VOGONS


Reply 20 of 97, by ragefury32

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henryVK wrote:
Siemens PCD-4ND/PCD5-ND […]
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Siemens PCD-4ND/PCD5-ND

1475167100128678009.jpg

  • DX2/4 50/75/100 MHz or Pentium 1 75/90 MHz
  • Western Digital WD90C24A2, 768 kB of video RAM
  • ESS688, OPL3 compatible SB-Pro
  • Monochrome, DTSN or very crisp 640x480/800x600 TFT
  • built-in Trackball

These are very light machines with a nice modular design that makes them easy to deal with. The only downsides are the belt-driven floppy drives (Citizen W1D) and the fact that there is no hardware volume control for the PCDs little tinny speaker. The former is easily remedied by using a CF-IDE adapter that you can just pop out of the HDD tray by removing two screws.

Nice machine, but rare in the states. Does it have an FCC ID? There might be an equivalent that is common stateside.

Reply 21 of 97, by ragefury32

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MAZter wrote:

Actually, the 8-bit guy's video says almost nothing about Dos laptops; it is interesting but very superficial and narrowly focused.

bjwil1991 wrote:

The one that says how to pick the best gaming laptop for MS-DOS games? I agree with that. There are more laptops that can do DOS without troubles, except for sound cards having higher octane in the pitch than the ES688, OPL3, and/or OPL3-SAx

Well, the 8 bit guy's video is really about buying a single machine that can fit as much DOS gaming into it as possible, and his focus is on the "golden age" of DOS gaming, which is around 1989-1995. This thread is really about retro-gaming on old laptops, and what you consider to be retro-gaming and what you consider to be an old laptop...depends on your viewpoint. That's why I tried to be as inclusive as possible here as not everyone has the shelf/desk/storage space for an old Socket 5 ATX Mid-tower but would still like to play some vintage games, preferably on machines that are not worth much on eBay.

Many of the points made by the 8 bit guy (which are on the topic of laptops running DOS, so I am not sure what you were talking about) are fairly valid:

a) DSTN are to be avoided in general
b) Early TFTs and their driving GPUs have terrible resolution scaling, so there is a "sweet-spot" to certain resolutions for those games
c) For the stuff designed for ATs and early 386s, later CPUs do run them too fast, there are usually no turbo buttons to clock them back down, and those CPUs have poor throttling/clock-back capabilities (Pentium IIIs don't have the granular multiplier steps of the AMD K6-2s, but K6 machines tend to be "budget" machines)
d) Early machines don't have audio support, the later ones might not have good adlib/SB support, and I don't think he went that far into the subject

Now to think about it, there should be a thread on sound quality for old laptops...like, how does an ESS688 on an old CTX compare to, say, the Crystal soundfusion audio on a Thinkpad T21?

Last edited by ragefury32 on 2021-02-22, 04:53. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 22 of 97, by bjwil1991

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My Toshiba laptop has a keyboard combination to slow down or speed up the system (Fn+F2), which was really interesting. The On light would change from green to red (or amber) when the system is in the slow speed and back to green when the system is running at 90MHz.

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Reply 23 of 97, by wiretap

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I use a Libretto 110CT.

QcQHSnVh.jpg

Another fun laptop I use is a Sony Picturebook (Crusoe processor).. although the resolution isn't ideal for gaming.

Nu8dHtih.jpg

My Github
Circuit Board Repair Manuals

Reply 24 of 97, by henryVK

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ragefury32 wrote:

Nice machine, but rare in the states. Does it have an FCC ID? There might be an equivalent that is common stateside.

Yeah, it's funny that it's so rare because it's common as sand in Germany.

I will check for the FCC ID!

Regarding turbo buttons, the PCD's have a function key that toggles turbo mode and the Toshiba's I've owned (400CT, 510CDT) had it as well. Not the Libretto, though, afair.

Reply 25 of 97, by ragefury32

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wiretap wrote:
I use a Libretto 110CT. […]
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I use a Libretto 110CT.

QcQHSnVh.jpg

Another fun laptop I use is a Sony Picturebook (Crusoe processor).. although the resolution isn't ideal for gaming.

Nu8dHtih.jpg

I had a 70CT, and I loved it. Almost wished that I didn't give it to an ex-girlfriend (when I was still together with her) - I really miss the machine. The lady...not so much.

Now the C1s with the Transmeta Crusoe - it's one of those machines that I kinda-sorta had a thing for, but it all got blown into bits when I laid eyes on the PCG-U101. Is this a C1MV/MW with the Mobility Radeon, or C1VN/VP with the Mobility M1?
From what I remember the C1Ms are YMF753 (AC-XG), and the C1Vs are YMF754 (DS-XG). Both have their good points, but the Crusoes were not all that fast (which is probably okay from a retrogaming perspective). Those 1.8" iPod HDDs inside the machines, though...they should be replaced ASAP.

