17 Jun
2015
17 Jun
'15
12:43 a.m.
I know I keep pushing the boundary of vintage lately but I wanted to report
to those who care that I finally got my hands on a 1993 Compaq 5/60M - this
is "a if not the" first desktop computer with a Pentium processor installed
stock. it was the 1993 "dream machine - $9000+ It had an EISA bus and
was otherwise a 486 system with a Pentium controller card, not on the
motherboard. Pentium computers' contribution to the WWW era vintage is
extremely significant.
Pentium killed the minicomputer, or at a minimum merged into it, if you ask
me. The interplay between DEC/Compaq/HP/Intel 1992-1995 culminating into
the launch of Pentium processor systems is vital to understanding the WWW
era of computing. How these companies worked or did not work together and
how the Pentium vs. the Alpha processor came to be...a good tale of woe and
$$.
For those interested: Compaq 5/60:
http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=612
I have a bunch of articles to post on my site related to the first Pentium
desktops which I will do asap.
Bill
P.S. while we're on this off-sh topic I also posted some photos of a
Digital 486 laptop, DEC had a 486 laptop before it was absorbed by Compaq.
1994. Not really noteworthy other than the Digital name
http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=613
P.S.S. and related to Pentium and DEC ... here is one of DEC's early (but
not the first) Pentium machine
http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=585
17 Jun
17 Jun
1:34 a.m.
Neat! I used to have a Deskpro 50M that I used for a long time - this
was back when it was only kind of obsolete. It was the 486 version of
this. I gave it away when I moved many years ago and haven't found
another one since. I kind of miss that box, it was... interesting.
Neat to see one that survived!
-Ian
On Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 12:43 AM, william degnan <billdegnan at gmail.com> wrote:
I know I keep pushing the boundary of vintage lately
but I wanted to report
to those who care that I finally got my hands on a 1993 Compaq 5/60M - this
is "a if not the" first desktop computer with a Pentium processor installed
stock. it was the 1993 "dream machine - $9000+ It had an EISA bus and
was otherwise a 486 system with a Pentium controller card, not on the
motherboard. Pentium computers' contribution to the WWW era vintage is
extremely significant.
Pentium killed the minicomputer, or at a minimum merged into it, if you ask
me. The interplay between DEC/Compaq/HP/Intel 1992-1995 culminating into
the launch of Pentium processor systems is vital to understanding the WWW
era of computing. How these companies worked or did not work together and
how the Pentium vs. the Alpha processor came to be...a good tale of woe and
$$.
For those interested: Compaq 5/60:
http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=612
I have a bunch of articles to post on my site related to the first Pentium
desktops which I will do asap.
Bill
P.S. while we're on this off-sh topic I also posted some photos of a
Digital 486 laptop, DEC had a 486 laptop before it was absorbed by Compaq.
1994. Not really noteworthy other than the Digital name
http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=613
P.S.S. and related to Pentium and DEC ... here is one of DEC's early (but
not the first) Pentium machine
http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=585
2:35 a.m.
Run of the mill PC clones are rather booring. But brand names, oddballs
and first are always fun. I wouldn't mind to have the first DELL machine
in my collection.
I have a DECpc 433 with matching SCSI expansion box. A desktop machine
with some interesting solutions.
/P
On Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 12:43:17AM -0400, william degnan wrote:
I know I keep pushing the boundary of vintage lately
but I wanted to report
to those who care that I finally got my hands on a 1993 Compaq 5/60M - this
is "a if not the" first desktop computer with a Pentium processor installed
stock. it was the 1993 "dream machine - $9000+ It had an EISA bus and
was otherwise a 486 system with a Pentium controller card, not on the
motherboard. Pentium computers' contribution to the WWW era vintage is
extremely significant.
Pentium killed the minicomputer, or at a minimum merged into it, if you ask
me. The interplay between DEC/Compaq/HP/Intel 1992-1995 culminating into
the launch of Pentium processor systems is vital to understanding the WWW
era of computing. How these companies worked or did not work together and
how the Pentium vs. the Alpha processor came to be...a good tale of woe and
$$.
