• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

Hello

C

CarolinaCircle89

New Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2011
Messages
4
Hi, some of you may recognize me from YouTube (my name is "Roadgeek" there). Unfortunately, I do not collect any "very old" computers (early '80s-early '90s), but I am an avid collector and fan of PCs from the 1992-1996 era. I am very excited to be a part of this forum!:D
 
A bit new but welcome in any event. What kind of systems have you collected? What attracted you to systems from that specific age? On the bright side you may find folks here who deem those too new for interest and could offer them up for sale or trade.
 
I'm mostly interested in MS-DOS/Windows 3.1 machines as well as Windows 95 (I don't accept anything newer than 95). And please don't laugh when I say this, but my favorite vintage computer manufacturer is Packard Bell, mostly because Packard Bell was the first computer I ever owned (bought it new in 1995).

Another very big interest I have is old PC games. Love to collect them, especially the point and click adventures. Good old Sam & Max!:p
 
There was nothing really too wrong with Packard Bell's products from late 1994 (when the multicolor head logo appeared) to around 97 or so (whenever NEC bought them out). They were cheaper then most machines and did silly things like not include L2 cache on their boards, but overall they were reliable. My Packard Bell Force 1999CDTW saw daily use from October 1995 to December 1998 with no issues. In its twilight days it even served as a CD burning machine.
 
My three favorites are IBM, Packard Bell, and Zenith Data Systems.

Do you still have your original PB computer? I have two, one works and looks like it just came from the factory, and the other doesn't quite work.
 
Sadly, no. My dad gave my original Packard Bell away back in 2000. I've been on a quest trying to track it down or find the exact same model. So far I have a pretty large collection of mid '90s Packard Bell computers. I have a Windows 95 Packard Bell Legend 1510 Supreme from 1996 (bought off eBay in 2005), a Windows 3.1 Packard Bell Legend 402CD (bought from Value Village in 2010), a Windows 95 Packard Bell Multimedia F170 from 1996 (bought from Value Village in March 2011), and a Windows 95 Packard Bell Multimedia D135 from 1996 (bought from Value Village in May 2011).

For further reference, my original PB from December 1995 was a Packard Bell Legend 822CDTW. I hope to find it again someday!
 
Welcome. I'm a fan of similar era machines. Well more the software, OS/GUI, side really. Some interesting things happening around that period with regard to "PCs". I generally avoided name brand machines at the time though, boy times have changed. Good luck with your quest.
 
The two PB machines that I have are a Windows 3.1 Packard Bell Axcel 635 (the dead one), and a Windows 95 Packard Bell Multimedia C115. The Axcel 635 is from the time when PB was being sued over putting used components in their PCs. That's probably why it doesn't work.
 
I'll have to check which PB tower I have it looks similar not that it means too much lol I think mine was a Pentium 120Mhz processor though (not really sure what specs that model had I just saw one reference to 100Mhz). It's funny, from that other PB dos GUI thread the one I *DO* remember was that Packard Bell Navigator. It looks neat honestly and I think was sorta there to keep kids in check but after a while it was a bit cumbersome for us so we killed it and went back to the OS once we showed that we weren't gonna blow it up.
 
barythrin said:
I'll have to check which PB tower I have it looks similar not that it means too much lol I think mine was a Pentium 120Mhz processor though (not really sure what specs that model had I just saw one reference to 100Mhz). It's funny, from that other PB dos GUI thread the one I *DO* remember was that Packard Bell Navigator. It looks neat honestly and I think was sorta there to keep kids in check but after a while it was a bit cumbersome for us so we killed it and went back to the OS once we showed that we weren't gonna blow it up.
Click to expand...
The Packard Bell Desktop near the bottom of that page says Legend, but looks EXACTLY like my PB Multimedia C115. Same light, power button, and drive bay position.

I think that the PB Navigator looks very similar, if not a Packard Bell branded Microsoft Bob. My PB computer has a lot of that company's weird, but neat software on it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top