Compaq LTE Lite/25 Laptop Overview and Teardown

A look at an early 1990s laptop. Unfortunately it no longer works, and during the course of this video I found out why.
(Some time after this was recorded, I examined the DC-DC converter board in closer detail. I found a diode that tested open. I'm almost tempted to get a replacement and see if the computer would come back to life, especially in light of my getting most of the corrosion cleaned off of the other boards. Honestly, though, I'm not too optimistic. Almost every part on the DC-DC converter board is house numbered and many look like custom parts. Only rarely is one lucky enough that the cheap and commonly available parts are all that fails when a circuit is subjected to abuse or serious fault conditions. Instead, the hard to find and expensive devices save the fuses and cheap parts. There is a fuse on the board, and it is not blown.)
I do apologize for the wind noise in parts of this video. And yes, I referred to the computer incorrectly as an "LTE Elite" at one point.

[@PashReturns]

I can really appreciate the engineering that went into these older computers. The ribbon cable going to the display made me chuckle.

[@crazymd15]

Great Video!!! Love all the real up close shots you did of all the chips!! Camera has an amazing focus, able to shoot those so close up!! Thanks again UXWBILL!!! AWESOME!!

[@TheShazbot]

Thank you for this video. I recently bought one of these (the 4/33c variant) and sourced a power supply (hopefully it comes up and works!) - so this video gave me a decent teardown and showed me how everything interconnected.

[@ngb802]

You tell the best stories !!! I love your videos keep them coming

[@davocc2405]

I had one of those - it went back 13 times for repair in its warranty period, every component in the device was replaced by the service techs so I ended up with a hand-built laptop at the end of it. At one point Compaq's national rep lent me one of the pre-production prototype colour screen LTE Lite/25's (which had the trackball in the screen), I was running around with one of the only colour notebooks in the world for about a week. Now THAT was a nice machine, active matrix colour LCD when the most you'd ever see was monochrome and perhaps the odd passive matrix colour washed out screen. My lecturer at uni was a bit staggered by it, "wow how did you get that screen to show colour?". I wanted to say "oh just loaded the drivers".

[@uxwbill]

And you totally *should* have said that! I have another one of these that is ostensibly in better shape, but it too is lifeless. I'll investigate that at some point in the future.

[@davocc2405]

This was our corporate standard laptop at the time - I also had the predecessor to this (the LTE 386s/20 which was the SX chipset, this one above had the SL chipset which was similar but lower power consumption). The original LTE was a flagship product - real Rolls Royce gear, it had the Regal Flex motherboard configuration (found in nose-cones of ICBMs I believe, also supposedly used in either the B1 or B2 bomber). This allowed them to "fold" the mobo into the case; they did have problems with the plastics but that became a real issue with the Lite/25. I remember a journalist buying one, taking it out of the box and not using it - it just sat there - and he found that key points on the case had cracked, most commonly front-side just below the edge of the keyboard (common problem). I had quite a bit do with Compaq's local reps at the time and they said they were aware of the problem and looking for a plastics kit to resolve it; the problem was Compaq was busy downgrading their quality levels, they were finding the Rolls Royce top-end segment (at the time mainly IBM, HP and Compaq) was too difficult to maintain especially since many government and corporate clients were going down the white-box clone path. The Lite/25 represented a LOT of cost cutting in terms of quality; I paid $1000 less for it than I had paid for its predecessor (which was quite a bit of cash especially coming out of the pocket of a part-time student). They were doing things like swapping gold connectors for tin - based on projected lifespan of components for model life in systems, they did this with their desktops and introduced SMART in hard drives specifically to get away with cuts in production quality (which led to very high costs). Connor drives were the #1 for reliability from what I remember, they were owned by Compaq at one point but I don't think they survived the cost cutting era especially when redundancy replaced single-device reliability. I came very close to getting the very weird but rather innovative IBM at the time - I was just given a better deal on the Compaqs but I did regret it a bit. I'd actually imported a "Dataworld" machine from the USA (that cost a fortune to import to Australia in those days) and the damn thing didn't work properly on 240v power; it would power it but wouldn't charge the battery properly due to bad circuit design. Despite sending it back for refund I was out of pocket $1k for that and the sales tax charged in Oz took more than 6 months to get back (and threats of a legal fight to the tax office). God it was so much more complicated back then - noone can fathom just how easy it is today and how much more considered the machines are (even if they subject us to chicklet-key hell).

