Man. Trifecta haul as far as I am concerned - Would love to walk away with a Packard Bell, Gateway 2000, and a small CRT as my score.

King_Corduroy wrote:

Boom as soon as the warm weather hits the scrap yards start getting good shit again. lol […]
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Boom as soon as the warm weather hits the scrap yards start getting good shit again. 🤣

Found a Packard Bell Force 51CD from 1994 today:

1992 Gateway 2000 486DX/33:

and also a bunch of VHS tapes in a box and a brand new Emerson TV/ VCR. Gonna be watching action movies tonight!! 😁

Geeze, and I'm lucky if I can find a Pentium II these days, let alone anything AT or LPX. Even the CRTs around here cost a gazillion dollars. Good score!

[quote="creepingnet"][quote="King_Corduroy"]Boom as soon as the warm weather hits the scrap yards start getting good shit again. 🤣

Found a Packard Bell Force 51CD from 1994 today:

That case looks like it would almost fit my P60 Packbell board. It's an LPX with 3 ISA and 2 PCI. I've been looking high and low for a case with no luck.

That Gateway is in good condition. I was never a fan of the case design, but now I'd gladly take one if I found it. 😀

MCGA wrote:

[...]

That case looks like it would almost fit my P60 Packbell board. It's an LPX with 3 ISA and 2 PCI. I've been looking high and low for a case with no luck.

Almost certainly would. PB used pretty standard LPX form factor around then, with the motherboards being all but identical in size&shape and the cases just differing in height and number of slots on the riser. Your board is probably a PB520 or PB520R and would be a drop-in replacement for this case - although you'd need a different riser to get PCI slots as this 486 board (PB430?) would be ISA-only.

I was looking to see what kind of board, just didn't find a number.( I like the smell of old boards. 😀 ) The IO out the back is exactly the same. I'm hoping to find the Pac Bell case my board came in some day. But if not, no complaint since I got everything but the case for $5.

MCGA wrote:

I was looking to see what kind of board, just didn't find a number.( I like the smell of old boards. 😀 )

Those old PB boards don't have the model no printed on them, but there is invariably a P/N starting with 67xxxxxxx that you can google, or otherwise use these tips:
http://www.uktsupport.co.uk/pb/mb/pbmbid.htm

Failing that, look at the different PB motherboard models and identify by layout.

The IO out the back is exactly the same. I'm hoping to find the Pac Bell case my board came in some day. But if not, no complaint since I got everything but the case for $5.

Not at all bad - although the cases are frequently the biggest challenge these days.

hnnnnnnnng dat gateway 2000

that packard bell is INSANELY yellow. but oddly the monitor isn't. Does it smell like tobacco?

King_Corduroy wrote:

Boom as soon as the warm weather hits the scrap yards start getting good shit again. lol […]
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Boom as soon as the warm weather hits the scrap yards start getting good shit again. 🤣

Found a Packard Bell Force 51CD from 1994 today:

Can you post pictures of the inside? I'm wondering what it looks like (especially I wanted to upgrade my riser card in my Pack-Mate 28 Plus to a PCI/ISA riser card). That's an amazing find, but yellowed (either smoke or UV exposure).

DaveJustDave wrote:

that packard bell is INSANELY yellow. but oddly the monitor isn't. Does it smell like tobacco? […]
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that packard bell is INSANELY yellow. but oddly the monitor isn't. Does it smell like tobacco?

Lol Almost definitely UV exposure. This would be some intense smoke. 😜

bjwil1991 wrote:

King_Corduroy wrote:

Boom as soon as the warm weather hits the scrap yards start getting good shit again. lol […]
Show full quote

Boom as soon as the warm weather hits the scrap yards start getting good shit again. 🤣

Found a Packard Bell Force 51CD from 1994 today:

Can you post pictures of the inside? I'm wondering what it looks like (especially I wanted to upgrade my riser card in my Pack-Mate 28 Plus to a PCI/ISA riser card). That's an amazing find, but yellowed (either smoke or UV exposure).

Sure yeah I need to get back to doing some videos so maybe I'll do a video on restoring this one (Or one just like it since I've got a stack of PB machines). But yeah the riser cards should be swappable as long as it's the same height.

oeuvre wrote:

hnnnnnnnng dat gateway 2000

x2 😎

King_Corduroy wrote:

Sure yeah I need to get back to doing some videos so maybe I'll do a video on restoring this one (Or one just like it since I've got a stack of PB machines). But yeah the riser cards should be swappable as long as it's the same height.

If you do a full restore of this system, it would be a nice touch it you could produce a reproduction spec label for the case. Since it is not a Nintendo cartridge, perhaps it would not incite too much disapproval.

dionb wrote:

Those old PB boards don't have the model no printed on them, but there is invariably a P/N starting with 67xxxxxxx that you can google, or otherwise use these tips:
http://www.uktsupport.co.uk/pb/mb/pbmbid.htm

Failing that, look at the different PB motherboard models and identify by layout.

The closest board I found is the 520r. The only big difference, is that my board has 2 memory slots.

I'll plug in my board later to get the exact model #. My PSU is in the closet. =)

King_Corduroy wrote:

But yeah the riser cards should be swappable as long as it's the same height.

Almost all of the ISA riser cards have the same interface. The only only one that has a different interface is the PB450, also known as the "Firehawk." The 450's interface is split between two ports as apposed to the other 386 and 486 riser cards with one port for it's interface.

creepingnet wrote:

Geeze, and I'm lucky if I can find a Pentium II these days, let alone anything AT or LPX. Even the CRTs around here cost a gazillion dollars. Good score!

You just have to be patient like everybody else and sure enough something good in those categories will come up locally (or even for cheap on eBay). Yes, CRT computer monitors do require patience and through searching to find here, but I occasionally see CRT TVs at thrift stores and on CL so those shouldn't be too hard to find yet (just don't be too picky).

@King_Corduroy: Those are some pretty nice finds, you sure do get lucky enough to find some awesome stuff at the scrapers. 😊

King_Corduroy wrote:

But yeah the riser cards should be swappable as long as it's the same height.

Does that also depend on the style connector on the motherboard as well? The motherboard in mine looks like VLB slots. Also, where does one simply find riser cards for certain systems?

bjwil1991 wrote:

Does that also depend on the style connector on the motherboard as well? The motherboard in mine looks like VLB slots. Also, where does one simply find riser cards for certain systems?

This is a Packard Bell 450 motherboard.

The riser card slot is split between two slots. This is pretty much the only Packard Bell motherboard that has a riser card in this configuration.

All other Packard Bell motherboards have this:

The riser card slot is one slot, and only one slot.

If you have a PB450 motherboard which did not come with the riser, you're facing quite the challenge in finding the appropriate part to make it complete. Keep an eye on eBay, Recycledgoods, or other websites that have obscure parts come up.

Mine has a riser card that's ISA only unfortunately. I'd like to get one that has ISA and PCI (don't know if there's both, or just one or the other) to install a PCI video card.

bjwil1991 wrote:

Mine has a riser card that's ISA only unfortunately. I'd like to get one that has ISA and PCI (don't know if there's both, or just one or the other) to install a PCI video card.

Do you know what graphics chipset you have? That and a photo of the motherboard would go a long way. The only Packard Bell 486 motherboard that supported PCI is the PB470. All other Packard Bell 486 motherboards are ISA only.

Also, check the back or bottom of your computer case and look for the FCC ID number. That will tell us what motherboard you have as well.