Cuttoon wrote on 2020-03-07, 20:06:

Possibly the power switch part was made of a different ABS with higher bromite content.

My thoughts exactly. I still find it peculiar, that it is for some reason the only (and small) part of the chassis to get that treatment.

In my experience, the three main criteria for OS compatibility are RAM, RAM and RAM. Decent VGA also helps a lot. But Win95 was supposed to run on a 386, after all.
Nice box. I'm more of a Compaq man myself. 😀

RAM definitely is major factor, but with just 16MB I would've expected a 486 struggle more. Then again, I had 16MB in my Pentium also back in the day, and it was fine.

I would like to have similar Compaq too, as I adore my Presario 425 AIO and my Armada in the sig is one fine laptop too. But I got this HP so cheap, that I couldn't resist as I was searching for a pizza box style 486 from 66MHz upwards. Vectra has definitely same design philosophy as similar Compaq machines and MB has pretty much same general design as Presario 425 has. Even construction has somewhat the same feel when it comes to the use of plastic, metal frame and so on. Although Compaqs are one of my favourites, I must admit that I am not that fond of their bios setup partitions, which most of them have at least starting from ca 95-96. It is in my opinion one of the most idiotic design choices ever implemented to PC computers. Otherwise 80s-90s Compaqs are finely crafted machines 😀

Here's another thing I didn't buy, but it was lying on the shelf at a thrift shop. A thoroughly weird "Pegatron IMIMV-CF" motherboard:

What we have here is an mATX desktop board with an mPGA478 socket, three mini-PCIe slots (one is just empty solder pads), desktop-type SATA ports, SODIMM memory slots, and an MXM slot for graphics. WTF?

A bit of internet sleuthing indicates it came out of some kind of HP all-in-one, which makes sense I guess. I originally thought it'd be for Pentium M CPUs but it looks like it only supports Penryn C2Ds. HP's site also claims it has a GeForce 9300m GPU under that heat sink, but then what is the MXM slot for? Power is delivered through a little 6-pin port on the bottom, so god only knows what that takes.

What a bizarre board. There's actually a lot of mobile-type expandability built into this thing that I doubt they ever intended anyone to use. HP parts-bin engineering at its best.

xjas wrote on 2020-03-07, 20:58:

What we have here is an mATX desktop board with an mPGA478 socket, three mini-PCIe slots (one is just empty solder pads), desktop-type SATA ports, SODIMM memory slots, and an MXM slot for graphics. WTF?

A bit of internet sleuthing indicates it came out of some kind of HP all-in-one, which makes sense I guess. I originally thought it'd be for Pentium M CPUs but it looks like it only supports Penryn C2Ds. HP's site also claims it has a GeForce 9300m GPU under that heat sink, but then what is the MXM slot for?

from HP: "Expansion Slots
One PCI Express x16
Two PCI Express x1 minicard sockets"

I think that MXM slot is a proprietary PCIe x16 slot for some addon, just a guess as I can see the memory and the mini card slots...

Two nice packages arrived here:

1) Aztech Sound Galaxy Basic 16

"Basic" a misnomer if ever there was one. This is a SBPro2-clone. But it also does WSS for 16-bit sound. And at the other end it offers Covox/Disney Sound Source. Possibly widest range of features out there in a card, definitely one without TSR. Only thing missing is DOS MPU-401, but with a MusicQuest card in the system I can live without that.

2) Zalman CNPS-6000

Seen here next to my old CNPS-3000. I like quiet PCs and nothing provides that better than one of these. Of course my P3-1400S currently has an equally iconic Thermaltake SuperOrb. Ah, dilemmas 😉

dionb wrote on 2020-03-08, 00:17:

Two nice packages arrived here: […]
Show full quote

Two nice packages arrived here:

1) Aztech Sound Galaxy Basic 16
15836257707840.jpg

"Basic" a misnomer if ever there was one. This is a SBPro2-clone. But it also does WSS for 16-bit sound. And at the other end it offers Covox/Disney Sound

Nice ! That is not the "basic" Aztec ! I have one without the NXP chip (one of the Nova series)and it is basic. Back in the 90's some thought they were junk because Packard Bell, Compaq and some other OEMS used them, but many of their models are good sound cards.

