Prez wrote on 2020-05-11, 18:48:
ragefury32 wrote on 2020-05-11, 15:56:
Expecting a Wyse WT9450XE to show up at my doorstep within the next few days - will try and provide feedback once it arrives.
Ok, great ! 😀
It works...the Via Epia board inside the thin client has the option to activate Soundblaster directly on BIOS, but viasbcfg does have the option to set device volume (which is rather low by default) - the VIA sound driver (viasound) does not do that.
Note that these thin clients are not really a DOS retrogaming "holy grail" as some might have considered them to be. The audio quality and compatibility is dependent on the game - some works just fine (Wolf3D engine stuff, MSFS/SS, Sim City 2000, Kyrandia series, F-15 III etc) but others will simply not work (Falcon 3, Legend of Monkey Island). If you activate the FM music TSR it’s also a ~35k hit, which might preclude you from playing certain games. Also keep in mind that the FM synthesis is “software assisted”, which means that if you use setmul to slow the machine down for classic gaming your audio will suffer for it.
If you are thinking of buying them to get into cheap gaming...you might be better off looking for an old IBM Thinkpad, Toshiba Satellite or Compaq Armada. Those old laptops have ESFM, YamahaYMFs and etc, and their DOS environment (size of the drivers/TSRs) might be easier to deal with.
Unless you are getting a great deal, those MSDOS thin clients (at least the ones with a RAM slot or 2 or a PCI slot) are not too cheap nowadays either. As of May 2020 US eBay prices for a Wyse Winterm 9450XE with a working power supply is around 50 USD with shipping factored in. Even the lowly HP t5300 runs for at least 30 USD (15 for the device and 15 for shipping). This might sound cheap, but a gently used t730 (a much more capable modern machine good for XP/W7 gaming) is around 90, so unless you are tight for space and want an old Via Epia to play with (most of the compatible devices are Epia boards underneath), it's only so-so.