[@2dfx]

Bill, that type of "PC Card" RAM was also used in the IBM Thinkpad 755 series laptops as well!

[@DziugasTrollfacas]

750 too i think

[@PizzaProblems]

I will definitely look into getting a variable regulated power supply. Thank you for the recommendation!

[@theblindredneck747]

Hey Bill... Another fascinating and informative video. I appreciate the commentary, you explain things in a way that is easy to understand. Thanks for the effort you put out in making your videos..

[@Guywhosayswisestuff]

My first laptop was a Compaq, was the best laptop I have owned and lasted over half a decade until a sad accident with a liter of Diet Coke. That thing was one of the most satisfying pieces of tech I have owned

[@EzeeLinux]

Compaq = Couldn't Open My Program And Quit. :)

[@seanmcgh2487]

its Computers Often Make People Quite Angry kzbin.info/www/bejne/eGrLiZJra7GpnK8

[@Edman_79]

I just like those computer videos. Always something new and interesting to learn. Although most of it will never be of any use to me I guess. So what... it's a hobby :)

[@OBC-radio]

I remember my Dad had one of those Compaq numeric keypads with the headphone style connector for his myriad of early and mid 1990s General Motor's supplied company laptops. GM engineer's were issued similar era Compaq floppy-only laptops with Windows NT 3.1 well into the late 90s. I can recall my Dad using one in their current house, which we did not live in until summer of 1998. GM switched to all Dell machines sometime after 2001 or so. A little bit of useless IT insight into the inner workings of the behemoth formally known as General Motors Corporation...

[@mansonandsatanrock]

I love your videos man, sure wish I had your tools. I'm watching this as I am installing MS-DOS 7.10 on a Toshiba Satellite Pro 4600 requires a 15v adapter but only got a fitting 12v adapter, so the optical drive won't work, only floppies.

[@MarkTheMorose]

Lightning started up here, seconds before you said 'it was a dark and stormy night'. I don't know what this means, but I'm sleeping with the light on tonight.

[@flaturiah]

Oh, finally! A computer video. I can continue cleaning my room.

[@uxwbill]

Now why would you want to do that? (In regards to cleaning your room, not watching the video, although the question might be equally relevant there.)

[@flaturiah]

I clean my room to your videos. It's nice to see someone making videos in my interest.

[@flaturiah]

@@uxwbill I'm back, and to continue to clean my room (much much much different room) while watching your video. Although, another old computer video would be nice-- but life isn't always so convenient.

[@i80386sx]

Its nice to see videos like this. I used one of these laptops during my college years. Fun fact: (provided that it isn't a spill victim like this one) If the CMOS battery is dead on a LTE/Lite series (at least this is the case with ones that had 386 processors) the laptop won't turn on. Replace that, you're good to go. Its a CR2430 coin battery.

[@uxwbill]

I have another one that should be in much better shape, but it too doesn't turn on. I suspected, but was not sure enough to want to really dig into it, that a depleted CMOS battery might be the reason it wouldn't power up. Thank you for the information.

[@i80386sx]

My firsthand lesson is your gain. If the one you have is a 25C or a 4/25 and you don't want it, I'll gladly take it off your hands. Another thing you can try too, provided you still have it (and actually does work) is to put the laptop in the docking station. If it powers on while in the docking station, you for sure have a depleted CMOS battery.

[@michaelscottcutler3627]

The LTE Lite 4/33c also came with a trackball. It was the higher-end model of the Lite line.

