VOGONS


First post, by JSO

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

Greetings to everyone,

I'm looking for suggestions which laptop should I look for with integrated sound card and color monitor.

I've just want it to complete my collection from 286 to PIII era laptops.

Thank you.

DOS IS THE POWER OF OUR CHILDHOOD MEMORIES!

Reply 1 of 5, by jaZz_KCS

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

IIRC the list of laptops in he 486-range that actually had integrated audio is very very short. There is a reason why Serdaco's newly made LPT sound devices are enjoying such high popularity.
Sound devices didn't appear to be among the normal loadout until early Pentium-based laptops, which then made use of chips alike ESS and Yamaha.

WRT colour monitors... around that time laptops made the jump from monochrome to colour, albeit mostly by utilizing DTSN screens that are not good for gaming due to their immense ghosting.
Early Pentium-based laptops were again among the first machines to utilize TFT instead of DTSN.

"Dual Scan, also known as dual-scan supertwist nematic or DSTN, is an LCD technology in which a screen is divided into two sections which are simultaneously refreshed giving faster refresh rate than traditional passive matrix screens. It is an improved form of supertwist nematic display that offers low power consumption but inferior sharpness and brightness compared to TFT screens. For several years (early 1990s[1] to early 2000s), TFT screens were only found in high-end laptops due to them being more expensive and lower-end laptops offering DSTN screens only. This was at a time when the screen was often the most expensive component of laptops. The price difference between a laptop with DSTN and one with TFT could easily be $400 or more. However, TFT gradually became cheaper and has essentially captured the entire market.

DSTN display quality is poor compared to TFT, with visible noise, smearing, much lower contrast and slow response. Such screens are unsuitable for viewing movies. " [Wikipedia] (...or playing games, for that matter)

Compaq Contura 400 comes to mind, wrt colour display..... Again, this is DTSN. But this laptop doesnt have sound integrated. It's a prime example of how the normal laptop loadout looked these days.

Reply 2 of 5, by JSO

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

Thanks for you quick answer...

My brother's godfather back on the spring - summer of 1995, had a 486 laptop, I think a Texas Instruments 486dx?, color display and I'm sure that had sound on Lost Vikings which I tested selecting an Ad Lib card.
I don't remember the screen quality.

Hmm, I've already own two X2 and two S2 modules... 😀

DOS IS THE POWER OF OUR CHILDHOOD MEMORIES!

Reply 4 of 5, by JSO

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
Bondi wrote on 2020-06-11, 18:09:

Guess it was TI TravelMate 4000M - 486 with SB support and TFT screen.

Probably!

I saw after your answer one on eBay and I think I have its image on my mind..

DOS IS THE POWER OF OUR CHILDHOOD MEMORIES!

Reply 5 of 5, by stanwebber

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

nec versa e/v/m covers the 486 era. i have a versa p which is essentially a versa m with a pentium 75mhz cpu (486 chipset with no pci bus). it has an ess688 soundblaster pro compatible sound chip on board with a real opl3 and headphone, line-in, microphone jacks. it came with either a 640x480 tft or 800x600 svga screen with vga-out and very nearly all screens were interchangable between the e/v/m/p models plus the lcd is reverseable and tool-less to swap out.

plastic case is real brittle though. i got cracks around the floppy and battery bays and the right hinge on my screen is completely busted out making it almost unusable. will maybe swap out the shell with a dead or non-tft screen one of these days. the ball and cover of my versatrack mouse is also missing.

these days i run it thru an external monitor with the screen detached and use softmpu to get wavetable sound thru the serial port connected to my other retro pc running an athlon xp 2100. i got a cool no-name ps2 (native--no adapter) optical mouse hooked up which i've never been able to find again.

back in the day i owned a couple e/v models and even had the docking station which had 2 or more full isa slots.