VOGONS


Post your Packard Bell computers here!

Topic actions

Reply 21 of 77, by jamesp15

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

Oldest PC that I had bought as new that I still have, 3 older ones lost in a storage unit fire 😢

Packard Bell Legend 2270, bought new at an AAFES (military exchange) in 1993 (I am fairly sure, though could have been early 1994).

Intel 486DX2-66
Came with 4mb of RAM, later upgraded to 20mb
3.5 and 5.25 floppy drives, a Tape drive and 240mb HDD. (later upgraded to a 430gb, then a 1gb)
Onboard Headland Video (Later upgraded to a Hercules Dynamite Tseng ET4000/w32 with 2mb)
No Sound. (Later upgraded with a Reveal (Aztech) sound card and Panasonic 2x CDROM, then to a Soundblaster 16 and 4x CD)
No Network (Later added a 3com 509B)

Still works to this day just fine. Dont remember what I did with the 5.25 drive, I think its in one of my other 486 systems).
Tape drive "blew up" but is sitting loose in the bottom of the case under the drive bays, cant get myself to throw it out.

(click to view full size)
img_9386sm.jpg
img_9385sm.jpg
img_9384sm.jpg
img_9382sm.jpg

Reply 22 of 77, by orion83uk

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie
oeuvre wrote:

Aww man please use imgur or something else than photofuckit!

Ugh, yeah just learned this morning that Photobucket no longer allows 3rd party hosting. 😠

Will sort this later. First post off to a great start 🤣.

Reply 23 of 77, by orion83uk

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

Ok, lets try this again - images now from imgur:

General Info:
Model: iMedia S3810
Year: 2010 (just about to turn 7 years old)
Originals Specs: i3-550 3.2GHz, 3GB DDR3 RAM, integrated i3 graphics, 500GB HD, Windows 7.
Current Specs: i3-550 3.2GHz, 8GB DDR3 RAM, nVidia GT 730 Zotac (passive cooling), 128GB SSD + original 500GB HD, Windows 10.

y3nb4J3.jpg

IUAKYAB.jpg

As68AVg.jpg

o48PR4v.jpg

gjd5nTO.jpg

LRFTK3C.jpg

Reply 24 of 77, by orion83uk

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie
dries_86 wrote:
I still have this Club 2600 RW running strong after about 17 years. The weak point was the integrated video card (Intel 810 chip […]
Show full quote

I still have this Club 2600 RW running strong after about 17 years.
The weak point was the integrated video card (Intel 810 chipset). The lady in the shop where we bought it told me it has "3D effects" which I interpreted as it includes a 3Dfx Voodoo 3 which was reasonable at the time.
I didn't really see the specs in advance as my parents bought it for me.

However it was quite a disappointment games were only playable at 640x480 low detail. The board lacked an AGP slot but I could have added a PCI graphics card but didn't have the money at the time.

Specifications:
Case
Type Squarius II, micro-ATX
Slots (total / Available) 4 / 2
Slots PCI 3 / 2
Slot MR 1 / 0
USB Ports 2 (1 Back / 1 Side)

Processor
Intel Celeron 600 MHz Socket
Type Socket 370
Chipset Intel i810

RAM
Size 64 MB upgradable to 512 MB. Dynamically shared with integrated Video Card
Type SDRAM 100 MHz

STORAGE
Hard Drive Quantum Fireball Hard drive 15 GB, Ultra DMA-66
Floppy Disk Reader 3 ½ " 1,44 MB
DVD-Rom Reader 16x
CD-ROM Reader 32x

SOUND
Integrated 16-bits sound card Sigmatel AC'97 Codec

VIDEO
Video Card Intel i810 VRAM DVMT (Dynamically allocated)

COMMUNICATION
Modem Data / Fax / Conexant 56 Kbps, V90

$_57.JPG

I had a friend who had one of these Club series units. It was the "Club 75" from late 1999, and was effectively the same machine as yours, but with a 500MHz Celeron, 8.4GB HD, and no CD-RW. I remember it used to take an age to start up. After a clean install of Windows 98SE and drivers only (rather than using the infamous "Master CD"), and an upgrade to 128MB RAM, it ran MUCH faster, and managed to run Unreal Tournament fairly well too. Lost touch with him eventually, but I gathered it still ran fine right up to 2006 when Windows 98 was finally laid to rest.

