More on the NEC Multispin 4x4 CD-ROM Changer (CDR-C251)

Comes with a poster and instructional VHS tape. Those were the days!

Someone dumped the instructional VHS tape to YouTube: https://youtu.be/ALQN8ELHv7k

Dip switch settings for the included ISA controller card.

Back of the box.

Driver disk.

NOTE: There were bad sectors on blank (non-data) portions of the above 3.5" NEC driver diskette so a complete disk image was not possible. However, the zip file above contains a complete copy of the files and folders exactly as they were on the above 3.5" diskette. No data was lost. Enjoy!

Very Nice ! I like the look of that era Pc Partners with the beige and grey front panel.

Nice. I’ve been playing with a gateway 2000 recently. Stuck a pentium overdrive in it. Reminds me a lot of your build.

Fun systems to play with 😀

Horun wrote on 2022-08-12, 02:01:

Very Nice ! I like the look of that era Pc Partners with the beige and grey front panel.

Agree completely. Love its looks. Now that I am done using it for my latest video, a Vogons member is going to grab it from me and hopefully will enjoy some retro RPGs on it. I was originally going to use it for 5¼" disk imaging, but tbh I just don't run across many disks that size anymore with software that hasn't already been preserved. So off to its forever home it will go.

Sphere478 wrote on 2022-08-12, 02:12:

Nice. I’ve been playing with a gateway 2000 recently. Stuck a pentium overdrive in it. Reminds me a lot of your build.

Fun systems to play with 😀

Funny you mention Gateway. I have this thing for Gateway P-III tower systems. I always run into them in my travels and they are usually fairly cheap. Always liked the look of Gateway systems up to their P-III class systems. They started going downhill P4 onward imo. This was the last Gateway tower I restored. She was a beaut.

Thank you for posting this! This is the exact machine that was my first machine. You're the first to document that this model exists. With the 486SX33 soldered to the main board and the NON-ZIF upgrade slot and the alkaline batteries, those things I haven't seen on any other old PC's. But that's it, once I saw your photos, it all came back to me. The Novell sticker and all.
I originally got a 486-SX-33, 4mb ram and a 100MB hard drive. It originally came with Windows 3.11 on 5.25" discs. I still have my original Black with red accents DOS 5.0 installation 3.5 floppy. Single disk. Stamped by V-Tech. PC Partner, by V-Tech. The budget line at Best Buy when Packard Bell was the more flashy option. I was pretty young at the time, but I want to say the system was a couple grand when my parents bought it. I still have (and use) the Memorex 'Power Center' that orange lights sometimes flicker on after 35 years of duty.
The first upgrade was a 2400 baud modem (IBM MOD531) which was the first foray into jumper settings. It was a little IBM modem from Circuit City and didn't work out of the box because COM 1 was already used by the mobo. I was fortunate enough to have the salesperson at CC give me a copy of Shareware Telix and a list of about 15 local BBS'. It was all downhill from there as I eventually stumbled into the warez scene. It was admittedly behind the times, as 14.4 was already out, but since it was the first modem had to check it out before dumping tons of cash. I think that was around $40 at the time. It wasn't too-too much later I think I had upgraded in that machine to a Zoom v.fast (before v.34) 28.8 that was $200 and worth every cent. I also became extemely good with the AT command set and the 30-page document of all the registers...As that was a very tempermental modem, and I typically could only connect at 24000, 26.400 on a good day, and I think 28800 was unobtanium. I still have my Zoom modem, box and all the documentation. Even the swapped out ram chip that Zoom sent as an upgrade. Lots of memories with that one.
Upgraded the stock 100mb Seagate hard drive with a 540mb WD Caviar from Egghead software. That one was all my savings. I remember that the drive cost about a dollar a meg and I thought that was a deal.
Last upgrade (I'm not sure if I have the sequence of these mixed up) was a single speed CDROM. A Mitsumi CRMC-LU005S. I don't specifically remember getting a Soundcard, but I'm pretty sure I had to have had a Soundblaster Pro or something. The CDROM card had two RCA jacks, but I remember thinking 'I don't need these' as I must have had a soundblaster. That CD-Rom while slow was very interesting as the whole 5-1/4" drive insides came out rather than just a tray. It fit nicely under that 5-1/4" drive.
Many memories with that machine. Fresh re-installs of the OS and Windows almost monthly when something didn't work out. Learning how to maximize the memory on it as games like Simcity 2000 required a boot disk until I acquired a copy of QEMM 386 to free up conventional memory. Lots of Wolfenstein, but I don't remember doom on that machine, although I must have played it on there. One of the first games I finished to completion was Dune on CDROM as my friends highly recommeded it and also getting stumped on The 7th Guest which I'm pretty sure was the CDROM pack-in game.

