This is fun... Heh. Not Compaq.

Guys, help me working with the internet 😀

I can't find specs for Compaq Presario 1400. I remember that Compaq Presario 1800 has driverless dos compatible sound, solo-1 or smth like that. I wonder if 1400 has the same thing. Also I would like to know what type of videoadapter is has.

vorob wrote on 2021-12-24, 08:49:

Guys, help me working with the internet 😀

I can't find specs for Compaq Presario 1400. I remember that Compaq Presario 1800 has driverless dos compatible sound, solo-1 or smth like that. I wonder if 1400 has the same thing. Also I would like to know what type of videoadapter is has.

The setup manual I found for the 1400 has a pic of the video settings with Trident CyberBlade being shown... who knows if it is accurate though:
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/469134/Comp … 400-Series.html

This page backs up the Trident CyberBlade video. The Audio driver is VIA, so it may have DOS support.
https://driverscollection.com/_472907232934d7 … ndows-2000-free

Making progress on my one "mystery" laptop. The mfg specifications sheet says it has a Radeon Mobility 9500 but the one I have seems to be a Radeon Mobility 9000. I'll have to run some benches to see if that is actually true. Also looking for newer drivers than the 4.xx set as Catalyst 6.2 will not install.. maybe could add the device ID to the .inf and make it work that way?

Still waiting on a same model "parts" laptop to arrive. Maybe it will have the 9500....

Is there a Catalyst 6.2 for the Radeon Mobility 9xxx chips?

The sound is indeed ESS Allegro. Got sound working in Windows but when I run the DOS ESSAUDIO.COM it says I need to use the Windows App to configure it for DOS. Hopefully one of the driver CDs I have downloaded from archive.org has the full install.

cyclone3d wrote on 2021-12-17, 00:14:

I think may have stumbled across a couple laptops that could qualify as the ultimate for DOS/Win98 usage.

Not going to divulge any specifics until they arrive and I get to run some tests but if they work like I think they will, I will be selling off a large portion of my laptops.

Honestly, I don't think there is something better than Toshiba 2805 packed with GeForce 2 and Yamaha XG YMF754-R. Since I've received and tested this laptop, any other machine I read about here is a set of compromises. It is clear that Toshiba is also about compromises, as any laptop for retro games, but comes as close as possible to be named the perfect retro laptop, it covers all the main tasks and does them well:

- It's 15inch, so the screen is big.
- Yamaha sounds good, grand General Midi support with true WaveTable synth (but under Windows) and has Sound Blaster support in clean DOS, though no WT music there, only FM.
- Geforce 2 gives proper scaling, no scrolling issues in Keen, and it's powerful enough for old Windows games (Thief, Half-Life...)
- Two speakers and a subwoofer sound pretty good.
- It also has a USB, Floppy Drive, DVD.

No other laptop I have for old games is good enough. I've got Compaq with ATI M6 and ESS Allegro, it has scrolling issues, and ESS won't give me Wavetable and has some issues with sound vs music volume under dos.

It's not like I'm saying: "Guys, I've got 2805 and I'm the best!". I just don't see any real competitors here. The only problem is that 2805 with GeForce is a rare thing.

p.s. While I love my 2805 I play old games on 5205 😀 It's almost the same thing, same perfect Yamaha sound, but the screen is much much better. Though it doesn't have clean dos support.

Yeah, the big problem is finding something with good DOS and Win9x support.... either/or is easy.

I am a big fan of the Yamaha YMF7x4 chips. I've got a bunch of different cards and even saved around 2k from a scrapper and sold most of them off on eBay over a period of over 2 years.

The great thing about them in laptops is that all the ones I have run across are already hardwired for PC/PCI.

I really would like to make a DOS TSR that would allow the use of the wavetable. The wavetable samples are loaded into sample RAM so that is the biggest thing to get working in DOS.

The laptops I am testing have a 15" 1024x768 or 15.6" 1280x1024 screen. A 1400x1050 or 1600x1200 screen should not be a problem to retrofit... but that is the same for just about any laptop with that size of screen.

cyclone3d wrote on 2021-12-25, 22:08:

I really would like to make a DOS TSR that would allow the use of the wavetable.

When you'll have a prototype, I'm ready to test it 😀

BTW, why it wasn't made by the manufacturer? It's hard? Impossible? Useless?

