by "Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
Published 06/04/2017 at 18:40
by "Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
Published 06/04/2017 at 18:40
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STARS: 1
...another trip to the Goodwill Outlet! Today’s finds include an IBM T42 notebook and a 23" 1080p monitor. I couldn’t really check it at the store (no power supply), so I took a $4 gamble after inspecting it for damage to the LCD panel. As you can see, it works fine.
I still want to get a newer, bigger monitor with a higher resolution, something in the 24-27" range, but I won’t throw a second 23" off the desk...
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
06/04/2017 at 18:49, STARS: 2
Wow!, that’s a fantastic deal. I was going to admonish you to quit dumpster diving with all your spare cash, but never mind. As you were.
Slightly related: I stopped into the dollar store today. This is one of those stores where everything really is $1. I picked up four pairs of sunglasses for $4 to stash in my wife’s car, around the house, etc. I go through sunglasses far too easily. Did you know they even have corrective reading sunglasses? Well, now I do.
"Nibby" (nibby68)
06/04/2017 at 19:09, STARS: 0
ooh specs of the T42 and screen res? Those were awesome for their time
"I have another burner, try to guess it!" (ihaveanotherburner)
06/04/2017 at 19:20, STARS: 0
Goodwill is amazing. Between them and CL I completely furnished my new apartment for <$200.
"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
06/04/2017 at 19:28, STARS: 0
I’ve become such a cheapskate that I really can’t go to the regular retail Goodwill store anymore - just too expensive for me. I go to the outlet where most everything is sold by the pound knowing that I might need to source some parts or do some repairs, or that I might be taking some risks as to whether or not these things actually work. Furniture is usually $3 per item, and I helped a guy get a nice 90-100 year old recliner at that price. Today’s monitor and computer needed power supplies, but I have those laying around for just this purpose. Digging through the bins is half the fun, and you never have any idea what you’re going to find.
"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
06/04/2017 at 19:45, STARS: 0
It’s a T42 2373:
Screen - XGA (1024x768)
HD - 80GB (40GB was standard on the 2373, so someone upgraded it)
RAM - 512MB (only one RAM slot, surprisingly)
CPU - Pentium M 735 (1.7GHZ)
I haven’t powered it up to see if anyone’s done a CPU upgrade (like I’ve done to most of my other notebooks) or any other changes; heck, I don’t even know if it actually works, but even if it doesn’t it’s still a good parts machine. No battery, but I really don’t care about that. It’s not a TOTL machine like that A31p, but I have a soft spot for these old IBM ThinkPads. I even had one of those cool ones in the ‘90s with the butterfly keyboard. That one was too cool for words.
I’ve got a seriously clean T61 with docking station in which I’ve upgraded the CPU, RAM and HD, and somewhere around here is a Z60 (I think that’s the model...) that I bought to use headless. I did order a replacement screen assembly but haven’t got around to installing it; that part is still sitting around in the box in the bathroom, of all places, along with a screen for a Toshiba C855 and keyboard for an HP G60. And then there’s an even older ThinkPad but I can’t remember the model number. All I recall at this point was that it used SDRAM and had a Windows98 license sticker. I needed it to run Combat Flight Simulator 2, so it did just fine since the hardware and software are of about the same vintage. I use these old notebooks to run a 4 on 4 aerial combat class for my CAP cadets, and using this old software keeps the hardware requirements quite low.
"Nibby" (nibby68)
06/04/2017 at 19:49, STARS: 0
There’s a 2nd RAM slot under the keyboard and it will take up to a 2GHz Pentium M and 2GB RAM. Unfortunately single core so they’re really not up to snuff for even basic surfing these days but you can put 98SE on that T42 and play old games
"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
06/04/2017 at 20:02, STARS: 1
I figured that there would be another one somewhere but haven’t had the time to search; I knew IBM wouldn’t cripple a machine with just one slot. If I have a faster CPU laying around I may pop it in, but if I don’t I’ll leave it as is.
Sitting in the hallway is what is really a killer Win98 system that I built about 5 years ago out of spare parts I had laying around. It was an acceptable system for 2007 or so, but it would have been a supercomputer back in the ‘90s. It was amazing at every old game I threw at it. I’ll have to fire it up and get you the specs.
"Nibby" (nibby68)
06/04/2017 at 21:16, STARS: 0
please do, i’d like to see that 98 beast
"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
06/04/2017 at 21:44, STARS: 1
Well, OK, you talked me into it. Damn thing worked perfectly from the first power up. The only thing I had to change was the time zone; I haven’t fired it up since I lived in LA and I’ve been in STL since mid-2012.
My personal motto? Leave no expansion bay or slot unfilled. I see that I have a 3.5" bay that needs something stuffed into it.
In summary, it looks like an Athlon XP 3000+ with 10GB of RAM and a GeForce4 4800Ti video card. Like I said, a killer machine for 98.
"Nibby" (nibby68)
06/04/2017 at 21:58, STARS: 0
dude that is the quintessential 98SE computer! but you have one slot unfilled! do you by any chance have any spare ATX beige cases around? that Venus one is dope
"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
06/04/2017 at 22:14, STARS: 0
That’s the last of the beige. It is a pretty cool case. Two screws and you take the top plate off, and then you can slide the two side panels off. Very easy to work on.
There’s a C2Q in this other beige, and I recently pulled my old gaming machine out of this ancient Antec case I’ve been using for well over a decade. I really have too many computers, if that’s actually possible...
"Nibby" (nibby68)
06/04/2017 at 22:19, STARS: 0
Man, I’ve been trying to find an ATX beige case for a few days now and they’re either ridiculously expensive or in shit condition
"I have another burner, try to guess it!" (ihaveanotherburner)
06/04/2017 at 22:58, STARS: 1
I actually don’t have a TV or monitor. I might try piecing something together like you are! I’ll have to find an outlet, because I don’t think I’ve ever seen one before.