Brisk early sales of Windows 98 suggest there may be a number of new computers in homes and offices as users upgrade, which always raises the musical question: What do you do with the old one?
Two initial rules of thumb apply. First, there is no reason to dump an old computer, especially with landfills bursting already. Second, you should consider whether you really need to get rid of it at all.
Windows 98 creates a number of incentives to upgrade your hardware, most notably its support for USB (universal serial bus) devices. Scanners, digital cameras and other previously difficult-to-install peripherals have in many cases become as simple as plugging in a phone line. Personal computers more than a year and a half old generally lack USB ports, however.
The move to Windows 98 and its sister, Windows NT, over the next year or two will sideline some perfectly good equipment. A 486 computer can still do lots of things that make it worth keeping, ranging from a simple database keeper (recipes, tax records, CD collections, whatever) all the way to a home network server.
In the former case, you may have data in “legacy” DOS programs that make an older computer useful. Strictly for searching and maintaining text-based information, DOS runs circles around graphical-user-interface systems.
The prospect of a home network seems fairly remote to most people until their spouse or kids get their own computers and need to print out or want to share files.
The PC is becoming a quasi-entertainment device–Windows 98 PCs come with support for TV tuners, and a product called Win TV from Hauppage Computer Works runs not only Web TV but a resizable TV window in your monitor. While the PC is no replacement for the family-room TV, family members with “personal TVs” as well as PCs in their rooms may find it convenient to simply combine their computer and TV into one unit.
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If, even after considering your options, you have no use for the old PC, the best option may be to recycle. Computers in the 286 and 386 classes have no resale value, and 486s are reaching that point.
Early, pre-MMX Pentiums can sometimes be sold, but if you can claim a tax deduction it may be more pocketbook-mindful to donate the equipment to a charity.