ancientelectronics

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retro computing and gaming plus a little more

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Packard Bell Multimedia E156
Aug 19, 2026 · original
Another article, another Packard Bell. This time, we are looking at the Packard Bell Multimedia E156 socket 7-based PC from the mid to late1990s. This model uses a pretty uninspired-looking block case, though it does use their popular “frog style” design with the lower grey trim. On the front, we have 3 5.25-inch bays and a single 3 1/2 bay. The smaller bay has a 1.44MB floppy drive installed, while two of the 5.25-inch bays are occupied by a 16x CD-ROM drive and a ZIP drive. It appears the ZIP drive and the CD drive may be original; it doesn’t match up with the front sticker, which claims this PC came with a slower 14x drive. Other than that we have a nice round power button, dual LED lights for power and HDD activity and a reset button. Looking at the back there is a standard 3-prong power connector as well as all our built-in I/O in the nice row to the left. Starting from the top and
Macintosh 9600 Tsunami motherboard
Jun 24, 2026 · original
The Power Macintosh we will be looking at today is the highly desirable Power Macintosh 9600, released in 1997. The 9600 was a flagship PowerMac and this is reflected in the incredible expandability of this machine, which we will see in this article. I picked up my 9600 several years ago from Craigslist when they were still relatively affordable. Thanks to Macintosh collectability and demand for this specific model, they can be quite expensive these days. The 9600 tower, as seen above, is both bulky and quite heavy, making moving it around a literal pain. The Tower itself has three 5 1/2 inch bays, with the top of the tower having a cutout for a standard 1.44MB floppy drive to be installed. My particular tower has a CD-ROM drive and floppy installed, although it wasn’t uncommon to see ZIP drives installed in one of the 5 1/2 inch bays via an adaptor. One interesting aspect of this tower
Emachines Etower 600is
Feb 4, 2026 · original
Emachines was a computer brand that hit the market back in 1998. They were marketed as budget-friendly computers that could be easily used by the family for things like email, homework, and light gaming. They generally used lower-cost budget components and had a motherboard that, although capable, usually had fewer options and expandability to higher end offerings. The emachine line did come with a branded mouse, monitor, and keyboard, but unfortunately, I only have the keyboard. The keyboard features a number of special buttons to open up predetermined webpages. The overall quality is okay, but the keys feel a bit “squishy”. The computer we will be taking a look at in this article is the Etower 600is from the year 2000. My particular machine is mostly stock, with very little upgrading done when I received it. Mine also seems to have the original CD-ROM drive, which, from what I’ve seen,
Dell GXL 5133
Nov 6, 2025 · original
Today, we’re going to take a look at another OEM Dell from the mid-90s, this time from the venerable Optiplex series of home computers. The computer we are looking at is the Dell OptiPlex GXL 5133. As you can see in the image above, this PC comes in the desktop format and, in my opinion, looks pretty stylish. In the center of the case, we have a large round power button with a power LED fixed in the center and immediately below that, a HDD activity LED, followed by a reset button. The case is pretty slim and only offers two 5 1/4 bays, which I have taken up by a CD-ROM drive and a 1.44MB 3 1/2 inch floppy drive in a 5 1/4 adaptor. As we can see from the back, the GXL 5133 has a lot built in. On the far left, we have a standard power supply. Starting at about the center of the case, we have three 1/8 audio jacks for line in, line out, and mic. Also in the center of the case, we have a 10B
IBM XT 5160
Sep 2, 2025 · original
On this blog, we previously looked at the original IBM PC 5150 as well as the much more advanced IBM AT 5170, but in this post, we are going to look at the machine IBM released in between those two iconic computers of the 1980s, the IBM XT 5160. The IBM XT or IBM eXtended Technology was released in 1983, about two years after the original IBM PC 5150. Overall, the XT is more or less a small upgrade and refinement of the original PC. Many of these improvements were either refinements to the motherboard or simply included things in the stock configuration, such as a higher amount of base memory or the inclusion of a hard drive. The most impactful change from the PC to the XT, in my opinion, was the increase in ISA slots from the PC’s five to the now-standard eight. This increase of three 8-bit ISA slots gave a lot more wiggle room for expansion and set the standard for all IBM compatibles
