Author Topic: My New Computer (Read 16285 times)

microsoft windows · « **on:** Mon, 22 February 2010, 17:59:32 »

I got a new computer the other day you all will go bonkers over. It came from a heap of junk sitting by the clothing donation bins at the local Price Chopper. This machine costed over $3000 when it was new 14 years ago..

Here it is...the Gateway2000 P5-200!

This behemouth is over 2 feet tall. It towers over just about any other tower computer. With the fastest Pentium processor out there running at 200Mhz and a whopping 64mb of RAM, an army of disk drives, and a video card nearly a foot long, this beast could easily outpower many other machines in 1996.

Here's a close-up of the Gateway2000.

Now, I didn't just get the computer. It came with the whole rig: a monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

Now, of course, whenever any Geekhacker gets a keyboard, it's right and proper to show a picture of its keyswitches.

This keyboard appears to use sliders on top of rubber domes with Cherry-compatible key caps with lasered captions. It's a good-feeling keyboard--definitely one of the better rubber domes out there.

kishy · « **Reply #1 on:** Mon, 22 February 2010, 18:02:47 »

There were 233 and I think also 266MHz P1s...nice try though

I find that sort of machine absolutely boring...anything 486 through P4 bugs me for some reason. Older = cooler, newer = useful, in between = annoying. Oh well.

ch_123 · « **Reply #2 on:** Mon, 22 February 2010, 18:09:23 »

Quote from: kishy;160025

I find that sort of machine absolutely boring...anything 486 through P4 bugs me for some reason

IBM PS/2 Model 95? =P

I'd agree otherwise. x86 machines make me yawn.

Nice tape drive though. IDE?

mp29k · « **Reply #3 on:** Mon, 22 February 2010, 18:10:07 »

I think it is a pretty cool computer microWin, Used to have one kinda like it back then.

kishy · « **Reply #4 on:** Mon, 22 February 2010, 18:23:23 »

Quote from: webwit;160026

Here's an older one for you. The text says he found it in his garage.

Whoa...how does one just FIND a System/7 in their garage lol

Seems to me you'd need to put it there first...

Quote from: ch_123;160027

IBM PS/2 Model 95? =P

I'd agree otherwise. x86 machines make me yawn.

Nice tape drive though. IDE?

PS/2s...they're kind of exempt from the usual rules of x86ism. Strange, mythical, dust-breathing beasts in a sense.

Now, newer than P4...I have a use for these. Laptop is newer than P4 as is my (primary) desktop. I'd lose my head if I were depending on anything of lesser performance for daily operations

Oh, wish me good luck, I bought a Seagate 7200.11 series hard drive.

TexasFlood · « **Reply #5 on:** Mon, 22 February 2010, 18:28:36 »

Quote from: kishy;160032

Whoa...how does one just FIND a System/7 in their garage lol

Seems to me you'd need to put it there first...

Well, maybe it just says he found it in -a- garage, might open up the possibilities, :-D

microsoft windows · « **Reply #6 on:** Mon, 22 February 2010, 18:36:19 »

Quote from: kishy;160025

There were 233 and I think also 266MHz P1s...nice try though

I find that sort of machine absolutely boring...anything 486 through P4 bugs me for some reason. Older = cooler, newer = useful, in between = annoying. Oh well.

Intrigued by your comment, I did some research and found that Pentiums actually went up to 300Mhz with the Tillamook core. However, those CPU's were introduced in 1997, after the Gateway2000 was made.

I felt similar to you about computers. Most stuff Pentium through Pentium 4 is pretty boring. But the old top-of-the-line computers like this are always funny, especially when you find one dumped in the parking lot of the local supermarket.

Quote from: ripster;160033

You forgot the most important find. The Cow mousepad.
Show Image

Oh, no I didn't! Take a close look at the pictures and you'll spot one.

