Ask Slashdot: What Tech Products Were Built To Last?

itwbennett writes: "When you think about tech products these days, you probably think 'refresh cycle' more than 'built to last.' But there are plenty of tech products that put up with hard, daily use year after year. Here's a few to get you started: Logitech MX510 mouse, Brother black & white laser printer, Casio G-Shock watch, Alvin Draf-Tec Retrac mechanical pencil, Sony Dream Machine alarm clock. What's your longest-lasting, hardest-working device?"

Comments

HP Calculators

[Anonymous Coward]

I still use my HP-11C and HP-32S calculators at least weekly. They're now 25+ years old, and I've changed the batteries maybe twice.

Enter > Equal ..... Yeah!

Model M Keyboard FTW

[TimeZone]

These things are awesome. The ones I've got were built in the mid 90s and still clicking.
TZ

HP LaserJet 4M+

[jakedata]

It sits there in standby waiting for print jobs that almost never come, then with a wheeze the top fan blows out the accumulated dust, the lights dim briefly and I get my printout like it was 1999.

Anything built before 2001

[Lumpy]

The quality difference between pre 2001 electronics and now is astounding. Current products are all utter junk compared to earlier stuff.

Re:Anything built before 2001

[egarland]

We always get a false impression of the reliability and quality of old stuff, because the stuff that sucked and broke got thrown out years ago, and the only things that we still encounter are the ones that were well made. It's true with old houses, old cars, old furniture, pretty much everything. I'm sure there's a law for this phenomenon with some pompous dude's name on it but it's a well established and discussed phenomenon.

Re:Commodore Amiga 3000T

[Joce640k]

Fluke multimeters...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

HP48g

[aaaaaaargh!]

Still works like a charm (and still a bit slow, hehehe).

Re:My toilet

[rolfwind]

Toilets really are one of the best tech inventions of all time. And I do mean tech in every sense of the word. Porcelain is the best material for it, and while the chinese had it for a long time, when the west (Kingdom of Saxony) got it/discovered it, it gaurded the secret closely. Thankfully it got out, are it would be relegated to fancy sculptures and plates.

This isn't to mention all the requirements like running water and sewer system... but a lot of tech resembles Maslow's hierarchy of needs, as in the oldest stuff is generally the most essential, and as time goes on, the newer stuff is icing on the cake.

Voyager 1 & 2

[MetricT]

Roughly 40 years old and still doing science.

Nokia 5110

[Onuma]

My old Nokia candybar phone (c. 2000) is practically indestructible. To this day I can still charge it up and play "nibbles" in all its LCD monochrome glory. Too bad the cell towers don't support its signal anymore...