Your Most Damage-Resistant Hardware?

questamor writes "After reading the recent Slashdot article linking to drivesavers and their list of damaged hardware that was still recoverable, I'm curious about the worst things slashdot readers have done to their hardware and still had it work. So far I've been lucky, and in more than a decade of owning computers I've hotplugged almost everything except a CPU (sometimes accidentally, sometimes through laziness) and never knowingly broken anything. What have you all done to your machines? I imagine there are many stories of dropped, drowned, stolen and generally abused machines still working and doing their thing; or at least, able to be brought back to a working state"

My keyboard!

[NeoFunk]

Have you guys ever stopped and thought about how must punishment your poor keyboard takes every day? Computer components come and go, cards fail, monitors burn out, CPUs die, but keyboards truely stand the test of time. I've had my $10 Logitech keyboard for years, and it's still typing away, strong as ever, while just about every other computer component I have owned has been upgraded or replaced.

Imagine how many keys you have typed on your keyboard throughout its life. Imagine how much frustration you have taken out on it during a rough match of Quake 3 or Starcraft. Imagine how many food particles and hairs have been caught in its grasp. Pretty amazing that it's still clicking away, eh?

Input devices

[lavalyn]

Most consumer level hardware is now planned to be obsolete within 2 years anyway, so nothing needs to be damage resistant. When something breaks, it's a great excuse to go build a more l33t box.

And the only exception to that is probably keyboards and mice, which take years of punishment.

Re:The 486 that wouldn't quit

[Anonymous Coward]

Because the chip components have shrunk. As they get smaller, electrical, impact, and heat damage destroy them more easily. We can't get much smaller than the current generation, too, because the components fail so easily.

This story is lame

[Anonymous Coward]

I had mod points and was all set to do my duties, but I couldn't find a SINGLE comment worthy of a positive moderation.

Editors, please try to pick stories that will provoke interesting discussions. NOT, "This one time at band camp, I dropped my laptop, ... and IT STILL WORKED!"

the importance of those little brass spacers.

[Xzzy]

Some friend and I got to a third friend's house just after he'd finished bolting his new motherboard into the case.. without using those little risers they give you to seperate the board from the chassis.

He couldn't figure out why the thing wouldn't power on. Every solder joint on the board had been short circuited to each other for who knows how many flips of the power switch.

Fearing the worst we corrected the installation and powered it up.. machine promptly gave us a cheerful beep as it completed POST.

phew.

DOES NO ONE READ ANYMORE

[vanillacoke]

Goddamn this joke was said no less the 4 fuckin times. Seriously. People. R.T.F.S.C.!!!!

Re:Palm IIIc marathon..

[baldeep]

My Palm III was stolen by Calgary airport security. They require every bit of electronics to be turned on before it goes through the security checkpoint, and the batteries were dead on my Palm. I had enough time to either 1) catch the last flight out or 2) buy some batteries to liberate my Palm. I chose the former. Given that the batteries were dead you can figure how much I was using that PDA anyway.

The whole "turn it on" thing at airport security always irked me. Seems like false security. I mean, how hard is it to generate a static video signal and wire it to the display? At least they don't do it in the US any more.

Re:Don't try this at home, kids!

[Galvatron]

Killing someone who robs you is a criminal offense. The state will prosecute you, so it's much worse than if the "perp" is alive to sue. Killing is only considered self defense if you have reason to believe your life is in danger. This is clearly not the case if you pursue a fleeing thief.

I personally don't think this is right. I think you ought to be able to do whatever you want to someone who robs you (again, I wouldn't advise taking the risk, but if you choose to take the risk I think you should be given a free hand). However, the law sees it differently. I suppose the police don't want any competition...