Looks like these also sport a Pentium III-M Tualatin
HP Pavilion N5495 / F3942H
Toshiba Portege 3500 - comes with the 1.33Ghz CPU

You could always get a laptop with a lower speed CPU and then upgrade the CPU as they are socketed. I see a bunch of the 1.2Ghz CPUs on eBay for as little as $10 shipped

As for focusing on the CPU.. I think that is a moot point.

I have a Toshiba Pentium 4 laptop (2.8Ghz I think.. it uses a desktop Pentium 4 CPU so it can be easily upgraded to 3.4Ghz) that has a Geforce FX Go 5200 that I was able to find a driver set that I was able to get working in 98SE by adding the correct ID for the card. Only have the 32MB version of the card.. wish I had the 64MB version or even a faster Geforce FX card for it.

It just really depends on what games you want to play in 98. If you need the features that were done away with after the FX series.. then stick with the FX series or older. If you don't care and you just want the fastest available, then there are laptops
that have the Geforce 6 and 7 series video cards. Also some ATI solutions out there as well.

You might wanna read this post: Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Funny enough, less than 1 hour after your own post 😀

H3nrik V! wrote on 2020-02-20, 08:46:

You might wanna read this post: Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Funny enough, less than 1 hour after your own post 😀

HAH! Never thought I'd say this, but I guess I'm looking for a Compaq 😍

cyclone3d wrote on 2020-02-20, 07:42:

Looks like these also sport a Pentium III-M Tualatin HP Pavilion N5495 / F3942H Toshiba Portege 3500 - comes with the 1.33Ghz CP […]
Show full quote

Looks like these also sport a Pentium III-M Tualatin
HP Pavilion N5495 / F3942H
Toshiba Portege 3500 - comes with the 1.33Ghz CPU

You could always get a laptop with a lower speed CPU and then upgrade the CPU as they are socketed. I see a bunch of the 1.2Ghz CPUs on eBay for as little as $10 shipped

As for focusing on the CPU.. I think that is a moot point.

I have a Toshiba Pentium 4 laptop (2.8Ghz I think.. it uses a desktop Pentium 4 CPU so it can be easily upgraded to 3.4Ghz) that has a Geforce FX Go 5200 that I was able to find a driver set that I was able to get working in 98SE by adding the correct ID for the card. Only have the 32MB version of the card.. wish I had the 64MB version or even a faster Geforce FX card for it.

It just really depends on what games you want to play in 98. If you need the features that were done away with after the FX series.. then stick with the FX series or older. If you don't care and you just want the fastest available, then there are laptops
that have the Geforce 6 and 7 series video cards. Also some ATI solutions out there as well.

I had no idea those were socketed. I kinda forgot that was even a thing, but the first laptop I ever actually paid for (Alienware Area 51M 7700 in 2005) had a socketed P4. Guess I'm just so used to everything being a soldered together hunk of SoC... but yeah, I'll look for those laptops. Probably the most powerful thing I'm looking to play is Jedi Outcast or The Sims on Windows 98.

I've actually got 2 Thinkpad T23's - one in great physical condition with the high res screen, and one in rough looking shape with the lower res screen. Both have the 1.13Ghz Tualatin.

Of course the nice looking one with the high-res screen has the "Red Screen on start" issue and weird intermittent hardware issues, while the rough one with the low res screen works great.

The T23 has a 16MB S3 SuperSavage IX/C which is.... adequate. That said, looking at what I can find for Jedi Outcast they list almost every Savage chipset as being not supported. I might see if I can get it to run.

Edit: well it seems to run smoothly at 640x480 at normal settings. But when I tried to go native res (1024x768) even the menu ran quite slowly, with the quality settings turned down. Seems theres sufficient GPU power for the effects, but not enough bandwidth for decent resolutions.

LHN91 wrote on 2020-02-21, 02:00:

I've actually got 2 Thinkpad T23's - one in great physical condition with the high res screen, and one in rough looking shape wi […]
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I've actually got 2 Thinkpad T23's - one in great physical condition with the high res screen, and one in rough looking shape with the lower res screen. Both have the 1.13Ghz Tualatin.

