twilliamc wrote:

I won the auction for a Vendex Headstart III.

1576_resize.JPG

I could not resist the urge to power it up when it got home. BIOS battery was toast but in its own shell. I was able to look up the HDD parameters and get it booted to the HDD! It mostly appears fine. More photos to come. I need to get an XT-IDE (if it will even work on this system) and make a backup of the HDD. This thing seems fairly rare. I cannot find manuals or software.

Don't blame you. That should be a fun restoration project. Please show pics when you are done cleaning it up.

bjwil1991 wrote:

Looks like an 80286 class machine, 3.5" FDD, 5.25" FDD (the HDD is underneath the FDD in case you're wondering), things like that. Also, check the CMOS battery for any leakage and replace the battery with a new one (some of them came with either 3.6V, 3V, or 6V).

It also sounds like it came with this OS: HOT (or HeadStart Operating Environment).

NY Times Archive from 1989: https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/14/science/pe … i-software.html

Interesting. Looks like they made something similar to DeskMate.

cyclone3d wrote:

This weird Crystal wavetable add-on ISA board. […]
Show full quote

This weird Crystal wavetable add-on ISA board.

Looks like it only pulls power from the ISA bus and nothing else.

Also looks like it is supposed to hook up to a SB16 the same way a CT1920 (awe32 upgrade / goldfinch) card does.

Seller's photos cropped and rotated.

front.jpg

back.jpg

Well, the seller flaked out and never sent this and would also not respond so I had to open an eBay case to get my money back. 😠

As least we have a record of what it looks like...

a cheap Dell Inspiron 530 Q6600 + 4GB RAM mobo combo to toss in a spare case

twilliamc wrote:

I won the auction for a Vendex Headstart III.

I could not resist the urge to power it up when it got home. BIOS battery was toast but in its own shell. I was able to look up the HDD parameters and get it booted to the HDD! It mostly appears fine. More photos to come. I need to get an XT-IDE (if it will even work on this system) and make a backup of the HDD. This thing seems fairly rare. I cannot find manuals or software.

Most of the information out there would probably be in Dutch too, as Vendex was a brand of Philips-designed computers sold by the now-defunct Dutch department store chain Vroom&Dreesman.

- but it seems to have been sold in the US too:
https://youtu.be/aRv8KVQ1TNo
https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/14/science/pe … i-software.html

Here are the five 'master disks' originally shipped with it:
http://vetusware.com/download/Headstart%20III … ities/?id=14975

Logitech Track-man Marble for Windows 3.1 / 95 and DOS.

I picked up an HP computerfyer and DOS for Dummies book. The HP is a K6 500, 64 megs ram, 15 Gig HD, and a weird sound card. I haven't turned it on yet, but it's all in tact. I'll need to clean i up when I get some time.

I really like the size of this case. My ideal retro case would be this size, but look like something designed for an XT/286/386.

cyclone3d wrote:

cyclone3d wrote:

This weird Crystal wavetable add-on ISA board. […]
Show full quote

This weird Crystal wavetable add-on ISA board.

Looks like it only pulls power from the ISA bus and nothing else.

Also looks like it is supposed to hook up to a SB16 the same way a CT1920 (awe32 upgrade / goldfinch) card does.

Seller's photos cropped and rotated.

front.jpg

back.jpg

Well, the seller flaked out and never sent this and would also not respond so I had to open an eBay case to get my money back. 😠

As least we have a record of what it looks like...

That sucks 🙁 sometimes people aren't reliable. Definitely an interesting card to look out for in future listings and junk lots.

Found a seller with a damaged 486 laptop, selling it for parts. I asked to buy the CPU so he took it out of the socket for me. The result:

I'll buy it nonetheless, the DX33 is lacking in my collection. What is the safest way to fix this? Align a ruler and push the pins up until they are semi- straight, then shove into a Socket 3?

^^ Install it in a socket. Luckily the pins are bent evenly in rows, so you can just put it back in the same way it came out & you'll straighten everything out. Start with the bent side and gradually lever it down until all the pins line up.

