MMaximus wrote:

Nice lot you just got here! I also have a few Suntac boards as well. Am I wrong or do you have 70ns 1Mx8 RAM chips on that board? Quite the overkill for a 286/10! 😲

also, nice looking cat on the video 😀

Yeah. those are 70s...

It seems the hardcard is configured as a secondary controller. WD Winchester card is primary for sure (I have manual for this controller, also PC throws primary hdd controller error when this card is removed). I'm not quite sure how it's supposed to work, as there is no way to configure HDD in BIOS. Anyway I'm in need for jumper settings for this Microscience controller…

retardware wrote:

Highscreen was the brand of the former Vobis computer outlet chain in Germany. Cheapest stuff of worst quality. They took what w […]
Show full quote

Highscreen was the brand of the former Vobis computer outlet chain in Germany.
Cheapest stuff of worst quality.
They took what was cheapest at the time and threw that together, and then you had a "highscreen" PC.
MFM HDD in early IDE age is so symptomatic... they took the surpluses that nobody wanted and sold them as "brand".

Also these are dangerous... the thin sheet metal of the cases is sharp like knives.

If you want quality, be careful, it is rare to find in such boxes.

Actually those Octek Fox M motherboards are pretty high quality, and they have SIMM slots. I already have one of them. I bought these PCs pretty much to dismantle them and sell parts (or maybe I will built some resto-mod PC for sale) - I'm pretty sure I will gain up to 100% and have some fun on the way as well...

Yes, when the bad quality of their stuff began to scratch their reputation (they had a callback because of hazardous hardware iirc), and other PC chains came up, they started to care about the quality issues.

You need to know a few things about them:
they started as "Vero GmbH", selling imported TI 58+59 and SR-60A, soon PET 2001 together with chunky 110/220V transformers. I remember them advertising since somewhere end '77/early '78 in the German enthusiast magazines (Funkschau etc, there were no dedicated computer magazines in Germany yet).
They were a commodore specialist, soon added importing Apple II to their portfolio.
In the beginning of the 1980s they had to change their name, because the true Vero company (who remembers their veroboards?) didn't want to be confused with them.

When the PC clone era began, Vobis began to sell clones incredibly cheap, with its pseudo "brand" tackered on.
But the quality was abysmal, which is understandable if a company uses the cheapest of the cheap stuff.
If there was something of good quality inside, it was obsolete stock that was being dumped on the international market, just to get it sold.

When the PC boom was in full rush in the second half of the 1980s, Vobis had many outlets, maybe 100 in Germany.
Then other companies began to jump onto the train.
Schmitt Computer (later: Escom, also known for their shitty just-slightly-better-than-vobis quality) was probably the best-known of them.
This forced Vobis to improve their quality.
But it was too late. They had to close most of their outlets to survive for a while.

Found this little oddity: https://www.ebay.com/itm/233170521058

sucks to wait over a month for shipping, but dogsled isn't know for being a quick way to ship things. Also was hoping to find one that will take a SATA 2.5" drive. Because it would be cool as hell to be able to drop in a SSD into any pci system.

Deksor wrote:

This guy seems to really like them though https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoD0KNEdXnY He did a really good job at restoring his computers ^^

I have a highscreen computer (pentium era) and even though I broke the motherboard years ago, I don't think they're that bad, (or at least they weren't too bad by that time).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojjGiUWJWio

I think this video helps explain the popularity of the highscreen case 😀

Deksor wrote:

Bought this boxed SB 2.0 😁

Interesting fact : it's localized ! So having one in my tongue is even better 😁. Can't wait to receive it ! It will be my oldest boxed sound card (at the moment it's the AWE64)

Owwwww this on my wanted list for sooooooooooooooooo long and I can't seem to find it. This was my first soundcard. I have the orange/blue box but I want this one :p
Great find

retardware wrote:

Yes, when the bad quality of their stuff began to scratch their reputation (they had a callback because of hazardous hardware ii […]
Show full quote

Yes, when the bad quality of their stuff began to scratch their reputation (they had a callback because of hazardous hardware iirc), and other PC chains came up, they started to care about the quality issues.

