Are you still using any hardware that came out more than a decade ago? What for?

[City]

In a world of constantly updated hardware and consumerism, some people decide to keep on using the things they bought so long ago that they’re considered obsolete. More specifically, I want to talk about technology. Are you still using old computers, consoles, phones? What for?

I’m still using my 3DS as an alarm clock (thank you SmileBASIC) and I don’t plan to replace it anytime soon

 

[otterlady]

I have an old computer that I use mainly for older games, but also for other things too, 2 mp3 players that I use whenever I go outside and feel like blasting loud music in my ears, 3 stereos, one in the living room 2 in my room, a gramophone, one digital clock from 2001 I think? and one manual clock from the 60s, 2 crt tvs, snes, nintendo wii, 3ds, 2 digital cameras (one has a fucked up battery though, but I'll take care of it, I just need to buy another one), a film camera, dvd player and some old cells that I don't use because I can't even turn them on lol don't know where's the charger. a pretty old printer from 2009, a landline as a backup phone (I do use it sometimes to call people but I'm mostly getting called on it)

 

[KleinesSinchen]

Most of my stuff is much older than 10. Many things are older than 20. A significant amount is older than 30 years.
I wouldn't come to an end listing everything > 10 years (starts with the keyboard used to write this post).

 

[City]

Most of my stuff is much older than 10. Many things are older than 20. A significant amount is older than 30 years.
I wouldn't come to an end listing everything > 10 years (starts with the keyboard used to write this post).

Tell us what you use the most and what's your favorite?

 

[KleinesSinchen]

In use daily: The keyboard, the stereo amplifier with huge speakers connected with the main computer (most components on this PC are pretty new).
Other thing used the most this year: Windows XP computer with MANY of optical drives… only room for three at once, but I tried over 20 of them.

My favorites? Not used very much anymore but holding a special place in my heart: My first Game Boy and the SNES I used to play with my aunt when I was a kid.

 

[64bitmodels]

honestly i'm not using anything that's a decade old these days.
for a while in 2021 i went on a retro gaming frenzy but that was quickly stopped once i got my Xbox Series S and then not too long after my PC.
if it's anything, i don't have a desk and play my PC on the floor crosslegged looking at a TV.i use my mouse and keyboard by laying my keyboard on my lap and placing the mouse on 2 xbox 360 slims and a 2011 HP PC.... if that counts.
I boot up said 2011 HP PC whenever i need to do anything like rip a CD, it has a disc drive while the PC i built does not.

 

[Bagel Le Stinky]

a lot of what I use is more than 10 years old because I love retro games

 

[duwen]

Most of my stuff is much older than 10. Many things are older than 20. A significant amount is older than 30 years.
I wouldn't come to an end listing everything > 10 years (starts with the keyboard used to write this post).

Same. In fact it's easier for me to list the stuff I have that's under 10 years old... phone, tablet, TV, PSTV, PS4.

I just had to buy a 'new' graphics card for my PC because the old GeForce 9600gt died last week... the most current card my pc will take (and what I bought) is a Geforce GTX 750ti.

Replacing stuff for the sake of it, or just because a newer model is available, is wasteful and irresponsible. If you buy quality and look after the things you buy they should last a LONG time. Most of my hi-fi components are over 30 years old, work great, and have massively appreciated in value since I originally bought them. Same goes for my arsenal of retro consoles and computers.

 

[Hayato213]

The only thing I have around that is probably 10 years old is the Katsukity PS Vita that I got sitting around and a wii u, N3DS doesn't count I guess. I use to have like PS2, PS3, PSP, Xbox 360 for consoles that are considered to be in the 10 years old area.

 

[FAST6191]

Office programs. Web browsing.

The requirements for these became fixed probably around the end of the XP era with minimal changes and consequently I tend to fix up whatever old computers I get given and use those until they die a final death.
I did have a very old (pre windows key) semi mechanical keyboard (better than mechanical as its cushions do not need replacing) which I adored but I did not disassemble it upon getting it and thus missed the creeping corrosion between a couple of the plastic sheets with the traces on. I could fix it but have been too cheap to buy any conductive ink (this being the once in a decade use for it for me and it tends to dry after about 4 months) and too lazy to laser out some sheets to replace it. To that end I have a just about has a windows key but still ps/2 keyboard from RM nimbus instead as it is one of the few non mechanical setups I actually like.
Think all my screens are 10+ now as well, had to replace caps in a few but still doing what I want.

I don't use a mobile phone in day to day life, the one I am temporarily lumped with and sits in my room is a 2014 model I think (though headphone socket, battery I can remove, SD card slot... what horrors they had to contend with back then). House phones squeak past it as mostly just need to chuck a new set of rechargables in there every 7 or so years.

You mentioned alarm clocks. I still have the same one I had 20 years ago, probably still have the one from 25 around somewhere as well. I did also fix an alarm clock a while back that was from the late 1940s.

My lathe is from the 1940s, design from even earlier, and a lot of my powered tools are corded electric or air as I can't be bothered dealing with batteries and any away missions don't need power (I do also have a brace and sheet metal eggbeater drill in case of needing such a thing) or have it on site. I do usually buy tools from dead men as well (oh no not old spanners and screwdrivers and snips that will outlive me and were made from nice metal to a suitable thickness).

My handhelds are still the GBA and DS -- 3ds has no games. Still on the 360 as well (PS4 and xbone had some games but not enough to justify the cost right now).

 

[DinohScene]

Newest thing I own is a Samsung S21U.
Next newest thing is a launchday Xbox one :')

 

[SylverReZ]

Old computers from around the 00's to test out old hardware and other crap.