For those interested: Compaq 5/60:
http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=612
I have a bunch of articles to post on my site related to the first Pentium
desktops which I will do asap.
Bill
P.S. while we're on this off-sh topic I also posted some photos of a
Digital 486 laptop, DEC had a 486 laptop before it was absorbed by Compaq.
1994. Not really noteworthy other than the Digital name
http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=613
P.S.S. and related to Pentium and DEC ... here is one of DEC's early (but
not the first) Pentium machine
http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=585
10:54 a.m.
I'd consider it OT ... I miss my IBM 9595 ... with the P60 processor
complex ... I thought it was doubly cool since the CPU was one of the
examples of the Pentium that got shipped with the FDIV bug ... great
machine to play with WNT 3.51/4, or OS/2 3.x or 4.x.
I wouldn't say the P5 killed workstations or midrange ... they had maybe
10-15 years yet to move and shake when the P5 first hit the market ... but
I suppose you are right in that it was probably the first "shot across the
bow".
But time marched on, and now all you see in a full-size computer is x86_64.
Ho hum ... :|
Best,
Sean
On Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 2:35 AM, Pontus Pihlgren <pontus at update.uu.se>
wrote:
Run of the mill PC clones are rather booring. But
brand names, oddballs
and first are always fun. I wouldn't mind to have the first DELL machine
in my collection.
I have a DECpc 433 with matching SCSI expansion box. A desktop machine
with some interesting solutions.
/P
On Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 12:43:17AM -0400, william degnan wrote:
I know I keep pushing the boundary of vintage
lately but I wanted to
report
to those who care that I finally got my hands on
a 1993 Compaq 5/60M -
this
is "a if not the" first desktop
computer with a Pentium processor
installed
stock. it was the 1993 "dream machine -
$9000+ It had an EISA bus and
was otherwise a 486 system with a Pentium controller card, not on the
motherboard. Pentium computers' contribution to the WWW era vintage is
extremely significant.
Pentium killed the minicomputer, or at a minimum merged into it, if you
ask
me. The interplay between DEC/Compaq/HP/Intel
1992-1995 culminating into
the launch of Pentium processor systems is vital to understanding the WWW
era of computing. How these companies worked or did not work together
and
how the Pentium vs. the Alpha processor came to
be...a good tale of woe
and
$$.
For those interested: Compaq 5/60:
http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=612
I have a bunch of articles to post on my site related to the first
Pentium
desktops which I will do asap.
Bill
P.S. while we're on this off-sh topic I also posted some photos of a
Digital 486 laptop, DEC had a 486 laptop before it was absorbed by
Compaq.
1994. Not really noteworthy other than the
Digital name
http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=613
P.S.S. and related to Pentium and DEC ... here is one of DEC's early (but
not the first) Pentium machine
http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=585
10:54 a.m.
Ha, I need to just stop using "OT" since it's ambiguous. On topic, on
topic! :O
Best,
Sean
On Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 10:54 AM, Sean Caron <scaron at umich.edu> wrote:
I'd consider it OT ... I miss my IBM 9595 ... with
the P60 processor
complex ... I thought it was doubly cool since the CPU was one of the
examples of the Pentium that got shipped with the FDIV bug ... great
machine to play with WNT 3.51/4, or OS/2 3.x or 4.x.
I wouldn't say the P5 killed workstations or midrange ... they had maybe
10-15 years yet to move and shake when the P5 first hit the market ... but
I suppose you are right in that it was probably the first "shot across the
bow".
But time marched on, and now all you see in a full-size computer is
x86_64. Ho hum ... :|
Best,
Sean
On Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 2:35 AM, Pontus Pihlgren <pontus at update.uu.se>
wrote:
Run of the mill PC clones are rather booring. But
brand names, oddballs
and first are always fun. I wouldn't mind to have the first DELL machine
in my collection.