Of course the nice looking one with the high-res screen has the "Red Screen on start" issue and weird intermittent hardware issues, while the rough one with the low res screen works great.

The T23 has a 16MB S3 SuperSavage IX/C which is.... adequate. That said, looking at what I can find for Jedi Outcast they list almost every Savage chipset as being not supported. I might see if I can get it to run.

Edit: well it seems to run smoothly at 640x480 at normal settings. But when I tried to go native res (1024x768) even the menu ran quite slowly, with the quality settings turned down. Seems theres sufficient GPU power for the effects, but not enough bandwidth for decent resolutions.

Yeah, I think 16MB was the bare minimum requirement for JK:JO. I'm curious: can the GPU be swapped in the T23? I'd love to get one of those if I could swap out the CPU and GPU.

I have Toshiba Satellite 5005-S504 with GeForce 2Go and 1.1Ghz PIII ? desktop type processor, not sure if it upgradeble to Tualatin. Most Win98 games, like Porsche Unleashed, Supreme Snowboarding runs acceptable.

Latest known Toshiba with Tualatin is Satellite Pro 6000 series.

Both hard to find.

Thinkpads T23 2647 available with fast processors at eBay, but personally I not recommend it to buy.

rob8086 wrote on 2020-02-21, 03:22:

LHN91 wrote on 2020-02-21, 02:00:

I've actually got 2 Thinkpad T23's - one in great physical condition with the high res screen, and one in rough looking shape wi […]
Show full quote

I've actually got 2 Thinkpad T23's - one in great physical condition with the high res screen, and one in rough looking shape with the lower res screen. Both have the 1.13Ghz Tualatin.

Of course the nice looking one with the high-res screen has the "Red Screen on start" issue and weird intermittent hardware issues, while the rough one with the low res screen works great.

The T23 has a 16MB S3 SuperSavage IX/C which is.... adequate. That said, looking at what I can find for Jedi Outcast they list almost every Savage chipset as being not supported. I might see if I can get it to run.

Edit: well it seems to run smoothly at 640x480 at normal settings. But when I tried to go native res (1024x768) even the menu ran quite slowly, with the quality settings turned down. Seems theres sufficient GPU power for the effects, but not enough bandwidth for decent resolutions.

Yeah, I think 16MB was the bare minimum requirement for JK:JO. I'm curious: can the GPU be swapped in the T23? I'd love to get one of those if I could swap out the CPU and GPU.

The CPUs? Yes. The GPU? Embedded onto the motherboard and not swappable. It also has an AC97 only sound chip, so you are sacrificing quite a bit for an adequate, Savage4 class CPU.

LHN91 wrote on 2020-02-21, 02:00:

I've actually got 2 Thinkpad T23's - one in great physical condition with the high res screen, and one in rough looking shape wi […]
Show full quote

I've actually got 2 Thinkpad T23's - one in great physical condition with the high res screen, and one in rough looking shape with the lower res screen. Both have the 1.13Ghz Tualatin.

Of course the nice looking one with the high-res screen has the "Red Screen on start" issue and weird intermittent hardware issues, while the rough one with the low res screen works great.

The T23 has a 16MB S3 SuperSavage IX/C which is.... adequate. That said, looking at what I can find for Jedi Outcast they list almost every Savage chipset as being not supported. I might see if I can get it to run.

Edit: well it seems to run smoothly at 640x480 at normal settings. But when I tried to go native res (1024x768) even the menu ran quite slowly, with the quality settings turned down. Seems theres sufficient GPU power for the effects, but not enough bandwidth for decent resolutions.

Well, it's not the VRAM limiting you. I have a 16MB Rage128 Mobility/M4 in my C600, and even on 1024x768 it's not all that smooth either. JK2 (Q3A engine derived) really wants DX7 hardware with 32MB RAM.

rob8086 wrote on 2020-02-20, 05:13:

In late 2001, Intel rolled out the Mobile Pentium III-M. They ranged in frequency from 867MHz to 1.33GHz and were the most power […]
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In late 2001, Intel rolled out the Mobile Pentium III-M. They ranged in frequency from 867MHz to 1.33GHz and were the most powerful mobile Pentium IIIs ever to exist. Naturally, I want one. I've been able to find a couple of small, partial lists but am having trouble finding a definitive listing of laptops rocking that CPU. Here's what I've found so far...

