What to do with an old 386?

[yoda313]

I was wondering what I should do with an old 386 I have laying around. Last I checked it still worked just fine. It has dos 6.2 and windows 3.1 on it.

I'm thinking of blowing the drive and format it with dos 5.0 on it.

So should I try to find a place to donate it to? Would a museum take it? I could put an add in the classifieds but I don't think I'd make more than the ad would cost.

Would I be better off just reformating it and throwing it away?

I'm off to check ebay. Though packing it up would be hell.

Thanks for any suggestions (I have enough emulators that I don't think I need it anymore for dos gaming - though I haven't even tried that in years on that machine)

[yoda313]

Just checked ebay and searched for "386" in the computer desktop section.

There were just 2 results. One with 6 bids for $56 and one for $15 austrailian (don't know the conversion on that).

Hmm.. maybe I'll just think of dumping it.

[ViRaL1]

Put Linux on it. It'll still be slow as crap, but you can mess around with it a bit.

[yoda313]

How??? No cd drive

[808smokey]

Try selling it for parts vs. the entire computer.

I know my work uses old 386 and 486 computers to run test equipment and some machinery. You can't find parts for them anywhere but eb@y. ISA cards are what we go through most.

Just my .02¢

[yoda313]

Thanks 808smokey I hadn't thought of that.

[ofbarea]

Create a Network print server: http://www.pigtail.net/LRP/printsrv/index.html

[yoda313]

Thanks but I don't have a 386 era network to even try it

[greymalkin]

word perfect for DOS...

dos is the only thing that will shine on this machine. i built an all DOS machine for a guy i knew that owned a tire shop. The application he used was dos based and he was going into windows just to back up to .zip.

i set him up with a basic menu at boot that would go into his application, back up his stuff to .zip, back up his stuff to cd-rw, back up his stuff to usb flash drive, and restore his stuff from cd-rw. i think there was also a laplink option as well...anyways...that machine runs much cleaner now with nothing but good ol' dos on it.

there are quite a few applications for it and you could reasonably turn it into a decent word processor.

[bgclarke]

back up his stuff to cd-rw

What DOS software are you using for that?

I'm working on building a recovery CD, and that would be something useful to add to it.

[zzyzzx]

Trash it.

[rubberman]

work was gonna throw out a Dell 200mhz computer which i snagged up cause whatever reason. It had a 6gig HD so i reformated it and stuck XP pro on there. Yeap you heard right. XP runs good on there. I had an old 6 gig HD whihc i slapped in there and turned it into a home network fileserver. Turned on filesharing and store all my digital pics, MP3's and video on there. Not the fastest but does the job.

[burnman99]

You might be able to put 2 nics in it and use it for a firewall/router. Otherwise, it should make a good doorstop.

Later

Roger

[ROF]

I keep my old 386 around for testing purposes. There are still quite a few people out there who use these old machines. These people obviously do not want or need an upgrade, but with age parts break down and in order to repair or test these old machines, you might need a working machine to use a testbed.

My 386-66 is the only machine I have that has working ISA Slots.

[zenguitar]

You could paint a picture of a dinosaur on the side of it.

[yoda313]

You could paint a picture of a dinosaur on the side of it.

Yeah I could

[Guest]

Gun range or tall building

[DereX888]

if its working and perfect condition - pack it in some box, hide in a basement (or whatever is you storage place for old crap). Your grandchildren will probably thank you for it when they discover it and exchange it for pile of cash (well, unless youre already a dad or grandpa, then adjust it to "great grandchildren" )

[yoda313]

hmm.... preservation. I could try that.

Suddenly I remember that line in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Arc where Balloq confronts Indy in the bar:

"Who knows, in a 1000 years maybe even you will be worth something"

[p_l]

Let it live out its twilight years doing what it's always secretly dreamed of doing: Set the artist in it free and let it sing.

[DereX888]

hahahaha

[Epicurus8a]

I don't know if it's true but I heard they use 386's on the International Space Station. So maybe you could donate it to NASA.

[bazooka]

It would make a great boat anchor.

[tmaxwell2435]

http://folding.stanford.edu/

[rhegedus]

Give it to charity.

[smearbrick1]

Paint it up to look like a girlfriend. Then, use it to surf for porn.

[DereX888]

(sorry for OT, but couldn't resist):

_________________
Epicurus (341 - 270BC) helped lay the intellectual foundations for modern science and for secular individualism.

Wasn't he also known as the first obese proto-American :P