Guys, i'm stuck in my search 😀 Well, first of all, like i mentioned, i've already found the perfect retro laptop - Toshiba 2805, but i still wanna find a good retro-retro laptop. And i'm pretty close with Siemens Nixdorf Scenic Mobile 710 which has true WaveTable synth with ROM chip and don't require drivers under dos. But it has one con - scaling. Yeah that's one of these laptops that squeeze 320x200 so 90% of retro games are displayed improperly. I wonder if there was a laptop with hw general midi support in clean dos and good scaling. At least that can display mode13 stretched.

vorob wrote on 2021-12-29, 22:40:

Guys, i'm stuck in my search 😀 Well, first of all, like i mentioned, i've already found the perfect retro laptop - Toshiba 2805, but i still wanna find a good retro-retro laptop. And i'm pretty close with Siemens Nixdorf Scenic Mobile 710 which has true WaveTable synth with ROM chip and don't require drivers under dos. But it has one con - scaling. Yeah that's one of these laptops that squeeze 320x200 so 90% of retro games are displayed improperly. I wonder if there was a laptop with hw general midi support in clean dos and good scaling. At least that can display mode13 stretched.

I might have one such laptop, but I'd have to go through my stash to double check.

On another note, my 3rd secret laptop arrived today... another sold as parts. Stuck some RAM in it and it booted right up.
This one came with the Pentium 4-m 2.5Ghz

On the first one, the DOS sound works fine... but I have no way to adjust the volume in DOS.... cause ESS never released a DOS mixer for the Allegro. blah!

Also received an Inspiron 8500 with a Pentium 4-m 2.6Ghz today... Mainly bought it for the processor since it had the top Pentium 4-m

Start naming your stuff already! 😁

vorob wrote on 2021-12-30, 05:38:

Start naming your stuff already! 😁

Hah. Ok, so I just wanted to double check the specs on the one "parts" laptop I received today.

Anyway, the lower end model is:
Gateway 600YGR (ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 and ESS Allegro)
This one came with the 15.6" 1280x1024 screen.

Higher end model is:
Gateway 600YG2 (ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 and ESS Allegro)
Both of these I got have the 15" 1024x768 screen.

The chassis look to be exactly the same between the different models. I will probably put the larger, higher resolution screen on one of the 600YG2 laptops.

The only real downside so far is the lack of volume control in DOS.

As for the older laptop which I am pretty sure has onboard wavetable, I will have to check. I don't remember exactly which one it is.

cyclone3d wrote on 2021-12-30, 06:48:

Hah. Ok, so I just wanted to double check the specs on the one "parts" laptop I received today. […]
Show full quote

vorob wrote on 2021-12-30, 05:38:

Start naming your stuff already! 😁

Hah. Ok, so I just wanted to double check the specs on the one "parts" laptop I received today.

Anyway, the lower end model is:
Gateway 600YGR (ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 and ESS Allegro)
This one came with the 15.6" 1280x1024 screen.

Higher end model is:
Gateway 600YG2 (ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 and ESS Allegro)
Both of these I got have the 15" 1024x768 screen.

The chassis look to be exactly the same between the different models. I will probably put the larger, higher resolution screen on one of the 600YG2 laptops.

The only real downside so far is the lack of volume control in DOS.

As for the older laptop which I am pretty sure has onboard wavetable, I will have to check. I don't remember exactly which one it is.

Just curious do you use joystick to play DOS game? Any recommended PCMCIA gameport adapter?

sangokushi wrote on 2021-12-30, 08:43:

cyclone3d wrote on 2021-12-30, 06:48:

Hah. Ok, so I just wanted to double check the specs on the one "parts" laptop I received today. […]
Show full quote

vorob wrote on 2021-12-30, 05:38:

Start naming your stuff already! 😁

Hah. Ok, so I just wanted to double check the specs on the one "parts" laptop I received today.

Anyway, the lower end model is:
Gateway 600YGR (ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 and ESS Allegro)
This one came with the 15.6" 1280x1024 screen.

Higher end model is:
Gateway 600YG2 (ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 and ESS Allegro)
Both of these I got have the 15" 1024x768 screen.

The chassis look to be exactly the same between the different models. I will probably put the larger, higher resolution screen on one of the 600YG2 laptops.

The only real downside so far is the lack of volume control in DOS.

As for the older laptop which I am pretty sure has onboard wavetable, I will have to check. I don't remember exactly which one it is.

Just curious do you use joystick to play DOS game? Any recommended PCMCIA gameport adapter?

If you need the PCMCIA gameport card to use in DOS, then any model will do. The difference between all the adapters is that some support MIDI output in Windows and some don't. You can check my signature for ore details.

