post pics of your computer work benches

[Mike Chambers]

so what do all of your computer work benches/rooms look like? just curious. :D

i'll start. (the pic is large so i'll link it instead of embedding it in the post)

http://rubbermallet.org/workroom.JPG

[atari2600a]

lol, NES!

Anyways, tomorrow I'll grab my camera & upload a new pic to my server. My compy desk changed alot over the past 24 hours.

[Mike Chambers]

the best games ever made are for the NES!

notice the KVM switch and 10-port hub on the desk lol... so whats on your desk now atari2600? don't forget to post a pic tomorrow :p

[atari2600a]

2 CRT's & a USB gamepad. I just got a better CRT & a TV Tuner card, though.

[mbbrutman]

I've moved this to 'Off topic'. I think that the on-topic general discussion area should be reserved for more scholarly topics ..

On the same note, let's not have any part of this forum degenerate into a chat area. If it takes you less than 30 seconds to post a message, you probably should have thought more about what you were posting.

[bbcmicro]

Here's mine, after a tidy up and packing away misc. games consoles (Inc. a nes, I never use it though, for shaaame!);

http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/5014/media001pb8.jpg

Achtung! Nearly 1.3 mb

Mike, so...many...PCs! x|

[dongfeng]

Here's mine :)

I'm lucky to have a nice tall roofspace in my house, so I can put everything up there out of the way. My nice XT and 5150 live downstairs so aren't shown here. I've been meaning to paint that back wall for nearly four years now. Please excuse the carpet :p

Overview:
Photo1 (http://www.howard81.co.uk/upload/vcf/mc1.JPG)

Photo2 (http://www.howard81.co.uk/upload/vcf/mc2.JPG)

From the left: 486DX4-100 #2, I just test ISA cards in here, but it runs Windows 3.2 (Chinese localisation).

The tower you can see on the left only actually holds the desk up (it's an old wardrobe door), the 486 itself is out of shot.

Then there is the 386DX40 which doesn't do much at the moment.

Finally the Pentium III 1GHz which I used as a web browser and to transfer files from the computers downstairs.

Photo3 (http://www.howard81.co.uk/upload/vcf/mc3.JPG)
Workbench. That's my old Pentium 166MHz on the left, not really used much these days either, just to get the occasional file from it. Draws on the left are for drives, cables and case parts. Draws on the right are for cards and manuals. Green boxes in the middle are power and parallel cords.

Photo4 (http://www.howard81.co.uk/upload/vcf/mc4.JPG)
My favourite bench! On the left is my 486DX4-100, DOS 6.22 and Win 3.11 - used for everything, including web browsing. Then the "slow BIOS" XT, and the Amstrad PC1640. Keyboard just in the photo on the right is my old FTP server (PIII 1GHz) which gets turned on when I need to share large files with friends.

Photo5 (http://www.howard81.co.uk/upload/vcf/mc5.JPG)
Finally the "corner of mystery". This is where things get filed away when I don't have bench space for them. There is a BBC Micro (and mono monitor), VIC-20, Amiga 500 (and monitor), Atari 2600, Amstrad PC1640, Power Macintosh, Epson 286, 3x486's, 1x empty AT case, the Proprinter X24E and a pile of 450-550 MHz motherboards. There are also a couple of spare keyboards and a few random bits.

Also hidden away out of view are several Pentium 1's I am trying to give away, my second 5150 with no working floppies and a couple of spare monitors.

Oh, and various parts of two MK1 Austin Mini's (1962 and 1964), complete interiors and a couple of doors! The 1964 car I scrapped as it was rusted beyond repair, the other is undergoing a long rebuild :)

[Mike Chambers]

I've moved this to 'Off topic'. I think that the on-topic general discussion area should be reserved for more scholarly topics ..

On the same note, let's not have any part of this forum degenerate into a chat area. If it takes you less than 30 seconds to post a message, you probably should have thought more about what you were posting.

maybe i put it in the wrong subforum. should've been under "your vintage computer collections" maybe - it's the same thing except using pictures. sorry, anyhow.

thought it'd be interesting to see everybodys work benches.

