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Retro Gaming Laptops Win9x and XP

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Reply 20 of 74, by dr_st

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s0ren wrote:

I've had two T42s and i wont recommend buying one now. They are notorious for developing problems with the Radeon GPUs detaching themselves from the motherboard.

They have other problems too. The Southbridge chip likes to get 'detached' as well. Late T42s and all T43s had the GPU soldering strengthened with some epoxy which theoretically makes the GPU problem less likely. Also on the 15" units with Mobility 9600 it is also considered less likely, due to better cooling. But none of them is completely safe. Then again, what piece of hardware is completely safe? 😀

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Reply 21 of 74, by dr.zeissler

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i bought the nx6125 around 2006, so it was already there. i know that native dos is not the way to go,
but win9x RETRO gaming is the goal, no doom3 or whatever, no pixelshading etc. therefore the x300
is a really good one, only the sound could be better. but i think i should go for the docking-station
in order to get real lpt and therefore a dac. some dosgames support a dac.
any ac97 or other newer win9x sound device that also works with dos?

Retro-Gamer 😀 ...on different machines

Reply 22 of 74, by KT7AGuy

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Like dr_st, I too have a T60 with a Radeon Mobility X1400 and 15" widescreen display. It's built like a tank. I currently run Win7 on it, but I think it would make an outstanding XP gaming laptop. The X1400's performance is comparable to a GF4 Ti4600 or Radeon 9600XT. So, think 2003-ish gaming.

Making the X1400 work correctly with Win7 was a challenge and resolution scaling is still flaky. With XP, I'm sure it would work without any problems at all. You just have to set the scaling correctly for older 4:3 games.

My brother has a T500 with the Radeon Mobility 3650, which is comparable to a GF 6800. I think that laptop is also very nice and would make a fantastic XP gaming laptop. Bonus: switchable graphics between the Radeon and Intel adapters.

The T61 with NVIDIA graphics should be avoided. They have high failure rates.

Hint: If your ThinkPad gets too hot, it's time to clean the HSF and re-apply TIM.

Reply 23 of 74, by nforce4max

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KT7AGuy wrote:
Like dr_st, I too have a T60 with a Radeon Mobility X1400 and 15" widescreen display. It's built like a tank. I currently run […]
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Like dr_st, I too have a T60 with a Radeon Mobility X1400 and 15" widescreen display. It's built like a tank. I currently run Win7 on it, but I think it would make an outstanding XP gaming laptop. The X1400's performance is comparable to a GF4 Ti4600 or Radeon 9600XT. So, think 2003-ish gaming.

Making the X1400 work correctly with Win7 was a challenge and resolution scaling is still flaky. With XP, I'm sure it would work without any problems at all. You just have to set the scaling correctly for older 4:3 games.

My brother has a T500 with the Radeon Mobility 3650, which is comparable to a GF 6800. I think that laptop is also very nice and would make a fantastic XP gaming laptop. Bonus: switchable graphics between the Radeon and Intel adapters.

The T61 with NVIDIA graphics should be avoided. They have high failure rates.

Hint: If your ThinkPad gets too hot, it's time to clean the HSF and re-apply TIM.

If you ever run across a T60P with the FireGL V5250 bag it because as it is noticeably faster, I swapped in a P9600 in on my W500 and it made a good difference in thermals.

On a far away planet reading your posts in the year 10,191.

Reply 24 of 74, by Arctic

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I just finished installing a ThinkPad A20p:

Pentium 3M 550MHz
192MB PC100 SDRAM CL3 2-2-2 (I would love to know how to change the CL value to 2)
Rage 128 Pro-M3 16MB
160GB HDD
CD/RW
1400x1050 tft

It was almost useless with Windows 2000 installed but now after I "upgraded" it to Windows 98SE, there is almost no problem with games 😀
Tomb Raider 2 works in the native resolution with a smooth framerate, really cool.

So far the only defects I know of are 5 almost dead pixels on the screen but apart from that this machine is a great portable 440BX system for 1998/1999 😀
There are also no flexing problems with it, I have been using it for ten years now and it traveled in airplanes, backpacks and suitcases. These are built to last I guess.

It beats my K6-3 600MHz / Voodoo 3 3000 SS7 system 🤣
Some drivers are still missing but...

I wrote this post on it 😁

Reply 26 of 74, by dr_st

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KT7AGuy wrote:

Like dr_st, I too have a T60 with a Radeon Mobility X1400 and 15" widescreen display. It's built like a tank. I currently run Win7 on it, but I think it would make an outstanding XP gaming laptop. The X1400's performance is comparable to a GF4 Ti4600 or Radeon 9600XT. So, think 2003-ish gaming.

