Unexpectedly long-lasting tech

[Aereldor]

What is your most unexpectedly long-lasting tech product? I've had my 1st gen Logitech MX Master wireless mouse for 6 years now, works like new and holds charge for over a month despite heavy use. I took it to college where it wasn't exactly treated gently, and it's been used with dozens of PCs. Love the damn thing, especially because I didn't think it'd just work forever.

 

What are yours?

 

 

[Kronoton]

iMac_G5 16 years still running strong despite being "known" as extremely unreliable 

 

Plenty of old kbd and mice (back to the late 80s) still working.

 

My DIY speakers (also 30 years....)

 

 

[Somerandomtechyboi]

A freaking atom n450 laptop, had it for around 9-10 years and it still works, its slow af but it still works xD

[BondiBlue]

It's definitely not the most surprising thing that's lasted a long time, but it has definitely stood the test of time so far: a Cambridge SoundWorks DTT 3500 Digital surround system. I bought this unit used at a garage sale many years ago, and I didn't get any of the original speakers with it. However, I've used it with a few different 5.1 setups and it works great. I'm currently using it in my living room to replace a sound bar I bought a few years ago, and it's so nice. It's small, but it does full 5.1 surround, and it can drive speakers to volume levels that are well above safe levels for normal hearing. 

6 minutes ago, Kronoton said:

iMac_G5 16 years still running strong despite being "known" as extremely unreliable 

To be fair, not all of the iMac G5 models were terribly unreliable. 

[Kronoton]

Just now, BondiBlue said:

To be fair, not all of the iMac G5 models were terribly unreliable. 

Dunno, 20" iSight is supposed to be one of the worst.

[emosun]

my smartphone. 8 years old now , still works fine. 

Turns out everyone else is just bad at caring for their phones. 

[BondiBlue]

6 minutes ago, Kronoton said:

Dunno, 20" iSight is supposed to be one of the worst.

I've always found the ALS models to be the worst, but I know some iSight models are bad as well. Hmm...

[The_russian]

Apart from my Logitech M310 mouse that has lasted for 7-10 years and still works like new, I use a dell color laser printer that is more than 15 years old. That thing is a beast (including in size), I’ve only had to replace a handful of parts on it and it’s still working just fine. Much better and cheaper than buying a new ink printer that will stop working in 2 years.

[FrowningHippo]

Ah, I guess that would be my soundbar. It's a JBL one I got from my parents 7 years back. They had been using it for several years before that. Sound of it is really nice for watching movies.

[Forbidden Wafer]

2.1 speakers from 20+ years ago. They sound way better than most modern stuff. No digital signal processing required, just good and old analog circuits.

 

[WhitetailAni]

A hard drive from the late 1990s that just keeps going. Makes horrible screechy noises, 98 SE freezes multiple times during boot, etc., but it just keeps on going and is showing no signs of stopping anytime soon.

 

For those who remember me saying it was dead, it was my IDE cable. I had two cables at the time and didn't think of switching them, and that was the only device plugged in. When I rebuilt the machine I decided to throw in the 98 SE drive to test boot and used a new 80-wire cable instead of the broken 40-wire I had been using before. Ran just fine.

 

Also on the list is my Crucial M4 128GB. 10 years old now and at 88% life, been doing a great job as a Windows boot drive. Been through at least 17 Windows reinstalls.

[Forbidden Wafer]

Just now, FakeKGB said:

A hard drive from the late 1990s that just keeps going. Makes horrible screechy noises, 98 SE freezes multiple times during boot, etc., but it just keeps on going and is showing no signs of stopping anytime soon.

Is it a Quantum Bigfoot? Those things are super over engineered and will probably outlive humanity.

[WhitetailAni]

1 minute ago, Forbidden Wafer said:

Is it a Quantum Bigfoot? Those things are super over engineered and will probably outlive humanity.

No, it's a Seagate ST33232A. I thought I mentioned it but I guess not.

