Dell Called It "The Showstopper"

[@CathodeRayDude]

🎉 SORRY I SAID DDR3 WHEN I MEANT DDR2 🎉 Update: So it turns out this was not directly my fault! I copied the system specs out of the CNET article early on in writing the script, and as an eagle eyed viewer just pointed out, THEY got the memory type wrong! See, folks, this is why I cite my sources.

[@mmllmmll22]

If it works it works. No matter if its ddr2 or ddr3, i4 or v8. It jist works. :D

[@ax14pz107]

Unforgivable.

[@Redmage913]

I have lost faith in everything you have ever said, ever. When’s the next video?

[@ax14pz107]

​@@Redmage913the fact that the comment wasn't pinned just goes to show how intentionally malicious the error was.

[@uiopuiop3472]

sorry for ddr4 i wan ddr5

[@siberx4]

This _whole video_ was worth it just for the 5-second gag of you sitting in the Starbucks, fancy coffee in hand and overpriced bagel sandwich at your side, watching TV with your triangle antenna proudly on display. I mean, the rest of the video is fabulous too, but that really was the highlight.

[@kowalskidiazdegeras9190]

I am sorry, but I have to say that in comparison, the LTT video is disgusting. I still can't believe such a big channel published such a hastily made video, completely missing not only the most important peripherals, but even not correcting stupid errors like "the keyboard doesn't work" (they didn't even pair it, ffs), or how much they insisted on the machine case being "aluminium" (yet they could have just... looked for a label on it). This channel is like 2 orders of magnitude smaller, yet it delivers quality content on another level

[@jplayer073]

It's criminal that a channel like LTT is so beloved and popular while being so half-assed and misinformed when there are channels like this out there.

[@s0men00bb]

LTT usually just pumps videos , halfass researched and informed. And even when they are , they do it completely wrong. For instance , they got custom cooler for RTX 3090 and what they did is - they put it on RTX 4090 and complained that it's not well aligned. In short , LTT hosts don't know for the most of time what they are even talking and their writer team is so much overwhelmed by sheer amount of content they have to produce per week , that they can't even research things properly. In short , LMG is all about views and money and selling merchandise and whatnot.

[@volvo09]

​@@s0men00bbyeah ltt's content is crap. They just pump out silly videos.

[@alfiehicks1]

Actually, I find it quite easy to believe that a big, popular channel would make a sensationalist, surface-level video that amounts to nothing but pointing and laughing at the old thing because it is old, whereas the (comparitively) little guy makes an expertly researched, exhaustive video detailing not only the quirks of the device itself, but also presents a genuine and valid case for _why_ it is the way it is, and describes the scenario in which it was not only desireable, but actually filled legitimate needs and desires of the market in which it was released, in stark contrast to the swathes of shit that gets made and sold in the modern day.

[@tsimeone]

I used to like LTT, but stopped a few years ago now. It got corny and just bad.

[@BrightSpark]

You know, I have always said that "The term sub-notebook implies the existance of a dom-notebook". And, lo and behold... there it is!

[@ax14pz107]

And it's top to bottom.

[@Nikedemos]

Criminally underrated comment EDIT: well not any more, got a heart from the Dude after all!

[@JeffreyPiatt]

its' a Desktop replacement and according to the Dell Design staff this model was made because of Executive demands for a "blue sky laptop" for the XPS line there consumer line that was aimed to compete with VIAO multimedia pc's and Alienware gaming systems. Heck Linus finally got good Dell support once they got a Dell CA phone order tech that didn't push them to buy a low end Alienware desktop system and had them buy a XPS and gave them real Dell home support not the sub par AW support team.

[@HotClown]

I'm considering the existence of a switch-notebook now some day we'll invent the modern transformers funny magical metal which turns into a Beats By Dr. Dre 'The Pill' speaker except we'll use it exclusively to make stuff like a bad laptop with confusing specs which can change size for no good reason

[@volvo09]

Hahaha, nice 😂

[@pdoherty926]

The image of Gravis watching broadcast HD on a "laptop" in one of the "fancy" Starbucks in 2024 has really been cracking me up. This was another great, entertaining and fascinating look back into forgotten or, better, under appreciated computer history.

[@dribanlycan]

1 minute in, THIS is what ive always wanted in a laptop, a desktop that i can lug, no heat issues, no small screen and dainty compact keys, just a Setup with features

[@jameshunt5316]

Tbh same, if i could find a modern pc that recorded whatever was on the screen to be played back later I would buy it immediately. I’ve been looking for something older for a while now.

[@SomeCuteDoragons]

"no heat issues" ironic with this specific specimen

[@FennecTECH]

The battery means you can put it to sleep. Drive 3 hours to work. Put it on your desk and continue where you left off. Or put it to sleep. Carry it to your bed and have the ultimate bed TV experience. I want one

[@bacon.cheesecake]

That still begs the question why they made it so big, you really don't need three hours of battery life for that

[@Loy_Otterton]

​@@bacon.cheesecake😊

[@LubomirGeorgiev]

Back in the day you would hibernate anyway tho

[@schtiehve9594]

This made me curious if anything like this still was made. And a quick online search revealed the "HP Envy Move" which seems quite similar (though non folding and with a "bag" for the keyboard instead of a dock). And has modern hardware for ~1/3 the price. Not trying to shill for HP here just found it funny they're still around.

