22 Feb
2003
22 Feb
'03
7:45 a.m.
Rumor has it that Philip Pemberton may have mentioned
these words:
15 years ago, my CoCo 3 had 4 serial ports, a bidirectional parallel
port, and was running a multi-tasking OS. At the same time I had great
problems getting a PC to properly support 4 serial ports.
Patrick Finnegan wrote:
I agree with
you here - my PCs all have crap cases. Even the top-end
Coolermaster or whatever cases are still (allegedly) cheaply made. Even the
ones that cost $150!
Let's look at 3 test-cases:
1) My dual Athlon 1600+ - Aluminium server case, 460W bulletproof PS,
built-in SCSI, LAN, yaddayadda... I'd call it a real computer, but most
here wouldn't.... My cost: $85 shipped sans PS. Light, not built like a
tank, but how many tanks have you seen, built out of aluminium? ;-P
2) My CoCo3 - Cheezy plastic case, miniscule PS, minimal expandability -
crap. ;-) 1) Is it
well-engineered from the ground up?
PCs: no, a lot of the stuff in even the best PCs is of very poor
OK, I agree
with this first point. All three of my examples of 'real
computers' were "well-engineered from the ground up".
3) My wife's main machine: Compaq Prolaint 800 dual Pentium 2 350 server.
Case built like a tank (almost 2x heavier than my Dual Athlon) - won't even
boot if it can't find it's fans, IIRC a 700W PS, etc. Generally
bulletproof. -- it's well on it's way for being almost ontopic, methinks...
it's quite old already, for a PC...
You have proper service data for all the parts in that PC? I am truely
amazed (I thought I was about the only person to have that ;-)). Or does
'built' really mean 'assembled from cards'?
>> 2) Can it be expected to have a long
operating life?
1) Yes. I built it; I can fix it. 2) Yes. I have one going on 17 years old. (Even tho
it's crap!) I still
play Rogue on it -- I Love that game! (The PC version sucks.)
3) Not just yes, hell yes!
I haev tired and failed several times to get service data for Compaq
machines.... How did you manage it?
>> 3) Is it documented?
1) Dunno, don't care. damn thing runs, don't it? Why do I need to solder
Athlons, anyway??? 2) Not just no, hell no! The GIME chip is a mystery...
and it's the chip
that makes everything tick.
Come on. The GIME is a lot better documented than the ASICs in most PCs.
The CoCo 3 service manaul, available to anyone who called up National
Parts and ordered one, contains a pinout, block diagram, waveforms,
register allocations, etc. When the CoCo 3 was in production, replacement
GIMEs were easy to get (not that I ever needed one). Just try getting
spares for most PC products today.
3) Better than most PCs out there, and it's
available free...
Please point me to a free schematic for any Compaq computer...
-tony