[@DimensionDude]

It looks like the main reason for the corrosion was water intrusion. I deal with that a LOT where I work. The production area is kept cold (about 50F) with a high pressure hot water washdown every night, so we get condensation and water intrusion. The tool that I seem to use most often is a hair dryer (not kidding). I guess the paying part of my job is knowing WHERE to apply the hair dryer :) With that being said, I've seen some really crusty, corroded boards function perfectly as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

[@CossieChris]

My first ever laptop was an LTE Lite/25. I loved it to pieces, but found the keyboard to be a bit stiff to type on at speed. Later I found there was a 486 version and even a colour version too - now in my collection i have a Lite 4/33C - the 486SL33 with 8.4 inch colour TFT display, and the built-in trackball (standard on the 'E' and 'C' models on the 386 and 486 models).

[@PumpkinStrikesBack]

It's a warm and sunny afternoon over here. So what better to relax and watch a UXWBill-Video?! :)

[@thedebug3866]

"It was a dark and stormy night, then suddenly the uxwbill video started playing" *Cue the BUN DUN DAAAAAAAAAA*

[@bakonfreek]

Well, the night was dark, but the storm passed yesterday.

[@admiralalcatraz6080]

Its a shame that this did not work, found it strange how the numeric keypad jack should be located towards the left hand side of the system, as I am guessing that the keypad would of sat to the right hand side of the keyboard. I learn something new with each of your videos, today I learnt that UXWBill is human just like me :p

[@RosePhoto1]

I learn something every time. Thanks for another great video.

[@markitzero12]

@uxwbill seeing this laptop bring be back when I was in High School I actually use for notes and work. I was in High School in the 2002. I do miss the LTE laptop i had and it had a Blank and White LCD panel.

[@WalterKnox]

i was watching and when you hit the power button on the computer and it did not come on i thought i heard a fan ramping up but it was actually the fan in my laptop that i was using to watch this on.

[@iamnomad101]

For some reason, that VGA socket is also missing one of its holes.

[@Bleachanna]

sometimes older computers do that i can't recall why but it is irritating.

[@uxwbill]

This computer comes from a time before Display Data Channel (plug and play for monitors) support was a thing. The common "fix" is a carefully applied, very tiny drill bit. Or if you don't care about DDC, a needlenose pliers equally carefully applied to the offending extra pin.

[@themrenerd7384]

+iamnomad101 It's supposed to be like that.

[@Raptor50aus]

Arh the good old days when we actually fixed stuff

[@Browningate]

Good call on the PS/2. I've actually got a Lenovo docking station with one of those combination ports and you do indeed need that splitter to hook up a keyboard to it. The good news is that those splitters are now amazingly cheap and the newer machines even support plug-n-play with it.

[@WaybackTECH]

That is a neat face drawn onto the cache / IO controller, something I always liked about these old Compaq systems, the various artwork present somewhere. I will be interesting to see if you can get this board working again after cleaning the corrosion. Probably too far gone but hey, it's worth a try!

[@qwertykeyboard5901]

Phones from the 2000s are especially notorious when it comes to charge/sync cables. They changed the plugs every 5 femptoseconds

[@GreenvortexKing]

That's a good computer. Hope you can fix it.

[@gamersgonecrazy7536]

You may remember talking to me about a (Rare) Compaq Presario. I found out it was a Compaq Persario 1210. Heres some info on the bottem of the laptop it says its a series 2940 it also says complies with Canadian ICES-003 CLASS B (Wait thats just laws lol) its imput rating 18.6V DC----2.8A. Also it has 2 ram expantion bays on the bottem. It was made in Taiwan and under that it says SERIES 203. It also has its Canadian Certification number on the bottem. the serial number is V733BQH23702 and was shipped with a CD drive and floppy drive. Also this is really weird but it only had a really small fan and thats it........ Its ports are almost the same like on the laptop in this video. it has 1 ps/2 port a printer port a IOIOI port and standered vga. But its mother board is littarly bolted to the computer it cant come out I have tryed so hard to get it out but its just so well made. I littarly could not find 1 mention of this laptop online at all, only the newer ones and CRT moniters not even the right battery for this laptop is on ebay there is littarly no mention of this laptop online what so ever. the closest I found to this one is the Presario 1200ea but it was really differant then the one I have. I could send a picture of it (Its completly disasempled but I still have the parts for it)