[@sprintertrueno1985]

Even if it didn't had a battery, you can still put it in hibernation and remove the plug, and it will still works where you left it off when you arrive at work

[@Tibyon]

DocuSign Impact is apparently the team building summer camp for DocuSign employees. The former owner of that shirt was probably traumatized by it and had to get rid of it

[@atipls]

DocuSign is a traumatizing experience, their suffering is understood

[@CyanoTex]

@@atipls Out of the loop, can you explain?

[@matthewjeffery3686]

Anything with “Sign” in its name, including Adobe, is a traumatizing experience merely due to its intended use being so dry

[@theglowcloud2215]

"Hello, fellow children, would you like to pay us large sums of money to electronically sign documents on the Internet?"

[@rhysbaker2595]

​@@theglowcloud2215 can't you do it for free?

[@seshpenguin]

Finally, a review of this thing that doesn't treat it like some weird exhibit but instead actually explores it in the full context of when and why it existed!

[@guilhermecarvalhodarosa]

Exactly.

[@xAlexZifko]

I'll definitely vouch for that being his standard of quality.

[@drsunshineaod2023]

I can't believe you've managed to sell me on a media center laptop pc from 2006!! That pitch about the remote alone is just *chef's kiss*

[@christopherhaynes8101]

Right it clearly was the best looking one.

[@alexandreabdo124]

About Wireless USB: it uses a type of radio called UWB or Ultra Wide Band. At the time UWB was a 1GHz large band around the 2.4GHz range (compare to the 20MHz bands used for WiFi channels). This large band means the possibilty for huge data rates, but also a large band for other Wireless communications to interfere with (like WiFi). Because the power emission of UWB is way lower than other wireless tech, it was always being disrupted by other signals, including other UWB devices, so this solution wasn't really scalable. While Wireless USB died, UWB is still alive as a kind of radio positionning system and is part of the solution used by Apple's Airtags, and some high end car keys.

[@Kaytichu]

I went through all 5 stages of grief when you so casually told us we were really watching Quick Start this whole time

[@kargaroc386]

Would've been amusing if the quick start series graphic showed up then.

[@Enstrayed]

@@kargaroc386I wanted it to so badly, the delivery of “we’re actually talking about something else” for a second time in the video would’ve been gold

[@1RandomToaster]

Joke’s on you, this is actually the biggest of the Little Guys

[@techgeeknzl]

​@@1RandomToaster The Lil' Guy is that kickass media remote. Obviously.

[@SYXG98]

also premium Pre-housing crash electronics, software, anything, is so amazing. its like looking at a lost civilization and technology.

[@KarlHamilton]

🥲

[@HowieDue416]

That quickstart element just took you from my 2nd favourite youtube channel/personality to leaps and bounds ahead to #1 I love you man

[@endymallorn]

I think I’ve figured out what the battery is for. You’re absolutely right that the machine was meant for media viewing. The battery isn’t just for a power outage, which is a big part, but even bigger: Sleep mode and travel. No joke. XP was the first time that we really used “sleep mode” on a computer. And given what this beast was all about, it’s *perfect* for the jetsetter to take to the airport. Yes, it’s the weight of a carry-on; that’s what it is. But if you have DVDs, or recorded TV, or any video file, you could drop it on this thing, leave everything exactly how you like it, put the machine into Sleep Mode, and then plug in at the airport or on the plane (because of course you fly biz class, where they have 120v plugs). That’s what the battery is about. Throw all the accessories into a bag, hit the road, and take your media with you, wherever you go. And never, ever, lose your place or video-specific settings through something so gauche as “shutting down”.

[@eMorphized]

And then when Vista added hibernation, you didn't need the battery anymore

[@hivehum]

the optical drive is the absolute cutest thing...

[@Konarcoffee]

I thought it was going to be a flip up plastic case thing, the lifting slot loading is slick

[@sinchrotron]

Fingercutter :)

[@TheFinalFrontiersman]

I can't help but hear it say "hello!" When it opens up

[@carlost856]

I don't know, the littul battery has it beat.

[@mustacheboyo]

It's like the back of the psp

[@justjanne-de]

On why 16:10 for a media device: back then that was actually common as 16:10 would allow you to have a 16:9 video with controls and/or subtitles at the same time without covering the content.

[@MetroidChild]

16:10 or 3:2 gives more vertical space for trackpads etc and more closely resembles paper formats for creative work. Probably more of a selling point today with touchscreens and whatnot, but still perfectly usable. Just please never let laptop manufacturers get away with absurd resolutions like 1366x768 again.

[@justjanne-de]

@@MetroidChild I actually kept a monitor from 2004 around just for reading paper documents. 17" 5:4 in portrait is perfect for a text editor, pdf reader or browser with an A4 document at 1:1. I only replaced it a few weeks ago with a DIY built monitor using a 16" 3:2 panel of almost identical size.

