinkering and is in a new case, has a 3.06GHz processor OC'd to 3.2GHz, 1.5GB RAM (can't get 2GB in there as one RAM slot is dead and it won't boot), nVidia FX5200 graphics card and an 80GB +40GB HDD. I'll hold onto this thing for a while, it's a great old machine even if it has a few faults. It survived a drowning which is pretty good IMO.

9. Sisters laptop a Compaq with a 1st Gen Core i3, 4GB RAM, 250GB HDD, Windows 7. This has died a few times... first was the battery, then the HDD, then a RAM stick, then another battery. Rarely used now.

10. Custom box C2Q Q6600 OC'd to 3.0GHz, 4GB RAM, 2x500GB HDD's, ATi Radeon HD4850, 23" LCD monitor + 17" CRT second monitor, Windows 7 Pro. This thing was a beast when I built it just over 4 years ago... its still going strong today and is my current desktop, can still play most of the latest games too, but not on high quality.

10. Thinkpad X61 C2D T7300 2.0GHz, 2GB RAM, 100GB HDD. Got it used, now has Windows 7, Linux Mint and Ubuntu installed, the casing is showing its age but it still gets used every day, doesn't have an easy life but its been very reliable.

11. Thinkpad W530 i7 3840QM, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD, nVidia K2000M, Windows 7 Ultimate. My new beast, a very fast PC.

[qwagmire]

Wowsa... I'm 42 years young and have been through a lot of computers... I'm approaching this chronologically.

Commodore 64
Tandy Computer (early Radioshack)
Apple iic
Packard Bell 486
Apple Macintosh (monochromatic)
HP Pavilion (early Win 95 version, early Pentium)- Overdrive Pentium cpu's- cache could be upgraded (Pipeline burst)
HP Pavilion (early Win XP, Pentium 3 1Ghz-- early nVidia)
HP Pavilion (Celeron P4 model)
Dell 4700 (Pentium 4 HT)
Gateway P6860FX, recently dead by my daughter's hand
Dell Inspiron M5030- piece of crap
ThinkPad T61
ThinkPad X61
HP Envy 23 with i3 processor

There are others, but those stand out in my memory.

I'm a cheap fool, so I jumped on Linux early... I've been through early Redhat and later Fedora, Gentoo, Mandriva, SuSE (before M$), Slackware, Ubuntu (abandoned after Unity), Mint, Mint Debian, recently CrunchBang (which I adore).