The C1/U-series and the LIbretto are nice machines for messing around with, but goddamn, they are so expensive on the secondary markets.

Edit: Oh wait. The sticker says C1VP.

Last edited by ragefury32 on 2019-11-21, 21:05. Edited 3 times in total.

Reply 26 of 97, by Stiletto

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Whoa, Crusoe had its own case badge that I don't recall seeing! If you can't get repros online of it, I suggest that you carefully scan that sticker! 😀

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do the Fandango!" - Queen

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Reply 27 of 97, by MAZter

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ragefury32 wrote:

Now to think about it, there should be a thread on sound quality for old laptops...like, how does an ESS688 on an old CTX compare to, say, the Crystal soundfusion audio on a Thinkpad T21?

Great idea, I just want to do it

Doom is what you want (c) MAZter

Reply 28 of 97, by Gered

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ragefury32 wrote:

Now to think about it, there should be a thread on sound quality for old laptops...like, how does an ESS688 on an old CTX compare to, say, the Crystal soundfusion audio on a Thinkpad T21?

I have a T20 with the same CS4624 that a T21 has, and for DOS FM music, the ESS688 is superior. That said, the CS4624 is not completely terrible. There are some exceptions though where it is noticeably bad, such as Doom E1M1.

486DX2-66/16MB/S3 Trio32 VLB/SBPro2/GUS
P233 MMX/64MB/Voodoo2/Matrox/YMF719/GUS CD3
Duron 800/256MB/Savage4 Pro/SBLive (IN PROGRESS)
Toshiba 430CDT

Reply 29 of 97, by snickersnack

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ragefury32 wrote:
snickersnack wrote:
Nice post. You've clearly spent a lot of time looking into this. Thanks for sharing your insight. […]
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Nice post. You've clearly spent a lot of time looking into this. Thanks for sharing your insight.

I totally agree about the early 400 series Toshiba Satellites. The CDT models with active matrix screens are fine late DOS machines.

ragefury32 wrote:

Toshiba Protege 3440/3480CT (S3 Savage IX+Yamaha DS-XG - but remember that these are 440MX machines with max RAM ceiling of 256MB)

I love the looks of this machine and have almost pulled the trigger on one several times but the sound chip keeps me away. I like DOS sound blaster compatibility in my retro laptops and I think these Porteges are AC-XG. Heart breaking. Can you confirm? I have yet to find a good picture of the motherboard.

Ooooh yeah, you are right - the spec sheets say YMF752 (which promises DOS support, but my guess is some WDM TSR in MSDOS box, not clean DOS mode), not 754, and the photos of the motherboard does not show the sound chips in detail (although certain Linux variants report YMF744b onboard). Their Sony equivalent (PCG-SR17/27/33) had a DS-XG (the flowchart on their service manual says YMF754), and their own driver library confirms this. Good luck finding one of those....the ones that were not trashed probably commands a massive (and unjustifiable) price premium. As a former SR27k owner, I was not that impressed by it and sold it for a Thinkpad X24 (good Tualatin machine, but low end Tier 4)

Thanks for double checking. 😀

Sad to see the SR27K didn't agree with you. What were its major failings? They're a bit ugly, but I've also had my eye on its sister model the SR33 with its Savage IX and DS-XG. I've passed on 3 cheap ones in the past 6 months. Unfortunately I didn't know their internals until just recently. The lack of legacy ports or a port replicator does make me hesitate though with my intended part-time DOS usage.

For netbook sized DOS compatible machines, it looks like the Thinkpad X20/ X21 and Dell Latitude L400 with 4MB ATI mobility M and CS4281 sound are also possibilities.

Reply 30 of 97, by ragefury32

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snickersnack wrote:

Thanks for double checking. 😀

Sad to see the SR27K didn't agree with you. What were its major failings? They're a bit ugly, but I've also had my eye on its sister model the SR33 with its Savage IX and DS-XG. I've passed on 3 cheap ones in the past 6 months. Unfortunately I didn't know their internals until just recently. The lack of legacy ports or a port replicator does make me hesitate though with my intended part-time DOS usage.

For netbook sized DOS compatible machines, it looks like the Thinkpad X20/ X21 and Dell Latitude L400 with 4MB ATI mobility M and CS4281 sound are also possibilities.

