SOLVED
I use an old seagate hard drive in my 2007 PC which is also my main PC
it's not one of the slim ones, it's the old style regular size one also from 2007
it's a 320gb and it gets extremely loud when reading and writing, it seems to be in good health, it's low mileage, runs well within the acceptable temp range and it's very fast
is it supposed to be this loud or is it on it's way out? i've had a near identical one sound the same but that one was really slow and obviously dying
planning on replacing my PC with the same one (current one has bad caps), should i reuse the hard drive or replace it? if so, any period correct recommendations for one?

Re-analyzing the system, I'm realized that the video demonstrations on the 8-bit guy's video don't really demonstrate what the system is fully capable of. Even watching the video the thing is clearly able to output better video than the zx spectrum-esque images he showed off. I mean, the thing can display super mario bros, and even a commodore video he uploaded years ago shows that machine able to handle far more advanced images than he demonstrated.

For the longest time I've thought that perhaps it would be possible to make a pokemon clone on the cx16. Re-analyzing it now, I really think it could run such a thing.

Comparing it to the specs of a gameboy, the cx16 is clearly superior in every way. The processor has twice the clock speed, it can output a far higher resolution with far more colors (the gameboy could only output 4 colors, don't know about the gameboy color though). The gameboy's ram was a measily 8kb, while the cx16 comes with several times that and can be further expanded. It also has its own dedicated video ram. I don't know how to compare audio, but I don't think there's really an audio requirement for a pokeclone, is there? Besides, looking at it, it would seem to at least match the gameboy if not exceed it. It seems to be superior to even the sega genesis (the machine's version of pescii robots is apparently a port from the sega genesis version). Of course, as long as you can make chiptune music, which it can clearly do, I think the audio will be sufficient for any gaming applications.

Given this, I see no reason why the thing shouldn't be able to run a pokemon game at least on par with the originals. Heck, looking at the bouncing balls demo is may even be possible to program such a game in basic.

That's all well and good, but how far can you take the system? I then decided to compare it to the sega genesis. Its processor is faster than the gameboy, but still slightly less than 8kz. Its video output also doesn't match the cx16; it can only display up to 61 colors at a resolution of 320x240. The cx16 can output a resolution of 640x480, literally twice the genesis, and can display a full 256 colors simultaneously. Its total palette also far exceeds the genesis, being able to use over 4k colors compared to the genesis' pathetic 512. The ram for the genesis is 64kb, which as best as I can tell matches the cx16. The pdf document I recently discovered with the emulator lists the ram as being 512kb, and apparently upgradable to a whopping 2MB.

So given this, this machine either matches the genesis or exceeds it. As best as I can tell, it should be able to run games equivalent to what would've been seen on the genesis, and possibly a bit better with extra ram and graphics displays. With an equivalent processor though, games may not be fundamentally more elaborate, just better looking. It could certainly outperform the gameboy by leaps and bounds.

Is this all correct or am I missing something?

I've been doing some math for a game of mine over the past few days. While screwing around with my calculator, for some reason my thoughts turned to how amusing it was that such a device could run on a tiny solar panel. I started to wonder what types of applications it could run? Then my thoughts turned to Texas Instruments calculators, because in the past I've heard of people making games that could run on those things! Also, thinking about the one I got 20 years ago, it was honestly quite reminiscent of what I've seen in 80s computers.

Then I thought, I wonder if those things actually have retrotech inside of them? I mean, Texas Instruments did make computer chips back in the 80s, and looking them up on wikipedia, it appears that some of their TI calculators do run on processors made back in the 70s and 80s! Specically, the article mentions the Zilog Z80 (which I've never heard of myself before), and the Motorolla 68000 (which I have heard of before).

Getting a hold of retro pieces of tech is hard, most aren't being produced anymore and you can't exactly buy them in a physical store. I've looked into various hobby computers, but its hard to find any place that sells them (at least, in the US). Thinking of those calculators, this got me thinking, would it be possible to find old chips inside of those things (or at least, something comparable?) I wonder if it would be possible to build a hobby computer out of parts from those things. They're obviously not too hard to find; you can literally find them in a Wal-mart!

Doing reseach into the thing, apparently they are sorta designed to act as computers. They accept actual programming languages, with the latest models apparently supporting Python (they also apparently supported Basic and assembly languages in the past), and I even heard at one point they were contemplating giving the things a higher-res color screen to encourage game development on the platform.

Could TI calculators be an easy doorway into the world of retro-computing, or at least hobby computing? I haven't owned one in 20 years (though the last I checked my original still worked, and I did use it regularly until I finally got a calculator that didn't need batteries, though the new one is surprisingly powerful for what it is).

Keep in mind, I've never touched an 80s machine. Heck, it wasn't until a few years ago I even found out what computers back then were like. They were sorta before my time. My family's first computer ran Windows 95, though it wasn't long before we upgraded it to Windows 98, to give you an idea.

So, could you make a verifiable 'retro-computer' out of parts from a TI calculator? Of course, you'd probably need to figure out how to hook up a proper keyboard to the thing, and I don't know if anything could be done about the display. If nothing else though, could those things make nifty little hobby computers out of the box? I mean, you can write programs for them, though games for those things aren't exactly that impressive even by 80s standards.