TexasFlood · « **Reply #7 on:** Mon, 22 February 2010, 18:48:32 »

Hah, I still have one of those gateway cow mousepads (cow paddies?) in use, thought I was the only one. Way back in the day, Gateway made the AnyKey keyboard with neat programming features. But I think they looked a bit different that what I see in your picture:

ricercar · « **Reply #8 on:** Mon, 22 February 2010, 18:52:45 »

self deleted for irrelevancy.

itlnstln · « **Reply #9 on:** Mon, 22 February 2010, 18:57:45 »

Those AnyKey 'boards were money. My mom had one at work back in the day, and that thing was a hoss. She kept it through several PCs after that one.

microsoft windows · « **Reply #10 on:** Mon, 22 February 2010, 19:19:01 »

My old Gateway2000 from 1993 had an Anykey, but I mistakenly threw it out a few years ago. It was a great keyboard.

datamonger128 · « **Reply #11 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 01:47:54 »

I used to have a computer like that. I gutted it and put a newer Pentium III based system in it. Mine had a 166MHz Pentium (non-MMX) and 32MB RAM. It also had a 1MB video card and an old SoundBlaster 16 ISA card. The best thing about it though was the motherboard. Does anyone remember cache-on-a-stick?

The case was a beast. It was such a pain in the ass to open, or at least mine was. I eventually found a used Gateway "Essential" case at a computer store and bought it for $10.

ch_123 · « **Reply #12 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 04:31:31 »

TexasFlood, is that the SGI server toy in your avatar?

kishy · « **Reply #13 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 04:31:35 »

"COAST"

I've got one or two floating around. One is dead (somehow, yes, it's possible) and awaiting being turned into a keychain.

ch_123 · « **Reply #14 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 04:36:23 »

I've seen a few of those on old Mac motherboards. Truly a throwback to days long gone...

TexasFlood · « **Reply #15 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 07:44:52 »

Quote from: ch_123;160079

TexasFlood, is that the SGI server toy in your avatar?

Yes, ;-) , a unique, if somwhat silly, reminder for me of days gone by. I thought you might recognize it if anyone would, given your avatar. And you didn't disappoint.

microsoft windows · « **Reply #16 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 10:38:56 »

Quote from: datamonger128;160067

I used to have a computer like that. I gutted it and put a newer Pentium III based system in it. Mine had a 166MHz Pentium (non-MMX) and 32MB RAM. It also had a 1MB video card and an old SoundBlaster 16 ISA card. The best thing about it though was the motherboard. Does anyone remember cache-on-a-stick?

The case was a beast. It was such a pain in the ass to open, or at least mine was. I eventually found a used Gateway "Essential" case at a computer store and bought it for $10.

My Gateway2000 has the Cache-on-a-stick too. I think this one was the best model available at the time, with 62MB of RAM and a 200Mhz non-MMX Pentium.

This computer's got one of those old 16-bit ISA Soundblasters too, but I can't find a driver for it. Do you have one?

I love its Intense 3D Voodoo video card though. I found a picture of one online.

A whopping 4 megabytes...that won't get you too far nowadays.

ch_123 · « **Reply #17 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 10:46:05 »

Quote from: TexasFlood;160094

Yes, ;-) , a unique, if somwhat silly, reminder for me of days gone by. I thought you might recognize it if anyone would, given your avatar. And you didn't disappoint.

There are people around here with far more elaborate SGI collections than I, the SGI thing is just a recent craze for me.

Speaking of finding stuff in skips, I saved one of these from destruction earlier -

It has Mac OS 9.1 at the moment. An intense debate rages over whether it should now get Debian, NetBSD or Darwin instead.

microsoft windows · « **Reply #18 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 12:29:50 »

They've got some of those at work. I plan to get my hands on some on Garbage Day.

kishy · « **Reply #19 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 12:50:57 »

ch_123 · « **Reply #20 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 13:10:39 »

The thing has been out in the rain for a few days, and after drying off it booted fine. They're quite well built machines, if not terribly powerful by today's standards.

Such are the joys of college.

kishy · « **Reply #21 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 13:12:04 »

Well, the reality is MOST electronics will still work after having been rained on...assuming they're dried properly before being plugged in.

That's a neat find though. You could probably sell it for a considerable amount before it becomes TOO outdated (and it's not yet...doesn't have too much longer though).

ch_123 · « **Reply #22 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 13:15:23 »

I donated it to one of the computer societies I'm involved with in college. It will be put to good use for the rest of its useful life.

datamonger128 · « **Reply #23 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 14:34:39 »

I may be able to help you out, Windows. I have an old Gateway G6-333c that used SB16. PCI-based though. Maybe the drivers will still work with the ISA version though?

*EDIT*
I just checked Creative's website. They do have the old SoundBlaster 16 and even just regular SoundBlaster listed. Since I don't know exactly what one you have, I just figured I'd give you a link to the site. http://support.creative.com/Products/product_list.aspx?catID=1&CatName=Sound+Blaster#

You may also want to try this link. http://www.pandpservices.com/drivers/soundblaster/ They only have the PCI driver for SB16, but it may just work.

kishy · « **Reply #24 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 14:36:17 »

SB16 should have drivers included with 98+...I'd expect.

If you want to upgrade to an AWE64, I'm selling a couple for $5 a pop...

ricercar · « **Reply #25 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 14:42:29 »

Quote from: kishy;160189

If you want to upgrade to an AWE64, I'm selling a couple for $5 a pop...

What a ripoff. I wouldn't pay more than $4.25 for one of those!

kishy · « **Reply #26 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 14:43:47 »

Quote from: ricercar;160191

What a ripoff. I wouldn't pay more than $4.25 for one of those!

Geekhack member discount is $1. There.

ricercar · « **Reply #27 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 14:48:22 »

I'd jump on this one! What a bargain!

:rapture:

kishy · « **Reply #28 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 14:53:56 »

Quote from: ricercar;160194

I'd jump on this one! What a bargain!

:rapture:

25% lower than your proposed discount...$4.00 for a guaranteed-not-DOA decent ISA sound card, I dunno, seems fair to me but then I'm the one standing to free up some space in the "cards for sale" bin.

ricercar · « **Reply #29 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 15:12:55 »

You're not taking me seriously are you? I admit I used a smiley only in the second post, but still....

:boink:

microsoft windows · « **Reply #30 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 16:15:45 »

Quote from: datamonger128;160188

I may be able to help you out, Windows. I have an old Gateway G6-333c that used SB16. PCI-based though. Maybe the drivers will still work with the ISA version though?

*EDIT*
I just checked Creative's website. They do have the old SoundBlaster 16 and even just regular SoundBlaster listed. Since I don't know exactly what one you have, I just figured I'd give you a link to the site. http://support.creative.com/Products/product_list.aspx?catID=1&CatName=Sound+Blaster#

You may also want to try this link. http://www.pandpservices.com/drivers/soundblaster/ They only have the PCI driver for SB16, but it may just work.

I wasn't able to find a working driver. It turns out that the card is an old Ensoniq Soundscape Vivo 90. I tried other drivers, including the sound blaster ones, but they just don't seem to work. Oh well. Guess I'll just have to scrounge up an old sound card from someplace.

D-EJ915 · « **Reply #31 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 16:29:27 »

Gateway was famous for their Ensoniq crap, the mobo on my file server (440BX) has that junk on it lol. My Sony 440LX board had some nice yamaha sound with awesome MIDI which I could use with FF7 for amazing sound so it was a real downgrade.

itlnstln · « **Reply #32 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 16:32:57 »

Yamaha was money. When the SoundBlaster AWE32 came out, however, it was game over.

Did anyone know anybody that had an Adlib card? Nobody I knew ever had an Adlib.

kishy · « **Reply #33 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 17:01:48 »

Quote from: ricercar;160201

You're not taking me seriously are you? I admit I used a smiley only in the second post, but still....

:boink:

Heh, half yes and half no.

I seriously will give a geekhack member discount for purchases on my website, but with the vast majority of items being $5 there isn't much I can do before I'm losing money.

Quote from: microsoft windows;160232

I wasn't able to find a working driver. It turns out that the card is an old Ensoniq Soundscape Vivo 90. I tried other drivers, including the sound blaster ones, but they just don't seem to work. Oh well. Guess I'll just have to scrounge up an old sound card from someplace.

Quote from: D-EJ915;160247

Gateway was famous for their Ensoniq crap, the mobo on my file server (440BX) has that junk on it lol. My Sony 440LX board had some nice yamaha sound with awesome MIDI which I could use with FF7 for amazing sound so it was a real downgrade.

I have a PCI Ensoniq card that's essentially a Creative card (Sound Blaster PCI 128). Same drivers work, IIRC. I thought most Ensoniq products were Creative "OEMs" but apparently not...

