Compaq DeskPro 386/25M - The Modular Fun Machine

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Күн бұрын

Just in time for #DOSember we are digging out my Compaq 386/25M and taking a look at it. A modular business class machine which has been repurposed into what can be best described as a classic gaming machine. Join me as we go through it, take it apart and play some games... of course!
Find me on Twitter: @RiksRandomRetro
Music Licenses:
Etakneon - Gemini
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Alex Kremer - Behind the Gate
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Stereoprism - Dimension Bridge
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Willmore - Hotel Venus
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Videos Featured:
The Compaq Story Part 3 of 3: • THE COMPAQ STORY - Par...
Deskpro M Series Training Tape: • Compaq DeskPro/M from ...
0:00 Intro
0:46 Overview
2:06 Compaq Story
4:25 Take Apart
9:45 Cleaning
11:55 Put Back Together
13:35 Finished Product
15:25 Bootup
17:45 Battle Isle
18:25 Commander Keen
19:05 TMNT The Manhattan Missions
19:55 Holiday Lemmings
20:35 Business Software
21:05 Outro
#vintagecomputer #compaq #retropc

Пікірлер: 43

@RiksRandomRetro 3 жыл бұрын

Correction: I'm learning things about EISA I didn't know! It was pointed out to me that all the standard slots on the motherboard are EISA capable and looking at the video card it's an EISA model while the sound card is standard ISA.

@NCommander 3 жыл бұрын

I'm currently restoring one of these, and I just went through EISA configuration hell on mine. Drop a line, I can give EISA tips. kzfaq.info

@Dave-gc7sq 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the memories! I remember the early 90's

@RiksRandomRetro 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Dave! Always fun to share this hobby and get that nostalgia kick going.

@RetroPC 3 жыл бұрын

This channel is going to be huge. Love your videos!

@RiksRandomRetro 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks really appreciate it! I'll remember this comment when I'm driving my gold plated Ferrari in a few years! ;)

@RetroPC 3 жыл бұрын

@@RiksRandomRetro Just remember to come pick me up! 😆

@BrunoFonsecaPT Жыл бұрын

I had one of these when I was a kid... so many good memories! Thanks for this great video...

@RiksRandomRetro Жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching and glad you enjoyed it! It's a fun computer!

@stotto68 3 жыл бұрын

My inner geek really enjoyed the uninterrupted boot up. Thanks for posting!

@RiksRandomRetro 3 жыл бұрын

Haha glad you enjoyed it. I do love a good and nice boot up sequence. The nostalgia of the anticipation of sitting down at the computer for the evening. Certainly felt more like an event compared to these days!

@jrocco36 Жыл бұрын

I still have one of these. Mine is the Compaq Deskpro 486/33m that I've upgraded to the Pentium 83mhz over drive processor. It also came with built-in "Business Audio" and 1meg EISA video that can support 256 colors at 1024x768 but I run it at 800x600 to get 32k colors. It also had 32k of memory that took forever for the EISA bios to count before it moved on to booting up. This series was really a bullet proof and performed quite well. Back just before Y2K I must have junked hundreds of them. BTW you can get a second hard drive bracket and put another hard disk on the other side of the floppy bay.

@robertthomas3364 2 жыл бұрын

I remember we had one one of these in our office and a Motorola engineer who was visiting saw it and I remember him saying "that's a fast machine"!

@RiksRandomRetro 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome thanks for sharing! It doesn't feel fast by the standards of today of course, but put it next to a 286 and I think the difference is quite remarkable.

@robertthomas3364 2 жыл бұрын

@@RiksRandomRetro We had a IBM PC AT 286 we used before the 386. We paid close to $5,000 for the PC AT and the Compaq 386 cost about $7,000 new. Compaq was wary of the accessory market and every upgrade for the Compaq cost a pretty penny. The PC AT was able to be upgraded very easily. Both the AT 286 and Compaq 386 ended up as data terminals in our factory later.

@SUCRA 3 жыл бұрын

Having a processor card and a memory card is fascinating. Great video, love the history part and the CRT filming was on point. Lovely video!