Mostly ergonomics. I bought one used to replace a Thinkpad 240 (which was a fine, if not a bit slow, Celeron 300A machine with 320MB of RAM). The keyboard on the SR series were not great compared to the Thinkpad. The chassis had some Sony-Unique vendor lock-in features (like the Jog-dial, which is hardly useful, the MagicGate MemoryStick reader was only relevant for a short period of time (up and until MemoryStick Pro to MicroSD adapters were made and I switched out of using my SonyEricsson phones), and their preload environment were...bloat-y. The 256MB memory ceiling was also a bit low as the machine came out in 2000-2001 and by 2003 I ran into RAM allocation issues. This was in contrast to the X22 with its 640MB ceiling, the 1.25GB on the PBG4/12", and the 2GB on my X31. The dealbreaker was when I discovered that the Sony hotkeys were not handled by the BIOS but were rather controlled by Windows extensions...which meant that when the machine was in Linux I cannot initially control stuff like LCD brightness, suspend, and etc (there were utilities to control those things made later, but they only covered a subset of what I need...and i am not sure how they'll work in DOS...most likely not.

Last edited by ragefury32 on 2019-11-21, 21:07. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 31 of 97, by Thermalwrong

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snickersnack wrote:
Nice post. You've clearly spent a lot of time looking into this. Thanks for sharing your insight. […]
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Nice post. You've clearly spent a lot of time looking into this. Thanks for sharing your insight.

I totally agree about the early 400 series Toshiba Satellites. The CDT models with active matrix screens are fine late DOS machines.

ragefury32 wrote:

Toshiba Protege 3440/3480CT (S3 Savage IX+Yamaha DS-XG - but remember that these are 440MX machines with max RAM ceiling of 256MB)

I love the looks of this machine and have almost pulled the trigger on one several times but the sound chip keeps me away. I like DOS sound blaster compatibility in my retro laptops and I think these Porteges are AC-XG. Heart breaking. Can you confirm? I have yet to find a good picture of the motherboard.

Re: 3440CT / 3480CT / 3490CT audio chip - Confirmed, it's the AC-XG, not DS-XG. The drivers support Dos-Box emulation but otherwise no hope of DOS audio.
It works okay with the few games and the software wavetable sounds pretty good, but it seems to lag when starting to play PCM audio, not so great for DOS gaming overall.

My overall favourites right now are:
Gericom 6200AT - Pentium 200MMX, ESS sound with hardware Wavetable, Trident graphics (adequate display scaling), 12.1" 800x600 TFT screen, built in game port. I paid more for the charger than I did for the laptop itself. Floppy & CD drive inbuilt. The fan is too loud.

Toshiba Tecra 750DVD - Pentium 233MMX, OPL3-SA3 sound with hardware Wavetable, S3 graphics (excellent display scaling), 13.3" 1024x768 TFT screen. Super easy to set up with DOS

Toshiba Libretto 50CT - Pentium 75 (no l2 cache), OPL3-SA3 sound, Chips graphics (average display scaling), 6" 640x480 TFT screen. Super easy to set up with DOS. Connecting up a mouse is not fun as it requires the dock or using the awkward thumbstick.

I have a *few* others, but I've discounted all of the neomagic graphics having laptops 😀

Reply 32 of 97, by MAZter

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My favorites Dos laptops are:

Zeos 1990
AMD 386SX 20 MHz
CL-GD610/620 (256 Kb)
No sound card
9,5" Mono STN, acceptable quality
5 Mb memory
no PCMCIA
Floppy drive still alive
Easy to disassemble/assemble, easy to maintenance
Japan/USA

Note Star 1993
AMD 386SX
No sound card
nice 9,5" Mono STN (bright and contrast)
4 Mb memory
Floppy drive
NiCad long lasting battery (still alive)
Easy to disassemble/assemble, easy to maintenance
no PCMCIA
floppy drive almost dead
worst keyboard
Taiwan

AST Advantage Explorer 1993
486SX 25 MHz
Chips&Tech (512 Kb)
No sound card
9,5" Mono STN, acceptable quality
4 Mb memory
Floppy drive
Nice keyboard
PCMCIA
floppy drive perfect
2 PS/2
Hard to disassemble/assemble, hard to maintenance
Taiwan

Compaq LTE 5280 1995
Pentium 120
Cirrus Logic 7543 (1 Mb)
11,2" TFT, acceptable quality (not stretchable) 800x600
82 Mb memory
ESS 1688
Floppy drive and CD swappable, can't read CD-R, CD-RW
Nice keyboard
Stereo speakers, analog volume control
PCMCIA, no cardbus
PS/2
Easy to use to prepare old CHS hdd's
Very easy to disassemble/assemble, easy to maintenance
USA

Fujitsu Monte Carlo 1996
Pentium 120
Trident (2 Mb)
11.3" TFT, good quality 800x600 (stretchable)
32 Mb memory (1 slot)
ESS 1868
PCMCIA, no cardbus
CD, Floppy drive
Analog volume control
2 PS/2
Back side turn on button (good to use with external monitor)
Japan

