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An Hertz P100 computer that i found in my warehouse
- Thread starter matan2001
- Start date
Chuck(G)
25k Member
That system looks like a rebadged generic Far East clone to me, so I don't think the company made anything themselves, at least not in PCs.
krebizfan
Veteran Member
Where are you located? I remember a Hertz Computer Company located in New York that was basically a white box builder producing generic clone boxes. Think Dell but much smaller.
I hope you are prepared to do a lot of clean up on it. Those rusted expansion slot covers are an ominous sign.
I hope you are prepared to do a lot of clean up on it. Those rusted expansion slot covers are an ominous sign.
I took more pictures, they will be attached in my next post.
I actually know nothing about the system.
I am located in israel.
this computer was originally my mom's and i disassembled it a week ago.
I saw that hertz has some press pictures in her site: http://www.hertztec.com/content/Press.asp
btw : i am 11 years old. but please take me serious!
I actually know nothing about the system.
I am located in israel.
this computer was originally my mom's and i disassembled it a week ago.
I saw that hertz has some press pictures in her site: http://www.hertztec.com/content/Press.asp
btw : i am 11 years old. but please take me serious!
Attachments
krebizfan
Veteran Member
The system is from the same Hertz company I mentioned before. It seems to have been made in 1995 and looks fairly standard for the time. Just to put its ability in perspective, the typical current iPhone is about 5 to 10 times as fast.
Bad news: The system has a Dallas clock chip soldered in. It is the big black block on the edge of picture 4. These chips had a battery that tended to fail in about a decade so the system's one has most likely failed. Replacing the battery is difficult.
Unless you have the keyboard and mouse that came with the system, it may be a challenge to find keyboard and mouse that work with the system. It needs an AT keyboard and a serial mouse; current keyboard and mice use USB ports; 10 years ago, PS/2 ports were common. There are some adapters for USB to PS/2 and other adapters to go from PS/2 to AT or serial. Not all adapters work with all keyboards or mice.
System capabilities: It is possible that I make I mistake on some of these details. I am extrapolating on what was typical for a system from when it was made.
Sound card: Looks to be a standard SoundBlaster or clone with CD ROM interface. Decent enough sound for games and had a joystick port for those games.
Video card: Won't do widescreen. Probably can't play DVDs without a second card you don't have. Don't even bother with blue-ray discs or web videos.
Drive: Has 2.1 GB. A 1 TB drive stores about 500 times as much.
Memory: Probably totals 16 MB.
Cache: No idea how much there is but the stick is there and will make the system as fast as it will be.
Slots: ISA (black) and 4 PCI (white). PCI is now being retired and ISA was old when the system was built.
Bad news: The system has a Dallas clock chip soldered in. It is the big black block on the edge of picture 4. These chips had a battery that tended to fail in about a decade so the system's one has most likely failed. Replacing the battery is difficult.
Unless you have the keyboard and mouse that came with the system, it may be a challenge to find keyboard and mouse that work with the system. It needs an AT keyboard and a serial mouse; current keyboard and mice use USB ports; 10 years ago, PS/2 ports were common. There are some adapters for USB to PS/2 and other adapters to go from PS/2 to AT or serial. Not all adapters work with all keyboards or mice.
System capabilities: It is possible that I make I mistake on some of these details. I am extrapolating on what was typical for a system from when it was made.
Sound card: Looks to be a standard SoundBlaster or clone with CD ROM interface. Decent enough sound for games and had a joystick port for those games.
Video card: Won't do widescreen. Probably can't play DVDs without a second card you don't have. Don't even bother with blue-ray discs or web videos.
Drive: Has 2.1 GB. A 1 TB drive stores about 500 times as much.
Memory: Probably totals 16 MB.
Cache: No idea how much there is but the stick is there and will make the system as fast as it will be.
Slots: ISA (black) and 4 PCI (white). PCI is now being retired and ISA was old when the system was built.
PDP7
Member
Hi,
Hertz would appear to be no longer in the PC market, their website is for a holding company - Herztec Holdings, with a few notional press pages for average performance computers from the 80's and 90's. The website would now seem to be politically biased.
It may still run and offer some use but will be quite slow by modern standards, usefull for gaining experience on.
Mike H.
Hertz would appear to be no longer in the PC market, their website is for a holding company - Herztec Holdings, with a few notional press pages for average performance computers from the 80's and 90's. The website would now seem to be politically biased.
It may still run and offer some use but will be quite slow by modern standards, usefull for gaining experience on.
Mike H.
Soupwizard
Experienced Member
Older machines like these are fun to restore and max out because the parts are cheap. As someone said above, it definitely won't be useful for much these days, as even websites with all their javascript need more computing power to load fast. But you can learn a lot about pc hardware on a very small budget. Often you can get old parts for free from the local craigslist.
Or you can run a light linux distribution like http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/
CMOS Battery:
If the onboard Dallas backup battery is dead (and you can tell by setting the time in the bios, saving, unplugging the machine and waiting a few minutes, then plugging it back in and checking the time - if it's different than the time you set, then the battery is dead), there may be a 2 or 3 pin header nearby allows you to connect an 3.6v external battery.
Here's an old edition of Repair and Upgrade Your PC from 1998, avail free from the publisher: http://ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com/impr...e/upgrading/fourteenth_edition/DVD/PCs8th.pdf
http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/
Also, there is a specific forum here dedicated to Pentium class pc's, posting in there will get more attention from other fans of Pentium era pc's: http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/forumdisplay.php?70-Pentium-(First-Generation)
Or you can run a light linux distribution like http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/
CMOS Battery:
If the onboard Dallas backup battery is dead (and you can tell by setting the time in the bios, saving, unplugging the machine and waiting a few minutes, then plugging it back in and checking the time - if it's different than the time you set, then the battery is dead), there may be a 2 or 3 pin header nearby allows you to connect an 3.6v external battery.
Here's an old edition of Repair and Upgrade Your PC from 1998, avail free from the publisher: http://ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com/impr...e/upgrading/fourteenth_edition/DVD/PCs8th.pdf
http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/
Also, there is a specific forum here dedicated to Pentium class pc's, posting in there will get more attention from other fans of Pentium era pc's: http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/forumdisplay.php?70-Pentium-(First-Generation)
Soupwizard
Experienced Member
I recognize that case too: it's an Enlight EN-6850 baby AT. I had the mid-tower AT version of that case (taller, had 4 5.25" cdrom / floppy bays instead of 2).
