I feel like big kid, and shouldn't get this excited, but finally, after over a year of searching & trying different Master CDs, lots of research, trial & error, and acquiring missing items (explains my over a year absence) here it is...

I present my Packard Bell Club 40, now returned to it's original factory hardware & PB software & Win 98 installation setup.

I'm assuming that this would have originally been sold in Dixons or PC World (DSG Retail) perhaps as a value packed multimedia bundle. So to complete the PC setup of that era, I've Included some accessories typical of this era, microphone, Packard Bell remote control, Joystick.

I almost gave up, what with the HDD tattoo process, then having to find the exact version Master CD, but after all the effort, I can finally get to enjoy the Packard Bell multimedia experience I'd missed out on. I have to say, my first impressions, thinking retrospectively, is that Packard Bell certainly gave you everything you needed as a new or novice PC user, with so many helpful interactive guides and so on, diagnostics etc. I prefer the older PB navigator versions I've seen, but like the concept all the same. OK, I guess there's what we now call bloatware, but imagine this would've been mostly bought as a first PC, so actually that would've broadened it's appeal to various age groups, but in particular kids, students, and householders. I've never owned a Cyrix based PC, but despite the shared graphics, only 32mb ram, and masses of software , I find it all pretty responsive, certainly much better than I'd expected.

So there we are, isn't she lovely? it's made me a Packard Bell fan, but what are your thoughts, love 'em, or hate 'em?
Most of what I've read about them seems to suggest the latter, in particular with regards to reliability, or lack of. Well, all I can say, is that it's over 25 years old, and it's working perfectly, or at least for now!

Still to do:
Get the R/C to work, it's sending an IR signal, I can see on my camera, but nothing happens. A user has posted his software, which I've installed, but need the instructions, or maybe it doesn't work with these Club model.
Only the right hand speaker is working, probably just a cable issue.
It's cleaned up nicely, but speakers & keyboard need a little retrobrite.
Get whatever is the correct Packard Bell mouse for this system, although love the old MS mouse, simple and works.
Probably add some more RAM.
Maybe add a IDe to CF card to replace & save the original HDD, what do you think, is a CF card a good option, any problems getting this setup installed on one?
Create new product sticker, it's quite worn.

Time for some Dark Forces or Duke Nukem 3D to test DOS on my PB methinks. Thanks to all those people with way more knowledge who's posts and resources on this forum have been invaluable.

BigDave wrote on 2024-05-29, 17:08:

I feel like big kid, and shouldn't get this excited, but finally, after over a year of searching & trying different Master CDs, […]
Show full quote

I feel like big kid, and shouldn't get this excited, but finally, after over a year of searching & trying different Master CDs, lots of research, trial & error, and acquiring missing items (explains my over a year absence) here it is...

I present my Packard Bell Club 40, now returned to it's original factory hardware & PB software & Win 98 installation setup.

IMG_20240529_152118.jpg

I'm assuming that this would have originally been sold in Dixons or PC World (DSG Retail) perhaps as a value packed multimedia bundle. So to complete the PC setup of that era, I've Included some accessories typical of this era, microphone, Packard Bell remote control, Joystick.

I almost gave up, what with the HDD tattoo process, then having to find the exact version Master CD, but after all the effort, I can finally get to enjoy the Packard Bell multimedia experience I'd missed out on. I have to say, my first impressions, thinking retrospectively, is that Packard Bell certainly gave you everything you needed as a new or novice PC user, with so many helpful interactive guides and so on, diagnostics etc. I prefer the older PB navigator versions I've seen, but like the concept all the same. OK, I guess there's what we now call bloatware, but imagine this would've been mostly bought as a first PC, so actually that would've broadened it's appeal to various age groups, but in particular kids, students, and householders. I've never owned a Cyrix based PC, but despite the shared graphics, only 32mb ram, and masses of software , I find it all pretty responsive, certainly much better than I'd expected.

you really have undertaken complete restoration, right down to the modest specs 😀

your experience highlights that those modest specs were not as bad as we tend to think, its more the cumulative effect of install/uninstalls and general usage that slowly ground down windows 9x performance

gerry wrote on 2024-05-30, 15:12:

BigDave wrote on 2024-05-29, 17:08:

I feel like big kid, and shouldn't get this excited, but finally, after over a year of searching & trying different Master CDs, […]
Show full quote

I feel like big kid, and shouldn't get this excited, but finally, after over a year of searching & trying different Master CDs, lots of research, trial & error, and acquiring missing items (explains my over a year absence) here it is...

