Date: 05 Jan 1997 13:24:48 -0600 From: Dave Marquardt <marquard@Zilker.NET> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Good buy or not? Message-ID: <8520bzc4cf.fsf@localhost.my.domain> In-Reply-To: wb2oyc@cyberenet.net's message of Sun, 05 Jan 1997 09:27:44 -0500 (EST) References: <XFMail.970105092857.wb2oyc@cyberenet.net>
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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. 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. 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. > My current machine is an old 486 box, and I need space for an > additional HD, etc. Running an AMD 486/133, so this machine would not > really be much of an upgrade in itself in terms of performance, but if > possible, I would quickly upgrade its cpu and memory. Would this be a > decent platform to build on or not? No opinion there--I'm pretty much a novice in the PC game. -Dave
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