Philips already made pc CD recorders in the early 90’s, the earliest were external, CDD521 is the first, I used to have a CDD522 years ago, but I didn’t have the controller card nor the software.

Got this extremely rare laptop off eBay today, it was $47.something and listed as parts because it read as having no OS (lol, I just had to run ScanDisk and fix the sectors). It's an AST Ascentia M 5260X, and I can't find anything about it 🤣. It has a P266MX, 64MB RAM, and a 1.4GB HDD (I think the HDD was modified, this thing did NOT come stock at 1.4GB I know for a FACT), and also I think it has some ATI Rage card of some sort, however I can't see exactly what it is in the device manager and in the BIOS.

Best thing about it is that it works without the AC adapter plugged in. That's right, after 21 years the battery still works and holds a full charge, which is pretty damn impressive. You also gotta like the black with that teal/blue-ish color. My aesthetic.

Now the worst part about it:

That's right. The person who had this before me installed Windows freakin' ME on it. SERIOUSLY? And I thought the custom put in 1.4GB 2.5" IDE was bad enough. I can't even format the damn hard drive correctly or uninstall the OS because I have no floppy drive where I can use a boot disk. I also think the dude who used this used it exclusively on a CRT monitor, because it's stuck on 400x600 and I can not fix it and I have no drivers for it (help me please).

@dickkickem - probably found them by now, but

https://web.archive.org/web/19980518224544fw_ … X_98_chart.html

https://web.archive.org/web/19980518230047/ht … ures/ASCMTO.pdf

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/85894/Ast-M-Series.html

PC Hoarder Patrol wrote:

@dickkickem - probably found them by now, but […]
Show full quote

@dickkickem - probably found them by now, but

https://web.archive.org/web/19980518224544fw_ … X_98_chart.html

https://web.archive.org/web/19980518230047/ht … ures/ASCMTO.pdf

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/85894/Ast-M-Series.html

Thank you, is there a way to download those executables? There's one under video called the M series hard disk restore and I can really use that one right now!

Not from the archive as those link to the (now dead) AST ftp site, but I linked it from another site in your other thread

Got something pretty cool, at least to me, in the mail today. Posted about it over in "The Great Pentium Pro Haul Of 2018" thread.

The great Pentium Pro haul of 2018

My brother gave me two nice retro things today. A Super Nintendo console with 2x super mario all stars, one other game called starfighter or something and two controllers. Then he gave me an old numeric keyboard from the 1960's. It has a blue bottom-part case and is branded NCR.

dickkickem wrote:

That's right. The person who had this before me installed Windows freakin' ME on it. SERIOUSLY? And I thought the custom put in 1.4GB 2.5" IDE was bad enough. I can't even format the damn hard drive correctly or uninstall the OS because I have no floppy drive where I can use a boot disk. I also think the dude who used this used it exclusively on a CRT monitor, because it's stuck on 400x600 and I can not fix it and I have no drivers for it (help me please).

This reminds me of an old Pentium 1 Acer laptop with Win98 i briefly had in the early 2000s. The graphics card was so bad that you couldn't use the full 800x600 resolution of the LCD screen unless you lowered the color depth to something like 256 colors. The GPU was made by Chips and Technologies i believe. Check the vendor/hardware IDs. Also Windows ME isn't that bad, it works fine as long as you disable annoyances like Active Desktop.

I recently bought a 22" Dell CRT that will be awesome for 2000-2010 gaming. However, I found this locally :

"Hundreds of CRT monitors"

https://classifieds.ksl.com/listing/54247329

I'm hoping for some commodore monitors...but not holding my breath. Any models I should look for?

dogchainx wrote:

I recently bought a 22" Dell CRT that will be awesome for 2000-2010 gaming. However, I found this locally : […]
Show full quote

I recently bought a 22" Dell CRT that will be awesome for 2000-2010 gaming. However, I found this locally :

"Hundreds of CRT monitors"

https://classifieds.ksl.com/listing/54247329

I'm hoping for some commodore monitors...but not holding my breath. Any models I should look for?

Anything with a Sony Trinitron tube.

Flat faces tubes are also really nice.

There are some specific models that people really like.