Dell Latitude Xpi 1996
Pentium MMX 133
NeoMagic 2070 (896 Kb)
10.2" TFT, not bad quality 800x600 (stretchable)
72 Mb memory (2 slots)
ESS 1888
Cardbus
No CD-Rom drive
1 PS/2
Mono? speakers, digital volume control
Easy to use to prepare old CHS hdd's
SCP-55 works in DOS only with setup port >360 (no usual port)
Side turn on button (good to use with external monitor)
Japan

Fujitsu FMV-Biblo FMV-5133NA6 1997
Pentium MMX 133
Trident Cyber 9397 (4 Mb)
12.1" TFT, good quality 800x600 (stretchable)
160 Mb memory (2 slots)
ESS 1878 ?(ESS 1868 / ES1788)
Cardbus
CD-Rom, floppy drive
2 USB
LAN
1 PS/2
Optional game port (need extra cable/adapter)
Stereo speakers, analog volume control
Side turn on button (good to use with external monitor)
Interesting design
Japan

TwinHead SlimNote 9 (P79) 1998
Pentium 150
Trideng GUI9660XGi (2 MB)
ESS 1888 / ESS 1868
32 Mb memory
12.1" TFT, not bad quality 800x600 (stretchable)
Yamaha OPL-SAx, WSS
CD-Rom, floppy drive, can't read CD-R, CD-RW
GAME PORT
cmos battery mounted on the motherboard?
digital volume control
no USB
Not too hard to disassemble/assemble, but cheap plastic
Taiwan

Micron XKE 1997
Pentium MMX 166 / 233 / 266
NeoMagic 2160 (2 Mb)
13.3" TFT, good quality 800x600 (stretchable) Toshiba LTM13C148 or Sharp 60869
128 Mb memory (2 slots)
ESS 1878 / ESS 1879
Cardbus
CD-Rom/floppy drive (swappable) can't read CD-R, CD-RW
1 USB
2 PS/2
GAME PORT
Stereo speakers, digital volume control
SCP-55 not working in DOS
Side turn on button (good to use with external monitor)
Very easy to disassemble/assemble, easy to maintenance
Interesting design
USA/Mexico

Sony Vaio C1 2000
Pentium MMX 233
MagicMedia 256AV (2.5 Mb)
8.9" TFT, perfect quality 1024x480 (stretchable)
ES1879
Cardbus
Fast boot to DOS
CD-Rom or floppy drive (usb, external) available boot from USB floppy drive
1 USB
Micro VGA
Mono speaker, analog volume control
Not too hard to disassemble/assemble
SCP-55 works in Dos
Interesting design
Japan

Toshiba Libretto FF1100V 1999
Pentium MMX 266
NeoMagic 2160 (2Mb)
96 Mb memory
7.1" TFT, perfect quality 800x480 (stretchable)
Yamaha OPL-SAx
Fast boot to DOS
Cardbus
CD-Rom or floppy drive (usb, external)
1 USB
Micro VGA
Mono speaker, analog volume control
Not too hard to disassemble/assemble
Interesting design
Japan

TwinHead SlimNote P79TE 2000
Pentium MMX 200
Chips F65554 (2Mb)
96 Mb memory
12.1" TFT, not bad quality 800x600 (stretchable)
Yamaha OPL-SAx, WSS
CD-Rom, floppy drive, can't read CD-R, CD-RW
Fast boot to DOS
cmos battery CR2032, very easy ro replace without disassemble
Stereo speakers, digital volume control
2 USB
Not too hard to disassemble/assemble, but cheap plastic
Taiwan

TwinHead SlimNote VX P88T 1998
Pentium MMX 200
Trident Cyber9388 (2Mb)
128 Mb memory (2 slots)
12.1" TFT, not bad quality 800x600 (stretchable)
ESS 1868/1869
CD-Rom, floppy drive
Fast boot to DOS
cmos battery CR2032, very easy ro replace without disassemble
2 USB
Stereo speakers, digital volume control
Not too hard to disassemble/assemble, but cheap plastic
SCP-55 works in Dos
Side turn on button (good to use with external monitor)
Taiwan

Toshiba Tecra 8000 1998
Pentium II 266
NM2200 MagicMedia 256 (2.5Mb)
262 Mb memory (2 slots)
13.3" TFT, good quality 1024x768 (stretchable)
Yamaha OPL-SAx
Floppy drive (exchangeable with CD-Rom)
Fast boot to DOS
1 USB
Stereo speakers, analog volume control
Side turn on button (good to use with external monitor)
Not hard to disassemble/assemble, maintenance
USA/Japan

