With theses stickers, it's perfect. 😂😂

Hey guys do you have successful playing with Screamer 2 in this laptop I can't launch the game in pure DOS 7.1 mode or in windows 98 with vxd drivers

crazii wrote on 2021-10-08, 03:18:

I'm on the hunt for good laptops too, please post here if you found anything good.
What I want most is a fx5200 go laptops with SB compatible sound.

I would say Acer Aspire 1703sm -> GeForce Fx5600 64mb, SiS sound with AC97 and soundblaster support under Windows 98 DOSBox only, but 17 inch 4X3 screen this beast is monstrous! I have one with a 3.5" desktop PC hard drive embedded inside.

Guigui59210 wrote on 2024-06-23, 07:41:

crazii wrote on 2021-10-08, 03:18:

I'm on the hunt for good laptops too, please post here if you found anything good.
What I want most is a fx5200 go laptops with SB compatible sound.

I would say Acer Aspire 1703sm -> GeForce Fx5600 64mb, SiS sound with AC97 and soundblaster support under Windows 98 DOSBox only, but 17 inch 4X3 screen this beast is monstrous! I have one with a 3.5" desktop PC hard drive embedded inside.

The acer 1700 has an excellent screen as well. Too bad its 5:4. Contrast ratio destroys most of the other laptops that can run win9x

I found Acer Aspire 1700 for 40usd. Is it worth going in? I'm interested in good screens on retro laptop 😀 What's so special about this machine?

A good 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 desktop processor and not a mobile version, desktop PC RAM sticks, a 3.5 hard drive and a 17-inch screen with a small subwoofer, little floppy disk drive 3.5 and 1 pcmcia bay all this for 13 kg, basically this computer is a laptop. but only has the laptop attribution in name, same operational point of view this machine does not have a CMOS battery it is the main battery which permanently power the motherboard, but otherwise the audio chipset is an ALC202A in this machine and it support soundblaster via dosbox windows directly. And pay attention to the version there may be Geforce FX5600 versions but also models based on a SIS graphics chip. My model is a 1703-Sm and this has the Geforce FX5600, in any case 17 inches on a 4/3 format laptop. I haven't seen another one. I can play Network Q Rally Championship on it for exemple with full soundblaster directly from Windows dosbox without problem and I can run HL2 on this laptop

vorob wrote on 2024-07-09, 20:18:

I found Acer Aspire 1700 for 40usd. Is it worth going in? I'm interested in good screens on retro laptop 😀 What's so special about this machine?

For 40 bucks if your model have the fx5600 go, don't leave this affair, I've pay 65€ for mine

Looks like model I’ve found have SiS videocard 🙁

Aspire 1703 SC_2.6

Hope one of our forum member bought this 😁
https://www.ebay.com/itm/387729130577

sangokushi wrote on 2024-12-22, 00:39:

Hope one of our forum member bought this 😁
https://www.ebay.com/itm/387729130577

Grand for parts or repair laptop? Crazy.

sangokushi wrote on 2024-12-22, 00:39:

Hope one of our forum member bought this 😁
https://www.ebay.com/itm/387729130577

oof, and without the battery tray either. But it's the rather rare 1ghz model with the original stickers 😀

Speaking of the battery tray, since this is the Toshiba Satellite 2800 / 2805 thread, would anyone be interested in a 3d printed battery tray and catch, or a (somewhat simpler) HDD bay cover?
I made the scans of the battery tray piece ages ago but got disheartened when it wouldn't clip into place and would just fall off: Re: The quest for the perfect retro laptop: a saga
But I revisited it and found the part that broke off and the part that was too weak that made that happen. Now the model has been revised and I've now got a 3d printed replacement that sits tidily in the bay and has a really nice interlock:

This is pretty big for a 3d print and the print resolution of FDM printing leaves a lot to be desired so I might try printing it in resin in future. I'd love to see how the parts would look printed in SLS or even resin with the 3d printing outsourcers, it could look even better, right now the limits of FDM have smoothed out a few of the details.
But perhaps other people could make use of them if I upload them to printables / thingiverse. Originally I was hesitant to upload them because the scan data / mesh was 100MB for each of the two parts, but redoing it lately they're down to a more reasonable 10MB per part.