[mbbrutman]

No harm done .. we've posted pictures like this before here. I just get concerned because after a while these threads degenerate entirely ..

[atari2600a]

http://www.mtac.profusehost.net/misc/pics/Not-funny/room2/compdesk.jpg
http://www.mtac.profusehost.net/misc/pics/Not-funny/room2/ecenter.jpg

[Mike Chambers]

Here's mine, after a tidy up and packing away misc. games consoles (Inc. a nes, I never use it though, for shaaame!);

http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/5014/media001pb8.jpg

Achtung! Nearly 1.3 mb

Mike, so...many...PCs! x|

sweet BBC machine! booted into BASIC. :)

[Mike Chambers]

Here's mine :)

I'm lucky to have a nice tall roofspace in my house, so I can put everything up there out of the way. My nice XT and 5150 live downstairs so aren't shown here. I've been meaning to paint that back wall for nearly four years now. Please excuse the carpet :p

Overview:
Photo1 (http://www.howard81.co.uk/upload/vcf/mc1.JPG)

Photo2 (http://www.howard81.co.uk/upload/vcf/mc2.JPG)

From the left: 486DX4-100 #2, I just test ISA cards in here, but it runs Windows 3.2 (Chinese localisation).

The tower you can see on the left only actually holds the desk up (it's an old wardrobe door), the 486 itself is out of shot.

Then there is the 386DX40 which doesn't do much at the moment.

Finally the Pentium III 1GHz which I used as a web browser and to transfer files from the computers downstairs.

Photo3 (http://www.howard81.co.uk/upload/vcf/mc3.JPG)
Workbench. That's my old Pentium 166MHz on the left, not really used much these days either, just to get the occasional file from it. Draws on the left are for drives, cables and case parts. Draws on the right are for cards and manuals. Green boxes in the middle are power and parallel cords.

Photo4 (http://www.howard81.co.uk/upload/vcf/mc4.JPG)
My favourite bench! On the left is my 486DX4-100, DOS 6.22 and Win 3.11 - used for everything, including web browsing. Then the "slow BIOS" XT, and the Amstrad PC1640. Keyboard just in the photo on the right is my old FTP server (PIII 1GHz) which gets turned on when I need to share large files with friends.

Photo5 (http://www.howard81.co.uk/upload/vcf/mc5.JPG)
Finally the "corner of mystery". This is where things get filed away when I don't have bench space for them. There is a BBC Micro (and mono monitor), VIC-20, Amiga 500 (and monitor), Atari 2600, Amstrad PC1640, Power Macintosh, Epson 286, 3x486's, 1x empty AT case, the Proprinter X24E and a pile of 450-550 MHz motherboards. There are also a couple of spare keyboards and a few random bits.

Also hidden away out of view are several Pentium 1's I am trying to give away, my second 5150 with no working floppies and a couple of spare monitors.

Oh, and various parts of two MK1 Austin Mini's (1962 and 1964), complete interiors and a couple of doors! The 1964 car I scrapped as it was rusted beyond repair, the other is undergoing a long rebuild :)

wow!! all kinds of cool stuff you got there. my workbench is boring compared to yours. i have almost nothing but x86 based stuff. only exceptions are the iMac G3 and the osborne. (does the NES count?)

[Mike Chambers]

http://www.mtac.profusehost.net/misc/pics/Not-funny/room2/compdesk.jpg
http://www.mtac.profusehost.net/misc/pics/Not-funny/room2/ecenter.jpg

mac classic and a TRS-80, ftw! thats cool. i saw a mac classic at an electronics parts store around here for $15 i might go down and pick it up soon.

[atari2600a]

It's actually an SE, donated by Sir_Paul.

[dongfeng]

wow!! all kinds of cool stuff you got there. my workbench is boring compared to yours. i have almost nothing but x86 based stuff. only exceptions are the iMac G3 and the osborne. (does the NES count?)

