I have a couple of N610c also with original restore CDs. Happy to share if anyone wants.

EduBat wrote on 2025-03-10, 13:03:

I have a couple of N610c also with original restore CDs. Happy to share if anyone wants.

I wonder If they are compatible with N410c, let's try?

Sadly, n610c recover disks didn't work on n410c (why would I think otherwise?). Well... I'll keep looking for them 😀

I'm an ex-member of the club.
My very first I.T. job me and the other 2 guys had a N600c.
The boss had a N800c
I can't remember how, but we ended up with a few bluetooth and Wifi cards that fitted the expansion slot in the lid. I always thought that was a really clever idea.
I also really liked the "multibay" all our laptops had the optical drive, but we had the floppy drive and hard drive expansion to share amungst us when needed.
Never had the dock though.

Was a solid laptop that 5+ years of hard usage was still holding up really well and us 3 techies used to play a bit of GTA2 and UT after work on them as well.
At diffeernt time's I had Win98, 2k, and mostly XP installed. I only ever used the generic CD but that was also when drivers were probably easier to find.
The laptop was given to my replacment after I left the company in 2006, but my sholder still clicks from carrying it all around Sydney all day every day for around 5 years!

Bought n800c for 10 USD. Don't know why, but let it be... Funny that docking station is available for 40 USD.

For the N600C it has drivers for 9x-NT4-2000-XP-2003-Vista-2008-7 so one of the best I've had for Windows OS compatibility.

I own a N600C and a N1000V, the 1000V is a beast but not really a DOS machine the N600 however is really versatile and when I got it it hadnt been used before, still in its birthday wrapping. IIRC I had to dig up the discs for it.

Of the two . .I actually like the 1000V more, its got the nice Radeon 7500 in it with the superb JBL speakers, shame its P4 but at least its the desktop version and not the mobile variant.

I also own 3 Compaq Armada 1750 machines with one of them being as good as it gets for that model by cannibalising the others, I use the Armada as my DOS rig as it being a P2 makes it really nice for that purpose. (P2 450, 14.1 1024x768 panel, 192Mb ram, LS120 and ATi Rage II Pro, Sadly i have not been able to find the DvD or Base station for it, but they will pop up eventually)

I have been using an N600C with Win XP for years because of its serial port and size.
It supports 1 GB RAM, the Wi-Fi connection on the back cover of the screen is a USB connection, so you can adapt any small enough USB Wi-Fi to it. My problem at the time was that it didn't come with an Ethernet network card, instead it had a modem, I asked on the Badcaps forum and a user told me which network card I needed. It has many hours of use and the only thing that has failed me in so many years has been the keyboard.
I never thought about using 9X in this laptop, but maybe I'll try it some day, the Radeon M6 could be interesting for DX6.

Hoping wrote on 2025-03-13, 11:38:

I have been using an N600C with Win XP for years because of its serial port and size.
It supports 1 GB RAM, the Wi-Fi connection on the back cover of the screen is a USB connection, so you can adapt any small enough USB Wi-Fi to it. My problem at the time was that it didn't come with an Ethernet network card, instead it had a modem, I asked on the Badcaps forum and a user told me which network card I needed. It has many hours of use and the only thing that has failed me in so many years has been the keyboard.
I never thought about using 9X in this laptop, but maybe I'll try it some day, the Radeon M6 could be interesting for DX6.

Do you by chance recall the network card you went with ?

My 600 also has the modem.

This is the service manual that the user stj provided in the Badcaps forum.
The part number should be there.
I guess that the part numbers with the NIC are 230338-001 or 230339-001.

Edit:added some info about the pinout of the Wi-Fi connector on the screen back cover.

I also have a N610c. Add it to the title so I can participate. 😁

The N600c/610c/620c are the laptops that look so much like Thinkpads that you wouldn't believe they are not Thinkpads.
Strange that N400c has a trackpoint, but N410c doesn't.

Just in case you have a N610c, want to install 2GBytes on it and still run DOS properly, I found a way to overcome the BIOS bugs.
http://www.edbatalha.info/compaq-bugs/index.html#FreeDOS
(You'll need setpci.exe for dos.)

Hi everyone,

Is there any chance someone has the proper driver for a "Wireless LAN W200" WiFi Compaq module? I'm running Windows XP and downloaded a driver from the internet, which detects the device, but I encountered errors in Device Manager. I tried forcing the driver installation, but now I'm experiencing a constant blue screen of death with the error IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL and code 0x0000000A (0x2110434, 0x00000002, 0x00000000, 0x804E218). It seems I downloaded the wrong driver. Whenever I search for this module, I keep finding the same file. I would appreciate it if anyone could share the correct driver. Thank you!

vorob wrote on 2025-03-16, 11:05:

Hi everyone,

Is there any chance someone has the proper driver for a "Wireless LAN W200" WiFi Compaq module? I'm running Windows XP and downloaded a driver from the internet, which detects the device, but I encountered errors in Device Manager. I tried forcing the driver installation, but now I'm experiencing a constant blue screen of death with the error IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL and code 0x0000000A (0x2110434, 0x00000002, 0x00000000, 0x804E218). It seems I downloaded the wrong driver. Whenever I search for this module, I keep finding the same file. I would appreciate it if anyone could share the correct driver. Thank you!

The driver I see is SP29156 - https://ftp.zx.net.nz/pub/archive/ftp.compaq. … 500/SP29156.exe

Sadly it’s the same driver I used and I’m getting bsod.

vorob wrote on 2025-03-16, 19:36:

Sadly it’s the same driver I used and I’m getting bsod.

Maybe worth trying the previous version then... https://www.driverguide.com/driver/detail.php … riverid=1368919

Ye I've tried. Maybe there is some compatibility issue with my current win xp setup. I'm using custom made version with updates included. I'll try clean XP.

I've acquired a Compaq N800c for less than $10. The condition is mediocre – the soft-touch coating is mostly gone, and where it remains, it leaves black marks. I used alcohol to clean it off completely. One corner has a big hole, so I'll need to fully disassemble it and repair it with something like liquid plastic. The hinges are a bit wobbly, but that's manageable. On the bright side, the screen is in perfect condition with no white or black spots, light leaks, or the yellowish tint common in failing CCFL screens.

I've tested some basic functions, installed Windows XP, and a random ATI driver. I also played Unreal Tournament; it runs smoothly with 16 bots on a small map, outperforming laptops with a GF2Go or ATI M6.

Next steps: I'll completely disassemble it for a thorough cleaning, reassemble it, search for drivers or a recovery CD (any help would be appreciated!), and load it up with games. 😀

Sometime ago, I bought a connector that can power my laptops from type C, very comfortable thing so I don’t need to search for ancient bricks.