HDD bay cover which is somewhat simpler but works fine:

Missing or damaged parts for me is the real trouble with the Satellite 2800 series, or the 5000 / 5100 / 5200, they're just so rare you can't get parts. Certainly in the UK I cannot get parts, I've even had to repair the subwoofer on my 2800-200 because that was all water damaged. A Satellite 2800 without the subwoofer just isn't right.

I initially wanted to buy this item for myself; it would have been the fourth in my collection 😜. But I noticed it was an auction. I never expected the price to be high (I got mine for $100, $30, and $15). Yet, I saw the bidding ended at over $1k. That's mind-blowing.

As for the 3D-printed parts, they are great and will definitely be useful for someone. However, I often see the 2805 model on S3 videocard being sold for next to nothing (at least on Avito in Russia). So if I needed a part of the case, I would buy such a laptop for donor purposes.

vorob wrote on 2022-04-10, 06:29:

Gathered my three friends 😀

The attachment 1D34C689-D16A-4D56-9C9B-E0EFF916E254.jpeg is no longer available

The attachment A2272C71-7605-47B8-84ED-1D4798D4130E.jpeg is no longer available

Okay, I admit it—I can't stop. I keep a subscription to search for this model on eBay and Avito. eBay is currently quite complicated to purchase from while living in Russia, but suddenly a 2805-503 showed up on Avito for just $30! It was listed as not working, but based on my experience with this model, it might be okay. Perhaps the issue is just a dead hard drive or charger. I bought this 'cat in the bag,' so soon you'll find out whether I end up with a fourth device or just a pile of spare parts.

Okay, I've got it—$30 and it's in my possession. First things first, it's working, but it'll take some effort to make it as perfect as my other samples.

Initially, it didn't work because of the RAM. I took it out, and the laptop powered on. Interestingly, if I press on the RAM while it's in the slot, it works, but despite my best efforts to clean it, that hasn't helped. There might be some mechanical damage in the slot.

The next issue is the screen. The top cover has some weird plastic burn, and the LCD is okay, but there's a tiny blue line in the left corner. Additionally, after one opening, the hinges are completely stuck. The same happened with my other samples, so for now, it's stored away, waiting to be disassembled.

Lastly, the keyboard is dead.

My plan: I'll disassemble it completely and check the LCD to see if the connection is bad and if I can fix that line. I'll clean and lubricate the hinges to make them work again. I have a half-working 2805 with a Savage video card, and I'll take the keyboard and top cover from there. I'll also need to examine the motherboard in detail.

I just got an s2800-400 for 15$ in very good shape.
It's the S3 version with 14"LCD.
Great resources here, got drivers for it from here as well, thank you! Removed WinME and got 98SE on it. Still tweaking.

I've finally found some time to work on my laptop and made a few repairs. First, I removed the front bezel and applied some WD-40 to the hinges, which resolved the stiffness. Fortunately, this means I don't need to completely disassemble the hinge and clean it further.

Next, I encountered an issue with the keyboard not working properly. Upon inspection, I noticed that some small plastic parts were missing. These parts weren't entirely decorative; they were crucial in pressing one conductive layer of the keyboard to another. When I squeezed this part of the keyboard, it started working. However, some key mechanisms are broken, so I still need to find a replacement.

There's also an issue with the RAM slot. The laptop won't start if I just place the RAM module in normally. However, it does work if I press on the RAM module, indicating a possible contact issue. I definitely need to look into this further.

I've already reinstalled the official operating system using the factory disk, so the laptop is back to its factory state.

Will you please stop buying up all of these and save some for the rest of us! 🤣