8 Jul
2005
8 Jul
'05
3:51 a.m.
On Thu, 7 Jul 2005 00:56:08 -0400
"Teo Zenios" <teoz at neo.rr.com> wrote:
Leading Edge and Packard Bells always sucked (my first PC was a new
286 Packard Bell). I did always want a 386 Gateway desktop case, those
looked nice. The high end Northgates and Everex machines looked nice
(could be 486 era).
My first 'PC' used an early non-turbo XT-clone motherboard I bought at a
swapmeet. At the same swapmeet I bought an original 63.5 watt IBM
supply, a used 'Leading Edge, model D' case (just the sheet metal bits),
and an IBM MDA card. I already had an IBM keyboard that had no case on
it. When I got the whole mess home, the only way to fit the XT
motherboard in the case was to cut away all but one of the 'card edge
slots' in the LE case as it used different card connector spacing. The
only way to fit the power supply was to strip it entirely out of it's
original IBM case and mount the circuit board on standoffs in the
Leading Edge case. So that's what I did. Add two 360K floppy drives
and an original IBM MDA card and you've got my first PC. What a
conglomeration that system was. It lasted for years and years. It
makes the 'case modding' that enthusiasts dabble in today look like
childsplay.