[@Complextro93kg]

Pretty nice design for its age :)

[@ComputerGenius10]

you said it was a dark and stormy night and it actually is omg where I live right now

[@hs_doubbing]

I really miss the real Compaq. Solid construction, proven by my Compaq Portable 386/25 running to this day with absolutely no replacement parts. To be fair, HP's computers aren't terrible, but they certainly aren't the best. After owning quite a few of their more recent products, I am very displeased with the way their quality has declined. Also, the pause key is sometimes used to pause video games. :P

[@Fuzy2K]

1:51 -- For cleaning run-of-the-mill glass? :P

[@thatlinuxguy]

The pause key is also often used in computer games running on windows and other other operating systems.

[@JZB-2022]

I agree. I work on an HP/Compaq PC once and never got it fully working.

[@gamerkay5791]

HAH, I remember those type of Multi purpose keys on one of my Toshiba Satellite.

[@activemotionpictures]

Your video was so insightful. My computer doesn't display on the LCD at all, it seems that the black tint leaked and it has a very dim color to it. Would you perhaps have another video where you show the insights of the screen? Thanks!

[@uxwbill]

If the computer is an older laptop, make sure it's really an LCD that they used. Many times, if you can only see something very dimly on a computer LCD, it's because the backlight is not working. On older laptops and early standalone displays, a fluorescent lamp and high voltage driver circuit were used. Failures in one or both are possible. You may have to cobble something together in order to make it work again. Be careful if you take a display apart. You'll also want to be sure that no dust gets inside, because you will see it.

[@SRCVintageElectronics]

Nice laptop. I like the older ones

[@zx8401ztv]

R.I.P Rest In Pieces. Yep a very compact device for its era, i wasnt supprised by the 386 processor, i thought it would be a 386sx, close enough for a guess i suppose. I like the modular psu, something that modern laptops dont do, and a lot of laptops do die due to the onboard psu going on holiday forever lol. I allways check for continuity between the metal back sockets to the power input, a quick way to find the earth :-D.

[@aidancontino1640]

Rest In Pepperoni.

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

Rest in Pepsi

[@obsoletegeek]

How awful. Yet another vintage computer succumbs to a leaky battery. These are the bane of my existence when buying these computers. I've had to recycle a number of them that appeared to be in great shape but were destroyed internally.

[@uxwbill]

I don't think it fell victim to battery-induced corrosion. What's there is just too far reaching, and the one internal battery is actually really well sealed. The boards have cleaned up really well, so I may try replacing the diode on the DC-DC converter. If nothing else, I'll keep the case, keyboard, floppy drive and screen for future use. Things like those little barrel batteries are pure evil, and I have removed those from any system I had that used them. Likewise with the nonrechargeable lithium batteries from old Macintosh stuff.

[@uxwbill]

I personally wouldn't recommend it. Lithium-Ion cells are dangerous and they stand a good chance of going off even with only slight mistreatment. The cells are frequently spot or tack welded together, which is impossible to do without the right equipment. Furthermore, the battery controller IC may lock out if it loses power. A serviceable enough generic replacement battery that you'll probably get at least a year out of can be had from a place like eBay for very little money.

[@Sephy69]

I had the same happen to a compaq pentium 3 system, my old flat was very damp and it got around the flat panel connector. worked for a while until it randomly lost the picture. I tore it down and found out that several pins for the flat panel had broken off and the telltale green corrosion was there too. Feel the pain, even more so seeing as that laptop was the perfect machine for some old school games :(

[@Lukeno52]

That backup battery may be responsible for all of the corrosion - I had a Satellite Pro 460CDX which had a leaky CMOS battery that corroded part of the motherboard and quite a bit of the case. Also, that looks like it comes apart very much like my T4600 did.

[@gamelard1963]

god dang it bill. you have like 10 years on youtube. i remember watching your vids in high school and you still havent upgraded your camera :(

[@uxwbill]

I have upgraded my camera on at least four separate occasions.

[@gamelard1963]

cool :) i probably forgot to load the video in HD lol

[@uxwbill]

No, I don't watch KZbin in HD and therefore I don't usually bother uploading with it either.