You need to know a few things about them:
they started as "Vero GmbH", selling imported TI 58+59 and SR-60A, soon PET 2001 together with chunky 110/220V transformers. I remember them advertising since somewhere end '77/early '78 in the German enthusiast magazines (Funkschau etc, there were no dedicated computer magazines in Germany yet).
They were a commodore specialist, soon added importing Apple II to their portfolio.
In the beginning of the 1980s they had to change their name, because the true Vero company (who remembers their veroboards?) didn't want to be confused with them.

When the PC clone era began, Vobis began to sell clones incredibly cheap, with its pseudo "brand" tackered on.
But the quality was abysmal, which is understandable if a company uses the cheapest of the cheap stuff.
If there was something of good quality inside, it was obsolete stock that was being dumped on the international market, just to get it sold.

When the PC boom was in full rush in the second half of the 1980s, Vobis had many outlets, maybe 100 in Germany.
Then other companies began to jump onto the train.
Schmitt Computer (later: Escom, also known for their shitty just-slightly-better-than-vobis quality) was probably the best-known of them.
This forced Vobis to improve their quality.
But it was too late. They had to close most of their outlets to survive for a while.

Escom, vobis was cheap? You dont have too much experience, what the small shops sold in the eastern european countries as a pc 😁 compared to this, the escom was a superbrand - and it was not cheap.

The later products of the Highscreen brand (1993 onwards) were actually pretty decent. They were obviously a little less complex and well built as the good old PS/2 tanks of the time but they had very good, innovative and sturdy cases which oftenly involved clever engineering/thinking and they were by no means cheap - neither financial-wise, nor quality-wise. Cheap stuff came from elsewhere (not dropping any names here...).

An early 2000's? Microsoft natural keyboard, shown next to my daily rider, the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000

Love the beige/off-white look, and may possibly use it as my daily board just to enjoy the aesthetic. Would love a Model M, but I gotta have the ergo.

A lot of the early Microsoft ergo boards had the weird condensed arrow cluster and 6key/nav cluster. I hate when they screw that up.

I've gotta have that Insert/Home/PgUp and Delete/End/PgDn in 2 rows just like it is. I see no absolutely improvement in "streamlining" that, and it's why I'll never get the new Sculpt keyboard. Drives me nuts.

Needs a little cleanup. Definitely a take-apart-and-scrub with soap and water, possibly some retrobrite on the keys. It's weird how they took a color and the rest of the board stayed white, almost like it's finger-oils and not sun that changed the color. Will have to see how much of the color comes off with soap and water. Any suggestions?

One thing I noticed is that the center keys are not full, I'll have to see how that feels. I like how they are full keys on the 4000, but I'm not sure if my fingers will notice the difference.

blurks wrote:

The later products of the Highscreen brand (1993 onwards) were actually pretty decent. They were obviously a little less complex and well built as the good old PS/2 tanks of the time but they had very good, innovative and sturdy cases which oftenly involved clever engineering/thinking and they were by no means cheap - neither financial-wise, nor quality-wise. Cheap stuff came from elsewhere (not dropping any names here...).

We had a Pentium 166 in that Highscreen mini tower on the left here. I remember the case as having been rather nice!

I found one of those cases a year or so ago. Someone I knew was so desparately looking for one he showered me with nice vintage stuff in exchange for it. Must be a nostalgia thing, apart from the odd front serial port, it's a bog-standard AT minitower, although relatively well-finished.

My little gamble just arrived: I successfully tried to convince a CPU scrapper/recycler to part with some CPUs without destroying them:

Not pretty, but they might just work. The bottom 5x86 is interesting - 2002 year code!