Bondi wrote on 2021-12-30, 09:42:

sangokushi wrote on 2021-12-30, 08:43:

cyclone3d wrote on 2021-12-30, 06:48:

Hah. Ok, so I just wanted to double check the specs on the one "parts" laptop I received today. […]
Show full quote

Hah. Ok, so I just wanted to double check the specs on the one "parts" laptop I received today.

Anyway, the lower end model is:
Gateway 600YGR (ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 and ESS Allegro)
This one came with the 15.6" 1280x1024 screen.

Higher end model is:
Gateway 600YG2 (ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 and ESS Allegro)
Both of these I got have the 15" 1024x768 screen.

The chassis look to be exactly the same between the different models. I will probably put the larger, higher resolution screen on one of the 600YG2 laptops.

The only real downside so far is the lack of volume control in DOS.

As for the older laptop which I am pretty sure has onboard wavetable, I will have to check. I don't remember exactly which one it is.

Just curious do you use joystick to play DOS game? Any recommended PCMCIA gameport adapter?

If you need the PCMCIA gameport card to use in DOS, then any model will do. The difference between all the adapters is that some support MIDI output in Windows and some don't. You can check my signature for ore details.

Thanks for the info! Nice chart.

Guys, I was looking for a WaveTable laptop and found Compaq Armada 7790DMT. It costs around 40 USD in Russia but it has this issue:

No additional info, so I wonder if this is terminal, like damaged videomemory \ videochip or it can be fixed some easy way...

The doubling up / overlap of the image suggests to me that it's more likely an LCD panel fault. See how it behaves with VGA output.
If VGA output is fine when check whether the LCD cable is making a good connection, then try out an alternative panel.

I've got a Tecra 750CDT with damaged video memory / broken BGA trace. Just a garbled mess like yours, but it doesn't overlap and it's the same on VGA output.

Thermalwrong wrote on 2022-01-02, 16:25:

The doubling up / overlap of the image suggests to me that it's more likely an LCD panel fault. See how it behaves with VGA output.
If VGA output is fine when check whether the LCD cable is making a good connection, then try out an alternative panel.

I've got a Tecra 750CDT with damaged video memory / broken BGA trace. Just a garbled mess like yours, but it doesn't overlap and it's the same on VGA output.

The seller is lazy to check it, so I’ll skip this one...

--

Guys, I’m blind again. What sound chip is placed in Toshiba T2150CDT? Again found one cheap but Google shows only SB compatible… Wavetable? Real opl? Driverless under dos?
UPD. Found this info:

Test the OPL# (YMF262) functions. Connect the headphone, and check the
scale of right and left side. Also check the sound adjustment volume.

So i'ts 486 - 75mhz, C&T videochip, 640x480 and, well, DOS sound compatible. Why it's not good?

What was the place of this laptop in Toshiba product line? Premium? Cheap?

The T2150CDT is one of the best DOS laptops there is in my opinion:

• 640x480 TFT screen
• Integrated CD-ROM drive
• ES-688 soundcard like the later 4xxCDT pentium laptops
• It's got a Real OPL3 on the laptop's soundcard. (I don't have one, but I've seen pictures of its soundcard)
• Easy to use an external floppy drive with it
• Fanless 486 DX4 75 CPU

It's quite rare though, I wonder if people held off until the Pentium & Lithium-Ion battery laptops arrived.
It was their first 'Multimedia CD-ROM' laptop to my knowledge. The CDT models have the CD-ROM drive and soundcard, while the CT models just have floppy drive and don't have the soundcard.
In terms of market placement, it's not the fanciest since the T4xxx series were their top range back then. But it's got features that didn't become mainstream until the Pentium laptops arrived - and the way that they were implemented is a near perfect fit for DOS games.

I got a T2130CS recently (same family) and since it doesn't have a fan, I really like it as a DOS laptop. The T2130CS is limited by the fact that it's only got a passive VGA panel and no way to fit the soundcard. I mean, the pins are there on the board, but good luck finding a card that would fit it (unobtainium).

Here's its soundcard. Finding pictures of bigfoot is probably easier:

Thermalwrong wrote on 2022-01-03, 17:08:

The T2150CDT is one of the best DOS laptops there is in my opinion:

This would be best if it had 2 (stereo) speakers, a true multimedia laptop should have two.

Thermalwrong wrote on 2022-01-03, 17:08:

The T2150CDT is one of the best DOS laptops there is in my opinion

Well, it was published today and while I was gathering info it was sold 😀 Anyway thanks for the info!

The next thing available for purchase is Toshiba Tecra 710CDT and Satellite Pro 430CDT. And 430 looks pretty solid! It also features ESS + Yamaha OPL, has a built-in power supply. Though its resolution is slightly higher.