It probably depends on the manufacturer of the keyboard. I have an IBM keyboard from 1996 that doesn't have windows keys, but has the smaller ps/2 connector. That is why I thought the Keytronic keyboard would be older.

xjas wrote:

^^ I remember "windows" keys becoming pretty much ubiquitous shortly after w95 got popular. I'd think that keyboard dates from before then, possibly 94~95 at the latest. I've had several AT keyboards with windows keys (much to my chagrin.)

The catch is that from about 1987 (when the IBM PS/2 debuted) to about 1999 (when the AT motherboard standard was almost entirely displaced by ATX), the AT and PS/2 connectors coexisted - and, since they're electrically compatible (modulo the XT protocol), it was very common for keyboards to be produced with a variant for each connector. It was just a cable swap, after all.

I remember buying a new keyboard for an older system that only had an AT connector, back in the early 2000s. It was just a standard PS/2 keyboard, with a PS/2 to AT adapter included in the box. Funnily enough, I only found that adapter in my collection the other day, didn't realise I still had it.

jade_angel wrote:

That Key Tronic board ought to be from the late 90s, if I'm finding things right (but Key Tronic has a ton of rather similar designs). It's a rubber dome with keycap-integrated slider design, considered fairly decent for the type if somewhat stiff.

Nope... That is not a late-90's Keytronic. This here (in my picture) is a Keytronic from 1995/96
It is more like an early-90's keytronic, from the time before Windows95.
The keyboard in the picture, is the one my parents bought with their P-133 machine.

Fair enough, then. I did a search on the model number, and couldn't find much beyond forum posts.

Saved this beastie from the bin yesterday. It's a PII/233 on a rather nice Asus P2L97-S motherboard. Pretty stripped out but did have a zip drive, 192MB RAM and an AGP ATI Rage of some variant. Get.

The board itself is wonderfully laid out & compact; it's a 440LX with onboard Adaptec SCSI and it supports up to 83MHz FSB, AGP 2x/4x, 384MB RAM. Pretty damn nice for a system of this vintage. I wish it were the P2L97-DS with a second CPU slot, but what can you do. 😉

Unfortunately the case is the most gigantic turd of an ATX tower I've ever seen. It's one of those ones you have to flip upside down, release a hidden catch to take off the front faceplate, then unscrew the metal clamshell and slide it *forward* from the *front* just to get the damn thing open. All the plastic catches & screw mounts are cracking or broken, nothing fits together smoothly and it's *way* more yellow than it looks in the pic. Just awful.

Not sure what to do with it. I'm tempted to part it out and re-house it in either something tiny and portable, which I don't have, or an Antec Sonata III which I do have. The Antec is a nice case but so big it's almost a shame to put a compact board like this into it. I've also got a couple fanless slot-1 CPUs lying around; maybe I'll try to build a silent PC with it.

xjas wrote:

Saved this beastie from the bin yesterday. It's a PII/233 on a rather nice Asus P2L97-S motherboard. Pretty stripped out but did have a zip drive, 192MB RAM and an AGP ATI Rage of some variant. Get.

It's an Enlight case just like the one for my first PC, just the lowest part of the front has been changed. Originally I had a PII 300 on a P2L97 in mine (now exchanged with an Abit LX6). 😊

Yes, the cover can be a bit of a hazzle, think that's why Enlight changed it in later models with seperate covers for the sides.

Kamerat wrote:

It's an Enlight case just like the one for my first PC, just the lowest part of the front has been changed. Originally I had a PII 300 on a P2L97 in mine (now exchanged with an Abit LX6). 😊

Yes, the cover can be a bit of a hazzle, think that's why Enlight changed it in later models with seperate covers for the sides.

Interesting, I didn't see any branding on it at all. Wonder if it's a knock-off. It fit together *really* poorly, I had to use a flat screwdriver just to budge the clamshell off the chassis and then hammer it with the handle to get it back on again. Everything about it just seemed cheap & nasty.

I have the same problem with cases where the clips are out of shape.

About a week ago I visited my friend to see some of his trash that he is going to throw out. I stumbled upon old beige box with display and 5.25" floppy drive. Of course I took it, the only reasons why I would not take it is coma or death. But since I don't have a way to transport stuff except my own hands and feet, so I put it to bag and went home. From his home it is about 2 kilometers of walk and this puppy weighs about 10 kilos... Yuck.

Here is photo I took in the middle of walk when it started to rain. Just in time... :\

Short before my home there is a electronics scrap collecting point and that day there was big "Recycle electronics, save Earth" kind of days, so I had to dig through stuff there. But this time I was disappointed a lot. Pretty generic stuff was there, one AT rubber dome keyboard with F7 key missing, two generic serial port mice, complete parallel port scanner sealed in plastic wrap (didn't take that, I don't have space for that kind of stuff - to be true, I have two of them and I have to throw them away, I have no use for them), and the saddest computer I have ever seen. More about that later

Jeez, finally home!

I only had few moments to go through stuff I scored, so I am not sure what I have. From what I managed to remember that beige puppy is the dustiest computer I ever stumbled upon. It was home bookkeeping computer, it was upgrade from Commodore PC20-III 8088 PC, which I coincidentally have aswell. This thing was bought new and working since early 90s to mid 2000's with no changes at all. It has 486 40MHz by Texas Instruments (didn't know they did CPUs). The mainboard is a little bit wonky though. Next to the CPU there is math coprocessor slot, but the label on it says 387 PIN 87DLC, I don't know what is up with that.