Well, mine is not a widescreen (it's the SXGA+ IPS), but other than that - yes. 😀

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Reply 27 of 74, by nforce4max

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Bumping this old thread so newer people can read up, as for machines already listed don't give up searching as there is plenty more models out there that are decent for both if one accepts that performance isn't the best and doesn't want to be limited to period correct models only. The best thing though is that many of these other laptops out there are fairly cheap and well built in their own right while being plentiful and not currently sought after by collectors. A big hint to this is to look for machines currently thought to be not desirable by most collectors and overlooked by almost all types of gamers. The main downsides are usually dead or horrible aged batteries, somewhat feeble ATI mobility graphics, low res screens mainly the 1024x768 14 and 15inch models. For "big" performance for 98 start looking for Pentium M as there could be a chance of getting 98 to working properly with mobile versions of GF6 and 7 which is a big plus vs overpriced agp cards of the same generation for the same or less money than just a bare agp card.

On a far away planet reading your posts in the year 10,191.

Reply 28 of 74, by Ozzuneoj

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Cool thread.

The closest thing I have is a Toshiba Tecra 720CDT, which makes for a very solid early 98SE (or maybe 95) machine with good DOS compatibility. I wrote about it in this thread:
Re: Toshiba Tecra 720CDT = Great DOS Gaming Laptop

If there was some way to cobble together an adapter for the dock connector so I could access the MIDI\Game port and wire one in manually, it'd be a nearly perfect all-in-one mobile DOS\9x system... assuming 3D accelerated games weren't on the list.

Now for some blitting from the back buffer.

Reply 29 of 74, by Baoran

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I still have my old acer ferrari 4005wlmi. Otherwise standard specs, but I have upgraded ram to 2Gb. What I think makes it decent for retro gaming is the display. Resolutions like 640x480, 800x600 and 1024x768 all keep their aspect ration and you just get black bars at sides.

Reply 30 of 74, by KCompRoom2000

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I second the recommendation for the Dell Inspiron 8x00 laptops mentioned on the previous page of this thread, I have all first three models of the series (including the 8000, 8100, and 8200) and they're all good performers for 9x gaming, especially if you can live without DOS by just using Windows ME which is better on newer 9x-compatible hardware anyway.

kanecvr wrote:

One problem with the 8000/8100/8200 series seems to be the speaker cans and 7.2v battery pack under the palmrest. The speaker cans go bad for some reason and refuse to work whatsoever - I have two 8200 machines - both with the same exact problem. Then there's the 7.2v battery witch loves to leak.
...
[EDIT] - about the Inspiron 8000/8100 - these can be slowed down a bit from bios by enabling CPU battery save function (even when plugged in). A 600MHz model should slow down to 200 or 300MHz (if I remember correctly), and with the Geforce 2 Go it makes a decent machine for newer dos games. The ESS / Crystal that it comes with also has dos drivers. Be wary that not all models allow for this power save feature. I know the 8100 does, but I don't know about the 8000.

I never experienced battery leaks with the little green 7.2v CMOS battery on those older laptops, but I remember encountering speaker problems when I replaced the palmrest on my 8200, so I just replaced the bad speakers with the good ones I saved from the old palmrest and the problem was solved, good thing I save spare parts for these laptops just in case something goes wrong.

And about being able to slow down the CPU, the Inspiron 8000 still has that feature, and the frequency varies on the CPU (e.g. a 700 MHz model may slow down to 550 MHz and a 1 GHz model may slow down to 700 MHz).

If you want a smaller alternative to the Inspiron 8x00 series, look no further than the Dell Latitude C6x0 laptops which are smaller (have a 14-inch screen), but have specs that are similar to the matching Latitude C8x0/Inspiron 8x00 laptops. I have a C640 with a 2 GHz Pentium 4-M and a 32MB Radeon 7500, and it also makes a good Windows ME gaming laptop, the only thing you'll lose is the ability to use the internal optical drive and a module bay floppy drive simultaneously since there's only one module bay drive slot rather than a built-in optical drive accompanied by a module bay slot (I remember finding a cable that plugs the floppy drive module into the laptop's docking station port, but IDK how hard they are to find nowadays), but it's still a good choice if you prefer a small and lightweight laptop over a big and bulky one.

Reply 31 of 74, by Asaki

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No love for the original Netbook? The Asus Eee PC 701! Really small computer that will run Windows XP (or FLP, which I installed). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asus_Eee_PC#Eee_700_series

There's a few utilities you'll need to download to really take advantage of it, but once you get past that hurdle, it's a pretty awesome little machine. The only real annoyance is that the screen is 800x480, and the custom program that switches to 640x480 is a little bit clunky.

CPU is underclocked by default (630 MHz, but it can be clocked back up to 900 MHz, or overclocked further), fan speed can be manually adjusted, temps are easily monitored, RAM can be upgraded to 2 GB (one stick), internal SSD can be expanded with SD cards, LCD isn't the best but it's nice and small and gets very bright...did I mention this computer is tiny?