• IBM ThinkPad T23 series
• HP OmniBook 6100
• Sony VAIO GR
• Compaq N200
• Toshiba Tecra
• Dell Latitude X200

The above list is based off of a couple articles I've been able find, here and here. Of course I've had no luck finding any of these in decent shape or with the higher end of the range frequency. I did find a couple T23s on eBay at 867MHz, but eh. What I'm not able to find is what the different configuration options were (I don't even know the specific models beyond the product line), what other laptops existed with Taulatin CPUs, or which available laptops had discrete graphics. In short, what I'm trying to determine is which Tualatin laptop was the best possible for Win98 gaming.

Anybody have a better list or more information? Suggestions? Should I be ignoring the CPU all together and focusing on finding something with a GeForce4 4200 Go?

You forgot a few:
IBM Thinkpad X22-24
Dell Latitude C610/Inspiron 4100
Dell Latitude C810/Inspiron 8100
Compaq Evo N600c

Out of those machines, the Thinkpad, the Evo and the Dell C610 are based on the Almador-M chipset (1GB RAM ceiling and full PC133 support) while the C810 is 815EP chipset based (512MB and PC133 running at 100MHz speeds). In terms of audio, only the C810 and the Evo have DOS compatibility. All the other ones are AC97 only.

The Thinkpad/Evo/C610 are ATi Radeon M6/Mobility Radeon 7200VE based while the C810 had a Geforce2Go 200 first, then upgraded to the Radeon M7/Mobility 7500.
The C610 supposedly had a 32MB Geforce2Go upgrade path (4H992), but the GPU isn't that easy to come by.

Also, why focus on a Geforce4 4200Go? Most mainstream machines won't have them, and the machines that do carry them...tend to be overpriced and large (15 inch+). If you gun for that, might as well gun for a Pentium-M.

Compaq Presario 2700 family
specs :
Intel PIIX4 Ultra 100 Chipset.
Intel Corp. AC'97 Audio Controller
ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility M6 LY

Never been able to find service manual though ... (ok for 2500 and for 2800 but not 2700 ?)

This one laptop but with P4 (Toshiba 5101-S501 15 1280x1024 1.7 GHz Pentium 4 512MB 40GB WinXP) looks pretty good, at least it have Yamaha YMF753 chip so little Dos games compatible (from Windows Dos box).

First: all of your replies are awesome. Seriously, thank you for all your input.

Second: this is a deep, winding, perilous rabbit hole.

I ended up grabbing an Inspiron 8100 for the simple fact that the CPU and GPU are field serviceable. It's true the 815EP chipset caps me at 512MB RAM, but I'm running Win98 and have no inclination toward patching and going to 1GB. And I found, rather miraculously, a local guy with a 32MB GeForce 2 Go in great condition. Between that, a new 1.2GHz CPU, 512MB RAM, and a 7200RPM drive to replace the 4200RPM one that's in there now... man, I'm excited!

MAZter wrote on 2020-02-21, 15:58:

This one laptop but with P4 looks pretty good, at least it have Yamaha YMF753 chip so little Dos games compatible (from Windows Dos box):

The YMF753 (AC-XG) is an AC97-only chip, so it's not really DOS native compatible.

rob8086 wrote on 2020-02-21, 23:18:

First: all of your replies are awesome. Seriously, thank you for all your input.

Second: this is a deep, winding, perilous rabbit hole.

I ended up grabbing an Inspiron 8100 for the simple fact that the CPU and GPU are field serviceable. It's true the 815EP chipset caps me at 512MB RAM, but I'm running Win98 and have no inclination toward patching and going to 1GB. And I found, rather miraculously, a local guy with a 32MB GeForce 2 Go in great condition. Between that, a new 1.2GHz CPU, 512MB RAM, and a 7200RPM drive to replace the 4200RPM one that's in there now... man, I'm excited!