Lots of good memories. It was later replaced by a Packard Bell 133/16mb designer tower with Win95 and a 4x CDrom. So I think your build has a little newer CD drive for the times.

Funny how I can remember so many specifics about machines from long ago and the new ones I still use I can barely remember. Must be because when you have so many constraints, you have to learn to work with them. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
I may have to buy that machine off you down the line...as it was my first PC, it holds a special place in my heart. And was a heck of an upgrade from a C64.

There is also this topic about some other PC Partner models and a few other ones here too. The 486 QE is one another member and I both have. Another friend has a 5500AT which there is very little documentation on....

P-Tech wrote on 2023-01-01, 22:46:

Thank you for posting this! This is the exact machine that was my first machine. You're the first to document that this model […]
Show full quote

Thank you for posting this! This is the exact machine that was my first machine. You're the first to document that this model exists. With the 486SX33 soldered to the main board and the NON-ZIF upgrade slot and the alkaline batteries, those things I haven't seen on any other old PC's. But that's it, once I saw your photos, it all came back to me. The Novell sticker and all.
I originally got a 486-SX-33, 4mb ram and a 100MB hard drive. It originally came with Windows 3.11 on 5.25" discs. I still have my original Black with red accents DOS 5.0 installation 3.5 floppy. Single disk. Stamped by V-Tech. PC Partner, by V-Tech. The budget line at Best Buy when Packard Bell was the more flashy option. I was pretty young at the time, but I want to say the system was a couple grand when my parents bought it. I still have (and use) the Memorex 'Power Center' that orange lights sometimes flicker on after 35 years of duty.
The first upgrade was a 2400 baud modem (IBM MOD531) which was the first foray into jumper settings. It was a little IBM modem from Circuit City and didn't work out of the box because COM 1 was already used by the mobo. I was fortunate enough to have the salesperson at CC give me a copy of Shareware Telix and a list of about 15 local BBS'. It was all downhill from there as I eventually stumbled into the warez scene. It was admittedly behind the times, as 14.4 was already out, but since it was the first modem had to check it out before dumping tons of cash. I think that was around $40 at the time. It wasn't too-too much later I think I had upgraded in that machine to a Zoom v.fast (before v.34) 28.8 that was $200 and worth every cent. I also became extemely good with the AT command set and the 30-page document of all the registers...As that was a very tempermental modem, and I typically could only connect at 24000, 26.400 on a good day, and I think 28800 was unobtanium. I still have my Zoom modem, box and all the documentation. Even the swapped out ram chip that Zoom sent as an upgrade. Lots of memories with that one.
Upgraded the stock 100mb Seagate hard drive with a 540mb WD Caviar from Egghead software. That one was all my savings. I remember that the drive cost about a dollar a meg and I thought that was a deal.
Last upgrade (I'm not sure if I have the sequence of these mixed up) was a single speed CDROM. A Mitsumi CRMC-LU005S. I don't specifically remember getting a Soundcard, but I'm pretty sure I had to have had a Soundblaster Pro or something. The CDROM card had two RCA jacks, but I remember thinking 'I don't need these' as I must have had a soundblaster. That CD-Rom while slow was very interesting as the whole 5-1/4" drive insides came out rather than just a tray. It fit nicely under that 5-1/4" drive.
Many memories with that machine. Fresh re-installs of the OS and Windows almost monthly when something didn't work out. Learning how to maximize the memory on it as games like Simcity 2000 required a boot disk until I acquired a copy of QEMM 386 to free up conventional memory. Lots of Wolfenstein, but I don't remember doom on that machine, although I must have played it on there. One of the first games I finished to completion was Dune on CDROM as my friends highly recommeded it and also getting stumped on The 7th Guest which I'm pretty sure was the CDROM pack-in game.