Reply 32 of 74, by KT7AGuy

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I've got an Asus Eee 1000HA. Back when it was new, I used it for about 2 years as my primary PC. It's not very powerful at all, but it was good enough to play Freedom Force without any hiccups. It's also fine for older games like Syberia, Baldur's Gate, Planescape Torment, etc.

Reply 33 of 74, by misterjones

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I owned a Dell Inspiron 5000e for a number of years. Combined with the port replicator it was my main PC for a while. The whole flippin thing is modular. Mine came with 700MHz P3, however the processor sits on a swappable module, and there were models available up to 1GHz. It was really like a mobile desktop in a number of ways including its size and weight. The CDROM bay could be swapped with a DVD drive, CDRW, and there were some DVD burners that worked with it as well, plus it could be swapped for a Zip drive. For video it could have either an 8MB ATI Rage Pro under the hood or a 16MB ATI Rage 128; these are also swappable modules. Display wide the thing had an almost 15" display and mine had the 1400x1050 resolution. It could also be had with 1600x1200. There were also the Inspiron 5000 variant with, IIRC, a 1280x1024 display.

I played a lot of UT99, Starcraft, Quake, Tribes, and a few other games on mine. Hated that I had to sell it but it had to be done.

Reply 34 of 74, by Asaki

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KT7AGuy wrote:

It's not very powerful at all...

After the RAM upgrade, mine runs Firefox + NoScript alright, but I mostly just use it for games/DOSBox/emulators and travel. The integrated Intel graphics hold it back a bit, but it can run Q3 engine stuff fine.

And unlike some of my other XP laptops, it supports USB 2.0!

Reply 35 of 74, by henryVK

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KT7AGuy wrote:

I've got an Asus Eee 1000HA. Back when it was new, I used it for about 2 years as my primary PC. It's not very powerful at all, but it was good enough to play Freedom Force without any hiccups. It's also fine for older games like Syberia, Baldur's Gate, Planescape Torment, etc.

Same for me. Used the EEE 1000HE as my main PC after the power supply on my cruddy desktop PC died. I mostly played retro stuff, Baldur's Gate and Quake3 Mods then, so that was alright. However, if run at full speed and under a heavy load the unit will get pretty hot after a while, and you can feel the heat through the keyboard. I love the matte display, but I wish the model had come in colours other than white and "piano finish" glossy black.

Reply 36 of 74, by LHN91

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The 2004 LG Xnote LM50a is a pretty decent late 9x/XP laptop.

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Pentium M, from 1.4 Ghz to 1.7 Ghz
DDR Memory
Intel 915 Chipset
Radeon 9200 up to a 9700
1024x768 Panel (up to a 1400x1050 panel)

I got the 2 I found from a recycler - and I can't seem to find much reference of them ever being sold in North America, so I imagine they were a corporate machine somewhere purchased straight from LG.

Still, they're slim, decent looking machines, they had usable batteries, and they're decently fast for games up to about 2003-2004, depending on the specs.

Reply 37 of 74, by Anaxagoras

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Hi.

The laptop I use to play Win9x games that not run under WindowsXP is a Toshiba Satellite Pro 4600 [CNET.com]

CPU: Pentium III @ 800MHz
RAM: 256MB
HD: 60GB
FDD:
DVD reader.
WiFi / Ethernet / Modem / USB 1.1
Graphics card: Trident CyberBlade XP 16MB
Sound: Yamaha, sounds very good with their integrated 4 speakers!
LCD: 15" (4:3) 1024x768

IMO is a good choice to play Win9x games but not enough to run Dosbox.

WinXP games are out of the scope in this system since I have other laptop to cover this function.

SONY VAIO VGN-C1Z/B
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo (T5500) @1.66GHz
RAM: 2GB
HD:140GB
NO FDD
DVD R/W
WiFi / Ethernet / Modem / USB 2.0
Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce Go 7400 with TurboCache 256MB
LCD: 13.3" 1200x800

Very pretty pics here [notebookcheck.net]

My computers

qp92nk-6.png

Reply 38 of 74, by Vincent_Vega_SA

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Hi, for me the perfect machine is Toshiba Satellite Pro 4300.

CPU: Pentium III @ 600MHz, can be downclocked to 500
Cache 1,2 can be disabled in BIOS
RAM: 256MB
HD: 100 GB (using msata ssd to IDE)
FDD / CD ROM
PCMCIA Ethernet Zyxel
GPU: S3 SAVAGE
Sound: Yamaha YMF 744b

It's runing DOS, WIN98, XP.
Perfect SB PRO/OPL MS-DOS compatibility, nice XG MIDI in WIN98 as a bonus.

Very versatile laptop...

Reply 39 of 74, by Asaki

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henryVK wrote:

However, if run at full speed and under a heavy load the unit will get pretty hot after a while, and you can feel the heat through the keyboard.

On my 701, the fan never comes on, even after BIOS updates. I have to use a custom program, and I usually have it set to default at 100%. It doesn't get too warm if I leave the CPU underclocked, but I usually keep it at 900MHz =)