The Ultimate 90's Chonk
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- čas přidán 16. 09. 2022
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Today we're taking a look at one wacky Zenith "laptop" from the mid 90's. Why does the screen come off?!
LINKS:
🍎 Every Zenith Data Systems File Ever Released: archive.org/details/ZenithDat...
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#Zenith #Laptop #Pentium
One of my first IT jobs out of university was working at Zenith Data Systems' QA labs. My job was to test newer OEM hardware on their older machines. For example, ZDS would buy large quantities of OEM parts, like Matrox or ATI graphics cards, to be put in their new machines. Why not sell those cards as upgrades for older machines? Well, someone had to actually test to make sure those cards
"...and I have absolutely no self control, so I bought it" OK, I subscribed
I remember the days of having to troubleshoot constantly to get anything to install. Hardware used to be so much more of an adventure than it is now. It’s what really taught me about how computers work.
I think you should try creating a memtest86 floppy, some of the weird error messages and freezing makes it sound like it has a memory problem. Did you try it without the extra memory installed?
It looks like memory to me. Sod's law says it'll be one of the chips soldered on the board to make it hard to fix, naturally.
clean that connector between the monitor and the base really well - deoxit and a toothbrush for finish once all potential corrosion is gone. otherwise, check the inverter board, likely in the monitor assembly - check directly below the lcd under the bezel. Also reeks of ram issues. First run with no modules installed, run memoery tests in checkit or something. if it fails, desolder them and only use modules. check them likewise.
A lot of very clever ideas in that laptop, but the one I most applauded was the drawer for the bios battery!
Neat. It's always interesting to see bizarre machines like this. PC notebooks have at least one CMOS battery (some also have a separate standby backup battery) and they often get super angry if the battery's missing or dead. Also this was the era of PC hard disk size limitations. Make sure your disk drive is 2GB or under unless you know the BIOS supports a larger drive.
I had a Simens laptop with removable screen. That screen had a removable backside that also removed the backlight. With the help of a special cable you could put the screen on a overhead projector and show stuff at the meeting. Really cool stuff!
I used to fix these, the screens were upgradable so you could buy a greyscale screen and upgrade it to colour later. The trackball could be upgraded to a trackpad and with a little work, the CPU was upgradable too!
Near the end I recall there was talk of a Z-note variant with a touch screen that could be used as a tablet by swapping the display. I worked back in the service dept on desktop boards, so I never got to see some of the last laptop models made before Group Bull gutted us and merged our assets with Packard Bell.
Your commitment to making it work is unparalleled and appreciated, a very cool little boomboxy situation. I thought sure your power supply swap was going to be the key when the screen didn’t cut out after a directory command. Keep us posted if you get after more shenanigans on it!
If they released a PC in this exact dimensions with modern specs I would buy it instantly.
There are 2 types of people who watch this channel. The ones who go THATS COOL and the ones that go I REMEMBER THAT
Way back when, I had EXACTLY that - the p75 notebook and the big clunky dock. I also had a couple of 486 versions with several different types of screens amongst them. In fact when the p75 died, I put it's much better screen on one of the 486 models. I got rid of almost all of it a long time ago (though if I searched in my basement, I think I have one of the smaller docks still packed in it's shrink wrap).
"That's no moon it's a space station!"
This feels like an old-school Framework laptop, pretty modular for its time!
You're doing great! 🤨👍
Saw an amazing IBM Thinkpad 770 from this era with an expansion dock replete with dual PCI expansion slots. Was another chunk of a 90s machine but with 3DFx acceleration.😁
Bro... in 99.....I would have LOVED to have this!