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  1. 3lectr1c

    Anyone heard of this magazine?

    Hi - I'm looking for any information on "PC LapTop Magazine". I ran into a reference to it on an archived website from 1996, see below: I looked and just couldn't find a single reference to this magazine anywhere online. Perhaps it's just too common of a term? I'm hoping there are scans of it...
  2. 3lectr1c

    PCMCIA to CF adapter recommendations

    My current PCMCIA to CF adapter (SanDisk brand) just refuses to work with Windows 9x. I’ve done enough troubleshooting across probably close to a dozen laptops to know it’s not drivers, and I highly doubt it’s the cards I’m using either. Not one 9x laptop mounts the card, and while they do...
  3. 3lectr1c

    PowerBook 500 Series Battery Rebuild Failure (Oops, all dead EMMs!)

    I tried to rebuild two PowerBook 500 Series batteries. What could go wrong? Well, I didn't light anything on fire which is a good start, but I don't have working batteries either. I used pre-built 8-cell AA NiMH packs that @jmacz on 68kmla already used successfully on his own rebuilds. Both...
  4. 3lectr1c

    MacDat Vintage Laptop Documentation Project - Main Thread

    This is a main general thread for discussion and updates regarding my vintage laptop documentation project on my website, MacDat. The main goal of this project is to document and preserve specifications, images, repair info, drivers, and other information on (eventually) every laptop released...
  5. 3lectr1c

    Compaq LTE Elite 4/75CX not charging battery (anymore)

    I was surprised to see that my LTE Elite came with an aftermarket Energy+ battery. More surprised to see it charge, right up to 12V, and then it ran the laptop for a short time before dying. I figured it just needed longer to charge, or it was old and tired. It hasn't run the laptop since then...
  6. 3lectr1c

    AlphaTop/ECS Green Laptop documentation thread.

    This thread is for myself and anyone else to post findings and documentation info related to AlphaTop and ECS Elitegroup laptops that were part of the "Green" series, sold by various local distributors throughout the 90s and 2000s, including Micron, NEC, WinBook, Jetta, Gericom, and many others...
  7. 3lectr1c

    Does anyone here own an AST Ascentia 950N?

    The Ascentia 950N wasn't really well known at all until a few years back when The 8 Bit Guy called them out in his AST "Tales from tech support" video for being incredibly unreliable (over 100% RMA rate, overheating and battery failures). Despite this, I have been unable to find any other...
  8. 3lectr1c

    AI articles on vintage computers...

    You know how a handful of websites have been using AI to write articles of questionable quality as of late? Well, look what I just found: https://ts2.shop/en/posts/exploring-the-legacy-of-the-toshiba-satellite-pro-430cdt By about two sentences in I'd already picked up on it. It's weird how...
  9. 3lectr1c

    WANTED: Photos of vintage laptops for a large-scale documentation project!

    Hello to anyone who's reading this! I run MacDat, a website dedicated to preserving online info on vintage Macintosh hardware, and on vintage PC Laptop hardware. My eventual very long-term goal is to document just about every laptop released in the 1990s. Who knows if I'll ever get there, but...
  10. 3lectr1c

    My first IRQ conflict! Need some help.

    Just installed a shiny new copy of Windows 95 onto a WinBook FX I just got in from eBay. Laptop needed a new hard drive and has a hinge problem I need to check but it’s otherwise working. I’ve got an audio issue though. Seems like Windows knows what it is (it’s one of the Vibra 16 chipsets)...
  11. 3lectr1c

    Modern HDD replacement for laptops without user type support

    The original Conner HDD in my Nan Tan FMA8100 luggable/laptop is cactus, don't think I can get it to work. I'd like to replace it with a CF card or something cheap and simple, but the BIOS doesn't support a user type, just the predefined ones. Considering I don't think I can just add in the...
  12. 3lectr1c

    Chips & Technologies Video BIOS "For Evaluation Use Only" - WinBook XL

    Did the WinBook XL laptop ship with an evaluation version of the Chips & Technologies video BIOS? Below is a photo of the splash message on POST before AMI kicks in. Also notice how in the top left it says "HIPS 6X554..." where I suspect it should say "CHIPS 6X554". If they did indeed ship an...
  13. 3lectr1c

    Nan-Tan FMA8100 POST error beep

    Got the power supply in for this beast but it won’t start. Throws a 1-1-3 error beep code on me instantly upon powerup. https://www.rigacci.org/docs/biblio/online/firmware/beep3.htm According to this page, for my BIOS, this means “CMOS Read/Write test in progress or failure” Does this mean my...
  14. 3lectr1c

    Dead IBM 5151 MDA Monitor

    Lucked into a 5151 today for free! It’s a bit dirty but in good shape seemingly, cosmetics wise. I have a completely unknown MDA card pulled from a rusted out PC 5170. The card is corrosion free and looks perfect. Original full length card circa 1984. I plugged it into my Compaq Deskpro 286, and...
  15. 3lectr1c

    Documenting obscure 90s laptop brands - CTX EzBook

    Did the same thing for WinBook a while back, now I've got a new target. One of my sub-hobbies from within the hobby that is vintage technology has become an effort to preserve information online about obscure and forgotten-about laptop manufacturers from the 1990s. This all began when I bought...
  16. 3lectr1c

    Component ID Help needed

    Ive got a CTX EzBook 800 laptop that got hit by a VARTA battery and I’d like to get a crack at repairing it soon. There are 4 components near where the battery was that are labeled LN1 through 4, and LN1 is damaged. As of yet, I can’t identify what these are. They aren’t resistor packs, those...
  17. 3lectr1c

    Dell Latitude C400 no post/shuts off

    Got a cheap one of these off eBay as untested, and it won’t start. VARTA battery leaked a tiny bit but didn’t cause much damage from the looks beyond the battery connector. Anyone know why mine won’t start? Video attached showing behavior.
  18. 3lectr1c

    Browservice not working, any ideas?

    I tried to set up browservice today (if you aren't already familiar with what it is than you probably won't be able to help). Info on it is here: https://github.com/ttalvitie/browservice It seems to work, in that it's outputting it over the network. I can connect to it from other computers, and...
  19. 3lectr1c

    Sending a copy of LapLink over Serial

    Hello. I've heard in the past that you can use LapLink on one computer to send a copy of LapLink to another computer using MODE.COM over serial. I have a host computer with LapLink for Windows 95 installed (IBM ThinkPad 385XD), and a target computer (Toshiba Tecra 500CDT) that I currently have...
  20. 3lectr1c

    The mystery WinBook laptop(s?) - can anyone identify ANY info about it? (them?)

    First off - this is a Pentium M/Turion 64 era system, so this may be the wrong category - if so, mods feel free to move! With that out of the way - what on earth is the WinBook 330/331? For context, I've been working on a big project for the last few months to dig out every bit of info on the...
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