cbmeeks

About 15+ years ago, I obtained a FREE (yes free) PEB from someone. It appeared to be in good shape. It was (is) empty. No floppy drives or cards. So, I never even put power to it. Recently, I obtained a flex cable for it so I thought it was time to see if this thing works. I have read the fan is super loud. After opening up the case, removing some cobwebs and other small critters, it's alive! I have to admit, it's not as loud as I was thinking it would be. No louder than a typical PC of the time. And I've got the top off. I may upgrade the fan sometime in the future with something quieter. Anyway, I'm excited about it. I've wanted a PEB since I was a small kid and I finally got mine to power on. This is only phase one of many phases to come. Time to start looking for cards. :-) Video Feb 03, 6 24 09 PM.mov

I can speak from personal experience on the Atari 800. Yes, the original 800 (not XL) was built like a tank. That enormous metal shield inside is quite impressive for an 8-bit computer. The keyboard is solid and the plastics are pretty thick. When I received mine, the seller didn't ship it well at all. It was literally wrapped in one THIN piece of bubble wrap (the kind you would wrap a small CD in) and then thrown in a box with no padding. When it arrived, almost all of the keys were off. However, the keys come off easily and were easily put back on. Not a scratch on it and it worked. Yes, the Apple II line was (in my opinion), one of the most beautiful lines. Especially the original II. The IIe was a close second (not really a fan of the green "plus" logo). Those are pretty tough too. And you can't beat the easy access to the ports. And yes...the TI-99/4A (especially the silver model) is rugged as well. It's a very beautiful machine. Another beautiful machine, IMHO, is the Commodore Plus 4. Always loved that design. Only wished the cursor keys were normal keys in the same layout as PC keyboards. Who am I kidding...I think all vintage computers are beautiful. LOL

I heard it's a little cold up there. It was a toasty 23F here last night. Sorry for the OT...

FYI, I found the same listing as someone else pretending to be Polida. Using the exact same pic, same price, but different user. So either polida2008 has multiple accounts, or someone is faking their account. I always feel like I'm dabbling in the black market on eBay.... LOL

You know, I think I've bought some sound chips from that seller before and they are good, IIRC. Thanks!

I own several TI-99/4A's. And, fortunately, you can still buy them pretty cheap (just bought one for $12). However, I want to buy a few TMS9900's for a few reasons. Mostly as backups in case I need them but also I would like to (one day) design a 16-bit computer around one. When searching on eBay, I see two options. 1) Cheap from China 2) Expensive from USA. We all know the crap you can get from China (no offense to the Chinese...but it's true). Is there an option 3? One where I can get 2-3 CPU's at *nearly* the Chinese prices with comfort in knowing they are genuine and working? In my searches, the Chinese ones were in the $3-$8 range, IIRC. The American sellers were asking up to $80! I can buy a whole TI for less than that. I could take a chance and buy a few from China. Plop them in a known, working TI to test them. But I was hoping for a more reliable (and reasonably priced) source. I'm not a fan of gutting vintage computers for parts. My only exception would be if the computer is already gutted and/or broken. Thanks for any suggestions.

Actually, that seems to be a JTAG port and not USB. Which means there should be a CPLD/FPGA on there. That might be doing some glue logic. But it's hard to tell from the pics. What I'm wondering is if the daughter card is a third party card or was it designed by them?

Hmm. Yeah. I may wait too. One thing I noticed was some type of add-on card with a Samsung chip. Does anyone know what that is? It appeared to have the actual HDMI connector.

Where do we order them? I can't find a location for them.

Ah thanks. I can't believe I never noticed that over the years. But like I said, I rarely ever had the label. I wonder if it was a cost saving thing (although I don't see how) or just an upgrade. I'm not sure which one I like better. I guess if I swapped them out a lot, the tray style would be more convenient.

My "go to" TI-99/4A is a silver model that I've added the F18A to. On that model, the slot above the keys (where the keyboard label goes) is slightly angled. Also, the bottom part has a lip that stands up but the top has almost no lip at all. In fact, the keyboard labels don't slide in...they are simply placed on the slot. So I get another silver model from eBay this weekend. When I was checking it out, I noticed the slot has a lip on the top too. In fact, you are meant to slide the label in. Now, I always thought they were slid in. I never noticed my go-to TI didn't have that type (as I don't normally use labels). Does anyone know why/when this was changed? I can post pictures if anyone is interested. How common was one version compared to the other?