Reply 25 of 77, by bjwil1991

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Here's my Packard Bell machine that I got for a great price at a thrift store months ago: ebK42Ajh.jpg

Specs back then when it was new:
Intel i486 SX2-50
4MB Onboard RAM (64MB max)
Cirrus Logic CL-GD5428 1MB (2MB max)
210MB HDD (Western Digital perhaps)
3.5" 1.44MB Floppy Drive
Packard Bell Navigator and other software (Windows most likely)
2400 baud modem
Matching keyboard and mouse
Packard Bell monitor
0KB L2 cache
Specs when I got it:
Intel i486 SX2-50
8MB RAM (4MB onboard)
Cirrus Logic CL-GD5428 1MB (2MB max)
428.1MB Seagate HDD (still works and have it)
3.5" 1.44MB Floppy Drive
Packard Bell Navigator and other software
3Com EtherLink III ISA 10BaseT Ethernet Card
MS-DOS 6.22/WFW 3.11
2400 baud modem
Matching keyboard and mouse
0KB L2 cache
Specs now:
Intel i486 DX4-100 OverDrive (5V processors only)
2GB CF Card (CF-IDE adapter)
Epson SD-800 Dual FDD
Conner Tape Drive (Floppy connection) for backups
Mitsumi 48x CD-ROM Drive
Sound Blaster 16 CT2740 DSP 4.11 with a Yamaha DB50XG for GM/XG games and files
Tandy 3-voice compatible sound card (Lo-Tech)
Music Quest MPU-401 Clone card (keropi) for games that support the Roland MT-32
3Com EtherLink III ISA 10BaseT Ethernet Card
32MB SIMM-72 Memory (disabled the onboard RAM)
2400 baud modem
Gravis Analog Pro Joystick
2x AA Battery holder for the CMOS battery since the soldered on one was flat and wouldn't boot to the OS
0KB L2 cache (will install 128KB L2 Cache)
Cirrus Logic CL-GD5428 1MB (2MB max)
MS-DOS 6.22/Windows 95C (will reinstall Windows (or Workgroups) 3.11)

I did use a CRT monitor (IBM 2115-001) for the screen, but the screen I'm using right now is a Samsung SyncMaster 215BW due to weight limitations on my desk. Will use either my Medion CRT or IBM CRT (have to fix the color issue) when I turn my back room into a work area for my computers.

Discord: https://discord.gg/U5dJw7x
Systems from the Compaq Portable 1 to Ryzen 9 5950X
Twitch: https://twitch.tv/retropcuser

Reply 27 of 77, by King_Corduroy

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Nice posts guys! Keep em coming! 😁 Also nice to the guy with the new Packard Bell. I've been after one of the iextreme cases from the Core 2 Duo era but I can't seem to find one cheap. 😒

One of these specifically:
c081cd50a0d5bc2ef3928492ef488.jpg

Check me out at Transcendental Airwaves on Youtube! Fast-food sucks!

Reply 28 of 77, by KCompRoom2000

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

@emosun - That PB Multimedia L190 looks like it's been upgraded since I noticed a Slot 1 board with a Slotket installed despite the Intel Pentium sticker on the front panel. Also, what happened to the CD drive(s)?

King_Corduroy wrote:

I've been after one of the iextreme cases from the Core 2 Duo era but I can't seem to find one cheap. 😒

One of these specifically:
-snip-

No surprise there, considering Packard Bell stopped selling computers to the US after ~2000, so if you manage to find a Core 2 era PB, it'll most likely be from Europe or Asia and I doubt shipping a tower from there to the US would be cheap.