Lots of good memories. It was later replaced by a Packard Bell 133/16mb designer tower with Win95 and a 4x CDrom. So I think your build has a little newer CD drive for the times.

Funny how I can remember so many specifics about machines from long ago and the new ones I still use I can barely remember. Must be because when you have so many constraints, you have to learn to work with them. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
I may have to buy that machine off you down the line...as it was my first PC, it holds a special place in my heart. And was a heck of an upgrade from a C64.

You are more than welcome. Coincidentally, soon after I posted this someone else posted a YouTube video of their PC Partner VP system as well. Good to see these handsome 486 systems being saved. Unfortunately, I already gave this system to another Vogons member who is thoroughly enjoying playing retro RPGs on it.

Horun wrote on 2023-01-01, 23:43:

There is also this topic about some other PC Partner models and a few other ones here too. The 486 QE is one another member and I both have. Another friend has a 5500AT which there is very little documentation on....

I did hone in on the Laser computers and the Vtech machines..and while they were similar, I couldn't find the one. The photos above were 'EUREKA!' It was tough going by memory as I could remember 'PC partner' totally forgot that it said "Leading Technology" - I thought that said 'A Vtech Company.' As I'm quite certain that is what all the literature and paperwork that the machine came with actually said. Vtech was plastered all over the manuals and the disks. I still remember it's last duty before the family sold it was to run a Renegade BBS for a few weeks. Man, lots of memories with that little old SX-33 chip. Thanks guys!

wow that is a beautiful machine... and complete! A real time capsule - good job OP!

Holy cow OP. This is the exact model my dad had back in the early 90s. For years I've tried to figure out which PCPartner model it was, searcing the internet only gave names like XI, XL, LX, but never came across the VP model which looks like what we had. All that survives now is the AT keyboard and the box for the PCpartner monitor which was long ago thrown away.

starbond6 wrote on 2023-01-21, 19:31:

Holy cow OP. This is the exact model my dad had back in the early 90s. For years I've tried to figure out which PCPartner model it was, searcing the internet only gave names like XI, XL, LX, but never came across the VP model which looks like what we had. All that survives now is the AT keyboard and the box for the PCpartner monitor which was long ago thrown away.

Very nice! That you in the photo? Anyway, funny thing is the original keyboard is actually pretty hard to find as well. I found a few on Ebay, but not going to pay the Ebay prices so I cleaned up that generic keyboard that came with the PC Partner lot. Looks perfectly fine and era appropriate. I believe the VP came with a mech keyboard IIRC. Can you confirm?

liqmat wrote on 2023-01-21, 21:08:

starbond6 wrote on 2023-01-21, 19:31:

Holy cow OP. This is the exact model my dad had back in the early 90s. For years I've tried to figure out which PCPartner model it was, searcing the internet only gave names like XI, XL, LX, but never came across the VP model which looks like what we had. All that survives now is the AT keyboard and the box for the PCpartner monitor which was long ago thrown away.

Very nice! That you in the photo? Anyway, funny thing is the original keyboard is actually pretty hard to find as well. I found a few on Ebay, but not going to pay the Ebay prices so I cleaned up that generic keyboard that came with the PC Partner lot. Looks perfectly fine and era appropriate. I believe the VP came with a mech keyboard IIRC. Can you confirm?

That's me in the first one pretending to work in my dad's office in 1992. the second one is a frame from a home movie showing my sister turn on the computer and boot into Windows 3.1. As you can see from that frame that was the best detail I had on the name plate and it still was vague enough to be anything.

Funny thing about ebay, I rebought the keyboard around 2007 because the original was missing keycaps. (My dad had this great idea to let us "destroy" old tech when he was going to throw it away, so my 6 year old self pulled off some caps and well..) I dont remember how much I paid for it then, but you are correct, it is a mechanical buckling spring keyboard, no Windows Key, with a long spacebar and large Enter key and AT style connector (which is easily converted to PS/2). I attached some pictures. Has the same purple/cyan coloring at the PCPartner logo, with dark/light gray keys and purple printing on the caps. A few more tidbits, the computer had a ~107MB hard drive. I recall my dad having DOOM, Wolfenstein and Star Trek rites installed on it at the time.