 

[AngryCinnabon]

My PS Vita and N3DSXL still see some use despite me owning a Steam Deck...3DS emulation is a bit messy so i still play my FE games (yeah predictable i know) on my 3DS rather than emulating them on deck, The Vita on the other hand is just a good device with a booming homebrew scene that can basically be a "Steam Deck Lite" if my deck runs outta charge.

I also had an AMD bulldozer CPU in 2019 for what it's worth.

 

[SAIYAN48]

Out of 5 computers, only one is modern.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

My laptop is a decade old. It's a bit slow and overdue for a replacement, but still works fine. I spent a lot of it (it was a top end gaming laptop at the time) so I decided I was going to run it into the ground before getting a new one. That said, I'm hoping I'll have the chance to get a new one sometime next year. I'm still going to keep this one, it's turned out to be a sturdy bit of kit, and while Windows is getting a bit slow on it, I'm sure Linux would run great and I could find some use for it.

My brother is borrowing my 2009 desktop with an i7 980X in it, after I finally built a new desktop after a decade or so, and he's getting some use out of it for gaming and such. It's had some upgrades over the years, so it's not "all original", the 980X is not what I originally put in it (that would've been way too expensive), I originally got an i7 920, but the 980X is still a nearly 13 year old chip and is still pulling its weight surprisingly well after all this time. With the GTX 970 that's in it, it runs games decently, but I feel that isn't even fully taking advantage of the aging CPU, it could do way more with a 980.

A decade is a long time, though. Most things aren't even designed to last 10 years. Batteries will die long before then and good luck finding a replacement battery after so long.

My washing machine is currently pushing 15 years and my dishwasher is about a decade old. That might not be the kind of tech you were thinking of, but unlike most kinds of tech, they're not designed to be replaced every few years, so they tend to last. Can't say the same for smartphones, laptops, or computers in general. Smartphones and laptops are fragile or cheaply made, and even if you manage not to break it the battery is going to die. Computers typically get so obsolete that you won't want to use them past a decade or even close to that.

Apart from those things though... Just about everything in my apartment that I actually use is 5 years old or less. My smartphone is about 5 years old, as is my dryer (cause I didn't have a dryer before then), my TV is only 2-3 years old. My various computer accessories (keyboard and mouse are modern, I have an older MX518 but don't use it anymore, I have an older monitor but also don't use that anymore as my TV is now my main monitor, my printer is probably 4-5 years old as the old one was just too unreliable) also tend to be relatively recent. I have a lot of furniture that's 15 years old, but most furniture doesn't really wear out and generally doesn't become obsolete, so that's no surprise really.

I still kept all my older tech though. I have all my retro consoles, just don't have the space to keep them hooked up. I have a couple positively ancient flight sticks, one of them being a Logitech Wingman something or other, it's old enough to have a gameport plug natively but new enough that it came with a gameport to USB adapter. It's at least 20 years old. No idea if drivers for it still exist. But I don't really have a use for a lot of the old tech I kept around, just didn't seem right to get rid of them when they're in good condition (plus I am lazy)

 

[JaapDaniels]

I still use my Nintendo Eentertainment System for it's still got better games than todays games (not for the graphics but it todays games just don't have fun, wii was the last console with fun games, and not a lot of them were fun).
Today there's no story, no glory, every thing must be politically correct.
there is no story to work with this way except you are fragile at start and built towards the end in strength.
worse some games are even without that much, they're so overhyped openworld, when that word is in description of a game, it means it's got no story, no building, it's just graphics and sound...
We used to call this a POC demo and those games were free.

 

[VinsCool]

Because it still works, why else.

 

[mrdude]

I still use my Nexus 5 phone that came out nearly 10 years ago as my daily used mobile. I have Lineage OS 18.1 on it and it still works fine. Also I use pap2t and spa3102 voip adapters for phoning with a PSTN number, most phone calls are free or extremely cheap and there's no need for a mobile signal to use those. I've still got loads of old tech, I don't see the need to update it if it works and I can fix pretty much anything that breaks down so I when a component fails (electrical or mechanical), I just fix it rather than getting something new. a prime example. I have an old led TV that a few of the leds on the backlight blew out due to age, I just replaced all the led strips which only cost £9 with delivery from Ali-Express, so that's the TV good for another 50,000hrs. I got a spare power board for it as well for cheap so when the capactors fail in that I can replace it with the new board while I wait for new capacitors to turn up. My washing machine has a brushless motor and uses a hall sensor to know the drum position, it cost me less than £10 for a new sensor, so much cheaper to fix it rather than replace the entire machine. I just don't see the point of buying new stuff if you have the ability to fix things and it's better for the environment.

 

[RAHelllord]

Most of my consoles and handhelds are over 10 years old and still see use to this day, largely because there are still so many games I haven't gotten around to playing on them yet. Emulation can be fine but most emulators still struggle with some aspects of it for authenticity, usually sound. Meanwhile all my consoles are modded where needed for pristine sound and image quality, and combined with high quality cables they look better today than they did 10, 20, or 30 years ago.
Though I also have a bunch of bleeding edge modern crap, got a steam deck and finally updated my PC this year, had to buy a new phone last year because the old one could no longer handle my email archives, got some modern headphones (some 2021 audeze) to go along my other ones (including some 1987 Beyerdynamics).
If it can be repaired it will be repaired in my household, nothing truly gets obsolete if you don't buy trash and are willing to take care of it over the years.

 

[shaunj66]

My home desktop is close to a decade old, using a CPU released in 2014.

It's not even supported by Windows 11 and my motherboard doesn't have a TPM chip either so I'm stuck on W10.

Can't justify an upgrade but luckily I'm not majorly fussed about it