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Are questions about repairing and maintaining vintage computers and peripherals on-topic? I'm thinking, for example, of

  • Commodore 64
  • Atari 800XL
  • S-100 machines
  • IBM PC XT

These would seem to fit within the scope of the FAQ, as they are computer hardware, and not videogames or consoles. On the other hand, vintage machines tend to be more of a hobby rather than for daily use - perhaps this is not something the community wants on the site.

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    It might get answered, but there's a high chance that it might get closed as Too Localized.\
    – Sathyajith Bhat Mod
    Commented Jul 19, 2011 at 15:13
  • There's nothing in the FAQ distinguishing hobby from daily use. The PC XT was a general purpose computer not significantly different from current computers in design or usage. That example muddies the question.
    – fixer1234
    Commented Jun 20, 2016 at 14:19
  • Uhh, not sure why we're all revisiting this five years later, and I guess we'll see how Vintage Computing goes but I thought it would have done better on this site. S-100 and Atari 800XL machines were also general purpose machines not so different from today's computers, except, as with the XT, very few are in use today.
    – dsolimano
    Commented Jun 20, 2016 at 15:04

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Vintage computer questions are completely on-topic in my opinion. They do fit into the scope of the FAQ. And while they are welcome in the community, they may not get answers right away seeing as how it is, like you said, more of a hobby-type thing that not too many people are into.

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While such questions are on-topic for Super User, they would probably be more effectively asked on Retrocomputing.

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  • "Appropriately" may not be the most appropriate word. "Effectively" is closer.
    – fixer1234
    Commented Jun 20, 2016 at 14:25
  • Half the battle in asking a question on SE is knowing which site is most applicable! Thannks!
    – jpaugh
    Commented Jun 20, 2016 at 21:34
  • This site is the best site ever for questions about retro things. +1.
    – wizzwizz4
    Commented Jun 28, 2016 at 20:06

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