![]() I have since gone out and got 128mb Fast ms RAM (up from 16mb), slapped in a SATA adapter and a 500GB hdd (for all the goodies, I know this is way overkill for this PC)Īlso got a GrafixStar 600 and Righteous 3D VooDoo 1 accelerator card, and managed to source and install a Pentium MMX 200. The machine was pretty much original, however had a replacement Hard Drive and CD-ROM Drive. I hope everyone is well!įinally, after much waiting I laid my hands on a Packard Bell Multimedia 9016D (AKA the Executive MM 9016D) It's good to know that someone is out there gathering and preserving them.First post here after falling across Vogons quite a bit when browsing generally "old" tech. I'm sure that some of those systems were put away into long-term storage, however, and those are probably the best bet for those looking for "survivors" in good shape.Īnyway, best of luck to the OP! Those all-in-one PCs from about 1994-1998 have a certain historical significance, since they were the industry's first generation of multimedia-capable, Internet-enabled consumer computing devices. Most of those systems were subsequently scrapped in favor of more generic "white boxes" that were more expandable. We saw lots of problems with those proprietary Aztech sound cards that Packard Bell often used (the really long ones with integrated modems and CD-ROM controllers) if one of those integrated components failed, we had to install two or three new cards to replace them all, and the smaller desktop systems often didn't offer enough internal expansion. Such minor upgrades could help someone extend the life of their system for a while, but they weren't enough to keep pace with the rapid growth of PC technology in those years, or the plunging costs of new systems. I remember that our customers were very disappointed that Packard Bell's systems offered so few opportunities for upgrades, beyond very incremental improvements like bigger hard drives and more memory. Afterward, I worked as a PC tech for a few years, and people were upgrading Packard Bell systems (or, more often, junking them) like crazy the shop I was working for got about a dozen of them in a week at one point. A few of the guys in our store had a null modem cable set up between two Packard Bell display units, for playing Doom on the sly. I was working in retail when Packard Bell was at its "peak" saleswise, around 1994-1996. I imagine that it must be a challenge to find complete Packard Bell "specimens" all these years later. Packard Bell sold the same systems under different names and model numbers, depending on the distributor. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |