Re: Good buy or not?
I agree about the modem. The modem was below standard. That was it
though. I have 16K cache, not to bad for 100. When I bought it, that was
standard. Software stinks, but most machines it does, unless you buy top
end, then you get the office suites. My video card is mid range cirrus.
1MB. Not bad at all. 486 machines are ALOT slower than Pentiums by
nature. Also, Packard Bell's Pentium line is much better than the 486
Line.
----------
> From: Shaya Potter <spotter@itd.nrl.navy.mil>
> To: Thomas Veldhouse <veldy@visi.com>; Dale Scheetz <dwarf@polaris.net>
> Cc: wb2oyc@cyberenet.net; Debian-Users <debian-user@lists.debian.org>
> Subject: Re: Good buy or not?
> Date: Monday, January 06, 1997 4:36 PM
>
> At 08:23 AM 1/6/97 -0600, Thomas Veldhouse wrote:
> >I tend to disagree with the following argument. My Packard Bell is a
> >Pentium 100 MHz. I bought it with 8Megs memory and a 1 Gig HD. I now
> >have 32 Megs memory (PNY) and two hard drives (2 Gig and a 1 Gig), also
an
> >IDE CD-ROM. I have had no problem upgrading. You do really have to
pull
> >the computer apart to get to some of the parts, but nothing to tough. I
> >have been very satisfied with it. It had all good parts inside, nothing
> >second rate. Seagate hard drive. I would recommend it if you get a
good
> >deal on it. I have had mine for over a year and I have had no problems,
> >and the thing is on more than it is off.
> >
>
> I disagree with your disagreement for the following reasons. I am
> currently typing this message on a packard bell 486 and this machine
> STINKS. I have now upgraded it to 20 meg of Ram and the machine is much
> slower than our other 486 when it had 8 meg of ram in it. This particular
> machine came with no cache, and I have seen other, more recent, models
also
> advertised without cache. The video card sucks, I am considering buying
a
> new one, but I don't want to waste my money on this junk bucket. The
> modems that they use seem to be below standard quality and when you come
> down to it, you are paying for software which you are never going to use.
>
> Shaya
>
> >
> >On Mon, 6 Jan 1997, Dale Scheetz wrote:
> >
> >
> >> On Sun, 5 Jan 1997 wb2oyc@cyberenet.net wrote:
> >>
> >> > I wonder if anyone on the list may have experience with Packard
> >> > Bell machines, running Debian ? 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?
> >> >
> >> > 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?
> >> >
> >> My experience with Packard-Bell machines is that these folks made a
decent
> >> car an an ok telephone, but their computer stinks worse than a
landfill of
> >> diapers. These machines are almost completely NONE upgradable. They
are
> >> typically incompatable with all other components (memory etc) and in
order
> >> to get their "low profile" design they mount expansion boards
horizontaly
> >> rather than virtically, typically giving only 2 or 3 expansion slots.
> >> Literally everything is on the mother board, so if the least thing
breaks,
> >> you own a "not so functional" boat anchor.
> >> If you never need to upgrade or fix them, they are just fine for
"limited"
> >> applications, but my advice would be, upgrade to a pentium mother
board
> >> (PCI) and you will get two ide channels to hang drives on. Spend the
rest
> >> of your money on memory and drives. You will be much happier with the
> >> results. Remember: You get what you pay for!
> >>
> >> Luck,
> >>
> >> Dwarf
> >>
> >> ------------ --------------
> >>
> >> aka Dale Scheetz Phone: 1 (904) 656-9769
> >> Flexible Software 11000 McCrackin Road
> >> e-mail: dwarf@polaris.net Tallahassee, FL 32308
> >>
> >> ------------ If you don't see what you want, just ask --------------
> >>
> >>
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> >>
> >
> >
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