[@CraftMine1000]

@@MetroidChild I still have a tv with that resolution, its pain

[@hahasamian8010]

Not to mention, a lot of content was still in 4:3 and would benefit from extra vertical space. And if you weren't in fullscreen, 16:9 content would display with black bars on an actual 16:9 screen, while 16:10 gives some space for the taskbar and such without shrinking the content.

[@zebby]

Just wanted to say that I absolutely adore the disc drive’s opening and closing sounds! It pops up with a happy “oh, hey!” and closes with a hearty “OK!” - that’s *my* favorite part about this machine!

[@scott8919]

"Is that an open disc drive or are you happy to see me?"

[@heroinmom153]

THAT'S your favorite part?

[@freednighthawk]

I worked for Dell XPS Gold Support in 2007, as these were being phased out. They were always my favorite, and I still want one of my own. BTW, we were specifically instructed not to call laptops laptops, because Dell didn't wan't you using them on your lap and burning you.

[@samsanimationcorner3820]

I've only used a laptop in my lap a handful of times. Mostly back when I was a teenager and still flexible enough to sit cross legged on my bed.

[@JohnZombi88]

​@@samsanimationcorner3820 I had to sit my strategically bridging my legs or the 200° bottom of my Pavilion would scald me.

[@narthted8200]

I actually use my laptops on my lap, but only because I happen to have an old lap desk so im not chocking the laptop or burning my legs.

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

The reveal that this thing has a Quick Start OS made me genuinely sit up and shout out “WHAT!?”, that was an incredible moment.

[@g0nz0li0]

I'm in Australia, I have a 55" inch TV, 32" monitor, a 6.8" phone, and a 10" tablet. I have only a vague concept how big an inch is, but I also have no idea what any of my screen sizes are in cms. For some reason wheel sizes (bike and car) are like this as well.

[@kehet4409]

Same thing here in Northern Europe. Some water and sewer pipes and some wood planks also use inches instead of metric units.

[@evefavretto]

Here in Brazil too, displays in general are always in inches, also *some* tools and screws and plumbing stuff.

[@Rouxenator]

South Africa too - wheels and screens always sold in inches.

[@jon-paulgrainger1303]

Same in England aswell 👍

[@roliletea]

Same here in Romania. We only use inches for screen diagonals and sometimes for jeans sizing.

[@professorbadvibes695]

This video was ENTHRALLING omg...the funky design of the machine and all the extravagant features drew me in, but then the remote?!?!? AND THE REMOTE HAS GYRO?!?!? and the quick start reveal at the very end...this is one of my favorite vids from you, glad I'm a patreon backer, keep being amazing ✨

[@professorbadvibes695]

also holy crap thank you for unearthing dormant memories of Otto's Magic Blocks...wonder if it's on MyAbandonware or something

[@Code7Unltd]

@@professorbadvibes695 Most of the WildTangent games appear to be abandoned. It's $3 (free to Wild Pass subscribers) for a perpetual license from the relaunched store, currently. Gamigo has absorbed the company in 2019 and they're still selling most of WildTangent's back catalogue. I'd take caution as most security companies label WildTangent's WebDriver as a "Potentially Unwanted Program" and the auto-updater was a concern back then.

[@Meatball132]

@@professorbadvibes695 It's not abandonware at all; WildTangent Games still sells it, apparently! For pretty cheap, too.

[@basicfacekick]

This notebook PC reminds me of those refrigerators from the 1950's that were A) gorgeous and B) packed with features that were startling then and we also don't see much or at all today. Swing-out lazy-susan type shelves that also were height-adjustable. A butter "conditioning" tray that kept it warmer than the rest of the fridge. A lower compartment drawer-style freezer in the *1950's*. And it was counter-depth! Not to mention made of solid steel. Luxurious, over-engineered in a lot of ways, but something that solved problems you didn't think you had and was glamorous about it at the same time.

[@MazeFrame]

Expensive household devices back then gave you convenience, expensive household devices today give you gadgets in search of a problem.

[@inthefade]

My fridge has a special compartment on the door to keep the butter more warm. I keep the cooking lard in there too. But yeah those old refrigerators are amazing.

[@KnockOut101inc]

That dell remote reminds me of the Sega Dreamcast VMU. So ahead of it's time. The VMU would display certain things in games, like ammo and health, and in fighting games it would show a pixelated version of your character, and would have a punch animation any time you pressed a button. then you could take it with you and play minigames with it on the go. So crazy

[@Sergioosh]

Fun fact: it was features in the first Ironman movie. Towards the latter part in the movie it's the laptop in the bad guy's office (don't remember his name), which Pepper downloads data from.

[@artisans8521]

Great now I have to rewatch that movie again.

[@Sergioosh]

@@artisans8521 Mate, I remembered seeing it, but couldn't remember WHEN it shows up. I did skim through the WHOLE movie to find it "towards the latter part", so I could make that comment ;)

[@JillKatze]

i think this is my all-time favorite gravis video. completely wild from start to finish, and the surprises never stopped coming. what a machine. i wish it was still possible for anything this wildly ambitious to be created in the present.

