Old Computers

The c128 wedge looks like a well built machine. It looks really nice.
 
redrumloa said:
Reading this article now. I didn't know there was a part 1-11. So far they seem to be generally getting the story correct, though really glossing over quite a lot of history and missing a few key points. Still overall, not bad for a major site such as Arstechnica.

-Edit- By page 3 I am seeing some outright mistakes. Oh well.
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There are outright mistakes in every episode, I think, but still a half-decent read and a series that I'm sad to see come to an end.
 
I watched an interesting video this morning that would fall within the theme of this thread since most of the history is over 20 years now.


I agree with the premise. I built my first "IBM Clone" in late 1995 using a Cyrix 586 processor. I was pleased with it... Until I got Quake... My 586 100Mhz was far outperformed by a Pentium 75 in Quake. It wasn't even close.
 
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redrumloa said:
I watched an interesting video this morning that would fall within the theme of this thread since most of the history is over 20 years now.


I agree with the premise. I built my first "IBM Clone" in late 1995 using a Cyrix 586 processor. I was pleased with it... Until I got Quake... My 586 100Mhz was far outperformed by a Pentium 75 in Quake. It wasn't even close.
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Back in the day, you were far better off sinking some extra $$$ into one of AMD's offerings, if money wasn't an issue, it was Intel all the way.
 
Per Redrumloa’s request... behold the QuikPak A4060T PowerTower (TM).. a work in progress. Received disassembled from old dealer clearing out storage building. Purchased “as is” but it looks promising and I have spares.

4176A508-1072-4844-87D9-B7365036537F.jpeg 2E3A91B9-E649-45FE-9BE3-D09FF6FBC443.jpeg E33C3830-5185-4464-9B95-25198FFD6BF7.jpeg 35D94556-B04B-4F07-8FB4-1E21726AAC72.jpeg

More photos and updates as progress is made. For the record, the only real difference between the C=, Escom and QuikPak versions are the tower case, CPU Card and in this late production system, lack of SIMM slots on the MOBO.

Regards,
Ltstanfo
 
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I built myself a 486 recently, I had quite a bit of fun getting back into DOS 6.22 :thumbs up:
 
Robert said:
I might be missing something but I don't see any photographs.
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You are correct good sir. Alas, Whyzzat only allows 1MB uploads but that’s not how my iPhone takes pictures. I’ll downsize the photos and “re-upload” this weekend.

Regards,
Ltstanfo
 
DfaWGy4X4AEBS_q.jpg
 
metalman said:
DfaWGy4X4AEBS_q.jpg
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Not a terrible identification guide for most common things. Definitely a few things to be wary of, though. DE-9 has MANY uses that aren't serial. Never assume one of those is serial. Same with the DB-25 and Parallel. Assume those are something dangerous and proprietary until proven otherwise.

And, of course, lots of really strange ports not listed. You'd think at least 13w3 video, my favorite absurd port, would have made it. :p I bet it was on more computers than the Apple Hi-Density Video.
 
redrumloa said:
Got the A500 and have started the process of refurbishing. Converted an ATX psu, reseated all chips and she posts! Only testing composite-mono output at the moment, but very happy. Will be a breeze to get this going. Only problem is some cosmetic cleanup, and a damaged keyboard. I may have a line on the parts for the keyboard repair already. It's a revision 6a board, which is a treat! Came with an A501 too, battery damage not critical. I officially got on the waiting list for a Vampire A500+ board :-D

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The waiting list for Vampire 500 seems long, so here's a random update. The keyboard has been repaired. I've also borrowed my RGB->S-Video adapter from my C128 and wired it up properly to the A500. I've flashed a Gotek floppy emulator and am using it here with the case off until I figure out my final configuration. My case is not perfect, so I may cut it and install the Gotek internal. The S-Video adapter with my cheapo Broksonic TV is a nice pairing Like with the 128 it gives a great picture on the cheap, and even handles interlace with no flicker. The computer itself is still mainly stock, though it does have an A501 memory expansion for 1MB total.

37153987_1768901606496704_4425602037727625216_o.jpg37116412_1768901573163374_4482619871770705920_o.jpg37160886_1770360193017512_3343724549236588544_n.jpg37153417_1770219973031534_6502929748589543424_n.jpg
 
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Bought myself a couple of Psions a while back. A Series 5 and a Revo complete with docking station. The Revo needs a bit of TLC as the batteries are long gone and I think one of the springs has come adrift of the plastic shell, I'll find out once I open it up.

No photos as I'm at work atm.
 
redrumloa said:
The waiting list for Vampire 500 seems long, so here's a random update. The keyboard has been repaired. I've also borrowed my RGB->S-Video adapter from my C128 and wired it up properly to the A500. I've flashed a Gotek floppy emulator and am using it here with the case off until I figure out my final configuration. My case is not perfect, so I may cut it and install the Gotek internal. The S-Video adapter with my cheapo Broksonic TV is a nice pairing Like with the 128 it gives a great picture on the cheap, and even handles interlace with no flicker. The computer itself is still mainly stock, though it does have an A501 memory expansion for 1MB total.

View attachment 1793View attachment 1794View attachment 1791View attachment 1792
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I just got the email that my pre-order wait for a Vampire 500 board is over, my board is ready! I just paid tonight and hope to have it in the next 1-2 weeks! The Vampire board is the only reason I got a Classic Amiga again. I completely moved on to MorphOS ~6-7 years ago, but the Vampire project is amazing!
 
I finally got my Vampire 500 in the mail a week ago, but between watching my grandson and a few other issues haven't spent a ton of time in the retro cave. I did spend yesterday evening finally playing around with the A500/Vampire. As a temporary solution I am using a 10GB 3.5" hard drive with OS3.1. HDToolbox can't handle drives over 4GB, so I used my MorphOS computer to partition and format the drive with FFS International. Really handy to have a MorphOS system close by when using an Amiga Classic.

Anyhow, so far I just put OS3.1 on it and a couple of games. The video below is running an old Amiga port of Doom called aDoom with the shareware Wad file. The video output is not off the HDMI, but actually the original Amiga video port. So yup, Doom running on an OCS Amiga video chip!

I'm sure when I use the RTG gfx out the HDMI it will be even faster and I can use higher resolution & more colors, but i wanted to try it out with the original OCS chipset and video port. It flies! I remember in the 90's when I tried running Doom an my A500 with GVP A530 accelerator (030 at 50Mhz), it was like a slideshow. Even reducing the image size didn't help much. What a night and day difference!

 
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Repaired my Canon V20 MSX this morning :D
A full capacitor replacement with high quality caps and the machine runs now nicely and without interference.
MSX computers were quite popular here in the Netherlands, as well as in Spain and Japan.
 
I finally went ahead and got a Lo-Tech 8bit ISA IDE adapter and set it up with an IDE to CF adapter. Having a hard drive on this Tandy 1000 HX is night and day over just the built in 720k 3.5 floppy drive!

 
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