Went through all the loose HDD I had laying around to decide what to do with them. Including attempting to upgrade the NanTan FMA3500C laptop.
First part is those FMA3500's use special Connor/Maxtor drives with the 3-pin power connector, however, I had a dead VersaDock power supply and as it turns out it has molex connectors in it that work like RJ jack punch downs. So I managed to properly wire that into the FMa3500C like it's factory, so now I can use pretty much any hard disk (within the limitations) on that BSi/NanTan monster I want. Unfortunatley I broke the screen latch though...sheesh. More BS & Superglue time later.
Got a ton of leftover drives - one 250MB from the NanTan FMAK9200D with the color screen, which I wiped. A 540 from one of the NEC Versa that all have 40/80GB ATA-133 drives in them now. 2 160GB, one 320GB, and one 500GB SATA HDD I've been messing with iwht the SATA to PATA adapter. I'm probably going to sell some of them, since I prefer ATA-133s or at least a 8GB ATA-66 in my computers when possible. I also tested out the 256GB mSATA SSD in the 44-pin converter, Windows would not pick it up (doh), I think that's going back into the FitPC Slim computer so it'll be more likely to sell. I can't seem to find a system it gets on with that well. Strange since the 486 DX4 LOVES that Samsung 256GB SSD I threw in it on the SATA converter for some crazy reason.
My end game is this now.....
I have 2 Amazon shelves that look really cool in black, when I started putting Laptops and little bonzai trees and whatnot next to them the wife has been saying to buy more. So now I'm looking at nabbing an AT&T 3180 or Ultralite Versa (yep again), and a few more NanTans, and then throw big HDD in all of them and have them where I can just grab one and go to town gaming on it whenever I feel like, and when not, I have these cool looking shelves with cool, FUNCTIONAL laptops on them.
Then I'm keeping only four desktops: Tandy 1000A, GEM 286, Compaq Deskpro 386s/20, and the CN486 desktop. One per monitor. I'm also trying to narrow down the keyboards and have specific setups for all...
TANDY 1000 = Tandy keyboard (obviously), Tandy Deluxe Mouse, NEC MultiSync II 14"
GEM 286 = one of the AT keyboards, Microsoft Dove Bar Mouse, KDS SVGA 14"
Compaq Deskpro 386s/20 = Compaq Keyboard, Compaq Mouse, Micron SVGA 14"
486 DX4-100 = One of the AT Keyboards or PS/2 Model M, Microsoft Dove Bar, Dell 17" SVGA
The troublesome part is picking the AT keyboard.....
NEC AT Keyboard = one of my favorites, it does not click too loud, but it has a confirming click. Works with everything great. Very heavy, very solid, very sturdy, but also very big.
IBM Model "M" = another favorite, clicks a lot, very loud, built like a tank, I love them, but they are not invincible, my wife has killed 3
Generic AT Keyboard = also great, feels a lot like my Chicony 5661 XT/AT, more reliable than the Chicony
Chicony 5661 AT/XT = Keyboard I've had since 2001 with Creeping Net 1. It's been run HARD. It's a little flaky on the 486 at times but it's my favorite one for that because that machine is really a mix of parts from the old original CN machines from the 2000's build in the best formation ever.