If you can find a Sony GDM-FW900 (24" widescreen) you have hit the jackpot.

cyclone3d wrote:

Anything with a Sony Trinitron tube. […]
Show full quote

dogchainx wrote:

I recently bought a 22" Dell CRT that will be awesome for 2000-2010 gaming. However, I found this locally : […]
Show full quote

I recently bought a 22" Dell CRT that will be awesome for 2000-2010 gaming. However, I found this locally :

"Hundreds of CRT monitors"

https://classifieds.ksl.com/listing/54247329

I'm hoping for some commodore monitors...but not holding my breath. Any models I should look for?

Anything with a Sony Trinitron tube.

Flat faces tubes are also really nice.

There are some specific models that people really like.

If you can find a Sony GDM-FW900 (24" widescreen) you have hit the jackpot.

Funny you mention that.

I have a 98 pound box on its way to me right now... I'll let you know how it goes. 😲

I seen those huge widescreen Sony CRTs ages ago at computer shops. Too heavy for most desks and you need a lot of room in the back for overhang.

canthearu wrote:

IMG_2710.jpg

My next repair project

Socket A motherboard - Gigabyte GA-7ZXE motherboard. A nice Athlon/Athlon XP motherboard with built in SB emulation via the VIA chipset.

I have done a quick recap of the problem capacitors.

Replaced 3 of the 3300uF caps with 1500uF OS-CON polymer capacitors
Replaced the other 2 of the 3300uF capacitors with some Nichicon HM 3300uF capacitors (I do not know for 100% sure they are not fakes, but they are probably genuine, I will replace these 2 with polymers when they get in)
Replaced the bulging 330uF capacitor with a "Low ESR" Jaycar Special 470uF capacitor. Will replace that when I get the proper caps as well.

Computer no longer crashes ... that is an awesome sign!

Unknown_K wrote:

I seen those huge widescreen Sony CRTs ages ago at computer shops. Too heavy for most desks and you need a lot of room in the back for overhang.

Nah, they're not that extreme. I had the W900 (predecessor of the FW900) in all it's 24", 45kg goodness. It was BIG, but didn't actually take up more depth than the 20" CRT I had previously. And if your desk couldn't handle the 45kgs, I'd sooner blame the desk. A decent desk can support the weight of two adults in motion.

dionb wrote:

Unknown_K wrote:

[...] A decent desk can support the weight of two adults in motion.

Dancing on desks when the boss is gone... 🤣

One of my less serious purchases: picked this up locally for very little indeed, which is exactly what it is worth: probably the worst P3 motherboard ever specifically designed for putting into a server 😜

Supermicro P3SCD - one that somehow survived the May 2000 MTH recall.

It came with 2x 128MB PC133, a P3-533EB and - somewhat anachronistically - a Medion GeForce3Ti200.

dionb wrote:

One of my less serious purchases: picked this up locally for very little indeed, which is exactly what it is worth: probably the worst P3 motherboard ever specifically designed for putting into a server 😜

Supermicro P3SCD - one that somehow survived the May 2000 MTH recall.

Considering the very few Google hits for this mobo, enlighten us as to why it was recalled?

^I like how the MTH has a heatsink, while the Intel 820 NB and SB don't.

As for why it was recalled, the MTH chips were basically defective.

The pic should have been obvious...

It's a board with Intel's i820 Camino chipset that supports SDRAM using an MTH (Memory Translator Hub). Those things were awful by design, combining SDRAM's relatively low bandwidth with the Rambus interface's excessively high latencies. But the reality was worse: Intel was unable to get them running stable at anything near the required speeds. At first they promised fixes in new BIOS releases, but when they failed to materialise Intel eventually recalled all boards with an MTH, offering a Rambus - only i820 board in exchange, with the same amount of RDRAM as on the recalled board (which at 2000 prices was an extraordinarily expensive exercise).

This was the second recall in 'Caminogate' - earlier Intel had already had to recall all i820 boards with three RIMM slots due to unrelated stability problems. To call this chipset a train wreck would be too kind.

Xbitlabs reviewed this specific board and concluded that their test example was only stable below 120 MHz, which - given the only argument to buy an i820 board with SDRAM was to run a 133MHz FSB Pentium 3 in-spec - was pretty disastrous. I look forward to seeing how this one does...

Not hardware but I bought a game compilation called Lock N Load.

Funny part is under recomended requirements: EAX or A3d compliant audio card manufactured in Canada.

Kinda specific there 🤣.

Anyway its

Commando's, Deus Ex GOTY, Spec OPSII, Beach Head 2000 and Project IGI