WOW you have to check this ebay seller prices.
and be sure to check his shipping to Europe: US $78.75 to Germany. for the GA-486VM + RAM....
WTF ?

Those are real zombie prices! heheh

78.00 usd for shipping.. I hope he will bring the item to your door by helicopter..

^^But you're paying for their attention to detail 🤣

Horun wrote on 2020-03-08, 01:14:

[...]

Nice ! That is not the "basic" Aztec ! I have one without the NXP chip (one of the Nova series)and it is basic. Back in the 90's some thought they were junk because Packard Bell, Compaq and some other OEMS used them, but many of their models are good sound cards.

Yep, the later Aztech cards (I believe the Nova were 3rd gen) were more regular SBPro2+WSS for 16b playback+bug-free MPU-401, some of the most solid 'clones' out there. These early ones were a bit more rough around the edges (despite literally hundreds of SMD resistors and caps, no decent filtering/shielding of system noise) but Covox support is pretty unique.

Horun wrote on 2020-03-08, 02:21:

WOW you have to check this ebay seller prices.
and be sure to check his shipping to Europe: US $78.75 to Germany. for the GA-486VM + RAM....
WTF ?

Postal services in the US are pretty dysfunctional and massively overpriced. There are definitely options to ship for less than this, but US sellers also aren't used to (and too frequently aren't interested in) non-US buyers, so they just quote whatever's easiest for them. This is unfortunately anything but unusual. The irony is that logistics to and from any number of 'shithole' countries in the same area are far better. I could arrange shipping of a cubic meter of goods for less than this from various places around the Caribbean...

Bought this Dell OptiPlex GX150 Motherboard 2H240 - for parts (sdram latches, AGP latch, P3 CPU - was unknown - turned out to be 1GHz 133FSB looking brand new).
3$ + shipping (4$ 😁 ).

Motherboard appears to be working fine (put some ram, different CPU and cooler) - I wonder if its worth anything - cannot keep is as I already have too much old stuff.

part number 2H240 is tualatin capable. Try a 1.4GHz 512K CPU in it.

Pulled from my massive notes:
2E933 and 2H240 are native tualatin-S CPUs.

Cheers,

Yet another PS2 bundle that came with a controller, A/V cable, power cord, online HDD adapter, the console itself, and an Xbox 360 controller, along with a new set of iTec speakers that does A/V switching as well.

brostenen wrote on 2020-03-07, 20:16:

Congrats with the 1200. By the way. It is called Workbench and not Windows.

Take a look at the picture I posted. On the left is this sheet that says, "Best of Amiga" and on the right side of that sheet is a spot advertising, "Commodore Windows" which I saw when I loaded the machine the few times I tested it. No idea what kind of bootleg shenanigans are at work, but I guess I'll have to find out now.

brostenen wrote on 2020-03-07, 20:35:

The Amiga600 PSU's are usually providing too few Amps for a Accelerator. Even back in the days, people usually had an Amiga500 PSU hooked up to an 1200 that was upgraded. It was typically Commodore style, to sell a machine with a PSU that just delivered enough juice for the machine to operate in factory default (no expansions). Basically, it is likely that they used the exact same PSU's for the 1200 machine, as nobody really wanted the 600. Commodore made machines, using this mantra: "Lets see what we have in stock today, and then build a computers from that". They did clean up their act in the 90's, yet in the golden days of the C64. Then you could buy C64-Model-C machines with Breadbin keyboards.... And speaking of the C64 PSU, then they designed PSU's that just only delivered what the C64 demanded in terms of power. That would be regulators that delivered no more than the machine used, and then they packed the PSU's full of epoxy, leaving no chance for the regulator's heat to disapear. Anyway. They only planned the C64 to be in use in homes, for 2 or 3 years. 4 years max, so they could put out a new machine every 2 to 3 years, like normally did.... If anyone plan to upgrade a 1200 with accelerator and more stuff. Then my advice is to do something like I did.