[@CathodeRayDude]

Thank you, I'm so glad it's a good time. I was worried that I'd overworked the dough lol

[@oliviaiacovou]

was going to comment the same thing!

[@GoTeamScotch]

I appreciate how the screen is physically raised up from the keyboard. The ergonomics of that look pretty good compared to regular laptops.

[@fernandocunha671]

This was a fantastic video, but entry 7 in the Quick Starte series, my God. Absolute cinema. CRD's analysis of corporations high on consumerism at the end of it was absolutely brilliant

[@llMarvelous]

@@CathodeRayDude btw, I suspect the same lcd S-IPS panel used in NEC MultySync 20WGX2, that in use TILL THIS DAY as one of the monitors in my “office” (it’s more like “office island” inside production facility, not main office, but whatever), it is still pretty good and color accurate, and in use by one of the designers for preprint! Which is crazy, taking into account its age! It is calibrated and I like it’s picture very much! So pretty sick panel for luggable device 😅

[@rarbiart]

52:43 "WHY?" - "Because we can!"... cartwheeling a dorm multimedia all-in-one into a starbucks, watching a terrestrial teleshopping channel with an indoor TV antenna....

[@handlesrtwitterdontbelivethem]

i wish i had that laptop but actually modern

[@johnsimon8457]

I see people bringing iMacs and Cintiq tablets into a Starbucks, but this takes the cake.

[@belstar1128]

don't tell me you didn't actually wanted to do that if you lived before 2005

[@handlesrtwitterdontbelivethem]

@@belstar1128 i want to

[@GenericSweetener]

Your presentation style is just so, for lack of a better word, symphonic. You have this bobbing and weaving that doubles back on itself at the right moments, it feels effortless while clearly being the product of diligently applied effort. It just works.

[@CathodeRayDude]

Thank you. I try to write my scripts as a series of setups which get you wondering about several things, which I then return to one at a time once all of their other component parts have been explained to wrap it all up, and I always worry that I drag a concept out too long for people to remember how I set it up, but it doesn't seem to be a big problem if so, and in any case I'm not sure how else to do it hahaha

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@CathodeRayDudeit absolutely works!!

[@hvm2hvm]

@@CathodeRayDude Naw man, you're a story teller. In the 1500s you'd have been that dude that gets their food and board paid for by the local inn to entertain the guests. Maybe cause I'm kinda drunk but I'm insanely happy to see how well you found your calling and that in this world of monetization and "content", art can still be done.

[@inthefade]

First time viewer here, and the extra effort is really noticeable; You're keeping a good fast pace but still presenting the information clearly and thoroughly. This style really works, though I imagine it takes a lot of editing and planning. Excellent work. And what a machine! I want a modern version.

[@retrorevolution6534]

Very few tech youtubers can grab my attention for over an hour harping on about an old Dell! Kudos 🤔👌

[@FlutterSprite]

Incredible! If I knew this existed back in the day, I probably would have salivated over it - my family really tried hard to dive into the whole media player PC ecosystem, but it never seemed like it really stuck due to all the little bits of friction here and there. As for the inheritor of the legacy of Homer Simpson bubble car PCs, I think it may be safe to say that companies like GPD are taking up the mission of making really weird things that are technically Windows laptops. I've got a netbook-sized laptop with a gamepad built into it that makes it double as a gaming handheld. I can only hope that things continue to get even more bonkers.

[@BluesM18A1]

I was absolutely floored at the sight of the disc drive mechanism. You never see anything like this, and it couldn't have been cheap to manufacturer but it makes such a bold statement in its design I can't help but adore it.

[@ecnepsnai]

Of course it has a quick start OS. At this point I'm ready for Gravis to do a video on a shiny chrome toaster and for him to just drop a bomb on us that it also has a quick start OS. Great video!

[@patricktrakzel9657]

My microwave also has quick start.

[@youmukonpaku3168]

CRD reviews the toaster from Technology Connections to reveal the 1950s quick start technology that automagically loads your toast

[@BokBarber]

The only chrome toaster with Chrome OS?

[@SomeMorganSomewhere]

There was a joke back in the day that "NetBSD will even run on your toaster" sooo....

[@execthts]

@@youmukonpaku3168 "...but first, we need to learn about the latent heat and refrigeration cycle"

[@ZenIsFluffy]

So happy to see a look at an old product that is more than just "haha weird! am I right???" this was way more delightful than I ever imagined!

[@FintanMoloney]

When I worked for Dell back in the day I was part of a team testing Windows Vista across all our product lines before launch. When I saw this device in the test matrix I immediately wanted to test it out. It ended up sitting beside my desk (on another desk due to size) for a good while until eventually I had to give it back to the factory. Enjoyed many a game of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 on it on my lunch breaks. I believe my configuration had an ATI Radeon X1800 or around that range.

[@greggv8]

I would have been "What's the wholesale price for this?" "Ok, take 1/4 of that out of my next four paychecks because this bad boy is coming home with me!" My current laptop is a Latitude E6530 with 16 gig RAM, 2TB SSD, BD-RE, 1080p display, dual USB 3.0 ExpressCard, Core i7, nVidia GPU, backlit keyboard. *NO* webcam or SmartCard. It still have Windows 10 on it, which I plan to keep on it until I must go to 11. It has a TPM but I'll most likely do whatever workaround eliminates the "need" for it.

