bfutrel

For me the oldest machine that I have seen in use is a generic PC at work that controls our HVAC system. Pentium 66mhz 48MB RAM 1.2 GB hard drive OS/2 Warp V3 It was installed around 1994-1995. While the HVAC would run without it the machine allows temperatures to be adjusted. Of course we have no manuals to the software on the computer. While there is Windows software available it requires upgrading all of the sensors in the building. Until that is done I'll keep it going. When we moved in that 1.2GB hard disk was extremely noisy. I cloned the drive to a couple of 2GB industrial-grade Compact Flash cards and have one of them connected to a Compact Flash to IDE adapter. So far so good and I have a spare in case the CF card dies. It crashes every once in a while when using the HVAC software. Otherwise it is pretty solid.

That is the correct type of drive, but the cable shown is for an IDE hard disk. The floppy drive cable has 34 wires and will have a twist in it just before the end that is connected to the drive. There should also be a connector on the motherboard of your PC that has the same number of pins as the floppy drive does. More recent computers don't have the connector on the motherboard to connect a floppy drive to.

While I don't have a console, I play indie games on the PC. Some of my favorites: The Binding of Issac - Roguelike/Zeldaish game Dungeons of Dredmor - another Roguelike game Darwinia - reminds me a bit of Powermonger Botanicula - point-and-click adventure/puzzle game While I have these installed via Steam, I bought them through several Humble Bundles. Buying them that way you also get Linux, Mac and Windows versions and they don't have any DRM.

I forgot to ask - where can the manual for the Flashback 2 be downloaded?

Atari Flashback 2 (with power supply and one joystick): $6.99 at a local thrift store. Works great. Didn't realize how much I sucked at some of the games. Could be that joystick too.

That is a Voodoo2 3D card with what looks like 12MB of video memory. It requires a cable to connect VGA output from the video card to the back of this card. The cable for the monitor then connects to the other VGA connector on the card. The card itself is not capable of 2d graphics and requires a standard video card for that. If you had a second card with the SLI (I think that's what it was called) connector, you could join them together to split the 3D workload. It's quite nice for older games that don't support Direct3D or OpenGL. It's been a while, but I thought the Voodoo2 was an OpenGL card, that's why the Quake guys were into them? I believe it does a subset of OpenGL. Sorry about the mix-up.

That is a Voodoo2 3D card with what looks like 12MB of video memory. It requires a cable to connect VGA output from the video card to the back of this card. The cable for the monitor then connects to the other VGA connector on the card. The card itself is not capable of 2d graphics and requires a standard video card for that. If you had a second card with the SLI (I think that's what it was called) connector, you could join them together to split the 3D workload. It's quite nice for older games that don't support Direct3D or OpenGL.

I'm not sure how 'crappy' your PC is, but I've run that game on an Atom D410 single-core processor (1.6ghz) and Intel's built-in graphics. Those two items aren't exactly known for speed. It's not that resource hungry.

Great find! I have the EA Classics version myself and still play it from time to time. No Salvation Army nearby here unfortunately...

It had 2 CDs.

I believe Stellar 7 was C-64 on one side and Apple II on the other.

I didn't have any games like that, but my Dad's would be Realsports Baseball. He got so frustrated at it that he yanked it out of the Sears Video Arcade II and stomped on it with his boot. I still have it and it still works!

I have a black slim PS2 console. When I put a PS1 CD in it (original, not a copy) it does not seem to be able to read it. What would be causing this and what can I do to fix it?

This handheld is a Symbol PPT-2800. It's definitely not a Palm device, but a Windows PocketPC one. My employer has developed software for it in the past so I know a bit about it. It's not bad but has a grayscale display and is a little slower than the color PPT-8800 models.

Here are a couple of eBay auctions for PowerBook 165c units. I don't know how much you are trying to spend though... eBay Auction -- Item Number: 130445722192 (currently at 24.50 with no bids) eBay Auction -- Item Number: 290486664329? (currently at 19.99 with no bids) eBay Auction -- Item Number: 320596945589 (BIN at 59.99 OBO)

I remember playing the demo of the DOS version many years ago. I heard that it was released as freeware for Windows and played it. It's a great game, but apparently my temper is very short with this game and I smashed the keyboard tray..... It's too easy to get stuck at higher levels.

I try not to be a duct-tape programmer, hopefully writing my code to make sense and liberally adding comments to explain what things do. There have been instances where I have had to go back through my code 3 or 4 years later to correct something and those comments were a lifesaver! There have also been moments where I look through code written by someone who used to work with me and my first thought was what the heck!

The individual buttons aren't too bad. Then again I have big hands. So far I've tried it with Toki, Heavy Barrel, Galaga, Galaxian (Japanese only), Donkey Kong Classics and Tetris - all NES games. They all play OK, but hitting the diagonals in Heavy Barrel is a little difficult sometimes.

I haven't seen them locally before, but Geeks has several different models to choose from. Some will also play SNES games.

While not a thrift store find, I thought it was interesting. Computer Geeks has a sale going on, and I picked up a 2GB MP3/MP4/gaming device. It also plays NES, GameBoy and GameBoy Color ROM files. While I have never owned an actual NES, it's not too bad. It just takes a little while to get used to the separate buttons for movement.

The rotation does nothing - it just orients the fire button.

Diablo Battle Chest - $9.99 Complete with all discs, instructions, strategy guide and catalog. Didn't know there were board games or books based on their games.... Radeon 7500 64MB DDR AGP video card - $9.99 Have not tried the card to see if it works. It looks unused. I know it's not the fastest thing in the world, but for what I play it's fine.

Found the following at one of the local thrift stores: Playstation 1 bare with video cable, no controllers or power cable: $4.99 My older niece and nephew bought a PS1 from a yard sale. Everything worked except the left controller jack. I bought this one to either replace it or get it working. Diablo II for PC/Mac: $2.99 I can find the Diablo II battle pack for $30, but I just wanted the game itself.

Picked up a PlayStation Greatest Hits Namco Museum Volume 1 at Paws for Cause for $3

SiN: Episodes. While I know they were supposed to be shorter games similar to Half-Life 2 Episodes 1 and 2, only the first episode was finished before MumboJumbo bought Ritual and canceled the rest.