Gold TI cart with this game would be the greatest thing since sliced bread. Oh, don't forget the secret name in Zelda. In Zelda, if you type your name as "LINK", you play the game in a much harder setting. You should do something similar like "TI" or "994A".

I've been meaning to do some research, but how rare/expensive are the Geneve cards?

If you manage to find them, I wonder if it would be worth buying a bunch and selling some batches? Perhaps we could chip in and save on shipping. I wouldn't mind having a few handfuls myself in case I need them.

Ah, thanks for the tips. I will be in the market for the SAMS card sometime soon. Thanks everyone.

I may have found a bug. I was playing (I believe) the newest version. It has the title screen and moving enemies. When I played it in Classic99, everything seemed normal. But playing on my real hardware I noticed that going into a cave (or underworld) didn't work. In fact, the screen was mostly empty and black and the enemies from the previous screen were inside. I can post screenshots if you like.

Ah, I appreciate that. I'm still in the market for some other stuff that will go inside the PEB. :-)

In my quest to learn more TI, I see the terms EA3 and EA5 mentioned (formats). Would someone please explain to me what these are? Or, point me to some reading material. Thanks!

Definitely do this!! I'm a huge fan of ST:TNG and the TI is the perfect platform for it (then again, it's the perfect platform for many things...) :-) Will this be a game? Slide show? I've wanted to make a ST game for a long time (among others). What would be awesome is a view of the bridge looking out the view window into space. Sort of like a simulation where you go on missions to different planets. But there would be a lot of cut screens (using what you've done). Also, would be cool to show the LCARS display on command so that the player could program the Enterprise, etc.

Thanks for the tips. I pulled the PEB out of storage last night and it's a little dirty and a tad banged up but nothing major. Should clean up nicely. I did notice some debris inside the fan grill. So I will take that apart to make sure it's clean and no critters are inside. Also, it appears the original owner removed the floppy drive but didn't replace the cover. So the right side plate is missing. Which is fine because I eventually plan on putting a drive back in. As far as floppies and controllers.... My goal is 5.25" floppy. 3.5" and 80 tracks are nice but I want a stock drive as much as possible. Even if I don't really use it that much. When I was a kid, I saw a picture of the PEB with a 5.25" drive (back when I only had cassette) and was blown away. I couldn't believe such equipment existed! (I was 9-10 at the time) So I basically want now what I wanted then. If that makes sense. lol We will definitely be doing some business when I save up some more blow money. The following are items on my list: 1) 32K RAM for PEB 2) SAMS (???) RAM for PEB (not sure how useful this one is...) 3) RS-232 and/or parallel printer card (I have a parallel dot-matrix printer I'd like to use with it) 4) TIPI for PEB 5) Disk controller with 5.25" drive 6) Prototyping card (I want to make a sound card) Those are in no particular order. But the 32K RAM for the PEB might be the smartest next move as I already own a FR99 and I have a FG99 on the way. Thanks!

That did the trick. Thanks!

So, I just bought a flex cable off eBay. I already own the PEB box but it's empty other than a PSU. I have never put power to the PEB so I have no idea of the PSU is good. I couldn't wait for my flex cable to get here before I asked some questions. 1) Assuming the PSU is totally shot, can they be replaced with modern ATX PSU's? I don't remember the form factor of it (need to get it out of storage). I could always recap the board but I like modern PSU's whenever I can. 2) Does the speech synthesizer connect to the side of the TI and the flex cable into the side of it? Or can the two be used together? 3) What kind of floppy drives can I use with the PEB/TI? I want to get a TIPI but I like actual drives too. Thanks!

OK, I just bought -- what I think -- was the best one they had. Looks brand new, has a 30 day return policy and was only $39.xx plus shipping. So between this, the FG99, another TI and some TI magazines....my wife is going to kill me. I think I have a problem. lol

Ah crap! I've been searching the wrong term. Thanks!

Yes, that is what I'd like to do. However, I can't seem to find an interface cable. I didn't see one on ArcadeShopper or eBay.