Nec Versa LX 1999
Pentium II 266
3D Rage LT Pro (4Mb)
128 Mb memory (2 slots)
14.1" TFT, acceptable quality 1024x768 (stretchable)
Maestro-2E (ESS1968)
Floppy drive (exchangeable with CD-Rom)
Slow boot to DOS
1 USB
Stereo speakers, analog volume control
Side turn on button (good to use with external monitor)
Interesting design
Very easy to disassemble/assemble, maintenance
USA

Siemens Scenic 750AGP 1999
Pentium II 366
3D Rage LT Pro (4Mb)
130 Mb memory (2 slots)
13.3" TFT, acceptable quality 1024x768 (stretchable)
ESS 1938 (Solo 1) ESS1940 ? ESS1869, CD Audio available only in Windows
Floppy drive + CD (combo) / DVD
Slow boot to DOS
1 USB
1 PS/2
Stereo speakers, digital volume control
Interesting design
Impossible to disassemble and replace cmos battery?
Germany/Japan

Fujitsu FMVNE243L3 (very similar as Fujitsu LifeBook C-5130) 1999
Celeron 433
ATI RAGE Mobility P (4Mb)
128 Mb memory (1 slot)
14.1" TFT, perfect quality 1024x768 (stretchable) LTM13C420F
Yamaha DS-XG
Floppy drive, CD/DVD
Fast boot to DOS
1 USB
1 PS/2
Stereo speakers, analog volume control
Interesting design
Not too hard to disassemble/assemble, maintenance
Japan

Sony PCG-F450 2000
Pentium III 500
MagicMedia 256AV (2.5Mb)
193 Mb memory (2 slots)
15" TFT, perfect quality 1024x768 (stretchable) LT150X3-124 or LT150X3-126
Yamaha YMF744B-R
Floppy drive or DVD (swappable), or external
Fast boot to DOS
no LAN
2 USB
1 PS/2
Stereo speakers, digital volume control
SCP-55 works in Dos
Interesting design
Not too hard to disassemble/assemble, maintenance
Japan

Toshiba Pro 4280XDVD 2000
Pentium III 500
S3 Savage IX (8Mb)
586 Mb memory (2 slots)
14.1" TFT, perfect quality 1024x768 (stretchable) LT150X3-124 or LT150X3-126
Yamaha YMF744B-R
Floppy drive, DVD
Fast boot to DOS
no LAN
2 USB
1 PS/2
Stereo speakers, analog volume control
SCP-55 works in Dos
Interesting design
Side turn on button (good to use with external monitor)
Not too hard to disassemble/assemble, maintenance
Japan

Sony Vaio PCG-SR9/K 2000
Pentium III 600
MagicMedia 256XL+ (6Mb)
64 Mb memory (2 slots)
10.4" TFT, perfect quality 1024x768 (stretchable)
Yamaha YMF754-R (AK4543)
No internal floppy or CD drive
Fast boot to DOS
no LAN
1 USB
no PS/2
Mono speaker, analog volume control
Interesting design
Not hard to disassemble/assemble, maintenance
Japan

Toshiba 2805-S202 2001
Pentium III 700
S3 Savage IX M7 (8Mb)
327 Mb memory (1 slot)
14.1" TFT, good quality 1024x768 (stretchable)
Yamaha YMF754B-R
Floppy drive, DVD
Fast boot to DOS
LAN
2 USB
1 PS/2
Stereo speakers + sub, analog volume control
SCP-55 works in Dos
Not too hard to disassemble/assemble, maintenance
USA/Japan

Sony Vaio PCG-XG38 2001
Pentium III 700
S3 Savage IX M7 (8Mb)
260 Mb memory (2 slots)
13.3" TFT, perfect quality 1024x768 (stretchable)
Yamaha YMF744B-V
Floppy drive, DVD (swappable)
Fast boot to DOS
No LAN
1 USB
no PS/2
Stereo speakers, digital volume control
Not too hard to disassemble/assemble, maintenance
Interesting, but weird design
Japan

Armada M700 2001
Pentium III 700
ATI RAGE Mobility P (8Mb)
130 Mb memory
14.1" TFT, not bad quality 1024x768 (stretchable)
Maestro-2E (ESS1968)
Floppy drive, DVD (swappable)
Slow boot to DOS
LAN
1 USB
1 PS/2
Stereo speakers, digital volume control
Not too hard to disassemble/assemble, maintenance
Interesting design
Taiwan

Last edited by MAZter on 2019-11-14, 02:33. Edited 1 time in total.