I only have the x86 stuff out at the moment. Most of the other machines are my old ones anyway!

I am trying to downsize at the moment, so I am trying to get rid of all the P1/P2 based stuff as I am only really interested in 486 and older. Not the 166 though, I used that machine for 5 years and am rather fond of it :)

My Mac is not interesting, it is a PowerMac with a 300MHz G3 accelerator card with 2 and 4 GB hard drives. OS 8.6, upgraded from 7.something. I can't find anything interesting to do with it at all.

I did have the BBC set up, but the Amstrad swiped the desk space :p

[Mike Chambers]

I only have the x86 stuff out at the moment. Most of the other machines are my old ones anyway!

I am trying to downsize at the moment, so I am trying to get rid of all the P1/P2 based stuff as I am only really interested in 486 and older. Not the 166 though, I used that machine for 5 years and am rather fond of it :)

My Mac is not interesting, it is a PowerMac with a 300MHz G3 accelerator card with 2 and 4 GB hard drives. OS 8.6, upgraded from 7.something. I can't find anything interesting to do with it at all.

I did have the BBC set up, but the Amstrad swiped the desk space :p

you could always put a PPC version of linux on the G3, but that's that interesting either lol.

[bbcmicro]

sweet BBC machine! booted into BASIC.mmm....beepy...

The only failure of my workspace is the need to pull out the beeb or the TV for desk space whenever anything more than minor soldering is required whilst I tinker :[

Photo 4 is indeed the most interesting desk. I once had an Amstrad with my name written on it, but it turned out the monitor was missing. Regretfully, I turned it down. Accursed PS/Monitor hybrid!

[dongfeng]

mmm....beepy...

The only failure of my workspace is the need to pull out the beeb or the TV for desk space whenever anything more than minor soldering is required whilst I tinker :[

Photo 4 is indeed the most interesting desk. I once had an Amstrad with my name written on it, but it turned out the monitor was missing. Regretfully, I turned it down. Accursed PS/Monitor hybrid!

Amstrads with missing monitors can be a good donor for 360kB floppy drives, and if you are lucky a MFM hard drive! I tried to fit a second (3.5") floppy to my 1640, but it turns out you need a whole internal cradle assembly for it to fit.

Speaking of which, did you ever get your Samsung XT clone working?

They are set up on that bench so I can easily transfer files from the 486 to them with a LapLink cable :D

If I had enough room I would certainly set up my BBC B.

[Mad-Mike]

Here's some shots of my currently messy abode where I piece my X86, 68000, and PPC based heckabeasts together out of cast-off parts.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c362/creepingnet2001/workshop/XTontable.jpg
My IBM XT "Half Clone" at it's desk (in the "dining area") with all it's goodies hooked up including it's Epson FX-86E Dot Matrix Printer.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c362/creepingnet2001/workshop/The486table.jpg
The Table O' 486's, including my 1994 Cat Computers 486 DX4-100 hot-rod, and the OS/2 running IBM 9556. You can see my fujitsu drive overlay loading on the screen in the picture, which drives me absolutley nuts if there is a floppy diskette in the drive on accident, because then you have to reinstall the overlay software, as it thinks there is a boot sector virus if it fails to load (lol).

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c362/creepingnet2001/workshop/softwareandbooks.jpg
Some people have Ron Popiel inventions and Christmas Cookie cutters in their up-high shelves of their kitchen, instead, I have old software that I've picked up in the years, visible here are a couple very old Linux books, Two copies of OS/2, one of the early Microsoft Mice packages, and OS/2 2.1 w/ win OS/2 and OS/2 2.0. I also have some out ATM, such as the SoundBlaster Midi kit with a very very early DOS midi sequencer (which runs on my XT). Anyway, onward....