I present my Packard Bell Club 40, now returned to it's original factory hardware & PB software & Win 98 installation setup.

IMG_20240529_152118.jpg

I'm assuming that this would have originally been sold in Dixons or PC World (DSG Retail) perhaps as a value packed multimedia bundle. So to complete the PC setup of that era, I've Included some accessories typical of this era, microphone, Packard Bell remote control, Joystick.

I almost gave up, what with the HDD tattoo process, then having to find the exact version Master CD, but after all the effort, I can finally get to enjoy the Packard Bell multimedia experience I'd missed out on. I have to say, my first impressions, thinking retrospectively, is that Packard Bell certainly gave you everything you needed as a new or novice PC user, with so many helpful interactive guides and so on, diagnostics etc. I prefer the older PB navigator versions I've seen, but like the concept all the same. OK, I guess there's what we now call bloatware, but imagine this would've been mostly bought as a first PC, so actually that would've broadened it's appeal to various age groups, but in particular kids, students, and householders. I've never owned a Cyrix based PC, but despite the shared graphics, only 32mb ram, and masses of software , I find it all pretty responsive, certainly much better than I'd expected.

you really have undertaken complete restoration, right down to the modest specs 😀

your experience highlights that those modest specs were not as bad as we tend to think, its more the cumulative effect of install/uninstalls and general usage that slowly ground down windows 9x performance

Yep, completely stock, no upgrades... yet.

Absolutely. I remember in the 90s I used to install/uninstall loads of things, trials, shareware, coverdisks etc, and so did a complete fresh OS install every year, and it certainly made a difference. Same with smartphones getting slower over time nowadays I guess, I'm sure it's all the constant updates.

Packard Bell iMedia S3720 Mini Tower

Yeah, I know, another Packard Bell!
OK, whilst this isn't exactly vintage, I couldn't resist, as it was chucked in with some tools and things in a tub at a car boot sale, and the guy
only wanted £5 for it. The stall looked like house clearance items, so he didn't know anything about it, and they didn't sell, was probably only going to get scrapped, so for a fiver, I just had to save it, but only because it was a Packard Bell.

It's a shame, as it was probably in better condition originally, but being bashed around with some tools has added a few scratches and things, and a scuff across the COA sticker for Win 7, so can't use, but no physical damage. It'll clean up nicely all the same, and taking the side cover shows it's very clean & tidy inside. However, the RAM has been removed, maybe to salvage parts as it's dead? not a clue, but don't have any DDR2, so can't test yet to find out.

Haven't had time to do much research on it yet, but has a manufacturing date of Sep 2009, and the motherboard is MCP-73T-AD

Information here:
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/ecs-mcp73t-ad

I will be posting pictures of my new vintage Packard Bell 4x4 PC, but technically it's not mine yet, as it's my upcoming Birthday present (no more Vic 20's!) Dionb has been very kindly helping me find out more about it, and what model it's likely to have been, (90% sure it's a Da'Vinchi format) but still researching. I won't have the funds to do much with it yet anyway, so this iMedia give me something to mess around with in the meantime.

BigDave wrote on 2024-06-24, 08:56:

Packard Bell iMedia S3720 Mini Tower […]
Show full quote

Packard Bell iMedia S3720 Mini Tower

Yeah, I know, another Packard Bell!
OK, whilst this isn't exactly vintage, I couldn't resist, as it was chucked in with some tools and things in a tub at a car boot sale, and the guy
only wanted £5 for it. The stall looked like house clearance items, so he didn't know anything about it, and they didn't sell, was probably only going to get scrapped, so for a fiver, I just had to save it, but only because it was a Packard Bell.