Doom is what you want (c) MAZter

Reply 33 of 97, by ragefury32

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MAZter wrote:
My favorites Dos laptops are: […]
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My favorites Dos laptops are:

Zeos 1990
AMD 386SX 20 MHz
CL-GD610/620 (256 Kb)
No sound card
9,5" Mono STN, acceptable quality
5 Mb memory
no PCMCIA
Floppy drive still alive
Easy to disassemble/assemble, easy to maintenance
Japan/USA

Note Star 1993
AMD 386SX
No sound card
nice 9,5" Mono STN (bright and contrast)
4 Mb memory
Floppy drive
NiCad long lasting battery (still alive)
Easy to disassemble/assemble, easy to maintenance
no PCMCIA
floppy drive almost dead
worst keyboard
Taiwan

AST Advantage Explorer 1993
486SX 25 MHz
Chips&Tech (512 Kb)
No sound card
9,5" Mono STN, acceptable quality
4 Mb memory
Floppy drive
Nice keyboard
PCMCIA
floppy drive perfect
2 PS/2
Hard to disassemble/assemble, hard to maintenance
Taiwan

Compaq LTE 5280 1995
Pentium 120
Cirrus Logic 7543 (1 Mb)
11,2" TFT, acceptable quality (not stretchable) 800x600
82 Mb memory
ESS 1688
Floppy drive and CD swappable, can't read CD-R, CD-RW
Nice keyboard
Stereo speakers, analog volume control
PCMCIA, no cardbus
PS/2
Easy to use to prepare old CHS hdd's
Very easy to disassemble/assemble, easy to maintenance
USA

Fujitsu Monte Carlo 1996
Pentium 120
Trident (2 Mb)
11.3" TFT, good quality 800x600 (stretchable)
32 Mb memory (1 slot)
ESS 1868
PCMCIA, no cardbus
CD, Floppy drive
Analog volume control
2 PS/2
Back side turn on button (good to use with external monitor)
Japan

Dell Latitude Xpi 1996
Pentium MMX 133
NeoMagic 2070 (896 Kb)
10.2" TFT, not bad quality 800x600 (stretchable)
72 Mb memory (2 slots)
ESS 1888
Cardbus
No CD-Rom drive
1 PS/2
Mono? speakers, digital volume control
Easy to use to prepare old CHS hdd's
SCP-55 works in DOS only with setup port >360 (no usual port)
Side turn on button (good to use with external monitor)
Japan

Fujitsu FMV-Biblio FMV-5133NA6 1997
Pentium MMX 133
Trident Cyber 9397 (4 Mb)
12.1" TFT, good quality 800x600 (stretchable)
160 Mb memory (2 slots)
ESS 1878 ?(ESS 1868 / ES1788)
Cardbus
CD-Rom, floppy drive
2 USB
LAN
1 PS/2
Optional game port (need extra cable/adapter)
Stereo speakers, analog volume control
Side turn on button (good to use with external monitor)
Interesting design
Japan

TwinHead SlimNote 9 (P79) 1998
Pentium 150
Trideng GUI9660XGi (2 MB)
ESS 1888 / ESS 1868
32 Mb memory
12.1" TFT, not bad quality 800x600 (stretchable)
Yamaha OPL-SAx, WSS
CD-Rom, floppy drive, can't read CD-R, CD-RW
GAME PORT
cmos battery mounted on the motherboard?
digital volume control
no USB
Not too hard to disassemble/assemble, but cheap plastic
Taiwan

Micron XKE 1997
Pentium MMX 166 / 233 / 266
NeoMagic 2160 (2 Mb)
13.3" TFT, good quality 800x600 (stretchable) Toshiba LTM13C148 or Sharp 60869
128 Mb memory (2 slots)
ESS 1878 / ESS 1879
Cardbus
CD-Rom/floppy drive (swappable) can't read CD-R, CD-RW
1 USB
2 PS/2
GAME PORT
Stereo speakers, digital volume control
SCP-55 not working in DOS
Side turn on button (good to use with external monitor)
Very easy to disassemble/assemble, easy to maintenance
Interesting design
USA/Mexico

Sony Vaio C1 2000
Pentium MMX 233
MagicMedia 256AV (2.5 Mb)
8.9" TFT, perfect quality 1024x480 (stretchable)
ES1879
Cardbus
Fast boot to DOS
CD-Rom or floppy drive (usb, external) available boot from USB floppy drive
1 USB
Micro VGA
Mono speaker, analog volume control
Not too hard to disassemble/assemble
SCP-55 works in Dos
Interesting design
Japan

Toshiba Libretto FF1100V 1999
Pentium MMX 266
NeoMagic 2160 (2Mb)
96 Mb memory
7.1" TFT, perfect quality 800x480 (stretchable)
Yamaha OPL-SAx
Fast boot to DOS
Cardbus
CD-Rom or floppy drive (usb, external)
1 USB
Micro VGA
Mono speaker, analog volume control
Not too hard to disassemble/assemble
Interesting design
Japan

