More of a thought exercise/game than anything else. I saw the news that 486 support was getting cut from linux, and I was curious just how cheaply someone could replace a desktop 486 system with something new (provided the device had all the connectivity they needed).
Rules:
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Device must be able to run linux.
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Device should be cheap as possible. A good starting point is probably sub 40usd.
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The device must in someway support a mouse, keyboard, display, and the internet. If adapters are necessary for this connectivity, that cost should be included.
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Power supply should be included in the cost of the device. (in the case of most SBCs this is just the cost of a USB cable and wall wart)
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The device must be new & still in production. I know used devices like laptops would probably have been king here, but I don’t think that would be nearly as interesting.
I suspect that SBCs and other arm devices will be the most common suggestions.
I personally know about the Raspberry Pi Zero which can be had for ~$10, and with all the added accessories necessary to make it a full computer (usb splitters, usb power, usb to rj45, storage) it costs around ~$35. Not bad at all but I’m pretty sure we can do even better!
Stop looking for cheap new stuff. Buy cheap used stuff. I got a high quality Thinkpad T530 for $99. I got a T15 Gen 1 as well but honestly is worse than the T530 even though it’s newer.
My friend got a used computer with a 4th Gen i5 and a 970 for $45. Old but gold. We upgraded the CPU and it runs everything great.
Stop contributing to e-waste and buy used
What I did was I went to the thrift store and I found a laptop. It was the Asus Transformer Book T100han.
I had one when it was new. It was a POS but hey it worked really well in my use case I was thinking of.
Got it home booted it, has Windows 10 1501 installed on it. Refused the update. (The perfect windows machine does exists)
Updated it to 22h2 bricked it by running out of the limited 32GB of storage.
Said screw it got Linux Mint on a USB installer. Installer crashes. Tries Ubuntu… also crashes. Tries OpenSuse, also crashes. Tries Fedora also crashes.
Turns out the installer requires more than 2GB of ram. Laptop only has 2 and it’s soldered. (The e waste special)
Gets Debian installs it. Gets to desktop, no Bluetooth, no audio, but everything else runs better than I ever saw it. Needs older distro.
Gets Q4OS installs fine, runs as well and audio works. No Bluetooth. My very specific use case requires Bluetooth.
Forces myself to go back to windows. No recovery image. Downloads from MS, can’t create media because my PC is on Linux. Boots into VM, makes installer. Installs Windows. No audio no Bluetooth.
Gets drivers from asus website. Everything works but audio. Calls asus support gets drivers. PC is back to when I got it.
Pair Bluetooth controller, installs auto hotkeys, installs libre office. Best teleprompter I’ve ever used.
Shoves into box until it’s needed again.
Drop the requirement for new and you can get plenty of good stuff for free.
My current desktop came from a co-worker, but you can also put the word out to family and friends that you’re interested in their old machines. Most people are happy to give them away because otherwise it costs them money to dispose of electronics. If nothing else, you could post on Nextdoor or a local Facebook page that you’re looking for a Win10 machine that would otherwise be trashed.
Older machines also mean dirt-cheap upgrades. The desktop I have came with a Celeron cpu. I dropped in an i7 for $10 from ebay, and recently upgraded it to 24GB of ram with sticks I had pulled from other free systems. When you switch to Linux you’re not wasting horsepower on Microsoft spyware crap, so this machine does just fine for my needs (although I’m also not trying to play games).
I have a bunch of old macs here with different distros onthem, mostly Mint, that I have been trying to give away to locals (without being obligated to provide support, which is the stickler apparently). They all run great. One could dumpster dive or curb cruise, or around here, lurk at Recycling.
For a clueless person like myself, do you have any advice on how to make that happen? I see @SreudianFlip@sh.itjust.works say dumpster dive, but how would you know which places to patrol, and when?
(Btw Sreudian, if you see this and you’re ok with dropping the local requirement, I’d love to pay for shipping for one of those macs)
how would you know which places to patrol, and when?
This is an extremely regional problem to solve. Where I am, which is a village and exurban-ruural, you would go to the electronics recycling depot and see if they have any choice items. Also you could call the various independent pc repair people to see if they have anything no longer supported but functional for free or cheap.
Also there’s various thrift stores that sometimes have computers cheap.
The closest big city is Vancouver so to curb cruise there I would pick upper middle class neighbourhoods with alleyways, and drive around on garbage collection days. I wouldn’t really dumpster dive unless I knew of a likely source from hearsay.
Not trying to blame anyone, I just wish more ppl prefer old good stuff over new cheap stuff. Sigh.
Recycling those ewaste is a lot more expensive than manufacturing them. Of course that’s edge cases, but I think reusing old devices works better(and more environmentally friendly) for most ppl.
Nothing wrong with brain storming, just please consider reusing old devices when you start a cool project.
True - but don’t forget cost of power ($ cost and environment cost). These old brutes consume a lot esp. compared to the SBCs.
In server and gpu world, true. Laptop, desktop world. Not really. Most ppl don’t need that much computational power anyway.
Also, ppl usually not include the shipping, collecting ewaste and recycling ewaste in the carbon footprint cost. Our ewaste recycling is extremely inefficient compared to our manufacturing side.
For power, solar becomes so cheap now.