[@inthefade]

He said this one had the Radeon X1800 too.

[@linkfreeman1998]

FS2004... Like how not even 3 years later after the release Aces Studios made an updated, impressively unoptimized version 😂

[@LelandHasGames]

This is a really incredible piece of tech history. I really feel like dell should give it another shot. Like, do a modern version with modern tech but like, do it in the same style as this. I seriously love weird stuff like this and, it kills me that it doesn't happen nearly as often anymore.

[@MrReedEnt]

I was a student IT professional at my University when these were first released in 2006. They were used in lecture halls as a quick av interface solution in replace of the custom ad-hoc av solutions that needed specialized a desk and wiring that had to go up, through, and behind walls. This was before the rise of shuttle computer set ups which allowed for immediate interchangeability. Anyone who went to a SUNY school knows all of the computers there were contracted to Dell. Luggables before thenn was most often a TV on a rolling stand with a tray that included whatever your av/it order was, separate of mentioning whatever were the ports built into your lecture hall. The HALO and Street Fighter sessions in these halls were glorious on those projectors. Btw, when luggables of this sort were first released it eas absolutely insane seeing so many students with these absolutely huge laptops being lugged around campus.

[@ltrain_0311]

You've mentioned the concept of an amazing dorm room media center machine before and the only time I ever saw one of these in real use was at a Student Lounge at my university at some time between 2006 and 2010. Another student rolled it in using its official wheeled carrying case, I had a Latitude D420 at the time so of course I snickered from behind my note taking ultra portable. I think with this video you've really demonstrated that while unwieldy for a ton of uses its actually a really solid machine from a time when Dell was actually trying.

[@K3NnY_G]

It's amazing how much better this is than anyone's video on this machine; it's like people going down to the slums somewhere filming videos using someone's plight for their gain; then an actual journalist (*cough Channel5 *cough) goes down and actually does the job showing every facet of something. Idk man, you're just so good at what you do is what I'm getting at, I always wonder about the runtimes when I come into a video then you just keep bringing up genuinely interesting aspects to speak on.

[@hvm2hvm]

Ye, when I started watching CRD, it was one of his 1h 30m long videos and I didn't expect that I would watch it all. I binged watched most of the channel after that and now I just know that any video he puts up is worth the time. There's never any redundant stuff at all, even if you watched most of his stuff already.

[@Ikkepop]

So refreshing to see more frequent videos from you, even if it's just reviewing obsolete laptops and "little guys"

[@isaiasprestes]

Dear CRD, thank you for being the first channel talking good things about this machine. I had the pleasant oportunity to check out this machine in a DELL event back there in 2008(?) in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It was impressive! Gorgeous! People got stunned by the beauty of it. No one, as far as I remember, had the adjectives the reviewers nowaday like to attach to this wonderful machine. Thank you very much!

[@waltergonzalezpaz5995]

Amazing chapter, not only showing the decice itself, but a lot of investigation noticed, as you have a lot to say about the "laptop", great job! Subscribing right now.

[@rarbiart]

56:45 "wireless USB was lost in the chronicles for what reason" was a question that came into my mind a few times already, but never followed up the topic. i remember a lot of hype about it around 2005 at Comdex and CeBIT, even later with the prospect of porting it to USB3 on 60GHz(?). Astonishingly, i never saw real world products appear on shelves.

[@kyoudaiken]

Wireless tech is just way too unreliable.

[@nickdaniels5892]

There are a bunch of them, mostly host adapters/receivers, from companies like Cables to Go, Belkin, Startech, the usual suspects. I have actually used a host adapter, and I can confirm the technology absolutely sucks. You can get cables that work over longer distances more reliably.

[@libertyordeaf]

I've used a musical keyboard over wireless USB a few times and it's just far too unreliable. Works brilliantly when it works but has a tendency to fail unexpectedly.

[@TEDodd]

@kyoudaiken ​ posted from your cellular phone possibly connected to 802.11 Wi-Fi for networking (as I am doing). Wireless tech sure is unreliable.

[@kyoudaiken]

@@TEDodd My message was posted on a PC connected via Ethernet because my WiFi in my bedroom is unreliable. But you know it better of course. WiFi is absolutely congested here where I live.

[@henryatkinson1479]

12:05 "You don't want highs, you don't want lows, you must want Bose"

[@scrub_jay]

BOSE is actually an acronym. Buy Other Sound Equipment

[@smartyhall]

Alternatively… If it has no highs and has no lows, then of course, it must be Bose!

[@crackthefoundation_]

I have an older Bose SoundLink bluetooth speaker and it actually sounds great! However most of my experience with Bose mirrors the above sentiments 😢

[@TrashHeapCustodian]

Bose: ONLY DA MIDS BAYBEEEEEEEEE

[@inthefade]

My gf got a Bose BT speaker for her birthday from her dad. I checked out the price and it is ridiculous, but at least it sounds good. Their other systems absolutely blow though. Always have.

