OT? Compaq 5/60M

Sean Caron scaron at umich.edu
Wed Jun 17 10:21:51 CDT 2015


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
>>>
>>
>>
>


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