Why Two Computers???

[bigmck]

One of the things I want to do is build a PC. Two years ago the computer I had was getting old and in a couple months I had planned to build one. As luck would have it, the old PC died and I had to have one quick so I had a PC built. In about two years when 64 bit is more popular, I plan to build one. I am sure some of you reading this have built your own. I don't see any need for two PC's. My question is, when you build a new one, what do you do with the old one?

 

[Petey7]

One option is to sell it. Then you get some of your money back. Or you can use it for testing purposes (tweaks that could potential screw things up) and unmentionable stuff you don't want to do on your main computer. If you just want to get rid of it you could donate it to a good cause (usually you can get a receipt so you can claim it on your taxes).

 

[sygnus21]

Since my upgrades tend to be incremental, any upgrades to the main system sees the old parts moved to the "old" computer. This way....

1. I have a backup system
2. The backup system also gets upgraded.
3. I get a free computer from all the upgrades to the others.

As to what I do with them… well, my wife and kids use the backup, and the third one is strictly for emergency parts.

 

[profdlp]

Having a second computer is invaluable.

1) Great place to stash data backups. If your main system has a dramatic PSU (or whatever) failure and takes your hard drive(s) out your stuff is safe - and nearby.

2) Dedicated print/scan/file server. I have two printers attached to my secondary machine. Let anyone in the house print, I don't care. It's not sucking down my RAM for print spooling and not using up my CPU cycles in the middle of a game.

3) You can do fun stuff with the screensaver, like add a few news tickers and pretend you're Gomez Addams checking your stocks. Or even check the latest ball scores and get an up to date weather report - all at once. I once had a computer in my kitchen with sixteen different news feeds scrolling across the screen stacked top-to-bottom. In the two minutes it took to fill the coffeemaker I knew everything that was going on in the world.

4) Stick the spare in another room and you've got an instant jukebox/video terminal.

5) Experience the joys and sorrows of home networking. You'll even have a good excuse to buy more neat stuff!

6) If your main computer won't boot you can get on the spare and come to http://www.sevenforums.com/ for help.

 

[Faladu]

Wife gets my hand me down if operating in acceptable condition, hers becomes the troubleshooting space emergency replacement PC.

I can tell it's been a while, because our current spare has AGP video card (5900XT, higher end for it's day) and Enhanced IDE components: hard drives, DVD/CD ROM drive which I would NOT put in a new system ever again on purpose.

Oh yeah that 3rd PC is great tester PC for software that we don't want to hassle with, otherwise, I have some OLD games or emulation fare on it that still work fine.
I have Windows 7 on all 3 PCs, blew $ on RAM for old PC, needed 2 1 gig sticks (2 slots) to handle 7, plus an old 4 gig pen drive for Ready Boost.
We'll call it the visitor PC...

So I have 3 PCs and a Wii all working on my router, mine is only one hardwired.

 

[Zepher]

My main machine has been upgraded about 4 times in the past 7 years.
I still have the same case, just swapped out motherboards, cpu's, ram, video cards, and power supplies.

the earlier upgrades were hand me downs from when I upgrade friends' machines. I'd get their old parts and use them.
the last 2 upgrades were purchased new by me so I could play newer games.

I was keeping my old parts and building secondary computers to use but ended up just selling those to finance the upgrades to the main machine.
I do have a second PC that I use primarily for watching movies on my Plasma TV.

 

[A Guy]

My XP PC is in the closet, if this one is ever out of commision for an extended period, I can get online. A Guy

 

[Faladu]

Somewhere someone on a 386 is surfing the web and smiling!
Keep it in prospective, we are all spoiled now, I remember my mouseless computing!
I have a Vic-20 and C-64 that still work in my closet, 10 ft to my left is a Vectrex.

 

[johnwillyums]

Having a second computer is invaluable.

1) Great place to stash data backups. If your main system has a dramatic PSU (or whatever) failure and takes your hard drive(s) out your stuff is safe - and nearby.

2) Dedicated print/scan/file server. I have two printers attached to my secondary machine. Let anyone in the house print, I don't care. It's not sucking down my RAM for print spooling and not using up my CPU cycles in the middle of a game.

3) You can do fun stuff with the screensaver, like add a few news tickers and pretend you're Gomez Addams checking your stocks. Or even check the latest ball scores and get an up to date weather report - all at once. I once had a computer in my kitchen with sixteen different news feeds scrolling across the screen stacked top-to-bottom. In the two minutes it took to fill the coffeemaker I knew everything that was going on in the world.