I did that with my AM2 chip recently and that has a hell of a lot more pins than any 486. Worked fine.

appiah4 wrote:

Found a seller with a damaged 486 laptop, selling it for parts. I asked to buy the CPU so he took it out of the socket for me. The result:

I'll buy it nonetheless, the DX33 is lacking in my collection. What is the safest way to fix this? Align a ruler and push the pins up until they are semi- straight, then shove into a Socket 3?

I usually bend the pins that have been bend really severely back with a knife, just enough to make it for into the socket. You want to bend the entire row at the same time instead of bending pins individually to make sure you don't break the pins. After you bent the pins back s bit you can fit it into the socket and the socket will finalize the bending. This worked for me on my AMD FX-8350 just fine. 😀

Intel486dx33 wrote:

Logitech Track-man Marble for Windows 3.1 / 95 and DOS.

I love that mouse; three buttons and a trackball, what else could you possibly ask for. I will be looking out for something like this as well! 😊

Strahssis wrote:

Intel486dx33 wrote:

Logitech Track-man Marble for Windows 3.1 / 95 and DOS.

I love that mouse; three buttons and a trackball, what else could you possibly ask for. I will be looking out for something like this as well! 😊

Scroll functionality.

MCGA wrote:

I picked up an HP computerfyer and DOS for Dummies book. The HP is a K6 500, 64 megs ram, 15 Gig HD, and a weird sound card. I haven't turned it on yet, but it's all in tact. I'll need to clean i up when I get some time.

I really like the size of this case. My ideal retro case would be this size, but look like something designed for an XT/286/386.

Hey, I had one of those. See here.
HP Pavilion - Gamer / TV

appiah4 wrote:

What is the safest way to fix this?

Use a small pincet. Something like this:

For the bent pins I use a rigid metal ruler.

I got these for 16€ or so :

Radeon X700 256MB, Radeon 9600 256MB, Audigy 2, Aureal Vortex based card with wavetable connector (only reason I got the lot), bunch of 512MB and 256MB RAM sticks and the P4 mobo.

The Serpent Rider wrote:

appiah4 wrote:

What is the safest way to fix this?

Use a small pincet. Something like this:

Exactly, or even a smaller one.
Here in Italy, many Chinese 'grand bazars' offer a wide range of cheap instuments like this ultra fine small tweezer, just 1.50 eur
You can also find many useful pliers/screwdrivers at a ludicrous price. Most of ther times crappy, BUT sometimes of decent/good quality.

This one in the picture is so fine you can actually straighten bent pins on lga Sockets without effort.

appiah4 wrote:

Found a seller with a damaged 486 laptop, selling it for parts. I asked to buy the CPU so he took it out of the socket for me. The result:

486 DX33 Bent Pins.JPG

I'll buy it nonetheless, the DX33 is lacking in my collection. What is the safest way to fix this? Align a ruler and push the pins up until they are semi- straight, then shove into a Socket 3?

I use a small thin flat piece of sheet metal and bend all the pins in one row back at once.
It's also good for aligning all the pins back together.
You can find it at your hardware store, the size of a poker card.

Intel486dx33 wrote:

MCGA wrote:

I picked up an HP computerfyer and DOS for Dummies book. The HP is a K6 500, 64 megs ram, 15 Gig HD, and a weird sound card. I haven't turned it on yet, but it's all in tact. I'll need to clean i up when I get some time.

I really like the size of this case. My ideal retro case would be this size, but look like something designed for an XT/286/386.

Hey, I had one of those. See here.
HP Pavilion - Gamer / TV

Now I'm bummed, yours has a TV option. 😀

Picked up a few ISA network cards, NOS, appear unused.
Why did I pick up several? After all they're your run-of-the-mill NE2k-compatible ISA cards right?

Look closer.

"But grandma, why do you have so many jumpers"

"Why, Little Red Riding Hood, I have so many EPROM addresses! I need jumpers for them all!"

http://arvutimuuseum.ee/th99/n/A-B/40762.htm

I plan on using these mostly for the juicy EPROM socket with such a wide array of possible addresses. For BIOS extension goodness, such as XT-IDE and such.