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Wishing for Vintage Packard Bell Master CD


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I am looking for these specific Packard Bells, Force 482CDT and 872CDT and the Executive/Synera Packard Bell Computers. These computers are going to be my first Packard Bells and I like the hardware inside icon_smile.gif Plus I have a Fast Media Remote along with 2 Master CDs and some DOS games like Doom icon_smile.gif If anybody has these Packard Bell PCs and any Master CD/Diskettes, please let me know. Thanks.

P.S. I am also looking for a Art Deco Case and Corner Packard Bell PC with a 60/66 Mhz Pentium Processor

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I used to have one in this style, I think it was the Legend 420CD or 405CD or something. Pretty sure we threw out the box of pack-in discs long ago, though. Kinda wish I'd kept the computer itself; I played so much Doom and Keen and Mechwarrior on that sucker.

 

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Packard Bell sold the same systems under different names and model numbers, depending on the distributor.

 

I imagine that it must be a challenge to find complete Packard Bell "specimens" all these years later. I was working in retail when Packard Bell was at its "peak" saleswise, around 1994-1996. A few of the guys in our store had a null modem cable set up between two Packard Bell display units, for playing Doom on the sly. Afterward, I worked as a PC tech for a few years, and people were upgrading Packard Bell systems (or, more often, junking them) like crazy; the shop I was working for got about a dozen of them in a week at one point. I remember that our customers were very disappointed that Packard Bell's systems offered so few opportunities for upgrades, beyond very incremental improvements like bigger hard drives and more memory. Such minor upgrades could help someone extend the life of their system for a while, but they weren't enough to keep pace with the rapid growth of PC technology in those years, or the plunging costs of new systems.

 

We saw lots of problems with those proprietary Aztech sound cards that Packard Bell often used (the really long ones with integrated modems and CD-ROM controllers); if one of those integrated components failed, we had to install two or three new cards to replace them all, and the smaller desktop systems often didn't offer enough internal expansion. Most of those systems were subsequently scrapped in favor of more generic "white boxes" that were more expandable. I'm sure that some of those systems were put away into long-term storage, however, and those are probably the best bet for those looking for "survivors" in good shape.

 

Anyway, best of luck to the OP! Those all-in-one PCs from about 1994-1998 have a certain historical significance, since they were the industry's first generation of multimedia-capable, Internet-enabled consumer computing devices. It's good to know that someone is out there gathering and preserving them.

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I think I still have the microphone, keyboard, a speakers from my PB system. All the rest has been junked long ago.

 

I use one of those speakers as the "center" channel on my TV setup. It fits nicely under the table and is well shielded.

Edited by RickR
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I have a Packard Bell 10Cd with a working "Aztech sound cards that Packard Bell often used (the really long ones with integrated modems and CD-ROM controllers)"

 

I actually don't have the DOS driver for the card anymore which makes accessing the CDRom hard. Haven't taken the time to find it online.

 

This was the first computer I ever opened up and worked to upgrade. I managed to get a new bios for it that at one point cost money (but I didn't pay). It lets you install a whopping 8gb hard disk (which I did). I also upgraded the CPU and put more RAM in.

 

If someone were close to me and wanted it, I'd just give it away.

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I used to have some PB discs but not for that.

 

Those PCs for the time were pretty sweet. I too was in the retail field between 1993 and 1997 and granted having so many things integrated rather than on separate cards could be a nightmare driver wise, Packard Bell made the cost of entry into computing a lot lower with decent tech. I bought my second PC, a 486 SX 25 for $250 to replace my 8088 10 MHz machine (I tried to build a 386 but wasted my cash as at the time I didn't know what I was doing). Later I got a Pro Audio Spectrum 16 card for cheap at Wal-Mart followed by a Sony 2x SCSI CD-ROM drive. I even ran Windows 95 on it. I never had a lick of problems with it.

 

My wife had a step up PB from mine and I upgraded that with an Intel Pentium Overdrive chip. That held on for a while until the next PC.

 

Good times but as it was mentioned, tech improved very rapidly back then.

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  • 3 weeks later...

That auction Rex identified went for basically the same price as you would have paid for postage--you probably couldn't have done any better than that. Unfortunately, I don't have any Packard Bell stuff in my collection, so I can't give any better help than he did. Keep sifting through the eBay auctions and something will turn up again.

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Update: I tried all around my state (Louisiana). I only found a Packard Bell Keyboard my University, I am trying my hardest to locate the computer it was hooked to. I found a person who says that he might still have his Packard Bell Platinum 1 without a torn QA Seal, but it has a dead mobo. He says that he might have some Master CD/Diskettes for it. Well, eBay's shipping prices are unreliable. Well anyone if you are going to throw out these items mentioned above, please give them to me. Thanks.

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