IMG_20240624_075317~2.jpg

It's a shame, as it was probably in better condition originally, but being bashed around with some tools has added a few scratches and things, and a scuff across the COA sticker for Win 7, so can't use, but no physical damage. It'll clean up nicely all the same, and taking the side cover shows it's very clean & tidy inside. However, the RAM has been removed, maybe to salvage parts as it's dead? not a clue, but don't have any DDR2, so can't test yet to find out.

Haven't had time to do much research on it yet, but has a manufacturing date of Sep 2009, and the motherboard is MCP-73T-AD

IMG_20240624_080153~2.jpg

Information here:
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/ecs-mcp73t-ad

I will be posting pictures of my new vintage Packard Bell 4x4 PC, but technically it's not mine yet, as it's my upcoming Birthday present (no more Vic 20's!) Dionb has been very kindly helping me find out more about it, and what model it's likely to have been, (90% sure it's a Da'Vinchi format) but still researching. I won't have the funds to do much with it yet anyway, so this iMedia give me something to mess around with in the meantime.

Nice find and you can't beat that price 😀

Curious to find out if these models came with any interesting Packard Bell-specific software at that time. I'd give you some of my DDR2, but I think the shipping cost and time would be a problem..

It's quite a compact case, right? Just guessing based on the size of the PSU in the rear picture of the case.

pbagain wrote on 2024-06-24, 19:51:

Nice find and you can't beat that price :) […]
Show full quote

BigDave wrote on 2024-06-24, 08:56:

Packard Bell iMedia S3720 Mini Tower […]
Show full quote

Packard Bell iMedia S3720 Mini Tower

Yeah, I know, another Packard Bell!
OK, whilst this isn't exactly vintage, I couldn't resist, as it was chucked in with some tools and things in a tub at a car boot sale, and the guy
only wanted £5 for it. The stall looked like house clearance items, so he didn't know anything about it, and they didn't sell, was probably only going to get scrapped, so for a fiver, I just had to save it, but only because it was a Packard Bell.

IMG_20240624_075317~2.jpg

It's a shame, as it was probably in better condition originally, but being bashed around with some tools has added a few scratches and things, and a scuff across the COA sticker for Win 7, so can't use, but no physical damage. It'll clean up nicely all the same, and taking the side cover shows it's very clean & tidy inside. However, the RAM has been removed, maybe to salvage parts as it's dead? not a clue, but don't have any DDR2, so can't test yet to find out.

Haven't had time to do much research on it yet, but has a manufacturing date of Sep 2009, and the motherboard is MCP-73T-AD

IMG_20240624_080153~2.jpg

Information here:
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/ecs-mcp73t-ad

I will be posting pictures of my new vintage Packard Bell 4x4 PC, but technically it's not mine yet, as it's my upcoming Birthday present (no more Vic 20's!) Dionb has been very kindly helping me find out more about it, and what model it's likely to have been, (90% sure it's a Da'Vinchi format) but still researching. I won't have the funds to do much with it yet anyway, so this iMedia give me something to mess around with in the meantime.

Nice find and you can't beat that price 😀

Curious to find out if these models came with any interesting Packard Bell-specific software at that time. I'd give you some of my DDR2, but I think the shipping cost and time would be a problem..

It's quite a compact case, right? Just guessing based on the size of the PSU in the rear picture of the case.

Hi
Indeed, for £5 I figured even if it doesn't work, it could be fixable, or worse case, might have some useful parts. Mind you, these style (Acer?) iMedia's seem to be the cheapest Packard Bells on eBay, found a few around £30-£50. It might be due to capacitor plague that was around the time these were made.

Yes, it's a sort of mini tower, all gloss black plastics, and I think the top recess tray is for a charging devices or memory cards, as I found a model that had USB ports in the tray. I presume the Motherboard is like an ITX or something, as it's all very compact inside. A nice touch is the DVD writer being hidden behind a flap.

Thanks for the offer of DDR2, but thankfully 2gb isn't very expensive on eBay, so worth testing. I too am very curious about what the software package or configuration it would've had, so I'll keep you posted if I get it working for sure, might even still be all original.

I'll probably wait on getting parts for the vintage one as they are expensive, and despite the sunshine, business is terrible right now, so if it works, I'll concentrate on this iMedia, when I get time. I cleaned it up last night, so at least it's looking good, and one advantage, no yellowing!