Of course, getting them ready to test will take quite a bit of work:

Fixing those pins will take some time but it's a reward definitely worth the effort..

blurks wrote:

The later products of the Highscreen brand (1993 onwards) were actually pretty decent

Yes, see the late logo with the horse.

canthearu wrote:

Deksor wrote:

This guy seems to really like them though https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoD0KNEdXnY He did a really good job at restoring his computers ^^

I have a highscreen computer (pentium era) and even though I broke the motherboard years ago, I don't think they're that bad, (or at least they weren't too bad by that time).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojjGiUWJWio

I think this video helps explain the popularity of the highscreen case 😀

Very interesting how differently things are being perceived by people who did not experience the actual time back then - they do not know the perception of things back then.

The video is about a 1991 highscreen computer, with 286.
Remember, at that time almost nobody bought 286 anymore (except for the extreme budget market), and 386 were considered as budget and home use by power users, who commonly bought 486 at that time.

And then look at the components shown in the video:
-cheap late 1-chip 286 mobo
-cheap Taiwanese controller (Acer was still to become a renowned brand, they were just one of thousands of Taiwanese small factories)
-ultra budget WD graphics card rejected by most because of its issues (the video confirms that it was unable to be used with Windows), only usable with low-end games (scrollers, spriters).
-ultra budget sound card which worked only with a number of games (I think I know it, a neighbor had one such back then).

What do you think about the quality of hardware, BIOSes and drivers that put out such stuff seen at the top of the screen at 5:47 in the video?
And this is just an example that helps to understand how unacceptably shitty that stuff was perceived back then by professionals.

Of course, the case looks quite good, less crude than most taiwanese stuff back then.
Optically it was favorable over nonames consisting of selected quality hardware, which also eventually had to be more expensive.

henryVK wrote:

blurks wrote:

The later products of the Highscreen brand (1993 onwards) were actually pretty decent. They were obviously a little less complex and well built as the good old PS/2 tanks of the time but they had very good, innovative and sturdy cases which oftenly involved clever engineering/thinking and they were by no means cheap - neither financial-wise, nor quality-wise. Cheap stuff came from elsewhere (not dropping any names here...).

We had a Pentium 166 in that Highscreen mini tower on the left here. I remember the case as having been rather nice!

I remember those cases. I had a very similar Highscreen Miditower Basic with a Pentium 233 MMX. Not exactly a speed demon but it got the job done. What really impressed me, was that it came standard with 2 USB ports (1 front, 1 back). USB wasn't a big thing back in October 97 and although only USB 1.0 it was still some form of sustainability to improve the lifespan of the entire system with a futureproof bus system. Mainboard was a FIC PA-2010+ and it came with 32 SD-RAM plus an outdated ATI Mach64 PCI and a Highscreen Soundboostar 16 ISA soundcard if I recall correctly. Nothing exciting but then again, it was the entry level system and the price was right. I got rid of the system around 08/09 when moving and up until that point I could still use USB flashdrives and other peripherals (like gamepads etc.) with the system.
Vobis had some great products and huge success during the 90's but they ultimately went downhill by 99/00 when their systems really began to lack distinctive features and the pricing wasn't so competitive anymore.

retardware wrote:

Very interesting how differently things are being perceived by people who did not experience the actual time back then - they do not know the perception of things back then.

The video is about a 1991 highscreen computer, with 286.
Remember, at that time almost nobody bought 286 anymore (except for the extreme budget market), and 386 were considered as budget and home use by power users, who commonly bought 486 at that time.

…not in Central Europe. In Poland 8086, 286 and 386SX was a common hardware in the early 90s. In 93 386DX started to become common and it was in use until early 00s. 486 started becoming popular around 94/95 with the advent of AMD 486DX4s, Pentiums (clones) becoming common hardware in budget PC in 97.

HanJammer wrote:

Pentiums (clones) becoming common hardware in budget PC in 97.

