Computers
My primary and most-used computers
CybertronPC Rhodium
Acquired: 12/13/20Usage: Late 2020 - Now
Software: Fedora Linux 41 (KDE Plasma 6.2.5)
Hand-me down machine from a family member. Was high spec when it was new, but is definitely starting to show its age
The original case was filled with layers and layers of dust and was starting to fall apart from years of usage, and I personally thought it was a bit garish. So I ripped out the components and mounted them in a cheap Rosewill case instead.
It's a terrible case, but it's worked well enough for me. I'd like to eventually move to some 2000s translucent plastic or 90s beige case at some point, as black is mid and RGB gives me a headache
In January 2025 I swapped out the original water cooler for an air cooler, as the water cooler was very old and I was 100% certain it was going to leak coolant all over my GPU and motherboard
M1 Macbook Air
Acquired: 7/18/22Usage: Mid 2022 - Now
Software: Apple macOS 15.2
The Apple Macintosh
Got this in 2022 because I'd been wanting for years to have a proper modern Apple machine. Plus, I also needed something for college with good battery life and performance.
So when shopping for laptops, things just made sense for me to go with one of these.
Overall, it's nice, but the lack of support for Boot Camp to dualboot Windows does make using it a bit annoying at times when trying to run standard PC apps. I've had decent luck getting things routed through Wine on macOS with Whisky though, so it's fine
iPhone 11
Acquired: 12/28/19Usage: Late 2019 - Now
Software: iOS 18.1.1
A smartphone is 100% a computer, and as one of my most frequently used machines, it deserves to be on the list of my primary computers
There's not much of note to say about it other than it being an iPhone 11. There's not much that one can do to customize their phone
Retired Computers
Dedicated to machines I either no longer actively use, or that have since broken
HP 14a Chromebook
Acquired: 8/10/20Usage: Mid 2020 - Late 2020
Got this laptop for college. Only reason I bought this is because my Surface Go which I'd had planned to use for college decided to explode a couple days before I left. So at the last minute, I picked up this Chromebook. I've been incredibly impressed with the thing. Chromebooks have come a long way since what they were back when they were first introduced. They're fully fledged computers pretty much at this point, with built-in Linux support out of the box and great performance. Best netbook I've ever had.
Microsoft Surface Go
Acquired: 11/17/19Usage: Late 2019 - Mid 2022ish
Got this around my birthday as a replacement for my underpowered Netbook. Works really well and does everything I need it to do orders of magnitude better than what I had before. The touchscreen is really nice to use, the keyboard is great, and overall it's just a pleasent experience to use. Definitely would recommend it over an iPad or Android Tablet.
Had to swap it out with a replacement under warrenty on 8/9/20 due to the internal storage frying itself, which led to me purchasing my Chromebook in the meantime for college while I waited for it to be repaired. After getting it back from repairs, it returned to use as my secondary device.
Since the start of 2022, the age of the thing has started getting a bit frustrating, and the battery life just isn't good enough for the daily usage I need from it at college. Because of this, I've replaced this as my primary portable computer with an M1 Macbook Air
HP Stream 11
Acquired: 5/24/18Usage: 2018 - 2019
I got for roughly $100 off the Best Buy website as a replacement to my Latitude 2120.
It came with Windows, but I wanted to try out Linux on it back then, so I ran Ubuntu 18.04 between January - April 2019. However, the OS corrupted itself after trying to upgrade to 19.04, so I moved back to Windows 10 after that happened.
This machine works great for surfing the web and some light gaming. It was my main laptop until November 17, 2019 when I replaced it with my Microsoft Surface Go.
Sadly since then it became non-functional and refused to start. In the process of trying to diagnose the issue I completely destroyed the case, so I've since thrown it out.
Apple iMac (2007)
Acquired: 12/3/17Usage: 2017-2018
iMac bought off my friend for a couple of trips to Taco Bell and $30. Screen has a yellow tinge to it, but otherwise works great. Runs Snow Leopard 10.6.8, which is great with some third party software crammed in it and iTunes ripped out.
Dell Latitude 2120
Acquired: 10/22/17Usage: 2017 - 2018
Was my main Netbook for roughly a year and a half that I got off of eBay for $16.99. Worked amazing with a POSReady 2009 XP installation of Windows.
Was an amazing little machine. Powerful enough for basic video streaming, games from roughly the mid 2000s, and for browsing modern websites with a content blocker.
I loved this thing. It's still a shame to me that the thing died. I will be getting another one of these someday. Preferably the one that came in red or blue
Ti-99/4a
Acquired: 3/11/17Usage: 2017 - 2019
Got this machine off of eBay for $29.99. Works fine, not a complaint to give about it other than peripherals are expensive, and the platform itself doesn't have the most available for it.
In around 2021 I got a SD card loader for it, which works well, except for the reset button having the plastic break off. So I'll need to solder on a new button for that at some point. Since then though the machine has just been sitting in the original box it came in inside my closet
Dell Latitude D505
Acquired: 1/11/17Usage: 2017 - 2018
Was $17.98 from ebay, and my first purchase from said site back in early 2017. Came with an installation of XP, which I then wiped and installed POSReady 2009 over.
For anyone that wants a nice free installation of WinXP, look into POSReady 2009.
Powerful enough for some retro gaming and playback of standard quality 720p video. Amazing keyboard, great touchpad, and a way more practical 4:3 screen for using a computer. Sadly, due to me dropping it a few times, it's not really usable anymore.
XPS 8500 (Old main PC)
Acquired: Around 2015Usage: 2015 - 2020
This was my old main PC. Hand-me-down from my family back around 2015. Ran most things pretty well, but struggled with VR and boot times. Could've been upgraded with an SSD, but I got another hand-me-down by college that resolved the issue