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c362/creepingnet2001/workshop/MyBoxOfCards.jpg
My Keurig Coffee box of expansion cards, I have way more than I can use, but I do try to keep a few spares around since they're not getting any more common (especially the ISA stuff). I'm not even going to try and list all of it, I know there's at least 20-25 different cards in there.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c362/creepingnet2001/workshop/macseondesk-1.jpg
My Bar, complete with working Mac SE used for playing old Black and White Macintosh games. My idea is after I'm a little better heeled financially, and have built more of a social circle, it might be fun to actually USE the bar, and make the Mac SE the primary gaming machine in that area.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c362/creepingnet2001/workshop/HardwareCupboard.jpg
My stash of drives, I just used up a few today rebuilding the Flight (a Creative Labs CD-RW drive, and an 8GB HDD, and some cabling). I have some 72 pin and 30 pin RAM up there, most of it backups for the 286, Flight, and Cat 486. I also have chips, adapters, wiring harnesses, and other stuff in a MSI Multimedia/GeForce Box I have stored up there.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c362/creepingnet2001/workshop/guitarracks.jpg
My Guitar Rack, not really computer related, but cool none-the less. The Sunburst guitar closest to the front is the beloved Fender Jaguar, behind that is my Fender Jag-Stang that I like to play equally as much, behind that is a brand new Squier Jagmaster, and behind that is a Squier Telecaster that I picked up in January, and then there's the purple 7-string Squier behind that. Behind that is a cheap bass I bought up near-destroyed for $80.00 and made like new for nothing using spare parts I had laying around, behind that is my first bass, the B.C. Rich Ironbird. The red guitar is my first electric guitar, a 1985 Kramer Focus 3000 that's been beat to heck, and next to that is a mint 1986 Kramer focus 3000, behind the mint Focus is a custom home brewed Kramer Striker with hot-rod neck and pickups, a parts mutt Stratocaster, and a parts mutt Explorer style guitar. And yes, I use them to write and record my own music.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c362/creepingnet2001/workshop/graveyardandcupboards.jpg
The Computer Graveyard in the bottom cupboard, stowed away with a couple computer keyboards, mice, and other stuff. I use the AT chassis at the bottom for parts and cabling.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c362/creepingnet2001/workshop/deskarea.jpg
My main desk area with a new L shaped desk. My Line6 Amp hides under the desk, not like i can use it much anyway, it's 100 Watts and VERY loud, so I usually opt for a digital effects processor direct to computer anyway. The computer on the far left is the GEM ATXT, which has an Office Jet on top for my faxes/scanning/color printing, and off the shot is my LaserJet 4L right next to the messy area full of cards and tools, which is where I do most of my motherboard/card setup when it's cleaned up. I also use that area as a guitar workbench as well. The GEM is the main computer, the other computer on the right is the Flight, before I put that there I had my 286 there for surfing leetirc and playing Maniac Mansion. I swap out the computer sitting there fairly often depending on what I'm in the mood to use, sometimes it's a 486, sometimes a 286, sometimes the XT sits there. Oh, and scope out the little kids keyboard, the only reason I have it is it has Alps keyswitchtes just like the Omnikey below.

[bbcmicro]

Speaking of which, did you ever get your Samsung XT clone working?I have assembled all the bits for it to work, but I couldn't make a floppy disk to boot it and format the drive (If it is recognised, can't tell)! In three PCs I tried a 1.2mb and a 360k drive (From the machine itself) and I couldn't format, read or write any of the floppies I had whether it be from win 98, command prompt or dos boot disk with all the /parameters. It was either an unlucky BIOS issue, or more likely the disks were bad or had previously been formatted in the wrong drive. So I gave up feeling rather grumpy planning to try again sometime, but never got around to it. I have every intention to fix it, I swear!

But please, don't let me sway you OT!

[apple2fan]

I'll post pic's later, but mine is just a room full of old computers. The room is 8ft by 14ft, with one window on the north side. All my other computers are in storage right now because where moving to a bigger house.:cool: we have a spare bedroom too that we kept junk in.