TwinHead SlimNote P79TE 2000
Pentium MMX 200
Chips F65554 (2Mb)
96 Mb memory
12.1" TFT, not bad quality 800x600 (stretchable)
Yamaha OPL-SAx, WSS
CD-Rom, floppy drive, can't read CD-R, CD-RW
Fast boot to DOS
cmos battery CR2032, very easy ro replace without disassemble
Stereo speakers, digital volume control
2 USB
Not too hard to disassemble/assemble, but cheap plastic
Taiwan

TwinHead SlimNote VX P88T 1998
Pentium MMX 200
Trident Cyber9388 (2Mb)
128 Mb memory (2 slots)
12.1" TFT, not bad quality 800x600 (stretchable)
ESS 1868/1869
CD-Rom, floppy drive
Fast boot to DOS
cmos battery CR2032, very easy ro replace without disassemble
2 USB
Stereo speakers, digital volume control
Not too hard to disassemble/assemble, but cheap plastic
SCP-55 works in Dos
Side turn on button (good to use with external monitor)
Taiwan

Toshiba Tecra 8000 1998
Pentium II 266
NM2200 MagicMedia 256 (2.5Mb)
262 Mb memory (2 slots)
13.3" TFT, good quality 1024x768 (stretchable)
Yamaha OPL-SAx
Floppy drive (exchangeable with CD-Rom)
Fast boot to DOS
1 USB
Stereo speakers, analog volume control
Side turn on button (good to use with external monitor)
Not hard to disassemble/assemble, maintenance
USA/Japan

Nec Versa LX 1999
Pentium II 266
3D Rage LT Pro (4Mb)
128 Mb memory (2 slots)
14.1" TFT, acceptable quality 1024x768 (stretchable)
Maestro-2E (ESS1968)
Floppy drive (exchangeable with CD-Rom)
Slow boot to DOS
1 USB
Stereo speakers, analog volume control
Side turn on button (good to use with external monitor)
Interesting design
Very easy to disassemble/assemble, maintenance
USA

Siemens Scenic 750AGP 1999
Pentium II 366
3D Rage LT Pro (4Mb)
130 Mb memory (2 slots)
13.3" TFT, acceptable quality 1024x768 (stretchable)
ESS 1938 (Solo 1) ESS1940 ? ESS1869, CD Audio available only in Windows
Floppy drive + CD (combo) / DVD
Slow boot to DOS
1 USB
1 PS/2
Stereo speakers, digital volume control
Interesting design
Impossible to disassemble and replace cmos battery?
Germany/Japan

Fujitsu FMVNE243L3 (very similar as Fujitsu LifeBook C-5130) 1999
Celeron 433
ATI RAGE Mobility P (4Mb)
128 Mb memory (1 slot)
14.1" TFT, perfect quality 1024x768 (stretchable) LTM13C420F
Yamaha DS-XG
Floppy drive, CD/DVD
Fast boot to DOS
1 USB
1 PS/2
Stereo speakers, analog volume control
Interesting design
Not too hard to disassemble/assemble, maintenance
Japan

Sony PCG-F450 2000
Pentium III 500
MagicMedia 256AV (2.5Mb)
193 Mb memory (2 slots)
15" TFT, perfect quality 1024x768 (stretchable) LT150X3-124 or LT150X3-126
Yamaha YMF744B-R
Floppy drive or DVD (swappable), or external
Fast boot to DOS
no LAN
2 USB
1 PS/2
Stereo speakers, digital volume control
SCP-55 works in Dos
Interesting design
Not too hard to disassemble/assemble, maintenance
Japan

Toshiba Pro 4280XDVD 2000
Pentium III 500
S3 Savage IX (8Mb)
586 Mb memory (2 slots)
14.1" TFT, perfect quality 1024x768 (stretchable) LT150X3-124 or LT150X3-126
Yamaha YMF744B-R
Floppy drive, DVD
Fast boot to DOS
no LAN
2 USB
1 PS/2
Stereo speakers, analog volume control
SCP-55 works in Dos
Interesting design
Side turn on button (good to use with external monitor)
Not too hard to disassemble/assemble, maintenance
Japan

Sony Vaio PCG-SR9/K 2000
Pentium III 600
MagicMedia 256XL+ (6Mb)
64 Mb memory (2 slots)
10.4" TFT, perfect quality 1024x768 (stretchable)
Yamaha YMF754-R (AK4543)
No internal floppy or CD drive
Fast boot to DOS
no LAN
1 USB
no PS/2
Mono speaker, analog volume control
Interesting design
Not hard to disassemble/assemble, maintenance
Japan

Toshiba 2805-S202 2001
Pentium III 700
S3 Savage IX M7 (8Mb)
327 Mb memory (1 slot)
14.1" TFT, good quality 1024x768 (stretchable)
Yamaha YMF754B-R
Floppy drive, DVD
Fast boot to DOS
LAN
2 USB
1 PS/2
Stereo speakers + sub, analog volume control
SCP-55 works in Dos
Not too hard to disassemble/assemble, maintenance
USA/Japan