Help please.

OK, since getting this Celeron iMedia last week, I ordered a 2gb stick of DDR2 800, which AFAIK, is correct for this system. In the meantime, I cleaned all the fans, PSU & motherboard, checked all the cables
Friday the RAM arrived, so today hooked up, although using USB keyboard & mouse, not PS2 ports, but can't see that being a problem. I cleaned the RAM edge connection, and installed. Powered on, the led came on and it gave a feint whirr of fans and hdd but didn't seem to do anything, the fans just running slowly, and no display at all.
I swapped RAM slots, no different. I hooked up to HDMI too, nothing, and thinking although unlikely, perhaps the output can be selected in the Bios, I moved the jumper to CLR Bios, then back to reset, and whilst I had it opened replaced the Bios cR2032 battery as it was 2.58v. That obviously made a difference, because now I turn on, and all the fans seem to be running at maximum speed, quite impressive cooling, sadly still no display either on VGA or HDMI. I guess the RAM could be faulty, even the CPU.

Is there anything else I could try or reasons for no display output?

I noticed some other jumpers, but couldn't see any descriptions on the board, so perhaps there's one to disable onboard VGA? I would've thought it would at least test to Post, but without any display, I've no idea what's it's doing/not doing. If I remove the RAM, it makes a continuous beep.
Any ideas will be very welcome.

BigDave wrote on 2024-06-30, 15:41:

Help please. […]
Show full quote

Help please.

OK, since getting this Celeron iMedia last week, I ordered a 2gb stick of DDR2 800, which AFAIK, is correct for this system. In the meantime, I cleaned all the fans, PSU & motherboard, checked all the cables
Friday the RAM arrived, so today hooked up, although using USB keyboard & mouse, not PS2 ports, but can't see that being a problem. I cleaned the RAM edge connection, and installed. Powered on, the led came on and it gave a feint whirr of fans and hdd but didn't seem to do anything, the fans just running slowly, and no display at all.
I swapped RAM slots, no different. I hooked up to HDMI too, nothing, and thinking although unlikely, perhaps the output can be selected in the Bios, I moved the jumper to CLR Bios, then back to reset, and whilst I had it opened replaced the Bios cR2032 battery as it was 2.58v. That obviously made a difference, because now I turn on, and all the fans seem to be running at maximum speed, quite impressive cooling, sadly still no display either on VGA or HDMI. I guess the RAM could be faulty, even the CPU.

Is there anything else I could try or reasons for no display output?

I noticed some other jumpers, but couldn't see any descriptions on the board, so perhaps there's one to disable onboard VGA? I would've thought it would at least test to Post, but without any display, I've no idea what's it's doing/not doing. If I remove the RAM, it makes a continuous beep.
Any ideas will be very welcome.

Ah yes, I would also suspect the memory or cpu. Hard to diagnose if you don't have known-good spare parts handy.

I found very little information on this board, except:
https://images.antonline.com/images/User-Manu … /1013162500.pdf
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/ecs-mcp73t-ad

The former does list the beep codes, confirming the no-ram beep, but nothing about no beeps, no image.

Maybe a PCI post test card could give you more detailed information.

Sorry, not very helpful.

pbagain wrote on 2024-07-03, 13:49:

Ah yes, I would also suspect the memory or cpu. Hard to diagnose if you don't have known-good spare parts handy. […]
Show full quote

BigDave wrote on 2024-06-30, 15:41:

Help please. […]
Show full quote

Help please.

OK, since getting this Celeron iMedia last week, I ordered a 2gb stick of DDR2 800, which AFAIK, is correct for this system. In the meantime, I cleaned all the fans, PSU & motherboard, checked all the cables
Friday the RAM arrived, so today hooked up, although using USB keyboard & mouse, not PS2 ports, but can't see that being a problem. I cleaned the RAM edge connection, and installed. Powered on, the led came on and it gave a feint whirr of fans and hdd but didn't seem to do anything, the fans just running slowly, and no display at all.
I swapped RAM slots, no different. I hooked up to HDMI too, nothing, and thinking although unlikely, perhaps the output can be selected in the Bios, I moved the jumper to CLR Bios, then back to reset, and whilst I had it opened replaced the Bios cR2032 battery as it was 2.58v. That obviously made a difference, because now I turn on, and all the fans seem to be running at maximum speed, quite impressive cooling, sadly still no display either on VGA or HDMI. I guess the RAM could be faulty, even the CPU.

