I still play my vinyl records...
...on one of these:

www.flickr.com/photos/fiskare/437572748/

It dates from the 70's, is belt driven (you change speeds by swapping the belt onto a different pulley), and was manufactured by, would you believe, Amstrad. It has, since the day I bought it, been considered 'cool' by everyone who's seen it.

My second coolest piece of tech' is my 'pop-up' toaster. It's a Dualit, with a clockwork timing mechanism and a manual toast lifter. It's so old-fashioned that if it goes wrong, you can take it apart and fix it - instead of having to junk it and buy a bloody new one.

(Working in I.T. doesn't stop me being a bit of a Luddite.)
(minimalist ..., Fri 5 Nov 2010, 15:37, 9 replies)

That is
a stylish record-player indeed!
(Rebooted Frazer Smoothly scrolling since, Fri 5 Nov 2010, 15:40, closed)

And you sir...
...are obviously a person of taste and discernment.
(minimalist ..., Fri 5 Nov 2010, 17:22, closed)

Dualit toasters...
... are ace! If you whack the lever hard enough the toast will jump clean out and you can catch it mid air. They even sell replacement elements and timers so potentially they can go on indefinitely.
(flimflam_machine, Fri 5 Nov 2010, 16:09, closed)

I know...
...I've had mine for around 15 years. In that time I've had to replace two elements - did it myself and quite enjoyed doing it.
(minimalist ..., Fri 5 Nov 2010, 16:58, closed)

Oh thats really lovely...
My Brother still has my parents early 70's Beomaster/Beogram set up. Still works perfectly.
I still cry about the fact he has it and I don't.
( Herb Alpert's Taxi Driver I have very beautiful lips, Fri 5 Nov 2010, 16:10, closed)

I'm guessing...
...you don't mean the one with the 'parallel tracking' deck (which I'd always heard was a great idea - that they couldn't get to work reliably).
(minimalist ..., Fri 5 Nov 2010, 17:19, closed)

That looks fucking ace
Then my heart sank a little when you mentioned that sugar's lot made it. Looks too good for hamstrad surely?
(mersault, Fri 5 Nov 2010, 16:56, closed)

I'm quite proud of it being an Amstrad...
People look at it and say, "That can't be an Amstrad!" But it bloody well is. The way Amstrad used to work is: they'd source components from all over the shop, bolt 'em together and badge the resultant mess (which is why their computers were so shite - no two ever had the same internals).
This thing however has very few components, and those that it does have are relatively simple (with the exception of that fancy 'S' shaped arm). I figure the whole thing was an exercise in design - one that they got right. Plus its most complex bit (the fancy arm) was a highly visible selling point, so they couldn't f**k about with it!
(minimalist ..., Fri 5 Nov 2010, 17:13, closed)

Do the speeds include 16 and 78?

( The Mock TurtIe ™ --- Thinks you are a cunt, on, Fri 5 Nov 2010, 21:26, closed)

No...
...just 33 & 45.
(minimalist ..., Sat 6 Nov 2010, 0:27, closed)

I want one.

(Archeleus hates cabbage, Sat 6 Nov 2010, 0:39, closed)

cool indeed.
much cooler than the slidy out linier turntable music centre one they did.
they were absoloute un utterable crap.
( amoebaboy chose for death by unga bunga on, Sat 6 Nov 2010, 1:10, closed)