Sony Vaio PCG-XG38 2001
Pentium III 700
S3 Savage IX M7 (8Mb)
260 Mb memory (2 slots)
13.3" TFT, perfect quality 1024x768 (stretchable)
Yamaha YMF744B-V
Floppy drive, DVD (swappable)
Fast boot to DOS
No LAN
1 USB
no PS/2
Stereo speakers, digital volume control
Not too hard to disassemble/assemble, maintenance
Interesting, but weird design
Japan

Armada M700 2001
Pentium III 700
ATI RAGE Mobility P (8Mb)
130 Mb memory
14.1" TFT, not bad quality 1024x768 (stretchable)
Maestro-2E (ESS1968)
Floppy drive, DVD (swappable)
Slow boot to DOS
LAN
1 USB
1 PS/2
Stereo speakers, digital volume control
Not too hard to disassemble/assemble, maintenance
Interesting design
Taiwan

Eh, yeah. But keep in mind that this is a thread about retro-gaming on laptops, and some of those machines (which are no doubt excellent in their own rights) will not make for good gaming machines, i.e.:

- The ones that have DSTN screens (after 20 years no one should be compelled to buy passive matrix screens)
- The ones with no built-in audio
- The ones with bad keyboards
- Monochrome LCDs

I would also say that your gaming on those machines depend on which era of DOS gaming you are planning to do, and compromises will need to be made in all cases.
Era 1 (PC/XT stuff) would not work on anything faster than an XT, and any "portable" machine will be like playing with a bowling ball.

Era 2 and 3 (DOS and late DOS/Win95) games will work from 386/40s all the way to a Pentium 233MMX, and depending on which part of the era you are working on, you can have something from a 1MB CT65548 all the way to an 8MB Rage Mobility M1/LT Pro.

Era 4 (DirectX 5/6/7) games works well on Pentium IIIs and SavageIX/Mobility 128
Anything beyond that will not do native DOS with audio.

Do keep in mind that you will run into issues with legacy stuff like BIOS options (some games don't like BIOS video shadowing, (i.e. US Navy Fighters), speed sensitivity issues (Secret of Monkey Island's music, VESA/UNiVBE driver issues (Rowan flight sims and their VESA drivers, MSFS5 and their VESA video modes), Test Drive 3's twitchy driving, etc), and those require their own techniques to solve.

Reply 35 of 97, by ragefury32

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MAZter wrote:

The ones with no-audio can be upgraded with covox and run some games fine

all with bad matrix usually have vga out

The whole idea of this thread is to discuss old laptops good for gaming (as in, an all-in-one, all encompassing device). If I have to plug it to an external monitor and use a Covox/Disney Soundsource, then I should include thin clients as well, since they are technically "portable machines".

Reply 36 of 97, by henryVK

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ragefury32 wrote:

Nice machine, but rare in the states. Does it have an FCC ID? There might be an equivalent that is common stateside.

The back label says FCC ID HFS DK9X but search results don't yield anything 😒

Reply 37 of 97, by Bondi

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My favorite laptop for DOS gaming is Thinkpad 760LD.
It has the perfect combination of Pentium 90 CPU, 640x480 10.4" TFT display and ES1688 Audio controller + interchangeable CD-ROM/FDD drives. Can be connected to DOCK I which will add 1 ISA slot, built in speakers and so on.
But it's not very common.

PCMCIA Sound Cards chart
archive.org: PCMCIA software, manuals, drivers

Reply 38 of 97, by Gered

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Yeah, the 760LD is one I would just love to get my hands on. Never seen it for sale. 🙁

So far my retro laptop of choice is the Thinkpad 600X due to the fairly decent screen-scaling for 320x200 games.

486DX2-66/16MB/S3 Trio32 VLB/SBPro2/GUS
P233 MMX/64MB/Voodoo2/Matrox/YMF719/GUS CD3
Duron 800/256MB/Savage4 Pro/SBLive (IN PROGRESS)
Toshiba 430CDT

Reply 39 of 97, by bjwil1991

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I think the ThinkPad 600X has an option in the BIOS to disable the HV stretch. My R40 has that feature and I can honestly say, it looks pretty good with it. The 760LD is hard to find these days, yet, the specs for it are far out. ES1688 chipset, 640x480 resolution TFT Active, decent HDD space, and the FDD can be swapped with the CD drive, much like the Toshiba Satellite Pro 400 series laptops. I wonder if the ThinkPad 760LD has an external floppy port on the side or rear? My 380D has both an FDD and CD drive in 1 combined piece that can be replaced easily.

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