For a 386, I would not use anything less than VGA.

Monochrome monitors were used waaaaayyyy back in the 8088 era. Shoot.... 286's had CGA/EGA and later system's even had VGA capabilities!

To use this monitor on a 386... would be like buying today's top of the range 4K television that has crisp high definition picture quality... and only watching it in fuzzy black and white!

p.s. The system itself only runs at 25MHz... for me, without looking inside the system, there does not on the surface seem to be much special about it... certainly not $175 special.

Monochrome monitors were also quite common with EGA equipped 286's. If that system was used for work and not for games, a monochrome monitor was adequate.

Absolutely, it really depends on the intended purpose and use of the system. I just never have seen a Monochrome monitor being used with a 386 before.

So yea... if there is no intention at all to use this for graphical applications, to use only text based programs... you're set! If you want to run a few old retro games/CAD programs... there are likely better alternatives.

What would be your plans for the system?

386_junkie wrote:

For a 386, I would not use anything less than VGA.

Monochrome monitors were used waaaaayyyy back in the 8088 era..

I think the same, but it seems professionals quite liked MGAs (Monochrome Graphics Adapter; generic term for Hercules Monochrome)
even beyond their prime time. Maybe because Hercules left the A-Segment unused -just like CGA did- and you could have 704KB base memory.
Or perhaps because it could be used with debuggers/codeview. Or maybe simply because it looked so geeky, dunno.

Otherwise, I can't explain myself this moment in the Computer Cronicles. 😕
https://youtu.be/Ooq18RGh16Y?t=529

A secondary monitor connected to composite output was often use for debugging full-screen exclusive games during development either in Windows or DOS.

In DOS the memory for a monochrome monitor is in a different memory region which allowed native support for dual monitors if you programmed for outputting to it specifically. This is also a common way to free up some additional conventional memory if a non-monochrome monitor is used; you can usually safely remap that area and reclaim it as free space.

Yes, you're right. Hercules and CGA can coexist. I believe it wasn't uncommon back then for a no-name PC clone system with
on-board CGA to get "upgraded" at some point with a Hercules/Printer combo card as a secondary display device (or vice versa).

In DOS, switching to one of them was (later) possible with the MODE utility (MODE CO40, CO80 and MONO).
It allowed to select the active device for text ouput on the console (CON). MODE treaded Hercules pretty much
like old MDA in this respect, I believe.

I recall, our old copy of AutoCAD also supported the HGC/MDA as a dedicated display for the menu and status information..
Not sure, though, if it utilized Hercules' in half-page mode or if it only wrote some text in MDA-fashion.

This is also a common way to free up some additional conventional memory if a non-monochrome monitor is used;
you can usually safely remap that area and reclaim it as free space.

Yes, I heard so. In fact, I tried myself to get that working not so long ago. 😅
Umbherc.sys requirements ?

Kahenraz wrote:

I've always felt that an orange-toned monitor to be superior than b/w or green by being easier on the eyes.?

Cool. 😎 I have a soft spot for yellow/amber screens (and orange plasmas), too, as can be see in my channel.
Anyway, If you like amber screens, have a look at this blog entry about "Mobile Data Terminals".
These are Motorola MDT-9100T models equipped with a 386 and running Windows 3.1:

Trammell Hudson's Projects
https://trmm.net/MDT9100

386_junkie wrote:

I just never have seen a Monochrome monitor being used with a 386 before.

Ironically, I've come across two 386 based systems (one being an AMD 386DX-40) in the past two years where both of these were paired with a monochrome monitor.

However, they were used for business purposes and, in the late 80's to early 90's, it wasn't uncommon for small businesses to have computers with monochrome monitors (for cost saving reasons).