[@DurradonXylles]

44:19 I just dug out my old Toshiba NB505 netbook out of storage a couple weekends ago, and the rubberized plastic had expired like nothing else has. I had to sit down, put on an old movie in the background, get out a roll of paper towels, grab the guitar pick scrapers from my iFixit tool kit, and alternate between isopropyl alcohol and water to get 98% of it off. That was around two hours. I could not imagine needing to put on a playlist and putting in a workday's worth of effort to get the stuff off of both sides of that Dell notebook.

[@CathodeRayDude]

I watched like 6 episodes of Have Gun, Will Travel, listened to a Nirvana album and then watched some Star Trek Enterprise and there was still more to do lmao

[@hyperturbotechnomike]

I have the Pentium II ThinkPad from my dad and still use it. The amount of rubber IBM used on these things was insane. But i used a different method. As a business owner and a certification of my country's government, i have access to certain fluids that can dissolve rubber. There are special acid cleaners to dissolve sticky rubber. But please be careful with it. //edited: typo "mie".

[@neilpatrickhairless]

PALADIN MENTIONED 🗣️❗❗❗

[@nitehawk86]

Runtime to weight ratio is an amazing chart. I love graphing things that shouldn't make sense but end up being interesting.

[@ehosack.rocketlad]

Just want to say- I have now watched this video three times all the way through. So excellently produced and I genuinely really enjoyed it (and enjoyed it and enjoyed it again)

[@Cvolton]

european here, can confirm we use inches for screen sizes (centimeters were actually commonly used for tv screen sizes but for pc monitors it was almost always exclusively inches and in the hd era they took over the tv space as well)

[@lasskinn474]

i can confirm as an ex european that it's the same for asia. a bunch of things are inches worldwide, such as household fans, the mentioned monitors/tv's, jeans sizing, car wheels, cat cooldown clay pot cozys, pans and pots often.. there has to be a bunch of other things, but for one reason or not round or such things are often inches. oh yeah he just said subwoofer! subwoofers and woofers are most of the time sold in inches worldwide. "6x9inc" speakers for cars and such too! edit: I can't remember centimeters ever being used for tv's in the 90s either. boxes often had a centimeter rating too though

[@belstar1128]

its quite annoying inches are mostly used for things like measuring screens and a certain body part only half of the population has .

[@odkres]

@@belstar1128 WHAAT only half the population has waists?!

[@belstar1128]

@@odkres we use cm for that

[@TheExileFox]

Actually it varied depending on country and manufacturer. Nokia sometimes used cm or inch depending on the model. Their larger sets were sometimes seen measured in inches but the smaller ones with a built-in vhs player were using sometimes using cm. And this is just from Sweden.

[@AstralPhnx]

Already said this on Patreon but I greatly appreciate your postings. This hit my feed right when I've been having a HORRIBLE mental health couple of days and a large panic attack and seeing it hit my feed and watching felt like a warm blanket being wrapped around me when I needed it the most. Love the stuff you make Gravis.

[@CathodeRayDude]

I'm really glad I could help.

[@AstralPhnx]

@@CathodeRayDude It really helped make this garbage day better for me. Love your videos.

[@t20594]

Definitely one of the best voices on the internet.

[@sdomi1337]

1upping what you wrote, i've been there and having something like this to watch is always a treat.

[@Stanwis]

Hope you get well. Panic attacks are the worst shit…

[@StreetofCrocodiles]

You are right about it being a good pc for it's target consumer. When it came out I had a number of friends in high end engineering design jobs that got these. They still occassionaly wax fondly about it. They loved that it was a powerful worstation that could easily be taken to the numerous sites that they circulated through. Show up to a branch office, contractor's office, presentation facilities at hotels, etc. and you could run anything you needed to, on the spot, without worry. Great for people who worked, mostly, on resource intense software, or veiwing large, slick, presentations.

[@dosman7560]

Yeah that's a good point. I could definitely see this as good for site visits and presentations

[@lasskinn474]

I'd much much much rather have this than any "all in one" desktop pc and doing it this way doesn't basically cost much extra anyway compared to that.

[@ig8uh8m8]

I had the extremely rare chance to encounter one of these machines in person when i was 13, it was majestic in person as it is in this video

[@Futuresolidsnake]

I’m so glad I subbed your channel. This was an excellent presentation and explanation. And it is done with the perfect amount of flair! Thanks for all your hard work I’m sure this video required, simply awesome! 😃👍🏻👍🏻

[@balisongman07]

This is without a doubt the greatest thing I've ever seen you do a video on. The PC alone was absolutely beautiful. But then that remote came in and blew my mind.

[@TheMrDeeJay]

Yeah in Europe we also use inches for diagonal display sizes in general

[@GreenDayFanMT]

Yeah, it is hell every day on this planet

[@Bogster13]

This truly is the darkest timeline

[@vetrixfx9264]

I think it wasnt always like that tho. When CRTs were still around I believe cm was more or less the norm for screen sizes

[@clavius5734]

Ah, but that basically only took off with LCD's. CRT's were definitely primarily advertised in centimeters. I had a 55cm Trinitron for example. Which I miss 😢

[@klaernie]

We do - but legislation (EU, iirc) requires that every dimension is given in cm as well - and I've always found that useful to pull out my tape measure and estimate if a new monitor might fit on my desk.