Is there anything else I could try or reasons for no display output?

I noticed some other jumpers, but couldn't see any descriptions on the board, so perhaps there's one to disable onboard VGA? I would've thought it would at least test to Post, but without any display, I've no idea what's it's doing/not doing. If I remove the RAM, it makes a continuous beep.
Any ideas will be very welcome.

Ah yes, I would also suspect the memory or cpu. Hard to diagnose if you don't have known-good spare parts handy.

I found very little information on this board, except:
https://images.antonline.com/images/User-Manu … /1013162500.pdf
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/ecs-mcp73t-ad

The former does list the beep codes, confirming the no-ram beep, but nothing about no beeps, no image.

Maybe a PCI post test card could give you more detailed information.

Sorry, not very helpful.

Hi pbagain, any and all information is helpful, so appreciate your help.

*update* Looking at the motherboard once I'd completed cleaning, I couldn't see anything obvious at all, bad caps etc, and figured logically, it's unlikely to be the CPU, since it has a pretty effective Heatsink/Fan, and AFAIK, this mobo doesn't allow for overclocking or anything, so my gut instinct, was telling me I'd got either bought an incorrect or faulty DDR2 module. So, ordered replacement 2 x 1gb DDR2 this time, and had time to install these last night, and whilst I was at it re-routed and checked the power/SATA cables just to make everything was tidy, and give maximum space for airflow as it's such a compact tower. To save time testing, I basically hooked it up to all my Packard Bell Club peripherals and monitor, and lo and behold it worked! ...well, when I say working, I had a screen doing stuff, but it was all corrupted.

After the initial disappointment, I thought it's probably the monitor, rather than faulty onboard Nvidia graphics, since it's an old CRT, probably can't handle settings, so swapped for my trusty old Dell 17", and sure enough it worked fine, perfect image.

Went into the Bios to check/update settings & spec.

All working well...
Until I proceeded to load Windows, which should be Win 7 home premium, but it came up with Windows 10.

It took ages to startup, but the real problem is it has a PIN login, so I can't get into the OS at all! I tried a few obvious ones, but no cigar.
That being the case, I've looked around the archive, and there was a set of recovery media for the iMedia S3720, although mentions it may not be English. I've downloaded it all (4 DVDs), and so that's what I'm going to try and install, so I can hopefully restore to factory and see what it's like, as I'd assume the recovery on the HDD has been wiped.
So it's good & bad news, but at the moment wondering how the hell I open the DVD drive as there's no eject button. Obviously it would open within windows using software, but how to open so I can boot from it I don't know aside from the paperclip triick. I guess I could try adding everything via USB, since it can boot from a flash drive, but don't know if that'll work with the ISO media. Still, it's all looking much more promising.

Quick question (that doesn't warrant its own thread): Seeing so many Packard Bell motherboards in LPX or NLX form factors, what was the advantage then? Why did they love riser cards so much? Many case designs had footprints on par or even bigger than contemporary Baby AT or ATX designs.

dormcat wrote on 2024-08-06, 00:57:

Quick question (that doesn't warrant its own thread): Seeing so many Packard Bell motherboards in LPX or NLX form factors, what was the advantage then? Why did they love riser cards so much? Many case designs had footprints on par or even bigger than contemporary Baby AT or ATX designs.

Not just Packard Bell but all the prebuilts were dominated by LPX vs. the whitebox machines being Baby AT.

I'm not sure what the advantage was, but the inspiration must have been things like the PS/2 model 30?

The only advantages I can think of are the custom onboard i/o port area (these things had PS/2 mouse long before AT boards did) and shorter vertical height of a desktop case.
Maybe they could use the same board for multiple case sizes and just put a riser with more ports on it into the bigger cases?