[@gamelard1963]

***** okay now it makes sense. i went through some of your latest vids and wondered why they werent in HD.

[@connorm955]

Under the FCC ID info, it says HP Inc. Laptop Computer 75MAFA with a 80386 25mhz microprocessor.

[@erp65]

2021 & just needed a good ol' uxwbill fix.

[@twocvbloke]

That's why IBM designed their laptops to have drain holes, spill, rinse, back to work... :P

[@twocvbloke]

***** I buy my laptops off ebay and self-refurbish (used to do it as a job building, repairing & refurbishing computers & laptops, so plenty of experience), bought a Lenovo T61 in 2014, got a T410 in 2015, still use both today... :)

[@Vynncent]

Scroll Lock pauses the flow of text. It seems more logical to use that instead of Pause/Break, because of an indicator light on the keyboard.

[@R33Racer]

I got one of these. It was full of Ni-Cd batteries for everything. I know of no 386 Lite LTE that's working today.

[@ethancedrik]

"I'm sure that works as a math co-procesor" omg xD I died laughing there for some reason

[@JacobTechShit]

I saw another video where a dead battery caused a similar model not to boot up. I haven't watched this whole thing yet, but could that be the reason why it didn't boot up when he talked about putting it on the dock when he got it.

[@taketimeout2share]

These were the best laptops you could buy back then AND with the docking machine too! McLaren cars used these, only these and still only these today. BTW these Compaqs are modular. Keep it as if you come across another you can just plug and swap over /swap out dead easily. You know that though. CMOS BATTERY messes with older Toshibas too. Bad design.

[@Learn2saillyttelton]

***I used to repair these and the most common fault if the CMOS battery goes flat, the result is the laptop WONT power up, it looks like a keyboard or PSU fault at first!!** used to make a mint doing these easy fixes in the 90s!

[@uxwbill]

This isn't news to me. Look at the damage done to the motherboard, possibly by that very battery.

[@Learn2saillyttelton]

yes, shame, also all the ribbon cable clips would fail, too, engineers would break them when disasembling them, I

[@uxwbill]

I have another one that's in better shape, from which I've removed the battery. Perhaps at some point I'll replace it and see if it'll run. I've never had a proper power supply, but I figured out the pinout and cobbled something together.

[@Learn2saillyttelton]

I remember clients would ask us for a keyboard, we would PX it when they said it would not go on, so we swapped the their good keyboard for ours and made a few $$, they they would ask us for a power supply, then finally a motherboard!!, we were a laptops spares company and we never let out the secret that the cmos battery made it looks like all these components were at fault as no light came on when you pressed the keyboard membrain on / off, old memories!!

[@RetroPCUser]

I have a ThinkPad 380D that has the DSTN display. I'm planning on upgrading it to a TFT Active Matrix display.

[@WalterKnox]

yes it is a sad thing that hp bought compaq, the first computer i owned was a compaq deskpro 590 with a 90 mhz pentium, it still works today. i bought a brand new hp compaq of which i don't remember the model number because after two years of use the motherboard died.

[@RiccardoConturbia]

Hi would you give some further advices on how to get the motherboard out of the metal casing? Thanks!

[@WalrusStu]

The old laptop safari.

[@RetroPCUser]

My IBM ThinkPad R40's keyboard has numeric functions on the specific letters, numbers, or symbols keys with the numeric lock turned on with the Shift key depressed and pushing the Scroll Lock key which has the numeric lock on it, and with the numeric lock light on, the specific characters on the keyboard are in use for the calculations with numbers 0-9, *, /, -, and +

[@craighocking2042]

The great Hoarder!

[@thelinuxtester268]

480p max my internet connection loves you uxwbill

[@Ashton000]

24:57 That double 66.6 tho

[@arti040]

How the hell did you open it? :D I need to replace a hard-disk and it's a second day i'm fighting with that...

[@uxwbill]

I was able to locate the service manual online, and it has complete instructions. Several sources had it available for download (though it did take a fair amount of sleuthing to find any of them) and at least some of them should still be online. As I remember -- and I may be revisiting this -- getting to the hard drive required taking a lot of things apart.