Im also attaching some images of what I believe to be the same model PCPartner from an old ebay sale around the same time period. The lack of model letter on the box didnt help me in my search for which one it was, but it might be useful for this thread for completeness. Somewhere I have the photo of the monitor that we had to go with it, the model was 440V which didnt look like the one on that PCPartner box (or the one you have pictured) but had a gray interior bezel

I saved the original keyboard from the QE series (and my Xt/3), they are indeed a mechanical with white SMK switches using the Cherry MX type key caps. Vtech used those from the XT/3 thru 486's iirc.

starbond6 wrote on 2023-01-22, 01:41:

That's me in the first one pretending to work in my dad's office in 1992. the second one is a frame from a home movie showing my […]
Show full quote

liqmat wrote on 2023-01-21, 21:08:

starbond6 wrote on 2023-01-21, 19:31:

Holy cow OP. This is the exact model my dad had back in the early 90s. For years I've tried to figure out which PCPartner model it was, searcing the internet only gave names like XI, XL, LX, but never came across the VP model which looks like what we had. All that survives now is the AT keyboard and the box for the PCpartner monitor which was long ago thrown away.

Very nice! That you in the photo? Anyway, funny thing is the original keyboard is actually pretty hard to find as well. I found a few on Ebay, but not going to pay the Ebay prices so I cleaned up that generic keyboard that came with the PC Partner lot. Looks perfectly fine and era appropriate. I believe the VP came with a mech keyboard IIRC. Can you confirm?

That's me in the first one pretending to work in my dad's office in 1992. the second one is a frame from a home movie showing my sister turn on the computer and boot into Windows 3.1. As you can see from that frame that was the best detail I had on the name plate and it still was vague enough to be anything.

Funny thing about ebay, I rebought the keyboard around 2007 because the original was missing keycaps. (My dad had this great idea to let us "destroy" old tech when he was going to throw it away, so my 6 year old self pulled off some caps and well..) I dont remember how much I paid for it then, but you are correct, it is a mechanical buckling spring keyboard, no Windows Key, with a long spacebar and large Enter key and AT style connector (which is easily converted to PS/2). I attached some pictures. Has the same purple/cyan coloring at the PCPartner logo, with dark/light gray keys and purple printing on the caps. A few more tidbits, the computer had a ~107MB hard drive. I recall my dad having DOOM, Wolfenstein and Star Trek rites installed on it at the time.

Im also attaching some images of what I believe to be the same model PCPartner from an old ebay sale around the same time period. The lack of model letter on the box didnt help me in my search for which one it was, but it might be useful for this thread for completeness. Somewhere I have the photo of the monitor that we had to go with it, the model was 440V which didnt look like the one on that PCPartner box (or the one you have pictured) but had a gray interior bezel

Horun wrote on 2023-01-22, 01:54:

I saved the original keyboard from the QE series (and my Xt/3), they are indeed a mechanical with white SMK switches using the Cherry MX type key caps. Vtech used those from the XT/3 thru 486's iirc.

Yeah, their keyboards look solid. Nice seeing a pic of the original box as well. I got lucky finding that mint Leading Technology, Inc. CRT to match the computer. It's not the original CRT that came with the system, but same company logo at least. Close enough. They are very attractive systems. What started this journey was me looking for a smaller 5¼" diskette imaging system. I was actually looking for the smaller PC Partner XL 386 system. You can see it for sale here in a 1992 JCPenney Christmas catalog (bottom right corner). It's a compact system perfect for that purpose. Couldn't find one so I ran across that VP model and could not resist. Of course a near mint XL system showed up a few months later on Ebay. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And just for completeness here's the box for the PCPartner monitor in the picture I posted earlier. Very 90s cyan gray and purple. HyperDOS which is shown on the graphic can be found for free around the internet, it's not too impressive, just a DOS Shell.