Reply 29 of 77, by emosun

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
KCompRoom2000 wrote:

@emosun - That PB Multimedia L190 looks like it's been upgraded since I noticed a Slot 1 board with a Slotket installed despite the Intel Pentium sticker on the front panel. Also, what happened to the CD drive(s)?

i like to delete drives i don't need. the hdd and floppy are next.

Reply 30 of 77, by i486_inside

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

I have it stored away right now since I recently moved, I have the computer stored so I don't know the exact mode
If I remember right it uses the 520r Socket 4 motherboard with the 430LX chipset.
-8MB onboard RAM
-Onboard CIrrus GD5434 with 1MB RAM
-Aztech Galaxy Nova Sound Card w/ cd interfaces
-2x Panasonic CD-ROM
-60Mhz Pentium
Don't remember exact size of the hard drive but it was somewhere around 400-500MBs.

I picked the machine up at a thrift store for $10 a few years ago, I thought it might be a socket 5 or socket 7 pentium, After I booted it up I realized it was a Pentium 60 and that it was nearly identical to one that my dad had when I was a kid.

Since I bought the P60 machine dirt cheap and my dad already had one it never occurred to me that Socket 4 machines were all that rare until I started following some youtubers, then the more I seen about them in these forums and Facebook groups as well as looking through eBay a few times I realized they were kind of rare.

Reply 31 of 77, by jayzed

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie
martin939 wrote:
Almost brand new (100-120 hours). Had to replace a few caps on the mainboard, changed the Radeon VE (7000) to an FX5700 and upgr […]
Show full quote

Almost brand new (100-120 hours). Had to replace a few caps on the mainboard, changed the Radeon VE (7000) to an FX5700 and upgraded the RAM to 512MB PC133 SDRAM. The CPU is an Athlon 1100, Thunderbird if I'm not mistaken.
Still uns on the original Windows ME install from 2001.

0IHpxxk.jpg

Hey martin, this is my childhood pc, you might be the only person in the world who has still got the original os and software that came with it. I was wondering if you could help me with sending the software/recovery image or something so that I can reinstall it on mine. I would super appreciate for the nostalgia. This was my first pc and the best pc I had ever owned.

Reply 32 of 77, by dries_86

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

Would anyone still have the 3 Recovery Master disks (Red, Green, Purple) and Red floppy disk which came with PB Windows 98SE systems around 1999?
I threw them out sometime ago but now would like to reinstall my PB computer with those.
Kit_Master_CD_Windows_98SE_1999.png
Thanks in advance!

Reply 34 of 77, by hwh

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

Ah, a thread about Packard Bell POS. Right.

I have a 25Mhz 386 Axcel. 3MB memory. They were so cheap they didn't include sockets for the several other memory pads. So that's like 1MB integrated, then 2 sockets.

Graphics - ugh. That's also integrated. Unfortunately they're wavy/staticky. And there is no freaking room in that case (IIRC) for a card. It's an interesting little system, the specs just kinda make my eyes sting. Windows 3.1.

xRhHPzN.jpg

Reply 35 of 77, by bjwil1991

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Picture of my Packard Bell Pack-Mate 28 Plus, 2 years later:

A6OOm4ll.jpg

Specs:
Evergreen 586 (AMD AM5x86-P75 or DX5-133) 133MHz, 16KB L1 Write-Back Cache
32MB SIMM-72 FPM 70ns RAM
4GB CF Card (CF-IDE)
Epson SD-800 Dual 3.5" 1.44MB and 5.25" 1.2MB FDD
Conner 250MB Tape Drive (disconnected at the moment)
Western Digital 10GB HDD (disconnected at the moment)
Creative Labs/Panasonic/Matsushita CR-563-B 2x CD-ROM drive
512KB L2 cache
Cirrus Logic CL-GD5428 integrated video with 2MB video RAM (Local Bus)
Reveal SC400 (Aztech Sound Galaxy NX Pro 16) sound card
Music Quest MPU-401 clone card
Lo-Tech Tandy 3-voice compatible sound card
3Com EtherLink III 3C509-TP 10Base-T Ethernet
2400 baud modem integrated
Gravis Analog Pro Joystick
Modified the Packard Bell PB450 motherboard with the following added features and BIOS upgrade:
1) CR1220 battery holder for the CMOS battery
2) 3.3V CPU support (3.3V VRM fixed voltage with 2x 6.3V 22uF tantalum SMD caps and solder to bridge R131 as 0 Ohms)
3) Micro Firmware P4HS20 BIOS (4.05.10) over the OEM 4.03 v1.1a BIOS for better compatibility with WB cache