[@AmstradExin]

A shame....a full 386DX and 16K Cahce inside. I also have the Contura in Color, but its kind of broken, like all of them I have.

[@uxwbill]

It was definitely an interesting little beast. I might have a shot at seeing if I could get it to spring to life once again.

[@AmstradExin]

***** I have also the very first thinkpad. But the backlight regulator blew while it was on and left a hefty stench in my bedroom for 4-5 days. I hope it goes well for you, I never saw a 386DX notebook except one that had SCSI onboard. That kinda elevates itself from the flood of 386SX based portabled, where I had dozens of...

[@mathar9191]

Hay whats the difference between this and a LTE lite/20 model??

[@uxwbill]

Clock speed.

[@danielbeaston]

yeah the mouse pointer ghosting and going away I always lose it on the iMacs of the early 2000s and still modern windows or Linux but it's because I have a higher dpi on my mouse back in the 90s and 2000s it was because of the screens and they had color

[@Lachlant1984]

Do you still have the Compaq notebook that you finished The Secret Of Monkey Island on? If so, does it still work?

[@TheCommentator353]

Hey bill, can I get a link to where I can get one of those power supplies?

[@uxwbill]

They're a very common, pretty well made design that's offered for sale all over eBay. It's generally safe enough to buy one on price alone. If you don't "do" eBay, a web search ought to turn a few other options up.

[@TheCommentator353]

thanks

[@gamersgonecrazy7536]

Also this laptop (Mine im using right now) is probaly one of the last good line of computers. I have an ACER Aspire e1-530-4644

[@cdogtheyoutuber1511]

I have a compaq lte elite 4/50cx it will not power on even though it is plugged into power I’m not sure if ram is bad or the power supply is bad I tried taking out the battery and try it didn’t work any advice would be great thank you

[@uxwbill]

It's likely an internal failure and the end of the line. But you could check the CMOS/NVRAM battery -- sometimes it has to be good for a computer to power up. A $10 or less multimeter will tell you right away everything you need to know about the power supply. KZbin is filled with tutorials on that very exciting subject.

[@cdogtheyoutuber1511]

@@uxwbill thank you for the advice I will look into it thank you

[@Samspianopage]

Just watched this again Bill Thoroughly enjoyed it. I real walk through laptop history when this came out I was only 4 or 5 and ye almost never saw any body with a laptop here in Scotland & I suspect over there too unless ye were very specifically needing one & even in busibessy places I never recall seein em like banks and such Heck even desktops were scarce in our school there was maybe what 3 or 4 if that in the whole place in the early-mid 1990s Then again they were soo deer back then even for a basic system and as BBISHOPPCM puts it ye bought em because ye needed em, not because ye wanted em An old 1991 or soo episode of Old Top Gear has Jeremy Clarkson using a similarly aged laptop at around 3:00 I think it's something like a Zenith or similar machine cuz it's substantially thicker than this Compaq kzbin.info/www/bejne/npmvnZSuetese9k How's the modem got 2 phone jack's on it? Sorry I'm.not too familiar with older modems as I haven't used em in ages

[@unknownsoldier4156]

Alright, I have another question for you Uxwbill. I recently bought a Panasonic EIS Camcorder that is in great working order because I hope to shoot some videos for my own channel...but...It has the VHS tape in it, and the AV cables I got with it lack the yellow connector. So, my question goes, How do I get the video off the camcorder and onto my computer? And what kinda software should I use to edit such video? Thanks :)

[@uxwbill]