I have a DECpc 433 with matching SCSI expansion box. A desktop machine
with some interesting solutions.
/P
On Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 12:43:17AM -0400, william degnan wrote:
I know I keep pushing the boundary of vintage
lately but I wanted to
report
to those who care that I finally got my hands on
a 1993 Compaq 5/60M -
this
is "a if not the" first desktop
computer with a Pentium processor
installed
stock. it was the 1993 "dream machine -
$9000+ It had an EISA bus and
was otherwise a 486 system with a Pentium controller card, not on the
motherboard. Pentium computers' contribution to the WWW era vintage is
extremely significant.
Pentium killed the minicomputer, or at a minimum merged into it, if you
ask
me. The interplay between DEC/Compaq/HP/Intel
1992-1995 culminating
into
the launch of Pentium processor systems is vital
to understanding the
WWW
era of computing. How these companies worked or
did not work together
and
how the Pentium vs. the Alpha processor came to
be...a good tale of woe
and
$$.
For those interested: Compaq 5/60:
http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=612
I have a bunch of articles to post on my site related to the first
Pentium
desktops which I will do asap.
Bill
P.S. while we're on this off-sh topic I also posted some photos of a
Digital 486 laptop, DEC had a 486 laptop before it was absorbed by
Compaq.
1994. Not really noteworthy other than the
Digital name
http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=613
P.S.S. and related to Pentium and DEC ... here is one of DEC's early
(but
not the first) Pentium machine
http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=585
11:21 a.m.
IIRC, they shipped that QVGA card you show on your Compaq P60 page with the
DECpc AXP 150, too, no? Man that thing was awful ... I always lusted after
the "better" card they shipped on that machine (don't recall) that could do
24-bit. I miss that box too ... ah, nostalgia.
Best,
Sean
On Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 10:54 AM, Sean Caron <scaron at umich.edu> wrote:
Ha, I need to just stop using "OT" since
it's ambiguous. On topic, on
topic! :O
Best,
Sean
On Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 10:54 AM, Sean Caron <scaron at umich.edu> wrote:
I'd consider it OT ... I miss my IBM 9595 ...
with the P60 processor
complex ... I thought it was doubly cool since the CPU was one of the
examples of the Pentium that got shipped with the FDIV bug ... great
machine to play with WNT 3.51/4, or OS/2 3.x or 4.x.
I wouldn't say the P5 killed workstations or midrange ... they had maybe
10-15 years yet to move and shake when the P5 first hit the market ... but
I suppose you are right in that it was probably the first "shot across the
bow".
But time marched on, and now all you see in a full-size computer is
x86_64. Ho hum ... :|
Best,
Sean
On Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 2:35 AM, Pontus Pihlgren <pontus at update.uu.se>
wrote:
Run of the mill PC clones are rather booring. But
brand names, oddballs
and first are always fun. I wouldn't mind to have the first DELL machine
in my collection.
I have a DECpc 433 with matching SCSI expansion box. A desktop machine
with some interesting solutions.
/P
On Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 12:43:17AM -0400, william degnan wrote:
I know I keep pushing the boundary of vintage
lately but I wanted to
report
to those who care that I finally got my hands on
a 1993 Compaq 5/60M -
this
is "a if not the" first desktop
computer with a Pentium processor
installed
stock. it was the 1993 "dream machine -
$9000+ It had an EISA bus
and
was otherwise a 486 system with a Pentium
controller card, not on the
motherboard. Pentium computers' contribution to the WWW era vintage is
extremely significant.
Pentium killed the minicomputer, or at a minimum merged into it, if
you ask
me. The interplay between DEC/Compaq/HP/Intel
1992-1995 culminating
into
the launch of Pentium processor systems is vital
to understanding the
WWW
era of computing. How these companies worked or
did not work together
and
how the Pentium vs. the Alpha processor came to
be...a good tale of
woe and
$$.
For those interested: Compaq 5/60:
http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=612
I have a bunch of articles to post on my site related to the first
Pentium
desktops which I will do asap.
