PB Items

[AnuPB]

Hello Everyone,
I would like to focus on Packard Bell. Many Packard Bell Computers came with boatloads of software, like Master CDs and Recovery Diskettes. My dream is to locate as much as I can and make a website with all of them as a museum along with a Prodigy project. I tried around my state (Louisiana) and many forums on the internet but little luck. I received some Packard Bell Items from the considerate ones. If any of you have any of these itemm please let me know, because this will change my life forever. Thanks.

[goontron]

Re: PB Items

the beta archive http://www.betaarchive.com/ is full of Packard bell stuff!

[AnuPB]

Re: PB Items

the beta archive http://www.betaarchive.com/ is full of Packard bell stuff!

Thanks Goontron, but many old CD-ROMS do not read recorded discs. Thus, I am looking for original stuff. I am going to an old computer shop today to see if they have any in storage.

[ratdude747]

Re: PB Items

The local goodwill has a pack of Packard Bell Colored desktop faceplates of some sort new in package for uber cheap. I'll buy those just for you.

[AnuPB]

Re: PB Items

The local goodwill has a pack of Packard Bell Colored desktop faceplates of some sort new in package for uber cheap. I'll buy those just for you.

WOW! YOU HAVE MADE MY DAY! Today was a great day for me. My father bought me a Packard Bell Power Supply for the Platinum 1 Also, a seller mad me a deal and is going to ship me 11 Packard Bell Master CDs. ALL OF YOU ARE AWESOME!

[ratdude747]

Re: PB Items

WOW! YOU HAVE MADE MY DAY! Today was a great day for me. My father bought me a Packard Bell Power Supply for the Platinum 1 Also, a seller mad me a deal and is going to ship me 11 Packard Bell Master CDs. ALL OF YOU ARE AWESOME!

After my Electromagnetics class I'll head out and see if they have it. I think they still do as nobody else would have a use. If they have it, I'll PM you about shipping it to you).

I know this stuff is hard to find... so I help where I can.

[AnuPB]

Re: PB Items

Thanks, I just unloaded A BUNCH of old PCI/Video/Sound Cards which were pulled out of working machines. I am getting more today. If you need anything, ratdude747. Please send me a PM.

[eccerr0r]

Re: PB Items

When I first read the topic, I was thinking why someone would be interested in items made of lead... Then again, the Pb37 Sn63 solder is the solder to use...

[AnuPB]

Re: PB Items

When I first read the topic, I was thinking why someone would be interested in items made of lead... Then again, the Pb37 Sn63 solder is the solder to use...

Haha LOL Chemistry

[AnuPB]

Re: PB Items

sighs ratdude747 had no luck finding those panels, If anyone is kind enough to help me get these panels. The panels come in a Black Container with 3 colors BPCS 160121. more info here. I will be thankful, If someone can get me these http://pbclub.pwcsite.com/PBInfo/PB%...32lay3.asp.htm

[kc8adu]

Re: PB Items

will keep watch here to as we do recycling.

[Topcat]

Re: PB Items

I trashed all my PB junk over a decade ago. As a servicer, I hated seeing anything Putrid Smell....err, Packaged Hell....err, I mean Packard Bell... May I ask why the interest in them?

[AnuPB]

Re: PB Items

I realize PB was bs, but it all started with a Packard Smell Remote which was given to me by my father to mess around with it when I was 6 or 7. I nearly fainted finding OFFICIAL drivers for it. But I liked the design of it and I liked it. I like Packard Smell because of their case designs, The Truth: Hardware and Software was the WORST OF THE DECADE LOL. I just like them for their design and sometimes like the inside :P Riser cards were terrible and just not worth it. Now someone brought up those panels, which in a Facebook Group of PB Users they told me that they were very rare I got interest in them and found a person who had a Packard Bell Legend 105CD with a Azure Trim Panel. Like I said, the panels came in a black container with a Sahara, Teal, and Azure Color. I called the Goodwill location that ratdude747 told me about, and they were sold YESTERDAY I have no idea to find a pack of these, except need to ask my friend who has the Legend 105CD to ask the original owner if he has these panels. Now, if someone has these, I will be THANKFUL for a LONG TIME! I just want these the most! Thanks.

