'Alternative' Tech/Hardware
Hey, this page is where I group together posts about hardware related 'alternative' tech interests like; second hand and retro electronics, repairs and maintenance, and home server management!
2nd hand & Retro
I don't have the money to waste replacing all of my devices biannually, I also don't agree with obseleting perfectly functional hardware for the profit of corps that engage in large scale resource theft and human exploitation. For these reasons I stick with second hand tech hardware as much as possible. This also blends with my interest in 'retro' tech, I enjoy following the old console modding/emulator scenes, and have a few friends to swap consoles with. Typically I find luck with eBay online, or CEX in real life (they give 5 year warranty).
Repairs and Maintenance
Below are individual pages for all hardware I have/had access too, with troublshooting I have done and resource links :)
Computers
Old/Retro Consoles Status
- Original Xbox: Semi functional
- Nintendo 64: Indefinitely loaned to a friend
- PS4 Slim: Indefinitely borrowed from a friend
- Xbox 360: May be acquiring one off a friend soon
Home Server
I bought a second hand 'micro' form factor office PC in 2024, the Dell Optiplex 7050. There are a bunch of these available at the moment for relatively cheap, most likely due to a lack of official Windows 11 support. But they are highly capable, energy efficient, designed to be left on 24/7 in an office, have excellent support (both in parts and online troubleshooting), and are usually easy to modify. I moved my friend's Minecraft realm off of Microsoft's servers and on to this machine in late 2024, and it has been running well since! Been considering a Plex or Jellyfin server and some other game servers in the future, will post about those if I manage to get em working. Recently got an even cheaper second hand HP Prodesk 600 G3 SFF that I may replace the Optiplex with, and pass that on somewhere else.
Alt Tech Posts
Self Hosting a Minecraft Bedrock Server
Recent Random Ramblings About Hardware and Software
Running Windows Apps on Linux (My Experiences So Far)
Halo Trilogy 2k25 & Original Xbox Hardware Failure