[flibberdipper]

Probably the 160GB Momentus 5400.6 out of my old Eee PC 1005HA. That netbook had been dropped once while running (from about 2-3 feet onto a hardwood floor) AND had pop spilled on top of it (all in the same night, mind you), and yet the damn HDD still has a clean bill of health.

[Kronoton]

Just now, FakeKGB said:

No, it's a Seagate ST33232A

 

Imagine it was an IBM DeskStar, that would be a feat.....

[BondiBlue]

2 minutes ago, Kronoton said:

Imagine it was an IBM DeskStar, that would be a feat.....

DeathStar.

FTFY

[Avocado Diaboli]

I'll interpret "tech" as anything electronic here. I think it's interesting to assume these days that electronics are outdated the second they hit the market, because if you go back a few decades, you kinda expected stuff to last longer. 

 

Probably the oldest tech thing I have that I still use is the stereo I inherited from my mom. It's an Akai system based around the AM-U02 amplifier from 1980-81 and it has a radio receiver, a tape deck and a turntable. It all works more or less, though the turntable does show its age. But these days I mostly use it hooked up to Bluetooth thanks to a little receiver plugged into the AUX connectors.

 

I also own a Pioneer CLD-1850 LaserDisc player from 1993-1994 that still works perfectly. Doesn't see a tremendous amount of use, but I do from time to time like to watch a few movies on LaserDisc. Especially the original, unaltered theatrical versions of the Star Wars trilogy. 

 

The oldest thing that I use almost every day is my guitar amplifier. It's a Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier 2-channel model that, according to the serial number, must have been produced between 1993-1994.

 

And of course, video game consoles are pretty eternal too, so I got a few old ones of those as well.

 

So yeah, some tech that's either older than me or just about as old as I am that still works perfectly fine.

[RollinLower]

1st gen huawei watch. normally smartwatches have atleast some problems popping up after a few years of usage. batterylife for example, but this watch just won't quit. a single charge still gets me almost 2 full days of usage! i've been wearing this watch almost full time since 2015!

[Helpful Tech Witch]

I have a 80gb hdd thats waaayyyy past its expiration date, made late november 2005, somtethig like 50000 poweron hours, nearly a thousand power on count (ok, its like  890, but still), it shoudl be long dead by now.

[ZePat]

8 hours ago, HelpfulTechWizard said:

I have a 80gb hdd thats waaayyyy past its expiration date, made late november 2005, somtethig like 50000 poweron hours, nearly a thousand power on count (ok, its like  890, but still), it shoudl be long dead by now.

Same, I have an old 60GB HDD, a Western Digital WD600BB which I bought in 2002 I think (launched in 2001 originally).  It had replaced my dead 10GB Samsung ATA HDD on my Win98 box, which became a Win2k box, then a WinXP box.  It still works, it's slow af, but it works - it's currently in my vintage PC, still running Win98.

[tkitch]

17 hours ago, BondiBlue said:

DeathStar.

FTFY

Did you get your settlement money?  I did!  (After like 3 RMA's)

[Spindel]

Let's see

 

• Gen 1 Apple Magic mouse, is 9 years old still going strong
• D-Link DIR-868L router that is 8 years old but nowadays is flashed to DD-WRT and runs as an WiFi AP and switch on my home network
• 2013 27" iMac but to be fair it has been packed in it's box on the attic since november when I got my M1 Mini
• Apple A1243 keyboard 7 years
• An mechanical Tissot watch from somewhere 1946-1948 that my great grand father bought (don't wear it much since I got my AW tho)  

[akio123008]

Haha I like how this thread is full of people going "I've been using X for like 5-10 whole years!". Like how is that even surprising?

The fact that people consider 8 years 'old', and are surprised if something lasts more than 6, reveals enough about the quality of today's electronics.

[Amias]

I think my mother's still rocking a Kindle 1 or 2, definitely 12 years old.

 

I've got my iPod 6th gen (2008) kicking about. It would be a 2005 model if some nob at uni didn't drop it down 3 flights of concrete stairs.

[Tan3l6]

Cedar SC-502 - 25 years old calculator. 

Don't recall changing batteries, still some times using it.