Vintage Computers

The_Librarian said:
Those computers were more personal than today's computers.
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Oh, absolutely. Standards always kill innovation and ingenuity. (Mostly for good reasons :( )

If you look at the history of home computers, from the 70's onwards, you'll see many, many different manufacturers, all with their own hardware designs, specifications, corresponding software, etc. They all had to build up their own eco-systems and support for their systems, and hobbyist communities sprang up around them with magazines, user groups, etc.

So you had (fiercely competing) groups forming, Commodore, Sinclair, Atari, Apple, Sharp, etc. and too many more to mention. 6502 vs Z80 vs 6809 vs Intel debates became near-religious in its fervor. :) Literally hundreds of different players were active around the globe. This was the time of unique designs and some beautiful enclosures.

By the early 80's, the IBM PC architecture became popular (on the back of expandability and well published documentation) and you could see how quickly the other guys went out of business. Pretty much by 1985, the writing was on the wall and we ended up with square, beige, non-descript boxes running a standard architecture.

For me, personally, the 175 - 1985 era was thus the golden age of computing.

This site gives a nice overview of systems by year. you can click on the different years in the left pane and get a list of systems released in that year.

 
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jannievanzyl said:
Oh, absolutely. Standards always kill innovation and ingenuity. (Mostly for good reasons :( )

If you look at the history of home computers, from the 70's onwards, you'll see many, many different manufacturers, all with their own hardware designs, specifications, corresponding software, etc. They all had to build up their own eco-systems and support for their systems, and hobbyist communities sprang up around them with magazines, user groups, etc.

So you had (fiercely competing) groups forming, Commodore, Sinclair, Atari, Apple, Sharp, etc. and too many more to mention. 6502 vs Z80 vs 6809 vs Intel debates became near-religious in its fervor. :) Literally hundreds of different players were active around the globe. This was the time of unique designs and some beautiful enclosures.

By the early 80's, the IBM PC architecture became popular (on the back of expandability and well published documentation) and you could see how quickly the other guys went out of business. Pretty much by 1985, the writing was on the wall and we ended up with square, beige, non-descript boxes running a standard architecture.

For me, personally, the 175 - 1985 era was thus the golden age of computing.

This site gives a nice overview of systems by year. you can click on the different years in the left pane and get a list of systems released in that year.

Click to expand...
Some of the designs from pre-1980 looks so cool and easier on the eyes.
 
Is there an active Amiga community in South Africa?

I always try Gumtree / Junkmail etc. to try and get a 500 / 1200 , but alas, they seem very hard to come by.
 
I'm wondering now... (don't have the finances or resources for this)

If you can take this design :

compoota.jpeg

Modify it a bit as follows :

- adapt the screen for a TFT screen (a 15" or 17" screen should be fine)
- remove floppy drive
- add USB ports on the front (either on the side like the floppy drive, or at the bottom)
- the keyboard should be easy, use the insides of any off the shelf mass produced keyboard (or better still, a mechanical clickety click one)
- have space and mounting points for a small micro ATX motherboard with compact power supply
- space and mounting points for more than 1 HDD (for those who want a RAID)

Run it through a 3D printer, then you'll get a customized case?

Maybe a good business proposal for this sort of thing?

And design it that RAM/CPU/PSU/motherboard replacement is painless and easy?

What do you guys think? Will there be a market for this sort of thing?
 
jannievanzyl said:
Anyone else here collecting vintage computers? Especially from the Home Computer era before the IBM PC became pervasive, i.e. from the 70's and 80's era.

Still building my collection but have the following so far:

- Ohio Superboard
- Apple II
- Vic 20
- Commodore 64
- Sinclair ZX80
- Sinclair ZX81
- Sinclair Spectrum
- HP 85
- HP 86
- Osborne 1
- Texas Instruments 99
- Acorn Atom
- BBC Micro
- microProfessor

Still looking for a few systems.

Would love to hear what you've got.
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I have a Spectravideo SVI 328 here
 
The_Hobbit said:
You can blame IBM, though they made some of the cooler machines too, like the PS/1 and PS/2
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Indeed, don't think anyone is blaming IBM per se'. Their architecture just became dominant for various reasons and the resultant clones all morphed into the same shape.