Amstrad PPC512
Dec 30, 2024 · original
When I saw Amstrad labeled on my newest computer pickup I was a little surprised. I knew Amstrad as a European PC company but I wasn’t aware they had sold any portable computers in the USA let alone one that was as popular as the PPC512 which has quite a dedicated fan base. The PPC512 is an IBM-compatible meant to beat IBM at their own game by creating an IBM-type PC at a lower cost. The PPC512 was a portable or “pluggable” computer released in 1987 and is notable for its good balance of low weight and power. When I found mine it came complete with its carrying case as well as all the extras such as an external power supply, car adaptor, disks, and manual, all working and in good condition. Before we move on I do need to address the Amstrad PPC640, this is virtually the same computer just in a darker color case a full 640k of RAM installed and possibly the optional modem included. When c
PC Positive 286
Oct 12, 2024 · original
I came across the PC Positive 286 quite by accident. I was scrolling through the Facebook marketplace and saw an ad for a TV set someone was selling. Way in the back of the image was a small nondescript beige brick, most people probably wouldn’t even have noticed this, but my eyes immediately zeroed in on it. after getting an affirmative from the seller on whether the beige object was an old computer and if it was for sale I was on my way and found myself the owner of a PCPositive 286 A Google search revealed nothing about the company, PC Positive, or its computers. I will say this though, out of the box, the PC Positive 286 is one of the best OEM 286 computers I’ve ever run. The case itself is a lower profile desktop case with dual 3 1/2 and dual 5 1/4 bays. Mine is configured with a 1.44 MB and 1.2MB floppy drive but there’s nothing stopping anyone from moving the 3.5-inch drive to a s
NBI 4200
Sep 3, 2024 · original
NBI or NBI Incorporated was a computer company based out of the state of Colorado that went out of business in 1991. They seemed to have mostly focused on word processing but they did release IBM-compatible computers, one of which we will be looking at today. The NBI 4200 is a 10MHz 286-based PC. The case is a beige desktop and pretty standard-looking for the era, with three 5 1/4 drive bays on the far right. On the left and below the case label we have a keylock system as well as a reset button and lights for power and hard disk activity. The reset button seems to use a dome switch and only requires a light press to activate. Overall, it’s pretty unsatisfying. The power LED is a bit interesting as it has the default CPU speed listed under it. There is no turbo button on this case so I assume there is some keyboard key press combo that will downclock the system speed and presumably chang
Compaq Deskpro EN/SB
Aug 4, 2024 · original
Today we will be looking at, yet again, another Compaq Deskpro. This machine is quite similar to the Deskpro EN we looked at a few months ago. The case itself is a dual desktop/tower style and can be placed in either orientation. There is a power button as well as an LED for power and HDD activity near roughly center of the case. There are also dual 5 1/4 drive bays as well as a single molded 3 1/2 bay that looks like it only accepts floppy drives but it may be possible to mount a zip drive or something of a similar style. On the rear of the case, we have a standard 3-prong power connector. Looking at the rear connectors starting on the left we have dual USB (1 or 1.2), dual PS/2 ports for the keyboard and mouse, a parallel port, and dual serial ports. This is followed by six slots to add any expansion cards. Taking off the case top we get a nice sticker with some switch settings. Lookin
Dell Dimension L series (L433c)
Jun 15, 2024 · original
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’ve always been a fan of the Dell Dimension series from the late 90s. They are aesthetically pleasing, are generally pretty powerful and capable for their time, and make great Win 9x machines. Today I’ll be looking at the L series, Dell’s more budget-oriented Dimension computer, specifically the L433c. The case still has that signature Dell Dimension flair to it but it is smaller than other Dimension cases we have looked at here prior. Prior Dimensions we have looked at both have two 5 1/4 bays as well as three 3.5-inch bays. The L series case has much more limited expansion opportunities with only a single 5 1/4 bay and a single 3.5-inch bay, though there is a dedicated bay for a 3.5-inch floppy drive so the upper one can still be utilized for something like a ZIP drive if so desired. The case does have a slightly rounded top which can make st

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