D-EJ915 · « **Reply #34 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 17:25:45 »

I think you are right about them being OEM versions, but they were still crap (the soundblaster was crap too) lol

ricercar · « **Reply #35 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 17:26:59 »

I have an Ensoniq sound card that doesn't take normal sb drivers. Finally found a two-floppy driver installer on Driverhaven. Frigging zip file REQUIRED two floppies to unzip, so I had to install a floppy drive to install the soundcard. It was such a pain.

And I absolutely HAD to get it running, because people were running virtual machines on my hardware, and if ESX Server found no soundcard on the server hardware, customers couldn't run sound on their VMs. what a crock of crap...

Computer-Lab in Basement · « **Reply #36 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 18:09:34 »

I think I have a Sound Blaster that you can have MS Windows. If not I can always grab one from my uncle, he has an infinite number of those things it seems, in both PCI and ISA.

microsoft windows · « **Reply #37 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 18:31:57 »

After relentless searching, installations, an prayer, I got the sound card to work. Hooray!

datamonger128 · « **Reply #38 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 20:06:43 »

Quote from: microsoft windows;160232

I wasn't able to find a working driver. It turns out that the card is an old Ensoniq Soundscape Vivo 90. I tried other drivers, including the sound blaster ones, but they just don't seem to work. Oh well. Guess I'll just have to scrounge up an old sound card from someplace.

If you can pay shipping, I have an old PCI SoundBlaster 128 you can have just for the cost of shipping.

datamonger128 · « **Reply #39 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 21:26:29 »

Oh, well I guess I didn't see that when I put up my earlier post. So congrats on getting it to work. Where did you find the drivers that worked if I might ask?

kishy · « **Reply #40 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 22:02:13 »

Somewhat related but mostly not...

It hit me like a brick to the face when someone on another site suggested "why not SCSI?" in my attempt to find a new hard drive + controller card for my PS/2 Model 30 286. All this time I've had a perfectly good SCSI card, cable, and drive...

So now I've got a 10MHz 286 with a 1GB hard drive, 2.6MB of RAM, MS-DOS 6.22 and Windows 3.1...retrogaming? Yes!

(More photos are attached if you feel so inclined)

Sorry for the hijack MW but figured you may get a kick out of this anyway.

D-EJ915 · « **Reply #41 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 22:17:36 »

lol a wireless mouse on a 286, nice

kishy · « **Reply #42 on:** Tue, 23 February 2010, 22:19:10 »

Quote from: D-EJ915;160314

lol a wireless mouse on a 286, nice

Oh yeah forgot about that lol.

Got that mouse NIB for about 3 dollars. Works surprisingly well.

Would have had the original PS/2 mouse in the photo but the cord gets in the way.

microsoft windows · « **Reply #43 on:** Wed, 24 February 2010, 07:49:54 »

I bet the toasters in my After Dark screensaver wouldn't go too fast on that 286.

Computer-Lab in Basement · « **Reply #44 on:** Wed, 24 February 2010, 08:40:54 »

Good old After Dark, all my old computers are too fast for it. Even my Compaq, which runs at 120Mhz, is too fast to run the toasers properly.

itlnstln · « **Reply #45 on:** Wed, 24 February 2010, 09:21:34 »

Quote from: ripster;160356

Haha, DOOM - you vintage guys.

That's not DOOM, youngun, it's Wolfenstein 3D. Even more vintage.

microsoft windows · « **Reply #46 on:** Wed, 24 February 2010, 09:32:48 »

Sure there were. Ever heard of Simcity? Railroad Tycoon?

itlnstln · « **Reply #47 on:** Wed, 24 February 2010, 09:37:14 »

Oregon Trail, Where in the x is Carmen Sandiego?, Thexder, Leisure Suit Larry, Space Quest, King's Quest, Police Quest, Zork...

Computer-Lab in Basement · « **Reply #48 on:** Wed, 24 February 2010, 09:55:43 »

Ever hear of Pong? It might not be a PC game but it's old as the hills.

They do have a PC version though.

ch_123 · « **Reply #49 on:** Wed, 24 February 2010, 10:23:03 »

Quote from: Computer-Lab in Basement;160355

Good old After Dark, all my old computers are too fast for it. Even my Compaq, which runs at 120Mhz, is too fast to run the toasers properly.

DOSbox is your friend.

News:

Author Topic: My New Computer (Read 16285 times)