I've got a number of IBM machines, including the 5150 (PC), 5160 (XT), 5170 (AT), PS/2s and PS/1s and they're brilliant machines. :love:
 
RS always delivers like that. They will ship out what is in stock and then the rest on back order. Luckily they only charge shipping once. Ive had this many times before
 
The_Librarian said:
I'm wondering now... (don't have the finances or resources for this)

If you can take this design :

View attachment 1024368

Modify it a bit as follows :

- adapt the screen for a TFT screen (a 15" or 17" screen should be fine)
- remove floppy drive
- add USB ports on the front (either on the side like the floppy drive, or at the bottom)
- the keyboard should be easy, use the insides of any off the shelf mass produced keyboard (or better still, a mechanical clickety click one)
- have space and mounting points for a small micro ATX motherboard with compact power supply
- space and mounting points for more than 1 HDD (for those who want a RAID)

Run it through a 3D printer, then you'll get a customized case?

Maybe a good business proposal for this sort of thing?

And design it that RAM/CPU/PSU/motherboard replacement is painless and easy?

What do you guys think? Will there be a market for this sort of thing?
Click to expand...
There are a couple of PC cases that look like vintage systems but can be fitted with a modern motherboard. Like the Apple II and the Commodore PET.
 
The_Hobbit said:
Wow... RS Int. are efficient with ordering, though inefficient in their own books I imagine - they split my order of 1x voltage reg and 1x barrel cap and sent the v.reg yesterday and the cap they will send later LOL. Anyway, here's the part:

View attachment 1025294


It's a highly efficient drop-in replacement for this (and the heatsink can be chucked!)

View attachment 1025292

It takes 6.5-36v DC input and outputs 5v DC at 1A. Highly recommended on any 8 bit computers from the 80s that employ those regulators (T805C). Reduced power consumption and wastage and lower heat - the mobo will thank you!
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Indeed, some of these machines (like the VIC20, Acorn Atom and others), drop a large voltage across the regulator and it basically turns into a heater.

There is an equivalent T-03 package 12V switching regulator as well.
 
The_Hobbit said:
I did the quick and dirty composite mod on the Speccy... http://www.retrogamescollector.com/simple-zx-spectrum-composite-mod/
TL/DR:
1- Resistor from RF circuit - cut
2 - Composite signal cable - cut and move to RCA female center pin
3 - RF circuit power - Cut at board level and bend away

View attachment 1025488

View attachment 1025484

Then connected it to my 4K TV using an HDMI converter from Geewiz - the fastest dispatchers on earth:

View attachment 1025490

and behold! ZX Spectrum Upscaled to 1080 on a 4K TV LMAO



You'll notice the absence of the heat sink - it's using the Traco Power component instead of the old, inefficient regulator.
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A must do mod for the Spectrum! :)

Many people will also put a cap in line with the output to isolate the Speccy's video out from any DC shorts or levels.

Glad your upscaler is working well, there are so many shitty versions out there that it's a luck-of-the-draw thing to get one that works properly. Do you have a link for the one you ordered?
 
The_Hobbit said:
Will test the Bondwell 16 and Osborne Executive later in the week:
Click to expand...

I recall seeing a BW16 at a computer store in the mid 1980's but sadly only ever got to read about the Osborne. The Commodore SX-64 was what I was dreaming about at the time.
 
jannievanzyl said:
There are a couple of PC cases that look like vintage systems but can be fitted with a modern motherboard. Like the Apple II and the Commodore PET.
Click to expand...
Where is the best place to look for these cases? Might make for an interesting next project.
 
The_Hobbit said:
Some pics of these beauties. The Compaq apparently boots and works fine.
View attachment 1025572

Will test the Bondwell 16 and Osborne Executive later in the week:

View attachment 1025574

View attachment 1025576

en.m.wikipedia.org

Osborne Executive - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org
Check that list price on the Osborne Exec: $2495 in 1982!
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Great that you found an Executive!! Thought I was the only one with an Executive :)

I've also got 4 of the first Osborne models but must still restore them.

You know the story of their weird shape?
 
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