Truthfully I don't think that an analog camcorder is a good choice for KZbin. There shouldn't be any harm in simply hooking up the cables to see which one is for video. Worst case scenario, you'll get a distorted, random picture if you hook up the audio cable to a video input. I would suggest using a digital camcorder of some kind. It'll be much easier to capture the video you shoot with it. Even a lot of point and shoot digital cameras have a passable video mode, certainly one that's good enough to get started with. Even if you decide to stick with your plan to use the Panasonic VHS camcorder, the best and least troublesome way *by far* to capture its analog output is with a Sony Handycam having realtime analog A/V to DV conversion capability. (There are standalone Digital8 and even MiniDV VCRs with this same capability, but they are Expen$ive to say the least.) If you go this route your computer will need a Firewire port. Those Sony camcorders and VCRs having realtime conversion capability also include functionality to clean up the video signal, which is important with a VHS source. Most any video editor can capture from a DV source even today. I wouldn't recommend using a USB capture device or even a TV tuner expansion card, but if you do or must, most video editing programs can capture from them as well. However, these do not generally stabilize or correct the incoming signal in any way, and such devices will generally show distorted video or drop frames with unstable or incorrect timing during the capture process.

[@unknownsoldier4156]

Meh, I just picked the Panasonic up for twenty bucks and found that it had everything including a good battery and a 30 minute tape and though "Hey! This would be kinda cool to use!" I'll tinker with it, because I do have a Firewire card on my "Media" machine (A Inspiron 530) that I rigged up for any sort of video editing. Thank you, again, very much! :)

[@uxwbill]

Oh, it's definitely worth tinkering with. It's just that the analog import process can require a lot of work to get a good result, unless you're lucky enough to find another camcorder or VCR with the analog to digital conversion functionality previously mentioned. And even with a very good machine playing it back, VHS is one of the "worst" formats to import from just because the sync and color timing aren't very stable. It needs some cleaning up before a computer can easily digitize it.

[@computergeek6976]

You know what a very cool video would be is you take a computer that you don't want and blow it up with a very hi amp power supply

[@burkezillar]

I bought a Compaq 286 laptop (the model number escapes me) but the keyboard detatches to reveal the battery compartment. However, the battery is missing. Would it be possible for you Mr.Uxwbill to create some sort of guide on how you could get rechargable batteries and hook them up to a laptop? It'd help me out, I'd even help.

[@themrenerd7384]

Sounds like a Compaq Slt/286 to me. BTW I have one myself, and the detachable keyboard is really nice.

[@burkezillar]

I think it is. It got lost in my house while decorating before I wrote the comment, and I rescued it from the bin last week. I say that, the girlfriend saw the bag, it looked tatty, and said "Yeah there was an old laptop bag I just threw it out it's too small for your laptop". I swiftly rebuked her.

[@themrenerd7384]

Michael Burke Ok

[@jturner718]

Where in Kentucky did you go? I'm about 45 minutes east of Louisville.

[@Naderade]

Nice profile pic bro

[@jturner718]

***** I know, he says in the video that he went to KY in pursuit of some PS/2s.

[@80sCompaqPC]

It doesn't look like it's had anything spilled in it. I think that black backup battery is most likely the cause of all the damage.

[@traveltechtips6634]

Which Dell tower computer you have behind this review laptop...?

[@uxwbill]

Inspiron 660s.

[@rmx77]

somewhere i have a power supply for that compaq a funky connector. i would just send it off to ya sometime if ever but yea i have one somewhere

[@CoolTim44]

hey man I like your videos

[@WalterKnox]

ok i know you do not sell computers on youtube but is there any way in which you do sell computers?

[@uxwbill]

No.

[@jamiemarchant]

Too bad about the computer :(. Interesting to look at none-the less.

[@CanDoo321]

Thank you.

[@MaxieRetro]

Speaking of Elite! I am really glad that the fad of pronouncing Elite E-LIGHT has died.I remember a time when looking up video about HP ELITE BOOKS often people would express the name as E-LIGHT and I don't know why but it rubbed me the wrong way! Off topic a bit but it just came to mind!

[@uxwbill]

I am continually amazed by the wrong ways people come up with to pronounce so many words. And the same with people going way out of their way to come up with "creative" spellings of common names that are just plain wrong and only condemning their children to a lifetime of having their name "misspelled". Aye yi yi.

[@MaxieRetro]

I just love the fact people will fight tooth and nail with you... ON THE INTERNET about something that at one time was a non-negotiable thing. haha

[@thelinuxtester268]

Looks like someone spilled Gatorade or some sort into it

[@80sCompaqPC]

Where did you find the service manual?

