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What's the lowest spec system that you would contemplate using? I've got the opportunity to pick up a HP Omnibook 133Mhz system. Now, I haven't used a 133 since '98 or so, but this is a pretty clever little laptop (If you've ever seen an omnibook it has the little mouse that ejects out the side and is driven off a stick). The actual dimensions are 8x11 or so, and its very light. The monitor is good, and it has a 4gb HD in it. I'm thinking about throwing SSH, a light text editor, and a light browser on it... And XCOM, I gotta have XCOM.

I'm losing a territorial war for office space with my girlfriend, who's a freelance designer and works out of the apartment. The plan is to set up a wireless network so I can still browse forums and check email without taking up space in the office anymore.

So for $50 would you purchase a 133Mhz laptop?

LP

$50.00 seems reasonable for the type of system offered. For alot of refurbished systems the stores around my area offer them at roughly $1.00 on the MhZ. though a 133 is the absolute lowest i'd ever consider using, chances are i wouldn't shell out money for it unless i had cash to spare and wanted it as an antiquity or something.

The absolute biggest flaw in the system, other than the speed, is the lack of USB. There is no way to attatch a better mouse to the system...

LP

LapsedPacifist wrote:The absolute biggest flaw in the system, other than the speed, is the lack of USB. There is no way to attatch a better mouse to the system...

LP

does it have a PCMCIA slot? if so you can buy a usb pc card for expandability.

Are you going to run linux? otherwise I don't think even windows 2000 can run on that.

You could run 'Doze 98, or 95. Or *shudder* me. Maybe me. But I wouldn't. And you shouldn't.
Edit, Looks like you could run 2000

Minimum Requirements
Computer/Processor 133 MHz or higher Pentium-compatible CPU
Memory 64 megabytes (MB) of RAM recommended minimum; more memory generally improves responsiveness
Hard Disk 2GB hard disk with a minimum of 650MB of free space

This one I'm on, right now. I'd much rather be on a 4GHz ship...

120 MHz PI
32 MB RAM

I can use anything, for almost any purpose. It's really the use of the hardware that drives its lower limit; for example, while I have an old Zenith 8088 *ahem* "laptop" *ahem*, it's useless beyond word processing so it simply sits in a corner and does nothing.

On the other hand, I have a 33Mhz 486 sitting in another corner and running firewalling software from a floppy disk.

So the usability, again, really depends on what you want to use something for. For a desktop system, I'd say that a Pentium I is the absolute lower limit -- one with USB is a definite plus.

Christ, I wouldn't go on anything lesser spec than my PDA (a 133MHz, 32MB RAM Casio Cassiopeia). My brother's Sony-Ericsson P800 phone even excels past that.

Currently using an overpowered 486@166 MHz with 128MB of fast-page RAM, 2 linked videocards with a total of 20MB videocard memory, and an 80GB harddrive in it and running on Win98.

I've been using it with Win98 since it was 100MHz, 32MB RAM, 4MB videomemory and a 2GB harddisk, and before that it was 40MHz, 16MB RAM, 500MB harddisk and running on DOS/win3.11 and my cool expensive 16k dial-up and one of the first versions of netscape so I could download win3.11 patches for the Warcraft 2 map editor.

Before that we had an overpowered XT machine that was so insanely fast that everyone thought it was a 386.

I'd consider everything as long as it can run windows3.11 and wordperfect 5.1. Being able to play Crusader, Alien Odyssey, Albion, High Seas Trader, Thunderscape, HiOctane or Privateer would be a plus.

Current PC is a PII-450 with a ridiculous amount of RAM for a PII (512).