I posted about it here: LPX

jakethompson1 wrote on 2024-08-06, 01:06:

Maybe they could use the same board for multiple case sizes and just put a riser with more ports on it into the bigger cases?

I posted about it here: LPX

IBM definitely did that in the PC330 line, called them 3x3 or 5x5 for 3 slot or 5 slot versions.

BitWrangler wrote on 2024-08-06, 01:09:

jakethompson1 wrote on 2024-08-06, 01:06:

Maybe they could use the same board for multiple case sizes and just put a riser with more ports on it into the bigger cases?

I posted about it here: LPX

IBM definitely did that in the PC330 line, called them 3x3 or 5x5 for 3 slot or 5 slot versions.

Thanks BitWrangler, I'd always wondered why these old 'Frog' Packard Bells seemed to be referred to as 4x4 or 3x3 case designs. So is it the number of ISA/PCI slots (1 shared) X available drive bays, with 3x3 being the LPX version?
I've only seen the older 486 PBs in the low profile desktop case.

pbagain wrote on 2024-06-24, 19:51:

BigDave wrote on 2024-06-24, 08:56:

Packard Bell iMedia S3720 Mini Tower […]
Show full quote

Packard Bell iMedia S3720 Mini Tower

Yeah, I know, another Packard Bell!
OK, whilst this isn't exactly vintage, I couldn't resist, as it was chucked in with some tools and things in a tub at a car boot sale, and the guy
only wanted £5 for it. The stall looked like house clearance items, so he didn't know anything about it, and they didn't sell, was probably only going to get scrapped, so for a fiver, I just had to save it, but only because it was a Packard Bell.

IMG_20240624_075317~2.jpg

It's a shame, as it was probably in better condition originally, but being bashed around with some tools has added a few scratches and things, and a scuff across the COA sticker for Win 7, so can't use, but no physical damage. It'll clean up nicely all the same, and taking the side cover shows it's very clean & tidy inside. However, the RAM has been removed, maybe to salvage parts as it's dead? not a clue, but don't have any DDR2, so can't test yet to find out.

Haven't had time to do much research on it yet, but has a manufacturing date of Sep 2009, and the motherboard is MCP-73T-AD

IMG_20240624_080153~2.jpg

Information here:
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/ecs-mcp73t-ad

I will be posting pictures of my new vintage Packard Bell 4x4 PC, but technically it's not mine yet, as it's my upcoming Birthday present (no more Vic 20's!) Dionb has been very kindly helping me find out more about it, and what model it's likely to have been, (90% sure it's a Da'Vinchi format) but still researching. I won't have the funds to do much with it yet anyway, so this iMedia give me something to mess around with in the meantime.

Curious to find out if these models came with any interesting Packard Bell-specific software at that time.

I've made a list based on what I found when I installed the recovery media (best I could, it was in Swedish!). Since I couldn't find a way to install as English using the original discs, I found & installed everything separately. Hopefully this list is complete.

iMedia S3720 / D2520
------------------
Cyberlink Power Cinema
MS Windows 7 home premium
MS Word / Works 9.0
MS Live Essentials
MS Office 2007 (60 day trial)
Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0
Adobe Reader 9.0
Nero Smartsuite
Norton Online Backup
Norton Internet Security Suite (30 day trial?)
Nero Smart Start Suite 7.0
Packard Bell Registration
Packard Bell Users Guide

The following seemed to be just internet links

eBay
Packard Bell GameZone (online game portal)
Packard Bell Accessory Store
Metaboli (online game portal)

As you can see, this machine from the Acer era, is a Packard Bell in name only really, it's design & software is very practical, but not fun. I don't know if I missed anything, but certainly no real Packard Bell specific software, and think it was sold without monitor, that being a separate option (AFAIK a 19" Widescreen with built-in speakers). Then again, by the time this was released in around 2009, the excitement of the multimedia & bundle era was well and truly gone, as were a lot of the PC companies we'd had in the UK. The world had gone digital, and the overall PC market had decreased a lot, so for me, this PC marks the end of the PC era, and the transition to netbooks, tablets and smartphones.