4) Stick the spare in another room and you've got an instant jukebox/video terminal.

5) Experience the joys and sorrows of home networking. You'll even have a good excuse to buy more neat stuff!

6) If your main computer won't boot you can get on the spare and come to http://www.sevenforums.com/ for help.

Agree with all of the above.
When I completed my new build I had a high spec quad core pc going spare.
I tried to sell it but I don't know enough geeks so people couldn't understand why I wanted a lot of money for a box without a keyboard and monitor and no free printer thrown in!
I just couldn't get anyone interested enough to pay anything like it's value.
So, I bought a monitor and a wireless mini keyboard and use it for watching movies/music etc in my bedroom. Also got a TV dongle.
I network it with my main machine which is quite interesting and it's quite nice watching movies in bed.

 

[A Guy]

Somewhere someone on a 386 is surfing the web and smiling!
Keep it in prospective, we are all spoiled now, I remember my mouseless computing!
I have a Vic-20 and C-64 that still work in my closet, 10 ft to my left is a Vectrex.

WOW!....you have a 10 ft closet??!!

A Guy

 

[MWRed]

I have built the 2 pc's that I now have. Although they're old, it's come in really handy having the 2nd one. My boy uses the other one when he is here, but besides that, I always have a backup. Also, if I'm having issues with this one, I can always get on the other one to root around for solutions.
MY only issue is going to be when I get my laptop.....I reallt don't know what i'm going to do then....

 

[alphanumeric]

Since my upgrades tend to be incremental, any upgrades to the main system sees the old parts moved to the "old" computer. This way....

1. I have a backup system
2. The backup system also gets upgraded.
3. I get a free computer from all the upgrades to the others.

As to what I do with them… well, my wife and kids use the backup, and the third one is strictly for emergency parts.

What he said.

 

[strollin]

In the past, when I built/bought a new computer, I would give my old computer to 1 of my 4 kids. However, they're all adults now (still live at home tho') and don't want my hand-me-downs because they want to be able to play the latest games. I have a number of older computers, 2 P3s, a P4 & an AMD dual core that all work 100% fine but nobody wants. I probably could sell the dual core but doubt I could get enough for it to make it worth my while.

I also have a collection of vintage computers, 80286 and older, that are mostly boxed up and in storage.

 

[NTFS]

I have 2 PC's, both built by me, one only for games, and one for work, with a couple of spare parts lying around. I can't see how you can only have one PC.

 

[grimreaper]

Got my desktop, and now own a HP net-book, never leaves my hands, this thing is worse than my Crackberry :shock:

I love how compact it is, and great wireless range for surfing the net.
(Sorry if I'm a little off topic guys).

I'm pretty sure these days the majority of people out there have more than 1 computer guaranteed, and with the costs of owning a decent desktop and/or laptop going down (for some of us), improved features, how could you not have 2 computers ?

 

[Jacee]

I have three computers that I rely on ... my XP desktop, Vista Business laptop, and my main Win7 desktop.
I gave one XP to my daughter and relegated the 98se to the barn.

 

[pparks1]

I usually run about 4 computers in the house

• laptop for wife
• desktop as a dedicated file server
• Everyday Win7 gaming box
• Linux based desktop

I used to keep quite a few more, but with virtual machines taking off and working so well...my test labs and such usually don't require physical hardware.

Usually when i buy a new machine, it becomes my main machine and I upgrade everything down the line. So, my current rig would become my Linux box and my current Linux box would become my file server.

And with my daughter being almost 6...I'll likely use my server as an everyday screw around desktop for her to play and experiment with.

 

[AvatarOfTheShip]

I have two machines - one is an i7 brute for heavy-duty use and the other is a Q6600 Media Centre machine. This allows me patronising rights over people with non-i7 systems, which I exercise ruthlessly

 

[AussieGuy92]

the question is why not i have a laptop and a desktop and i plan to build a desktop, hell if i can cheap laptop some were i will purchase it and upgrade it.

 

[Barman58]

What do I do with my old PCs ....

I use them till they die and then tend to leave the carcass, in my old property when I move

I have to have mobile access for work (now covered by an Acer AspireOne 1GB win7 Pro) as a mobile software tool-kit. I also tend to treat the main machine as a file server of sorts, (one in the specs that is due for a re-build but it still does what I need it to)

Am not a gamer so do not need to be on the bleeding edge - also tend to deal with slightly older systems (buisiness) so reliability is more important, also tend to wait for new component designs to stabilise before adopting them myself.