[Ed Herdman]

Re: PB Items

Indeed, it's pure nostalgia. The cases used design cues from Frog Design (Macintosh II / Apple IIc) and the Navigator software was far-out. Not the most practical (in fact, the L90's case layout is the worst I've used, in terms of ease of access, though the extra steel cubes-on-cubes construction is sturdier than most boxes) but it works.

However it happened, mine has been solid over the years, though I'll see what my opinion is like after posting the interior of the PSU. 1996 may have been their last bad year, though by then Compaq (itself not really something to write home about) had beaten PB for price.

[Pentium4]

Re: PB Items

Ahhh, Packard Bell. Nostalgia. I can see the sentimental value. My very first computer was a Packard Bell with a Pentium 66 and 4MB RAM, barely ran Windows 95. I will keep my eye on the stuff getting recycled at work as well
Edit: You know what, I think I have an old PS2 Packard Bell keyboard sitting in my old room at my parents' place. I'll check next time I visit, I remember it having light use and being in good shape.

[Topcat]

Re: PB Items

I have a pair of packard bell speakers that used to mount on the side of the 14" PB CRT monitor. The monitor is long gone. the speakers are somewhere in the attic, and the wall wart that powered the speakers is now powering the scale on my shipping desk.

[AnuPB]

Re: PB Items

So, Topcat, you owned a Packard Bell?

[Topcat]

Re: PB Items

So, Topcat, you owned a Packard Bell?

No, I am a store/servicer. It was something someone brought in and left or traded in.

[Ed Herdman]

Re: PB Items

I have a pair of packard bell speakers that used to mount on the side of the 14" PB CRT monitor.

Those are the only thing off of mine that died, and that happened long ago, heh. Everything else has been solid. I've known about the (deserved!) bad rap PB had for reliability, and then value after Compaq for years, which only makes the continued survival of the machine more interesting.

Didn't think to save the wall wart...that may have come in handy, if it's got the same top-name caps inside that the main machine does. All the wall wart transformers I've got just seem to have junky caps inside, unfortunately. I wonder if that's ever made a difference.

Packard Smell...ahah...that's bringing up some memories too.

For all the bad noise about them, their '97 software pack-in was pretty nice, I thought. A free photo editor, a seemingly competent Aztech (?) software sound file mixing program, coupla Sega games, some variety of Encarta, and of course the famous Navigator software (random sound effects!).

[Heihachi_73]

Re: PB Items

I have the PB speakers sans monitor as well.

The wall wart has been powering a Sega Master System II for years (it would probably work with a NES as well*, but the jack doesn't fit). 9V DC 1A center-positive. SMS2 only needs 500mA according to the label under the unit but it doesn't seem to care.

* Just about anything works with a toaster NES, they have 9V AC input instead of DC (1.3A is what the power brick provides, at least with the PAL version).

For AnuPB I have included a photo of my Packard Bell 486 desktop from 1994 (acquired from the roadside waste collection some years ago). The Pentium 166 case is exactly the same but is in poor condition; the only difference is the Intel sticker having "Pentium" written under it, and the model name being "Executive" as opposed to "486SX2-50". The CPU inside this 486 box is a DX4/100 however, and this seems to be the only upgrade this PC has ever had - it even retains Windows 95, its dying 340MB hard drive (not 540MB as I thought) and a paltry 8MB of RAM!

Edit: Unfortunately, the original Packard Bell keyboard (with the Pentium 166) was water damaged in 2012 with a bunch of other keyboards, they were all stored inside a plastic tub in the garage near the door, which ended up 1/4 full of water as the door had been left open overnight. Naturally, a 100uF Su'scon was on the submerged PCB and puked its guts everywhere, giving a open/low capacitance reading on my ESR70 (the only other cap, a Su'scon 2.2uF 50V was still OK). Sung Wei was the name on the PCB, with the date stamp of 9712 on the membrane. It's possible that it might work again, but I'm not sure if it's worth the effort.