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New Collection Member: 4825 SX

T

TJBChris

Member
Joined
May 25, 2018
Messages
34
I managed to pick up a 4825 SX in good shape. It came with a 75 MHz DX4ODP75 OverDrive processor in place of the original 486 SX/25, 1 MB of Video RAM, as well as 20 MB of RAM. The SIMMs were mismatched in Bank 0 (one 4 MB mixed in with three 1 MB modules), so I replaced them all with identical 4 MB x 9 SIMMs for a total of 32 MB of RAM. I've also replaced the hard drive with a CF-IDE adapter and card and put copies of Windows 3.1, Windows 95, and OS/2 Warp 3.0 on it. I'm very excited about my new toy!

This machine looks like it's got a WD 1024 NI video chipset. I'm currently using the default WD drivers for Windows 95 and OS/2, and the generic Super VGA driver for Windows 3.1. I know little about the WD video...does anyone know if there are better drivers out there, especially for 95 or OS/2?

Thanks all!
-Chris

Tandy 4825 SX.jpg
 
Thanks! It was actually an eBay special. I had been looking for one for a while, but I was only finding machines for $500. That was was much more than I wanted to pay, so I kept waiting. This one was ~$230, so given the condition of the machine and the proximity of the seller to me, I figured it was worth buying. And with the unexpected hardware bonuses (I forgot to mention the AWE-32 card with its own 8 MB of RAM), I'm pretty happy with it for the cost.

-Chris
 
Yeah, it's ridiculous how much working systems can go for, especially some of the more iconic ones. It's almost more worth it to pick up the ones labelled as "not working/for parts" and just fix them up yourself. I got my 1000 RSX from a relative years ago when we visited them in Manitoba, and that same machine, which he had collecting dust and mildew in a shed, now goes for over $1000 CDN on eBay! If I wanted to get one now, it'd be way out of reach! (needless to say, I'm keeping mine!)
 
blackepyon said:
It's almost more worth it to pick up the ones labelled as "not working/for parts" and just fix them up yourself.
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Definitely! My Model 16 was a "for parts" unit, and the satisfaction of making it work again is hard to top! It's my favorite machine (don't tell my CoCo 3).

I bought the 4825 with a specific plan: I host occasional "reto game nights", where I break out a couple of the retro machines (the Model 4, CoCo 3, and 1000 SX have all been players) along with a NES and/or Super NES. I wanted something to play the popular VGA games of the early '90s, and the 4825 will fill that void nicely. It's a fun way to share the experience of my retro collection with others. So far, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Even friends who are too young to have known life on a 486 marvel at playing old games on period hardware. I put up info signs with specs (comparing them to machines of today) and pictures of catalog listings, along with old software boxes and magazines (PCM, 80 Micro, Rainbow) to round out the retro feel.
 
TJBChris said:
Definitely! My Model 16 was a "for parts" unit, and the satisfaction of making it work again is hard to top! It's my favorite machine (don't tell my CoCo 3).

I bought the 4825 with a specific plan: I host occasional "reto game nights", where I break out a couple of the retro machines (the Model 4, CoCo 3, and 1000 SX have all been players) along with a NES and/or Super NES. I wanted something to play the popular VGA games of the early '90s, and the 4825 will fill that void nicely. It's a fun way to share the experience of my retro collection with others. So far, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Even friends who are too young to have known life on a 486 marvel at playing old games on period hardware. I put up info signs with specs (comparing them to machines of today) and pictures of catalog listings, along with old software boxes and magazines (PCM, 80 Micro, Rainbow) to round out the retro feel.
Click to expand...

Is this like a friends/family thing or a public event? My local retro-computer club meets one a month, but when we had a few tables at the Vancouver Retro Game expo in June, our corner was pretty popular. Stuff from the 70's is a curiosity to most kids, but the 80's and 90's games (during the glory days of Commodore and DOS PCs), played on period-appropriate hardware rather than in DOSBox, seems to be quite a hit.
 
Right now it's just something I do for friends/family. A friend suggested it...I figured there wouldn't be much interest. I'm glad I was wrong! I actually have a short video about it on my YouTube channel, if you'd like to see what it looks like: https://youtu.be/YA7niTbytdU Next time, the 4825 SX will be out there with Doom, Duke Nukem, Stargunner, and some classic Windows 3.1 games like Jezzball.

I'm not big on production values for my videos, and I don't monetize them. I just like seeing these old machines doing something...anything...so I like to put up videos. Since the Model II/12/16/16B/6000 family is particularly underrepresented on YouTube, I do lots of videos of my 16.

I'm in central Connecticut, and I'm not sure what retro clubs are around here, if any. That's probably something I should look into. :)

-Chris
 
I'm in the Fraser Valley just in the West coast of Canada. I didn't even know about my local club until I heard about if from a friend of one of my employees about a year ago. I've made it to every meet up since, and I'm quite happy my employee told me about it. I don't get out very much, but these are "my people," as it were.

They normally communicate on Facebook, which I'm still trying to get onto since my account was locked out shortly after I created it. Apparently, there's another person with my name in nearby Vancouver (probably a distant relation on my grandpa's side, we've never met), and though Facebook never said why, I imagine their algorithm thought I was trying to impersonate somebody (still trying to get that sorted out). But regardless, if you can find a local retro computer club in your area, I'd highly recommend getting in contact and going to their meetings if you can. These monthly meetups for the past year have been the highlight of the month for me.
 
acadiel said:
It's really an AWESOME system. If you get the XTIDE ROM on it, you can use larger IDE drives.
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It truly is a great system. I’ve found myself just itching to use it. Right now I have a 528 MB CF card in it, but I’m thinking space is going to get a little tight, so I appreciate the tip on the XTIDE ROM. Your thread was a good read - sounds like you’ve got two great systems there.
 
lol. I'd be hard pressed to find 512MB of stuff to fill an 8088 with, though a 386 or 486, easily. I do however appreciate the sound of a physical hard drive on these old systems to complete the immersion experience. Preferably in an external enclosure, IMO. Too bad those Tandy disk drive enclosures fetch such a ridiculous price whenever they turn up.
 
TJBChris said:
It truly is a great system. I’ve found myself just itching to use it. Right now I have a 528 MB CF card in it, but I’m thinking space is going to get a little tight, so I appreciate the tip on the XTIDE ROM. Your thread was a good read - sounds like you’ve got two great systems there.
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Yep, the best bet is to get this and build one with a ROM. NICs (ISA) with ROM slots don't show up too often, and fetch a bit of money. I just built two of these, so they're pretty awesome to try option ROMS with. https://texelec.com/product/lo-tech-isa-rom-pcb/
 
Thanks for the link! I've already ordered it. While I await the board, I'll get a 2764 and the rest of the parts. I've already got the EPROM burner, so this should come together nicely.
 
TJBChris said:
Thanks for the link! I've already ordered it. While I await the board, I'll get a 2764 and the rest of the parts. I've already got the EPROM burner, so this should come together nicely.
Click to expand...

I think it's either a 27256 or 27512 (32K or 64K). Which isn't a biggie... for 8K, you either just pad the rest or duplicate it across the 8K boundaries. (I'm not sure which will work).
 
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