Date: Mon, 06 Jan 1997 20:30:50 -0500 (EST) From: wb2oyc@cyberenet.net To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: re: Good buy or not? Message-ID: <XFMail.970106203446.wb2oyc@cyberenet.net>
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Dave, Thanks for the reply....and I did buy it! Its nice. A real nice surprise. I called their 800 pre-sales help number just before I did go for it, and they were very helpful. It is a much better machine than I expected it would be. It is a model 4240. I was concerned that it had a cheapo monitor, but it actually has a very good one (better than my NEC) as a matter of fact! And its not the little, low profile type box either. And it is standard thruout, including memory, etc. This machine had an original selling price of $1649; was discounted last fall to $1199, and I got it for $698! I think I did good; real good! wb2oyc@cyberenet.net writes: > I wonder if anyone on the list may have experience with Packard > Bell machines, running FreeBSD? The reason for the question is, a local > store is selling excess stock that didn't sell during the holiday season > at a price that is very, very, tempting. Actually, the price is only a > little more than the cost of a decent motherboard, and it is for a > complete system, including monitor, 4X CD-ROM, etc. The processor is a > 75Mhz Pentium. I don't know the whole story of the Pentium line, but > would it be reasonable to assume that the cpu could be readily upgraded? > Thats a detail that might depend entirely on the capability of the board > in the machine, and I know little about PB, other than the adverse stories > of the recent past. Are they still using "refurbished" stuff and selling > it as new? Do their machines use standard memory components, so they > could be easily upgraded with parts from other vendors, etc? They don't > mention the vendor, but the machine includes an video accelerator type of > card, and the machine is billed as a "multimedia home PC". The monitor is > one of those goofy looking things with speakers glued to its sides. It is > a model 4240. Anyone have any comments on its insides, and whether it > might be as good a buy as it appears to be? The system you describe is very much like the one I have, and I do run FreeBSD on it. As for upgrades, Intel is currently selling a 125 MHz upgrade for 75 MHz Pentiums. # # Yep, that was my goal. To get to a Pentium machine, that I could # readily upgrade the cpu by plugging one in! I couldn't get 2.1.5 to # install due to the detect the CD problem, so I installed Debian, which # works flawlessly, including the CD! # As for components, I've had no problems installing 4 MB and 8 MB SIMMs, and I also installed a USRobotics 28.8 Kbps internal modem, no problem. # # Yes, I did buy 8MB additional memory, but haven't installed it yet. # I don't want to break the seal on the back of the box to put it in. # I decided to wait until I get the chance to grab a cpu upgrade chip # and then I'll go the memory at that same time. # # Oh, it came with a 14.4K modem/fax card also. It works fine. I used it # under the installed Win 95 last nite. # My machine has a Cirrus Logic GD5434 graphics chip, and it seems fine, though I don't have much to compare it to. And yes, I have the monitor with the goofy speakers. You wouldn't *HAVE* to use those speakers, though. # # Is yours the same model; 4240? I haven't put the speakers on and # probably won't actually. I'm not into the audio stuff, so have no need # for it really. This one also has the same CL chipset. XFree86 supports # it nicely. # > My current machine is an old 486 box, and I need space for an No opinion there--I'm pretty much a novice in the PC game. # # Well, I appreciate your candor. Sure beats the hell out of the rhetoric # I've heard elsewhere.... :) Oh, I got a email response from them also. # I had checked their Web site, and found this model was not current in # their product lineup. So I sent a query. And they answered today. # Plus their 800 number help line was very useful to me too. But, the # girl there told me the disk interface was not EIDE! Well, she was wrong # as I found out; pleased to say! # I think I did good; real good! Paul
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