[@em_being]

This video is such a wild ride. Thanks as always for putting out such great work, I feel like the last few videos have really been some of my favorites. Really appreciate not just laughing about old technology but going deep into the confluence of the context of how we used technology in the era, how people thought we could use technology, and how that all kind of fell apart as the phone took over as the omni-device.

[@robertrobinson6785]

I have this exact laptop and remote. He tells no lies the sound is awesome.

[@Stormbolter]

My mother was one of the intended targets. She loved that she could stow the whole thing under the table once finished with minimal fussing and was heartbreak when we found no replacement for it when it finally got too long in the tooth to be usable. There's a gap between laptops and all-in-ones these machines filled in, and never were replaced.

[@paullee107]

Please keep doing more monologues where you let go, and get really into it - in a couple recent videos I've been floored, moved and happy because of them. Good job, CRD!

[@BananasAintCheap]

A teacher of mine had one of these and she loved it. Had all the functionality she needed, made sense for use at home and at her desk. Didn't need to be super portable but it was convenient if you only wanted one desktop in two places.

[@teejuschrist]

I was a big box store bench tech for years and a regular would come in to have his serviced/upgraded. He was a party DJ and this machine was the ideal form factor for him!

[@TitoffSky88]

Non-native speaker here. When I started learning English as a kid, I was surprised these machines aren't called 'notebooks' 😁 Because it's exactly how we call them in our language, and 8 year old me thought this word was universal, like 'computer', or 'television', or 'monitor'

[@ApocalypticSoviets]

My best friend in highschool had a digital jukebox (we called it a dell-pod), so when I saw that remote interface it was an immediate throwback. Awesome video!

[@TreeMannCo]

Been loving the videos but also holy hell did LTT undersell this. I would actually want to use one of these today as a media centre, just out of novelty alone but, especially the remote. Honestly love how you present your videos and how you set up each of your points. It's completely unique from everything else on this platform. I've been hooked on your stuff since the Musicstore video and I just leave your videos on in the background while doing stuff. Love your work, and I hope to support you on Patreon when I can. Keep it up! :)

[@cal2127]

linus is to tech what pop history is to history

[@obi1998]

It was so weird seeing Linus' face show up in a video with nuance.

[@JessicaFEREM]

I personally think the ASUS ROG Mothership was a great line of PCs and in some way I would say it's a spiritual successor to this idea where it's basically an AIO that can be folded up and taken with you with a detachable wireless keyboard.

[@CathodeRayDude]

woah. hadn't seen that one before, i agree, it's kinda the same deal!

[@StarryCactus]

“The great modern stagnation” amen! Great video as always.

[@derrickmeme1093]

Started watching this with the intention of coming back later when I had more time to finish the whole thing, but here I am 45 minutes in absolutely enthralled. What a stellar video, you've won over a new fan. Cheers.

[@rfvtgbzhn]

It's kinda funny that someone who calls himself "cathode ray dude" got his first LCD monitor in 2003, when most people still used CRT monitors.

[@1990drewman]

I love the secret “it was a quick ep all along” I’m here for that

[@Toast_Points]

I've always been fascinated by the idea of more modern computers in old form factors like luggables and all-in-one keyboard wedges, so I'm immediately enamored with this thing. 5 minutes in I already want one badly.

[@WodkaEclair]

if I had the money to commission a computer, it would be in the form of an old compac portable, just with entirely modern components. basically my dream computer, because my brain is broken

[@USSMariner]

Honestly, just label them as "PORTABLE CLOUD COMPUTING" and someone will probably fund it.

[@crisprapper]

This was a cool PC and then the reveal of the remote made it so much better. What an incredibly rad and entirely over the top collection of kit. Like you say, the time of hardware companies saying 'fuck it' is seemingly over but man it gave us some cool equipment.

[@knuxify]

regarding the battery - i'd assume it's useful for moving it even from room to room, if it's supposed to be an one-in-all media device then you could e.g. move it to a tv to play a movie, then move it to an amp and speaker setup to listen to music, or even just moving from e.g. watching something on the living room tv to a bedroom tv. all that without having to shut down the device, then turn it back on, open media center or whatever player you use, find the media you want to watch, etc. - though i suppose hibernation also partially solves that

[@KnockOut101inc]

I ran into an HP that had that same hinge style, and I was amazed by it. This Dell was top notch! I would have only dreamed about having something like that in 2006.

[@RubyRoks]

A video about a remote disguised as a video about a laptop with a Quick Start Gaiden segment. Bold work. I know the "They shouldn't make machines smaller than this" joke is...well, a joke, but this format of machines is unironically my ideal. This, the original MSI Titan with a full sized Cherry MX blue keyboard and desktop graphics, the Acer with the curved ultrawide monitor, the Razer prototype with 3 screens. All of these NeoLuggables are genuinely my ideal "laptops". Everything you need from a high end desktop system with enough portability considerations that you can take it and only it to a friend's house and have an uncompromised experience.