Some yellowing on the case, which was there before when I bought the system 2 years ago. Almost period correct (minus the 4GB CF card), so I need to find a hard drive between 2GB and 4GB for Windows 95 and DOS 6.22 as the CF card causes the system to run slower.

Last edited by bjwil1991 on 2019-07-08, 23:41. Edited 1 time in total.

Discord: https://discord.gg/U5dJw7x
Systems from the Compaq Portable 1 to Ryzen 9 5950X
Twitch: https://twitch.tv/retropcuser

Reply 37 of 77, by Mister Xiado

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

Legend 300 CD
Specs: http://pbclub.pwcsite.com/wiki/index.php?title=Legend_300CD

It's got a dead DALLAS chip, but it still boots and operates alright. Just can't access BIOS, and can't change any of the expansion cards. I think I left all of the original installed software on it, as I didn't feel like messing with it due to the DALLAS issues. I have a Hewlett Packard 486 that's my go-to classic system for all of my DOS and Win3 work.

GQQuhbRm.jpg

yBeIz9Um.jpg

b_ldnt2.gif - Where it's always 1995.
Icons, wallpapers, and typical Oldternet nonsense.

Reply 38 of 77, by FFXIhealer

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

I don't have one now, but we USED to back in the 90s. It looked exactly like this:

E156.JPG

Except without the ZIP drive. My ZIP drive at the time was a blue Parallel port unit that sat on top of the computer. I even remember all the specs on it too.

CPU: Intel Pentium 100MHz (P54)
RAM: 16MB (4x4MB) 72-pin DRAM
HDD: 1.8 GB
Optical drive was 4x at the beginning, but went bad and was replaced with a 32x drive
O/S: Windows 95
It also had one of those sound card/modems you found in a lot of those pre-built systems. 14.4kbps and SB compatible. It sucked, but it also did this cool 3D stereo effect. It also went bad once, so we replaced it with a regular Sound Blaster 16 legit and a 33.6kbps PCI modem. The SB16 didn't have the stereo effect. Sad panda face...

It had 1MB of video memory and couldn't really do any 3D at all. Knowing what I know now, it could probably have done something with a Voodoo1 card, but that's a lot of money to be spending on such a weak CPU.
It was my first Windows 95 system. The next computer we had would be my Windows 98 gaming system in 1999.

292dps.png
3smzsb.png
0fvil8.png
lhbar1.png

Reply 39 of 77, by bjwil1991

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

I believe the sound cards they used in those systems back then was the Aztech Sound Galaxy series with the integrated modem. I have an Aztech Sound Galaxy NX Pro 16 in my Packard Bell, so I'll be hooking up my Yamaha DB50XG directly to my MPU-401 clone card externally (need to build a case for it) and get more MIDI cables so I can use every MIDI device on my system from the Yamaha FB-01 and Roland MT-32 to Yamaha DB50XG for certain games. I wish people didn't charge an arm and a leg for the Gravis UltraSound cards on flea bay and it'll possibly be worth it as I would like to use my Packard Bell as the Ultimate Sound Card machine from the PC Speaker to GM/XG (eXtended General MIDI), and yes, I have a Tandy 3-voice ISA card installed in my machine for older Sierra On-Line games, like the original King's Quest, Space Quest, and Police Quest games (non-VGA).

Discord: https://discord.gg/U5dJw7x
Systems from the Compaq Portable 1 to Ryzen 9 5950X
Twitch: https://twitch.tv/retropcuser