Amiga500 Power Supply with modern internals.

That's a good bit of information to know ahead of any upgrades I install and probably just saved me a couple hours of frustration. Thanks!

MrSmiley381 wrote on 2020-03-09, 11:05:

Take a look at the picture I posted. On the left is this sheet that says, "Best of Amiga" and on the right side of that sheet i […]
Show full quote

brostenen wrote on 2020-03-07, 20:16:

Congrats with the 1200. By the way. It is called Workbench and not Windows.

Take a look at the picture I posted. On the left is this sheet that says, "Best of Amiga" and on the right side of that sheet is a spot advertising, "Commodore Windows" which I saw when I loaded the machine the few times I tested it. No idea what kind of bootleg shenanigans are at work, but I guess I'll have to find out now.

brostenen wrote on 2020-03-07, 20:35:

The Amiga600 PSU's are usually providing too few Amps for a Accelerator. Even back in the days, people usually had an Amiga500 PSU hooked up to an 1200 that was upgraded. It was typically Commodore style, to sell a machine with a PSU that just delivered enough juice for the machine to operate in factory default (no expansions). Basically, it is likely that they used the exact same PSU's for the 1200 machine, as nobody really wanted the 600. Commodore made machines, using this mantra: "Lets see what we have in stock today, and then build a computers from that". They did clean up their act in the 90's, yet in the golden days of the C64. Then you could buy C64-Model-C machines with Breadbin keyboards.... And speaking of the C64 PSU, then they designed PSU's that just only delivered what the C64 demanded in terms of power. That would be regulators that delivered no more than the machine used, and then they packed the PSU's full of epoxy, leaving no chance for the regulator's heat to disapear. Anyway. They only planned the C64 to be in use in homes, for 2 or 3 years. 4 years max, so they could put out a new machine every 2 to 3 years, like normally did.... If anyone plan to upgrade a 1200 with accelerator and more stuff. Then my advice is to do something like I did.

Amiga500 Power Supply with modern internals.

That's a good bit of information to know ahead of any upgrades I install and probably just saved me a couple hours of frustration. Thanks!

If it is indeed a real product, that Commodore Windows, then post a couple of screenshots of it running. Else I am afraid that it is either vaporware, some rumors being blown out of proportion or simply just a joke or something like that. To my knowledge, there have never been a Windows version for the Amiga platform. The closest you can get, are an X86 bridgeboard and then running Win on top of Dos.

Thanks, and no problemo. 😀 It is a well used trick, to use a MeanWell inside vintage computers. Like Atari, BBC and such.

More RAM, and another COAST module.

MrSmiley381 wrote on 2020-03-09, 11:05:

brostenen wrote on 2020-03-07, 20:16:

Congrats with the 1200. By the way. It is called Workbench and not Windows.

Take a look at the picture I posted. On the left is this sheet that says, "Best of Amiga" and on the right side of that sheet is a spot advertising, "Commodore Windows" which I saw when I loaded the machine the few times I tested it. No idea what kind of bootleg shenanigans are at work, but I guess I'll have to find out now.

It's a utility called BootLogo, just displays that Windows-style logo on boot. Have a look at https://archive.org/details/amigashopper-maga … ge/n85/mode/2up - on page 86.

derSammler wrote on 2020-03-09, 12:14:

More RAM...

You can never have enough RAM 😎

devius wrote on 2020-03-09, 15:32:

derSammler wrote on 2020-03-09, 12:14:

More RAM...

You can never have enough RAM 😎

Why can't we ever have 640K RAM? 🙁

You know, I wonder if there's a DOS applet somewhere that can disable the extended memory and only use conventional RAM? I doubt it, but how cool would that be to have something like that?

devius wrote on 2020-03-09, 15:32:

You can never have enough RAM 😎

Oh, you can. I must have 500+ memory modules by now... I really need to test them and sort all out that are faulty or too slow/small to use.