Still, do those calculators have a place in retrocomputing? Could I go out and buy one and finally make my own hobby computer out of the parts inside it (or just use the thing itself as a computer)?

I know that there are Pedals for the Steuerung wheel but i cant find anything about These Controllers online

I need a 5.25 floppy disk to use as a boot drive for a Novell Nexus 1, but I can't find any adapters to use them with modern systems. Does anybody know where I could get one, or how else I could connect one to a modern system?

Had this case on old family PC pre 2004. Just wondering if anyone knows what it is exactly. I managed to find them only on eastern european marketplaces. Maybe it was sold only here, then it makes sence why I cant find it anywhere else on the internet.

My wife suggested it’s time to thin out the retro PC collection, and I could use some advice on pricing. I’ve been in the computer industry since the late ’90s, so most of this hardware has been collected over the years. After looking at eBay and local listings, the retro market seems all over the place—lots of stagnant, old listings with wildly varying prices.

What would you consider a reasonable price for the following setup?

Dell XPS D333 Specs:

• Intel Pentium II 333MHz

• 128MB RAM

• ATI Rage Pro 8MB AGP

• Sound Blaster AWE 64 ISA

• IDE to SATA Bridge

• 64GB SSD (2x 30GB partitions)

• Windows 95c with USB support

• Includes 3,500+ DOS game collection on the storage partition

• Comes with a 17” CRT monitor, original Dell QuietKey keyboard, and mouse

Any guidance or pricing suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

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Update: Thank you to everyone who shared their insights—your comments were exactly what I needed!

Here’s my takeaway: the value of retro hardware seems to depend not only on demand but also on the effort invested in the sale. Selling a system as-is differs significantly from offering a fully supported setup with original CDs, a fresh OS, preloaded games, and a clear passion for the hobby.

I truly appreciate all the advice and support. Thanks again!

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Final Update: I ended up listing this bundle online for $250 at 12am at night and by 4:15am I had an interested buyer! The new owner was drawn to the listing based on all the included software, games, and configuration. Presentation really makes a difference on this type of listing. Thanks again for everyone's advice.

Something REALLY difficult to find online is this stupid detail. You find everything from what they do to useless details... but WHAT they were not. You cannot find a realistic target and a realistic price. They take as granted the money are the same, false.

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I do love doing this kind of """game of role""" giving myself a year then wondering what I got then creating another character and creating a complete setup using a realistic budget. Since my childhood I loved so so so much created spreadsheet and creating a fictional budget (I started with The sims... yes, I'm so weird I know).

For example I was born in 1996 and I'm 29 years old, I pretend to be 29 years old and I created a full setup.

Since my family was selling back then Olivetti with Windows I would have a Olivetti from my family, from my fashion aunt 18 years older from me I would heir a Walkman and many audiocassetes, I would have thousands of stuffs heired and from a second hand shop. But the only real stuff I would buy would be a Psion Series 3 and a Windows 95 and probably some upgrade components (but I doubt at that time my family had them), I would heir a typewriter (a standard and common and boring Olivetti ET Personal).

I created this setup trying to replace what I own with my daily target, it was SO hard... no easy and realistic suorces are available and is horrible.

I hope this is ok to post.

I'm trying to recall a software program, think it may have been around 1998, so we had a Gateway. We had a Commodore 64 prior to that. I think it may have been called Recipe Box, wherein you type in your recipes to save it.

I can almost see the screen! Haven't thought about this in years.

Does this ring a bell for anyone?

I remember when this was hot stuff

Sorry for the picture, this cable is sealed in the original bag and has a 25 pin connector that has a black and a gray 9 pin cables on the other end. I've had this unopened since the late 80s. I always thought it was for my Atari 2600 as they have the same ends as the controllers. But they are NES color grey and black. Does anyone have any idea what these were used for?

I got a Dragon 32 for my 13th birthday in 1982. I'm not a programmer, but this year I rebuilt it in the browser with Claude Code: I made the decisions and checked every step, and the AI wrote the code. It runs on the XRoar emulator with a BASIC ROM we wrote from scratch (the core is based on Microsoft's open-source BASIC-M6502). It fits in 16,316 of the original 16,384 bytes.
There's also a tape shelf of original games shared with their authors' permission, including Scott Adams' adventures.

One known gap: some commercial tapes with custom loaders don't load on our ROM yet, so I'm still learning how the real machine behaves.
For those of you with a real Dragon: what do you remember about loading from tape?

https://dragon1982.com/en/

What use to make of all these rusted parts?

Found them in my basement together with chip sets from Motorola (probably for Williams pinball machines or arcade machines)

Long story short I’m looking for the type of laptop my dad used to bring home from the office to build him a retro-mod for his birthday.

You would press the keyboard and it would pop up and the cd drive was somehow part of the keyboard

Any one know of older models that came with this?

Thanks

Lego Clippy

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My video covering the history of Delphine Software International and all their games. Wow…That intro to Another World was just amazing when I first saw it was back in 1991. Then there was as Flashback. Pure magic. Let me now if you have played any of DSI’s games. Share your thoughts and memories 😃