That is definitely not true. In 96 already all entry level systems had Pentium or comparable CPU's - 486 were a thing of the past by then.

-> https://katzentier.de/_misc/Vobis/?frame=left … =7%201996-05-31

blurks wrote:

HanJammer wrote:

Pentiums (clones) becoming common hardware in budget PC in 97.

That is definitely not true. In 96 already all entry level systems had Pentium or comparable CPU's - 486 were a thing of the past by then.

-> https://katzentier.de/_misc/Vobis/?frame=left … =7%201996-05-31

In Central Europe (I'm in Poland)? Well… 486s were common in 96 for entry level systems. Pentiums and even K5s were pretty expensive even in 97. I remember that only one guy in my class could afford Pentium MMX in 1996. And businesses back then definitely were buying new 486 PCs and not pentiums too. But then again - it applies to Poland (and for that matter to most of Central Europe).

I recall having an ESCOM catalogue in the early 90s and the cheapest PC there was 286 with VGA, 80 MB HDD and colour monitor. I couldn't believe it's true, because in Poland Hercules was the king until mid 90s and mono VGA/SVGA monitors were common.

So i picked up this Packard Bell Legend.

Pretty much the cleanest example i've ever seen outside of a CompUSA in the mid 90s. No yellowing, scratches, chips, scuffs

aaaand its one of these. Packard Bell seem to have loved to install them this way. So time to snip and put a CR2032 in there

Indeed, it's risky to generalize across continents. I first travelled to Central and Eastern Europe on my own (as opposed to with parents or school in the 1980s and early 1990s) in 1999. I clearly remember passing a computer shop on the Rákóczi út in Budapest which was still selling Pentium 1 non-MMX systems, at a time when an entry-level system in the West would have a K6-2 or early Celeron.

mmx? maybe in 1997 😀 in hungary 386 was common buy (as a new computer) until 93, then 94-96 the 486, from 96-97 the pentium/6x/k5. since 98, we are uptodate.

hungarian escom catalogs:
https://www.excom.hu/ESCOM_EXTRA/escom_1/
https://www.excom.hu/ESCOM_EXTRA/escom_2/
https://www.excom.hu/ESCOM_EXTRA/escom_3/

Got some great stuff this week, really lucky on some of these pickups/buys I think. Can't wait to use this stuff 😀

Today's thrift run got me this incredibly early-to-mid-2000s computer case. Was thinking about it for a bit given it was pretty dirty and yellowed on the front, but I couldn't resist it at €3 and grabbed it. Its shape and that sun-shaped window on the side with a cut out for a fan, ugh, that's just fantasticly 2000s. Will get a nice clean and retrobright/paintjob for the yellowed front. Still had a 400W FSP PSU, 2 SATA ODDs, and a floppy drive installed, bonus as it was marked as empty, and SATA ODDs go for €2 at that thrift shop. Wondering what I'll stick in this, maybe an Athlon XP computer? Or a Athlon 64 (FX) rig? Maybe a Pentium 4 (HT) system? Will have to see 😀

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Earlier this week, I received this nice stash of components, cost me €20 + shipping.
2 Pentium III-S 1.4GHz Tualatins, and 2 sticks of 1GB ECC Registered PC133 SDRAM. Now I definitely need a dual Socket 370 board, or a dual Slot 1 board along with a mod on my two MSI Master Slotkets.

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Then I got these Pentium III 450MHz Slot 1 Katmais, along with a stock Intel Socket 370 cooler that I didn't snap a pic of, locally. €5 each for the CPUs and €1 for the cooler.

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And then finally, an ECS P6VXAT Socket 370 board I picked up locally. Was offered for €30, and did have a few bloated caps, but it supported Tualatins and was local, so I figured what the heck and threw in a bid of €10, which got accepted. It does actually work, so it'll get a recap. It came with a Mendocino 400MHz CPU (which it won't actually boot with, no idea why that was installed).

Image removed for copyright reasons.