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``Computer use by ordinary citizens (already available in 1980) will transform the public from passive viewers of TV into mentally alert, highly trained, information-processing experts.''
(PHILIP K. DICK)

I enjoy tinkering with computers, and I've got quite a lot of them. My primary interests are free and open source software, bootstrapping, data communications and networking, self-hosting systems, low-end computing, home computing, permacomputing and retrocomputing.

These days people have a lot of equipment that can be considered as a ``computer'' (e.g. many phones and TV sets are running Linux). I have a following criteria to limit listing all the possible devices:

• It's possible to develop and to run my own programs on it.
• It's possible to exchange data between my other computers using the written programs.

Based on above criteria my gaming consoles are therefore not proper computers. Although I'm able to program games for them, the consoles are (with their current firmware) unable to communicate with other computers. Somewhat same applies to my Android devices - in theory they could be repurposed as programmable devices, but I just haven't bothered to do that yet.

In the tables below I'm only listing the features I'm using on that particular computer and not what the computer might actually be able to provide. For example, for a headless server the ``Graphics'' entry is usually empty although there might be an intergrated GPU or whatever.

Architectures listed from the newest technology to the oldest. Computers within an architecture listed from the oldest to the newest.

ARM64

System	``bitwoods''		``roadster''
Model	Raspberry Pi 3 Model B	Raspberry Pi 3 Model B	Raspberry Pi 3 Model B
Year	2016	2016	2016
SoC	Broadcom BCM2837	Broadcom BCM2837	Broadcom BCM2837
CPU	1.2 GHz Cortex-A53	1.2 GHz Cortex-A53	1.2 GHz Cortex-A53
Cores	4	4	4
RAM	1 GB	1 GB	1 GB
Disk	32 GB (SDHC) (Samsung EVO Plus)	32 GB (SDHC) (Samsung EVO Plus) 500 GB (USB/RAID1) (2 x Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX) (2 x Deltaco MAP-GD33U3 enclosure, 174c:55aa)	32 GB (SDHC) (Samsung EVO Plus) 750 GB (USB) (LaCie)
Networking	Fast Ethernet	Fast Ethernet	Fast Ethernet Wi-Fi
Connectors	Ethernet	Ethernet USB 2.0	Ethernet USB 2.0 DSI HDMI
Peripherals	14x14x6 mm gold anodized aluminium heat sink	14x14x6 mm gold anodized aluminium heat sink	7" Touchscreen Display (899-7466) Apple USB Keyboard A1048 (05ac:020c) Apple USB Mouse M5769 (05ac:0307)
Graphics	-	-	Integrated Broadcom (HDMI/DSI)
Case	Black ABS enclosure (ASM-1900036-21)	Black ABS enclosure (ASM-1900036-21)	Touchscreen Premium Case (ASM-1900035-21)
Power	Raspberry Pi 5.1V/2.5A	Raspberry Pi 5.1V/2.5A Deltaco MAP-GD33U3 12V/2A Deltaco MAP-GD33U3 12V/2A	Raspberry Pi 5.1V/2.5A Sunfone 12V/2A
Power usage	1-5W (idle) 1-5W (normal use)	5-10W (idle) 15-20W (normal use)	10-15W (idle) 15-20W (normal use)
OS	Raspberry Pi OS (bookworm)	DIY Linux	Raspberry Pi OS (bookworm)
Application	BBS server Mastodon server	NAS server for backups	Portable desktop
Notes	MPEG-2 license (useless)	-	-

