I just bought a C64-Composit/S-Video cable and a 2 meter Amiga-Scart cable from this company below.
They deliver high quality cables, for all sort of vintage computers.
I like when things are getting delivered ahead of schedule. Besides, I haven't seen her showing up before but oh boy when she finally did, she did so being a MINT and SEALED!! Presented here for your enjoyment, still factory-sealed after more than 30 years(!): AdLib Personal Computer Music System (the year 1987 model)
Well this wasn't today, but last week.....
I went to a HAM Radio and electronics fair last week and got some stuff for fiddling around.
I was finishing up when all of a sudden my eye was attracted to the corner of a stand where I noticed a portable organizer like device.
It was a HP 200LX and I had no clue what it was or did but I noticed the PCMCIA slot on the side so I googled it on my phone (I love portable internet) and found out it was a cool device that ran DOS 5.0 from the internal rom.
I checked the battery compartment and it looked great, asked what the price was and took it home (untested) for 5 euro's.
Coming home I had to check and see if it was working and it does work.
There is just a little dead pixel line in the bottom of the screen, but you hardly notice.
19rsn007 wrote:Well this wasn't today, but last week.....
I went to a HAM Radio and electronics fair last week and got some stuff for fiddling […] Show full quote
Well this wasn't today, but last week.....
I went to a HAM Radio and electronics fair last week and got some stuff for fiddling around.
I was finishing up when all of a sudden my eye was attracted to the corner of a stand where I noticed a portable organizer like device.
It was a HP 200LX and I had no clue what it was or did but I noticed the PCMCIA slot on the side so I googled it on my phone (I love portable internet) and found out it was a cool device that ran DOS 5.0 from the internal rom.
I checked the battery compartment and it looked great, asked what the price was and took it home (untested) for 5 euro's.
Coming home I had to check and see if it was working and it does work.
There is just a little dead pixel line in the bottom of the screen, but you hardly notice.
Very nice find. Wikipedia already lists quite a bit of infos, including some easter eggs:
Question is if the dead pixel line is maybe even repairable...?
Aging models may lose pixel columns from the display. This is caused by detachment of one or more pins of one of the SMD (Surface Mounted Device) chips in the display itself. In many cases this may be repaired by reflowing (resoldering) of the pins on the offending chip, either with an SMD reflow tool, or a soldering iron with a very fine (0.2 mm) tip.
YouTube and Bonus
80486DX@33 MHz, 16 MiB RAM, Tseng ET4000 1 MiB, SnarkBarker & GUSar Lite, PC MIDI Card+X2+SC55+MT32, OSSC
Cool! Did it come with driver disks? If not then finding the right version can be a chore - I've had the most success with the "Studio" drivers I uploaded to VogonDrivers (can't get a link because of stupid work firewall). The card won't work right with the wron version, and there a several versions 😵
Unfortunately it didn't come with any drivers. The model i have is the PAS16SL which i believe has a Sony CD-ROM interface on board. I'll give your drivers a whirl and see how i get on! 😀
19rsn007 wrote:Well this wasn't today, but last week.....
I went to a HAM Radio and electronics fair last week and got some stuff for fiddling […] Show full quote
Well this wasn't today, but last week.....
I went to a HAM Radio and electronics fair last week and got some stuff for fiddling around.
I was finishing up when all of a sudden my eye was attracted to the corner of a stand where I noticed a portable organizer like device.
It was a HP 200LX and I had no clue what it was or did but I noticed the PCMCIA slot on the side so I googled it on my phone (I love portable internet) and found out it was a cool device that ran DOS 5.0 from the internal rom.
I checked the battery compartment and it looked great, asked what the price was and took it home (untested) for 5 euro's.
Coming home I had to check and see if it was working and it does work.
There is just a little dead pixel line in the bottom of the screen, but you hardly notice.
Well, now you can play Zork anywhere
Cyb3rst0rms Retro Hardware Warzone:https://discord.gg/jK8uvR4c I used to own over 160 graphics card, I've since recovered from graphics card addiction
gdjacobs wrote:https://media.makeameme.org/created/teach-me-your-onc5l2.jpg […] Show full quote
It's called "Pay to play". If you are willing to offer somebody $500+, you can have one too.