@RiksRandomRetro 3 жыл бұрын

Yeah I find it to be such a fascinating setup more than anything. Thanks!

@paulb4uk 3 жыл бұрын

Nice pc the full setup looks great together .

@RiksRandomRetro 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks yeah it all sort of works together. Hard to beat the beige combo!

@nateofallnatea 3 жыл бұрын

Love the channel!

@RiksRandomRetro 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks appreciate it!

@helldog3105 3 жыл бұрын

Good idea to remove the pin from the cable. Leaving the card in exactly the state that it originally came in will make certain retro collectors happy. This is a fascinating machine. That's the first EISA video card I have seen. What is the chip on it? Great new video, keep up the cool work!

@RiksRandomRetro 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks! I didn't realize it was an EISA card until it was pointed out and I took a closer look at the connector and sure enough. I'll take another look at the card but I haven't been able to identify much of it yet. Someone had a similar looking card in a video that had a Trident chipset on it so it may be similar here.

@UncleAwesomeRetro 3 жыл бұрын

This video made my breakfast better :) Nice to have a computer with extended isa.

@RiksRandomRetro 3 жыл бұрын

Hah glad I could help! And it's the only eisa machine I have so it's definitely fun to tinker with.

@DjGalaxy88 3 жыл бұрын

Great video! :)

@RiksRandomRetro 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks appreciate it!

@blairlohnes8103 3 жыл бұрын

Sweet! Great video! :)

@RiksRandomRetro 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Happy with how this one turned out so thanks for watching.

@djpirtu2 3 жыл бұрын

I have DeskPro 486/33m and it looks exact the same. CPU is upgraded to DX2/66.

@RiksRandomRetro 3 жыл бұрын

Awesome! I'd honestly love to have a 486 of the same design. This thing is built like a total tank and fun to work with. Great case for a workhorse 486/66.

@JohnSmith-iu8cj Жыл бұрын

My games in this machine were battle chess, pool, 3d tetris, sokoban and mahjong

@RiksRandomRetro Жыл бұрын

Great games, and sounds like great memories!

@RetroSpector78 3 жыл бұрын

Great video ! Nice to see these non-standard pc internals ! Was the 5.25 standard or an upgrade (doesn’t match the color of the other drives)

@RiksRandomRetro 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Yeah it's been an interesting one to explore as I haven't looked much at these modular designs before. And yes for sure the 5.25 was definitely added after the fact based on the mismatched color plus the home fabricated mounting brackets.

@0zzm0dious 3 жыл бұрын

would it not have been easier to just drill a tiny hole where the extra pin goes for that VGA port? XD sweet video, Rik. Love it.

@RiksRandomRetro 3 жыл бұрын

Oh you want a time-lapse/edit of me fumbling with a drill, missing the spot, cussing and scratching up the card ending up throwing it all away? Can do! ... thanks for watching :)

@PixelPipes 3 жыл бұрын

Not a great solution if you don't want to modify or damage the PC in any way.

@0zzm0dious 3 жыл бұрын

@@RiksRandomRetro yes! :P

@ted-b 3 жыл бұрын

I use a heated up safety pin for things like that, IDE cables being one. Less scope for disaster!

@Alcochaser Жыл бұрын

Wow a period janky addition. Compaq did sell 1/3 height 5.25 drives for these. I had one for the longest time. Not sure why, I never had the system it would fit in. I just hooked it up outside the care anytime I needed to read a 5.25. (which wasn't often). The Ram card and processor card sit in proprietary slots. The other slots are standard EISA, which as you see take standard ISA cards just fine. Id probably be tempted to yank the 5.25 and install a periodish CD-ROM drive. Your machine is one of the cleanest and most intact of these I have ever seen.

@RiksRandomRetro Жыл бұрын

It's such a unique setup agreed! I don't have much experience with such modular machines elsewhere so it's really neat. So many proprietary things and you can really tell they thought through the design thoroughly. It's fun to explore and I feel fortunate it's in such good condition!

@White_System 3 жыл бұрын

Le schede vanno toccate solo ali lati, e quando le inserisci , se non hai braccialetto elettrostatico, allora, devi toccare con la mano o l'altra sul telaio per non danneggiarle.