X86-64

System	``macbook''	``dethstar''
Year	2008	2013	2013	2015
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo	AMD FX-6350	Intel i7-3770	Intel Pentium G3420
Frequency	2.0 GHz	3.9 GHz	3.4 GHz	3.2 GHz
Cores	2	6	8	2
RAM	8 GB (2 x 4 GB)	16 GB (4 x 4 GB)	8 GB (2 x 4 GB)	16 GB (4 x 4 GB)
RAM type	DDR3 1066 MHz SO-DIMM	DDR3 1333 MHz DIMM	DDR3 1600 MHz DIMM	DDR3 1600 MHz DIMM
Disk	500 GB (SATA) (Seagate BarraCuda ST500LM030)	500 GB (SATA/RAID1) (Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX, Western Digital Caviar Green WD5000AAVS)	500 GB (SATA) (Toshiba DT01ACA050) 500 GB (FireWire/RAID1) (2 x LaCie 301313U)	1 TB (SATA/RAID1) (2 x SeaGate ST1000DM003)
Connectivity	Gigabit Ethernet Wi-Fi	Gigabit Ethernet	Gigabit Ethernet	Gigabit Ethernet PLIP
Motherboard	Apple MacBook 5,1	MSI 760GA-P43 (FX)	HP Compaq Elite 8300	ASRock B85M Pro3
Removable media	CD/DVD (MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-868 KB19)	CD/DVD (ASUS Super Multi DVD Writer DRW-24D5MT)	CD/DVD (HP DVD A DH16ACSHR JHG7)	CD/DVD (PLDS DVD-RW DH16ACSH JL3A)
Connectors	-	PCI Express Gen 2 16x	PCI RS-232 FireWire (DeLock 89050)	PCI Express USB 3.0 PS/2 Parallel port (Oxford Semiconductor 1415:c110)
Graphics	Integrated NVIDIA	NVIDIA RTX 3060 12 GB	Integrated Intel (VGA)	Integrated Intel (DVI)
Peripherals	-	-	-	AD-300 PS/2 male <-> 5 pin female AT keyboard adapter IBM Model M 1387530 buckling spring keyboard Pro Signal SL666 Laplink type parallel cable Retro Games THEMOUSE USB mouse (1c59:0027)
Monitor	Built-in 13.3"	-	Dell 2405FPW 24"	Dell 2405FPW 24"
Case	-	Cooler Master Elite 241	HP Compaq Elite 8300 Minitower	Cooler Master N200
Power	Apple 60W MagSafe	600 W (Cooler Master B600 V2)	320 W	500 W (Cooler Master B500 V2)
Power usage	20W (idle) 40W (normal use)	75W (idle) 300W (normal use)	25W (idle, display off) 80W (normal use)	TBD
OS	Ubuntu 20.04 LTS	Ubuntu 22.04 LTS	DIY Linux	Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
Application	Home laptop	Stable Diffusion	Linux kernel development NAS server for backups	Home desktop

ARM32

General purpose

Mobile

System	Palm Tungsten E	Nokia 770	Nokia N800	Nokia N810	Nokia N900	Nokia N950	Nokia N9
Year	2003	2005	2007	2007	2009	2011	2011
SoC	OMAP310
Architecture	ARMv4T
CPU	126 MHz ARM925T
RAM	32 MB	64 MB				1 GB	1 GB
Flash	?
Disk	32 MB (SD)
Connectivity	USB (Ethernet gadget)	USB (Ethernet gadget)	USB (Ethernet gadget)	USB (Ethernet gadget)	USB (Ethernet gadget)	USB (Ethernet gadget)	USB (Ethernet gadget)
Connectors	USB 1.1	USB 1.1	USB 2.0	USB 2.0	USB 2.0	USB 2.0	USB 2.0
Peripherals	Canon SDC-32M 32 MB SD card
Battery	?
Power	Palm AC Adaptor Tesco UK to Continent power plug adaptor	-	-
Operating system	Palm OS DIY Linux	DIY Linux	DIY Linux	DIY Linux	DIY Linux	DIY Linux	DIY Linux
Application	Linux kernel development	Linux kernel development	Linux kernel development	Linux kernel development	Linux kernel development	Linux kernel development	Linux kernel development

Z80

8086

System	Amstrad PC1640 HD20 PC-MD	Amstrad PC1640 HD20 PC-ECD
Year	1986	1986
CPU	8 MHz Intel 8086	8 MHz NEC V30 (NEC Ireland 1990) 8087-2 FPU (Intel 1988)
RAM	640 KB	640 KB
Disk	20 MB (RLL hard drive) 360 KB (Floppy)	20 MB (RLL hard drive) 360 KB (Floppy)
Connectivity	PLIP RS-232	PLIP RS-232
Removable media	5.25" Floppy	5.25" Floppy
Connectors	8-bit ISA Amstrad keyboard connector Parallel port RS-232	8-bit ISA Amstrad keyboard connector Parallel port RS-232
Peripherals	Amstrad PC1640 keyboard Logicode high speed serial board HSP-1P1 Pro Signal SL666 Laplink cable	Amstrad PC1640 keyboard Logicode high speed serial board HSP-1P1 Pro Signal SL666 Laplink cable
Graphics	Integrated Monochrome/Hercules 12" CRT	Integrated EGA 12" CRT
Power	Powered by the CRT monitor	Powered by the CRT monitor
Power usage	55W	90W
Operating system	MS-DOS 3.20	MS-DOS 3.20
Application	ASCII/ANSI art BBS client Programming	ASCII/ANSI art BBS client Programming

65xx

Last updated: 2024-02-03 20:46 (EET)