Yes, I remember those days... I built my own Sinclair ZX81 from a kit
in 1982. Never liked Apple computers, and couldn't afford them. I
remember the TRS-80 Model 1, which a friend had, but the first Radio
Shack Computer I had was the Colour Computer, which was quite a step
up from the Sinclair. I had several Tandy 1000 computers starting in
1984 and have lost count of how many I have had altogether.

Right now 4 machines run Kubuntu, 1 with Mint-KDE, which dual boots
to WinXP so I can use my Trainz simulator. The laptops and netbooks
run Kubuntu very well. The college I taught at was given a dozen old
Compac "luggables" and I had a couple at home for a while, but they
were so limited they went out in the garbage in about 1998.

I haven't regretted getting rid of really old machines. The most
recent I have now are about 5 years old and perfectly suited to Linux.