BigDave wrote on 2024-08-08, 05:02:

Thanks BitWrangler, I'd always wondered why these old 'Frog' Packard Bells seemed to be referred to as 4x4 or 3x3 case designs. So is it the number of ISA/PCI slots (1 shared) X available drive bays, with 3x3 being the LPX version?
I've only seen the older 486 PBs in the low profile desktop case.

I think both the 3x3 and 4x4 are LPX. 4x4 just having a riser with 1 additional slot and more space on the case front for an extra 5,25 bay.
Height of a 4x4 must be pretty close to a regular AT(X?) case with vertically mounted cards, so like Dormcat above, I'm wondering what the advantage was really.

Was this also the first generation of PCs to have all kinds of stuff integrated onboard: VGA, two PS/2 ports and also audio maybe? In that case maybe they just needed space for all the additional connectors? ATX cases with changeable I/O plates came along only quite a bit later. Just a guess though 😀

Though we saw these LPX mostly in the 90s, they would have been a child of late 80s thinking and probably satisfy some equation of minimal board complexity while allowing spread of not yet as high integration chips for all the functions without crossing their connections up enough to need many layers to the PCB.

Seeing a monitor somewhat locally, somewhat reasonable priced but needs work, a PB1431EG EGA monitor, I am wondering if would go with the system I posted ..

BitWrangler wrote on 2022-07-14, 19:05:

This one is hibernating in a stack, been a while since I last powered it. Has 286-12, VGA, 40MB HDD and not sure what else. VGA might be onboard. That is the keyboard hole at the front I think, I may have a matching keyboard. Don't know what model or series it is, but branding looks very basic, so early model??

.. but I'm not sure there was an EGA version of that, and what VGA was in it. Monitor is 1988, system is 19?? Anyway would be a little too much expense and trouble to go to for a mismatch, only worth it for a perfect union so to speak.

Monitor that came with that system as received in 00 or 01 was a VGA only Hyundai I think.

Edit: as of edit date, monitor acquired.

Finally making a bit of progress on determining what that system is. PreterHuman has a Legend II with identical case style, apart from it's got Legend on the badge. From there I was able to determine that was the PB-800 model number, and that PB released it with their first range of AT models in 1989, among which were PB-900 and PB-1000 models which also seem to fit the description.

Since they did not release AT until 1989, I am suspecting that that monitor mentioned belongs more to one of their XT clones, though they probably had to have stuff made at the end of 88 for distribution in 1989. I need more info on the exact configurations of the early PB series models. Since I have that badge engineered brother of a VX88 I am wondering if that monitor would go with that... However, I am not entirely sure if it's one that will do CGA as well as EGA, because I think CGA/MDA-Herc is the output option on that, I got it with a mono.

Recently rescued this old thing off of eBay.
Fairly rough looking.
Much to my surprise the thing just fired up and worked with no real fiddling.
Appears to be 100% original, Windows has been reinstalled and isn't booting properly. But other than than I'm pleased.

Pictures are from the original listing. After a good cleanup I'll post some more.

Apologies for the multiple posts, but just trying to get stuff down before I forget about it. So I am leaning more to PB 900 PB900 PB-900 I have seen it styled multiple ways and I don't know which one is most correct. It appears that Packard Bell used the model number for this series in marketing and distinguished CPU speeds as 12X 16X 8X etc, which you might think is helpful, but google just tangles up with CD speeds on later models. Anyway, so I think my model name in full is PB900/12X for 12Mhz. The PB-1000 is ruled out because that is supposed to have a vertical floppy drive. The PB-800, also comes up as a Pack Mate model so IDK if the Legend 2 info I found was correct, or maybe they are actually the same system but named different in different markets.

I found an advert from ABCO in a March 89 Infoworld, so that confirms some basics, and also that these were sold with EGA, however, the model number given is not the model number of the one I could get. Also if you look, the silver badge doesn't show, but the dark red badging of the monitor does..... they don't match when they match 🤣 I was wondering if I should be finding a monitor with silver badge, but apparently the other badge goes with it.

The "AT Clones" announcement came in early January, so maybe they were on sale just before Christmas, given magazine lead times, so some parts would indeed have 1988 dates for early sales.

@Jasin, nice score, pretty clean for age, hope it runs like a top when you've got the Win3x install sorted.