Personally I'm not willing to pay more than $50 for a vintage CPU.
Even for $500, you'll have to put in a lot of effort to find someone willing to sell a Cyrix 5x86-133/4x. Actually, it was $500 + a rare Cyrix 5x86-120/4x, so perhaps $600+.
Plan your life wisely, you'll be dead before you know it.
I'm not really into processors so forgive my ignorance: Were these CPU's already rare when they were new or is this just the typical price inflation that's independent from the production run size (a.k.a "retro/vintage")?
Cyrix sold all of the 133s to Evergreen. They were only sold in upgrade kits in 1996, a time when everyone wanted Pentiums. They were in limited supply, and sold only for a short time. Not to mention, the upgrades didn't perform well because they were mostly going into older machines that didn't support writeback cache or any of the other advanced features.
Question is if the dead pixel line is maybe even repairable...?
Aging models may lose pixel columns from the display. This is caused by detachment of one or more pins of one of the SMD (Surface Mounted Device) chips in the display itself. In many cases this may be repaired by reflowing (resoldering) of the pins on the offending chip, either with an SMD reflow tool, or a soldering iron with a very fine (0.2 mm) tip.
Well it is the same problem some early gameboy's suffer and mostly reflowing/resoldering the connection fixes the problem so I was going to look into that later but for now I am just playing around with the thing.
I'm not really into processors so forgive my ignorance: Were these CPU's already rare when they were new or is this just the typical price inflation that's independent from the production run size (a.k.a "retro/vintage")?
Rare or not, back in the day the Cyrix CPUs were considered the budget machine alternative and it does surprise me how some of the models have become so collectible. Although, even some older eMachine systems go for money now if they are in good shape and back in the 90s you would never admit you bought one if you wanted decent tech friends. 🤣 Funny how things turn around like they do after a decade or so.
Even for $500, you'll have to put in a lot of effort to find someone willing to sell a Cyrix 5x86-133/4x. Actually, it was $500 + a rare Cyrix 5x86-120/4x, so perhaps $600+.
Actually, I was thinking more of the bling. Maybe Vogons should start up a clothing line?
Paid too much for a complete Roland LAPC-I (with the MIDI box), and a Creative CT1350B SB with the CMS chips for an upcoming 386 build. I think they'll both continue to accumulate value. Photos from auction because I'll forget to post before putting them in my build when they arrive.
Ah that was you 😀 the LAPC auction only just ended! was watching both out of curiosity. Nice cards indeed but I think the LAPC dream is over for me. Keep us posted on your builds.
I did buy some bits recently - a K6-III+ 450, and a motherboard for a Gateway SFF. Sadly the Gateway board (Corfu, 815 chipset) looks like it's NOS but has tons of bad G-Luxon caps, seller has promised a replacement though.
Just ordered a CGA card with Composite out from the well known auction site. Its a "Epson Colour Video Board Model Q505A-E", brand new and with original box. Its for 22€ + shipment and therefore quite OK. There are more of them available.
I hope this card will support me playing with Supersoft/Landmark Diagnostic ROMs. There is no support for VGA and I do not have enough space to have my EGA monitors up all the time. With this card I hope I am able to connect to the composite-in of my DELL 2709W main LCD.
Some interesting cards where I could not say "no" to take a look at 😉
3DLabs Glint 500TX
SPEA P41/R12 with soldered TMS340
Diamond Fire GL 4000
SPEA GRAPHITI Series with Bt458KG, "Gallery-HE P35/R1.2"
Spea Showtime PLUS with TSENG ET4000 😀
SPEA 860 GX: No VGA connector and wires all over the PCB. Intel i860 missing on socket? Whats that?
SPEA 860 GXP25/R13. Intel i860 missing on socket? Also no VGA connector?
SPEA P39/R16. Intel i860 missing on socket? Also another free socket, I hope with a standard CPU. There are 3 of these, let me know if somebody is interested 😉
SPEA P24 2L FIRE
All cards more or less damaged. I think on the sockets an Intel 860 is missing which I should manage to get. Will see what these cards are used for. Most dont have a BIOS, so I dont think they can be used standalone...