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Posted by G.G.Willikers on May 16, 2008, 1:10 pm
Please log in for more thread options BillW50 wrote:
> In
> Sallyanne typed on Wed, 14 May 2008 19:02:15 -0700 (PDT):
>> Hi Bill,
>>
>>> Oh man! I love these kind of projects
>>
>> So do I ... But if only I had more time to do them all! :-(
>
> :-)
>
>>> (been into computers since '74 in
>>> the military)!
>>
>> I started with unix on a PDP 11 and a Vax II in 1981 with Pascal and
>> Fortran - on printer terminals and before Pascal even had string
>> types! I later bought an Exidy Sorcerer Mark II, which I still have,
>> but I then left computers for almost a decade, until I bought this
>> notebook for work.
>
> Oh that was a great time to get into computers.
>
>>> I tried to search on Google and I found nothing except
>>> battery replacements. This laptop can use a CGA or a VGA monitor?
>>> Does it have 4MB onboard and a 16MB PCMCIA card?
>>
>> Colour VGA (B/W LED + VGA port), 4MB, no FPU (although a slot is
>> present and easily accessible) and no PCMCIA, although it could be
>> fitted with an internal modem. It had just been released when I bought
>> it at a cost of about AU$2500.00 in 1991.
>
> Wow! That was a lot better than what I was using in '91. As I was still
> using my Sharp PC-4501 V20 (aka 80188 compatible). I had DOS and GEOS
> Ensemble running on it. The LCD was monochrome (no backlight) and I
> bought a CGA color card for it to use with a CGA monitor. I got it back
> in '89. No audio except for PC beeps. LOL And it still works too.
>
>
http://cgi.ebay.com/Sharp-PC-4501-vintage-laptop-circa-1987_W0QQitemZ220234784260QQihZ012QQcategoryZ4193QQcmdZViewItem
>
>
> Wow I forgot how ugly those PC-4501 are. LOL
>
>> I found out about the lack of info myself, that's why I'm approaching
>> the forums. However, I'm amazed they're still making batteries for
>> them. Just goes to show how much of a workhorse they really were.
>> Despite coming with me on at least 200000km of flight between
>> Australia and Europe (and one trip to Alaska), mine actually almost
>> looks the same as it did the day it left the store. No scratch marks,
>> discolouration or wear and tear - not even on the keyboard, despite
>> periods of very intensive use. I can't say the same for my aging IBM
>> thinkpads 600 and 600E with flaking skins.
>
> I am in *love* with your laptop. :-)
>
>>> Usually I find buying a working old same model computer easier to
>>> use to fix an older computer (especially true of laptops). Although
>>> I can't even find a broken one anyway on the net.
>>
>> Neither can I, although the Zenith Mastersport 386sx is identical.
>> Still, I don't need to. I have some parts which may fit this unit. In
>> any case, apart from the dead backlight and harddrive, the PC works
>> just fine. I will post photos ASAP. In the event that I can't use my
>> spare HD I have a feeling that I can interface (with some prodding) a
>> spare IDE 2GD Orb drive, which just happens to be both the same size
>> and colour as the original floppy drive (by removing both the floppy
>> and HD the power supply should cope well). When I finally settled down
>> to home life, in the interim weeks before I purchased a new Pentium
>> class PC back in 97, I used this notebook like a mini PC: external
>> keyboard, colour VGA monitor and Parallel LS120 Superdrive from which
>> I booted into DOS, Geoworks Ensemble and Win 3.1. It worked well
>> enough, but then, not if you're used to a Quad Core 4 GHz Pentium with
>> 4GB of ram :-).
>
> I am thinking that this laptop can't read anything more than 512MB on a
> HD without a MBR patch. There might be a BIOS update, but where to find
> one if it exists. Plus computers around this era usually wasn't
> updatable without changing the ROM.
>
>>> I sure wish this was my
>>> project. I love these kinds of things to do. :-)
>>
>> NO! Its mine and You can't have it ! ;-)
>
> LOL I guess I have to find my own. :-(
>
Believe it or not, I see working models like this quite often in our
recycling shop. Like you guys, the time to putz with them is very
limited. I have set aside some of the more ancient units, that powered
up, in decent shape, but they are currently in storage.
In the next month or two I may be getting that kind of stuff up on ebay.
I will definitely let you all know.
I kinda plan on specializing in laptop spare parts and cater to repair
guys so they can actually make a few bucks on the turn around.
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