Bill
P.S. while we're on this off-sh topic I also posted some photos of a
Digital 486 laptop, DEC had a 486 laptop before it was absorbed by
Compaq.
1994. Not really noteworthy other than the
Digital name
http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=613
P.S.S. and related to Pentium and DEC ... here is one of DEC's early
(but
not the first) Pentium machine
http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=585
3:55 p.m.
I haven't opened the DECpc to check to see if it was an EISA QVGA card or
not.
On Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 11:21 AM, Sean Caron <scaron at umich.edu> wrote:
IIRC, they shipped that QVGA card you show on your
Compaq P60 page with the
DECpc AXP 150, too, no? Man that thing was awful ... I always lusted after
the "better" card they shipped on that machine (don't recall) that could
do
24-bit. I miss that box too ... ah, nostalgia.
Best,
Sean
On Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 10:54 AM, Sean Caron <scaron at umich.edu> wrote:
Ha, I need to just stop using "OT"
since it's ambiguous. On topic, on
topic! :O
Best,
Sean
On Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 10:54 AM, Sean Caron <scaron at umich.edu> wrote:
> I'd consider it OT ... I miss my IBM 9595 ... with the P60 processor
> complex ... I thought it was doubly cool since the CPU was one of the
> examples of the Pentium that got shipped with the FDIV bug ... great
> machine to play with WNT 3.51/4, or OS/2 3.x or 4.x.
>
> I wouldn't say the P5 killed workstations or midrange ... they had maybe
> 10-15 years yet to move and shake when the P5 first hit the market ...
but
> I suppose you are right in that it was
probably the first "shot across
the
> bow".
>
> But time marched on, and now all you see in a full-size computer is
> x86_64. Ho hum ... :|
>
> Best,
>
> Sean
>
>
> On Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 2:35 AM, Pontus Pihlgren <pontus at update.uu.se>
> wrote:
>
>> Run of the mill PC clones are rather booring. But brand names, oddballs
>> and first are always fun. I wouldn't mind to have the first DELL
machine
>> in my collection.
>>
>> I have a DECpc 433 with matching SCSI expansion box. A desktop machine
>> with some interesting solutions.
>>
>> /P
>>
>> On Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 12:43:17AM -0400, william degnan wrote:
>> > I know I keep pushing the boundary of vintage lately but I wanted to
>> report
>> > to those who care that I finally got my hands on a 1993 Compaq 5/60M
-
>> this
>> > is "a if not the" first desktop computer with a Pentium processor
>> installed
>> > stock. it was the 1993 "dream machine - $9000+ It had an EISA bus
>> and
>> > was otherwise a 486 system with a Pentium controller card, not on the
>> > motherboard. Pentium computers' contribution to the WWW era vintage
is
>> > extremely significant.
>> >
>> > Pentium killed the minicomputer, or at a minimum merged into it, if
>> you ask
>> > me. The interplay between DEC/Compaq/HP/Intel 1992-1995 culminating
>> into
>> > the launch of Pentium processor systems is vital to understanding the
>> WWW
>> > era of computing. How these companies worked or did not work
together
and
> how the Pentium vs. the Alpha processor came to be...a good tale of
woe and
> $$.
>
> For those interested: Compaq 5/60:
> http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=612
>
> I have a bunch of articles to post on my site related to the first
Pentium
> desktops which I will do asap.
>
> Bill
>
> P.S. while we're on this off-sh topic I also posted some photos of a
> Digital 486 laptop, DEC had a 486 laptop before it was absorbed by
Compaq.
> 1994. Not really noteworthy other than the Digital name
> http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=613
>
> P.S.S. and related to Pentium and DEC ... here is one of DEC's early
(but
> not the first) Pentium machine
> http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=585
3324
days inactive
3324
days old
6 comments
4 participants
participants (4)
-
billdegnan＠gmail.com -
ian.primus.ccmp＠gmail.com -
pontus＠Update.UU.SE -
scaron＠umich.edu