liqmat wrote on 2023-01-22, 02:26:

Of course a near mint XL system showed up a few months later on Ebay. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Wow nice ! If it had the original KB and I stumbled on that would have grabbed it quick. The PC Partner cases were so much better looking than some of the same "Laser" logo'd models.
I currently see a Laser 386sx up for bid but the case is more mediocre....

starbond6 wrote on 2023-01-23, 00:39:

And just for completeness here's the box for the PCPartner monitor in the picture I posted earlier. Very 90s cyan gray and purple. HyperDOS which is shown on the graphic can be found for free around the internet, it's not too impressive, just a DOS Shell.

Nice picture !

Wow, what a time capsule. I remember that keyboard. We even had the keyboard 'condom' on it to keep it clean. Remember those, silicone covers that were custom molded for every model?

Those photos are great. Look at all that stuff. What's crazy to me is that an internet search and it's almost as if the company never existed. Heck, the current PC Partner corporate website lists a date of creation that is after the 386 and 486 era, so that can't be correct. What an odd little slice of consumer electronics.
Where did everyone get these machines? Ours was bought at a Best Buy in the Chicago suburbs. Wanted to get the Packard Bell, but it was out of budget. Mom wanted the 5-1/4 floppy.

P-Tech wrote on 2023-02-12, 02:11:

Wow, what a time capsule. I remember that keyboard. We even had the keyboard 'condom' on it to keep it clean. Remember those, silicone covers that were custom molded for every model?

Those photos are great. Look at all that stuff. What's crazy to me is that an internet search and it's almost as if the company never existed. Heck, the current PC Partner corporate website lists a date of creation that is after the 386 and 486 era, so that can't be correct. What an odd little slice of consumer electronics.
Where did everyone get these machines? Ours was bought at a Best Buy in the Chicago suburbs. Wanted to get the Packard Bell, but it was out of budget. Mom wanted the 5-1/4 floppy.

Funny you should say that, our PCPartner was also bought somewhere in the Southwestern Chicago suburbs in the early part of 1993. Could even have been a Best Buy!

liqmat wrote on 2022-08-10, 03:34:

Photos & files that may help someone with a similar system in the future. Had fun cleaning this one up. […]
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Photos & files that may help someone with a similar system in the future. Had fun cleaning this one up.

If you would like to see this little system in action check out my KATT Games Master Keyboard video. There is a chapter index in the video description so you can skip around the video easily.

Generic rubber dome keyboard (fully cleaned) and a Logitech M-M28-9F serial mouse.

The turbo mode toggle is achieved with CTRL-ALT and the plus or minus key.

Installed a new old stock NEC Multispin 4x4 quad speed CD changer mostly for the color match.

I don't think this went through official Novell channels, but the sticker stays. Part of its history.

Added three vented slot cover plates for better air flow.

A matching 1451V VGA monitor from Leading Technology, Inc. (c. 1991). Lucky find.

Not winning any audio awards, but they came with the system. Disassembled and cleaned.

The NEC Multispin 4x4 is plugged directly into the ESS AudioDrive ES1868F sound card.

Upgraded from a Trident TVGA9000B to a Diamond SpeedSTAR VGA. Doom gained ~10 FPS.

A network card is nice to have for those 'just in case' scenarios, but haven't used it.

Power supply was in mint working condition.

Sparkling clean, not sparking dirty.

The PSU 80mm fan works great and the two pin connector makes it easy to replace if needed.

Luckily, the AA batteries had not leaked. Out they came.


My favorite 486 cooler. Bottom frame slips over the CPU & the fan screws into the frame.


The soldered 486 SX-33 CPU sits underneath the HDD IDE cable. Not good for temps.

A 486 DX2-66 upgrade moved the CPU away from the HDD cable. Much better thermals now.

The motherboard. Loaded up with 32MB RAM.


Motherboard settings sticker inside the case.

Model & manufacture date sticker (on bottom of chassis).

Before the NEC Multispin 4x4 CD changer was installed. The monitor is bright & crisp.

I used GETROM to dump the BIOS.

PC Partner VP BIOS Dump.zip

Just letting you know all the image links died 🙁