Good luck with that one. The Inspiron 8100 could supposedly take the 64MB Quadro4 700 Go video card (Dell part # 6X935) from a Dell Precision M50 mobile workstation (same chassis as the C840/Inspiron 8200, but targeted towards engineers using CATIA or Pro/E), which would put it on the same feature/performance level as the Geforce4 Ti 4200 - it's a fairly common upgrade for those using their Latitude D840/Inspiron 8200 as gaming machines back then. I never really liked the Inspiron 8x00 line (too hot, too heavy and kind of a kludge) and held out for the Thinkpad T42p, but hey, different strokes and all that.

ragefury32 wrote on 2020-02-22, 03:56:

rob8086 wrote on 2020-02-21, 23:18:

First: all of your replies are awesome. Seriously, thank you for all your input.

Second: this is a deep, winding, perilous rabbit hole.

I ended up grabbing an Inspiron 8100 for the simple fact that the CPU and GPU are field serviceable. It's true the 815EP chipset caps me at 512MB RAM, but I'm running Win98 and have no inclination toward patching and going to 1GB. And I found, rather miraculously, a local guy with a 32MB GeForce 2 Go in great condition. Between that, a new 1.2GHz CPU, 512MB RAM, and a 7200RPM drive to replace the 4200RPM one that's in there now... man, I'm excited!

The Inspiron 8100 could supposedly take the 64MB Quadro4 700 Go video card (Dell part # 6X935)

Whaaaaat, really? Guess I know what I'm doing next weekend.

LHN91 wrote on 2020-02-21, 02:00:

I've actually got 2 Thinkpad T23's - Of course the nice looking one with the high-res screen has the "Red Screen on start" issue and weird intermittent hardware issues, while the rough one with the low res screen works great.

I have a T21 with the 1400x1050 screen, and yeah, it's red-on-start as well. That's a known issue with the CCFL aging out. It could be replaced but that's a risky preposition.

I had a Thinkpad x24 (1.13GHz) which was a pretty neat little machine. Performance was decent, but never felt quite up to par with an equivalent desktop system, there was someting in the power management or whatever that held it back a little. The onboard Mobility Radeon 7000 was gimped by only 16 (maybe 8??)MB VRAM, but I had a dock for it with a PCI slot that could take all kinds of video cards. Unfortunately the hinges were pretty weak (one broke) and it was covered in rubber coating that wasn't the worst I've seen, but was still getting sticky enough to pick up lots of little dust & hairs and irritate the crap out of me.

I ended up selling it, mostly just because it was completely redundant with other machines I have.

xjas wrote on 2020-02-22, 14:45:

I had a Thinkpad x24 (1.13GHz) which was a pretty neat little machine. Performance was decent, but never felt quite up to par with an equivalent desktop system, there was someting in the power management or whatever that held it back a little. The onboard Mobility Radeon 7000 was gimped by only 16 (maybe 8??)MB VRAM, but I had a dock for it with a PCI slot that could take all kinds of video cards. Unfortunately the hinges were pretty weak (one broke) and it was covered in rubber coating that wasn't the worst I've seen, but was still getting sticky enough to pick up lots of little dust & hairs and irritate the crap out of me.

I ended up selling it, mostly just because it was completely redundant with other machines I have.

The X24 only had 8MB of VRAM. If I had to point a finger at the performance shortfall it'll probably be:
a) The thermal management (they could get hot after a while and then it's down-throttled - the P3ms and P4ms only have a single base clock/max clock pairing with nothing in between)
b) The default 4200rpm HDD
c) The 128MB embedded RAM, which gave it 640MB of RAM max ...and it's still only PC133 RAM.

But yeah, I had an X24 as well, but once I got my X31 it was retired pretty much immediately. The X31 can do some modern stuff quite well (read/write USB2/CF, burn optical disks with an Ultrabase X3). I can't quite say the same about the 24.