What is the saddest computer you say? Just look at this...

Every cable was cut. And I mean that every single one was cut in two. Apparently, it was lying somewhere outside, leaves, bugs and mold got inside. Funnily enough, the harddrive was there, so I pulled everything out and let it dry for few days. Yesterday I scraped all the mold from the harddrive and tried to power it up and guess what? It works flawlessly, all the data is there. This is personal data safety done completely wrong. 😁

krivulak wrote:

What is the saddest computer you say? Just look at this... http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/ah276/krivulak/P_20170402_193942_ […]
Show full quote

What is the saddest computer you say? Just look at this...

Every cable was cut. And I mean that every single one was cut in two. Apparently, it was lying somewhere outside, leaves, bugs and mold got inside. Funnily enough, the harddrive was there, so I pulled everything out and let it dry for few days. Yesterday I scraped all the mold from the harddrive and tried to power it up and guess what? It works flawlessly, all the data is there. This is personal data safety done completely wrong. 😁

I remember finding a computer just as bad as this, it was an old Acer RC950 in really in bad condition, corrosion, a burnt part on the mohterboard, cables cut everywhere, except the one i found mises one of the side covers and the HDDs. About working parts... only the CPU and the optical drives survived, motherboard dead, videocard did somewhat work, but crashes and artifacted when running 3D Programs, CPU cooler had the fan dead, PSU literally broken, case in really bad contition

My new LCD 😀 Samtron 74 V - perfect for DOS!

Standing on my street to be trashed. Was totally dirty with spiderwebs and dead insects everywhere 😉 After disassemling and wet cleaning it looks like new and is working perfectly!

It has 486 40MHz by Texas Instruments (didn't know they did CPUs). The mainboard is a little bit wonky though. Next to the CPU there is math coprocessor slot, but the label on it says 387 PIN 87DLC, I don't know what is up with that.

Your board probably has one of those 386 to 486 upgrade chips. Really a CPU that fits into a 386 socket.
The DLC on the Texas chip points to this.

Nice find 😁
I would've walked 2km with that case as well...and I actually have brought stuff home walking, along with carrying all of my groceries 🤣. Man I felt those arms for days! 😵

Rescued ANOTHER Packard Bell. 🤣

I swear I have a sixth sense for Packard Bell's cause whenever I feel it's time to check the junk pile again there is one there. 😜

This is a 1994 Packard Bell Legend 100 made on October 11. Obviously it's gonna need some retrobrite but interestingly the seal on the back is not even broken!

A 25MHz 68040 with a heat sink that has seen better days. Found in a box of significantly less interesting stuff (fans, mounting brackets, etc). I wonder what it came out of. Maybe a NeXTStation...

King_Corduroy wrote:

Rescued ANOTHER Packard Bell.

Oh boy I like opening up retro PCs for the first time in decades. Have you cracked it open yet? What sound card?

I got a PB Legend of similar era, 486DX2 66 off craigslist a few weeks ago. Seal on the back wasn't broken. Still was quite clean inside, just a bit dusty. Cleaned it up nicely and sold it on eBay.

krivulak wrote:

http://i1382.photobucket.com/albums/ah276/krivulak/P_20170402_200011_zpsgsr5evp8.jpg This thing was bought new and working since […]
Show full quote

This thing was bought new and working since early 90s to mid 2000's with no changes at all. It has 486 40MHz by Texas Instruments (didn't know they did CPUs). The mainboard is a little bit wonky though. Next to the CPU there is math coprocessor slot, but the label on it says 387 PIN 87DLC, I don't know what is up with that.

What you have there is actually a Cyrix designed 486DLC manufactured by Texas Instruments (since Cyrix did not have their own production facilities).
Bit more history here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrix#Manufacturing_partners
The motherboard you have is actually a hybrid 386 & 486 motherboard, meaning it can take a 386DX based CPU (which includes your Cyrix 486DLC processors) as well as a "real" 486 CPU.
The socket you referred to as "387 pin 87DLC" doubles as either a socket for a math co-processor for a 386 based CPU or, can also be used for a "real" 486 CPU (the orientation of how each chip inserted is different).

I've send you a PM with more details and some questions.

badmojo wrote:

King_Corduroy wrote:

Rescued ANOTHER Packard Bell.

Oh boy I like opening up retro PCs for the first time in decades. Have you cracked it open yet? What sound card?

It's one of the Aztech cards, Packard Bell used them on all of their computers in the mid to late 90's. I did crack it open but didn't look at it too closely. It does work in case anyone is interested here's a very short clip I filmed just to show a group of Packard Bell enthusiast on Facebook that it does work. Didn't have to even do anything to it and it was super clean on the inside. 🤣 (BTW the music is playing over the speakers via the CD drive)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF0J_I2QDko

It's a 60mhz Pentium socket 4 with 1MB of on board RAM and a 430MB HDD. Has the original OEM install of Windows 3.1 on it still. 😁

found a card i cannot properly identify when I picked up something at work.

know its a scuzi card but cannot find any details on google.