[@uxwbill]

It's online, if you look around carefully.

[@80sCompaqPC]

I've been looking and can't find it. Do you happen to have the link for it?

[@uxwbill]

I do not. I only know that when I made the video, it did turn up after a bunch of looking around.

[@gamersgonecrazy7536]

I did have a (I think its rare) a compaq persono (I will get the full name) but there is no videos on youtube and 1 pic on it, also there is nothing for it on ebay I know it was shipped with 98 or 95and the battery still kinda worked.

[@uxwbill]

Compaq and later HP produced many hundreds of different models for the Presario computer line. Some are certainly more common than others, but none of them are rare. Just because there isn't a lot of information online doesn't mean something is rare.

[@gamersgonecrazy7536]

***** It is/way a Compaq Preanrio 1210 it has 2 ram expanstion bays on the botem- Heres what the bottem says- COMPAQ COMPUTER CORPORATION ASSEMBLED IN TAIWAN- COMPAQ IS A REGISERED TRADEMARK OF COMPAQ(ETC) Its power ratings are (Imput) 18.6 DC 2.8A the lable says Series 203. (idk if you would see this alot in the us) Industry Canada (Under it in freanch it says the same thing) now the code on the sticker is 780 8101 R theres also small numbers at the bottem of this sticker (Idk if there of any use) 292301-001 and S59. If you want any pictures of it I can do that but it stopped working (from age) and I cmpletly disasembled it but there could still be hope for it. Also it was shipped with a floppy drive and cd drive and like the laptop you have there it has only 1 ps/2 port and no usb it only has a printer port a (Sorry this is not the best) IOIOI Port and standerd vga port.

[@Mikeywil0003]

When you say, "real computers have floppy drives," I really have alot of questions. First off, there hasn't been a motherboard made in the last ~4 years that even has a floppy controller onboard. I also have to wonder, in the days of modern computing, what file would even fit on a floppy disk?

[@uxwbill]

The commentary is intended primarily to be humorous. Even when it's not brought out, almost every modern motherboard still has the logic present for a floppy drive. There are (as of this writing) still a few boards with a floppy drive connector on the market. If you were using them for data exchange (sometimes I do) or long term storage (I don't), there are lots of files still small enough to fit on a floppy diskette. Word processing documents, smaller images and photographs are just a few examples. Primarily, though, I use them with my collection of interesting older computer hardware. I have many videos featuring some of these systems and the use of floppy diskettes with them. Many times a floppy diskette is the only way to run a certain configuration tool, update a BIOS or option ROM, or it's the one medium that an older and newer computer both have in common.

[@Aerobix]

Even 5 years later, floppy disks are still a thing. Especially on industrial applications. I think the Boeing 747 Software Backup still works via a floppy drive afaik.

[@johncarrasquillo4429]

good computer.

[@KrissBartlett]

Nice thanks Bill was great

[@Naderade]

Since no one has claimed 1st, 1nd

[@StevenHobbs-zl5fz]

that's not good.

[@xaer0knight]

.. i gotta make a joke.. LTE? So I can connect to cellphone networks right! (L:

[@RWL2012]

5G

[@Browningate]

Ah, ya beat me to it. I was going to ask if he could pick up an LTE signal on that thing too :-).

[@kchristiansen3600]

ok bill why i dont really inderstand all that there is to know about computers, but many moons ago i had a amstrad 8086 and i had gotten a new 5.25 floppy drive for it, because no real computer would be without one of those, anywho i still have the drive still new in box if you want it (free) text me and give me ur address or po box and i will ship to u. tks for the videos

[@resneptacle]

On the back of the laptop it said '15V', so.. yeah.. just wanted to point that out

[@uxwbill]

No, it says 18V DC.

[@samithasheshan8215]

wew dual killer etherenet

[@RubyIsBored]

its not ethernet its phone jacks for the modem

[@samithasheshan8215]

+BrianGriffin1999 ikr 😁

[@LiviuDragon]

dead laptop