[@togoxo]

HP recently have made a product like this. its the "HP Envy Move". it has a pocket for the keyboard behind it, it has a 24 inch touchscreen and it has legs that flip out when you place it on a desk. it aslo has an internal battery but reviews and hp themself say that it doesnt last that long on battery.

[@inherentlyflawed]

Also doesn’t have dedicated graphics or many of the other features

[@togoxo]

@@inherentlyflawed but the type of stuff this dell in the video was trying to achieve like media consumption which nowadays is just playing a video from a website so no need for a dedicated gpu, a tuner, a dvd drive, media control buttons, analog tv outputs and surround sound outputs, dual hard drives in raid 0, a remote and such. so the envy move is kind of a modernized stripped down thing of this class of all in one portable computers and to be honest it is quite pointless for this device to exist just for its big touchscreen and a full size keyboard and no other new functionality. if you really want that screen you can just have carry around a 23.8 inch portable monitor along with your laptop that you can use if you really want a big screen…

[@Myth1221]

Your content is so comfy and amazingly researched and edited. Like, I actually feel like I'm listening to a friend passionately infodump about old hardware. I really should comment more but I just leave your stuff on autoplay for hours.

[@s0men00bb]

I wish they used standard desktop components , as around 2003 or 2004 , there were desktop computers packed into laptop form , i think they were like from 17 , 19 inches but inside , you could fit usual desktop components as motherboard had slots mounted paralel , so everything could fit nicely. And they were really thick and heavy , and had just like that machine small battery , so if power fails , you can save your stuff and power it off. I remember also them having bad thermals as well due to crammed components , but it was cool idea for the time , as laptops from that era had big constraints compared to desktop counterparts. And that was great solution for the time.

[@eMorphized]

This was actually something Dell tried much later. Remember the Alienware Area 51-m?

[@MrPruske]

44:17 you can try some very thin plastic wrap for food and stretch it accross the rubber- coated parts and press it on and trim the excess with a blade. it kinda bonds to it and doesn't look the greatest, BUT it gives it a new glossy shell that doesnt readilly come off and most importantly, no more goop feel.

[@MrPruske]

well, i guess you removed too much of it for this to work its best. -shrug-

[@TylerHendrixO]

Another high quality CRD video that I only realize is feature-length after I finish it. Can't get enough of these videos about old doodads and whatsits

[@NigelMelanisticSmith]

You weren't joking about how easy that thing looks to work on. I have to practically pray everytime I need to open my iBook, and that thing doesn't have 8 speakers lol.

[@cfabz2023]

I bet you no more than 3 screws are the same on that thing, just like my Powerbook G4. That was such obnoxious anti-repair crap Apple was doing even back then.

[@SnakebitSTI]

Apple made some computers that just require one screwdriver to work on. We know they're capable of it. They just choose not to :(

[@francesconicoletti2547]

@@SnakebitSTIjobs came back to apple and systematically scrapped anything that was easy to work on.

[@bloodwurscht]

you manage like no other to make boring sounding topics entertaining and interesting. keep up the good work

[@_skyyskater]

It's obvious absolutely no expense was spared in the making of this computer. Dell really went all out on this one. A little overengineered, and some seriously questionable requirements targeting a seriously questionable market, but really quite an accomplishment. It's pretty neat to see. Thanks for showing it to us!

[@eveypea]

As a suggestion, eucalyptus oil tends to remove the most difficult of residues without damaging the underlying plastic

[@krellykrells]

ive been waiting for this video since you posted pics of this beast yippie

[@Sakurina]

My school’s AV club had a recording booth setup for events like school musicals and we’d bring this setup with us so we could do live audio/video mixing for our recordings. If we had multiple showings in a tight timeframe, we’d also start to edit the recordings between showings to avoid building up too much of a backlog. In retrospect, I wish we had one of these instead of our club’s Power Mac G5, and I need you to know how much it hurts me as a Mac fan to admit this.

[@Hugobros3]

> 8 seconds in, opens the darn thing Ah you meant back-breaking in the literal sense, I see.

[@elijahpass1539]

Masterpiece of a video.

[@red13emerald]

No way I remember daydreaming about having this machine as a teen, it felt like the coolest thing ever. I only had one picture from an article about the highlights of CeBIT to base my fantasy on, but man did I look at that picture often.

[@ecchichanf]

>8:00 In the Germany, yes tvs are advertise with inches but also with cm specification for example >SAMSUNG GQ77S90CAT OLED TV (Flat, 77 Zoll / 195 cm, OLED 4K, SMART TV, Tizen)

[@LostieTrekieTechie]

Yesssss! I saw this in a magazine at the time, and thought "a desktop, that's portable?" was the coolest thing ever. I'm ready to have my dreams reinforced or dashed.

[@dokkanojo]

I almost have to wonder if the battery existing is partly a consideration for meeting/conference use for presenters and venues. It being so convenient to hook up to anywhere you go for just watching media casually would likely mean you'd also be pretty well equiped for whatever scattershot setuos you'd be running across at different conferences making presentations, you'd have a remote to control that presentation that doesn't need line of sight, and you have it all in a form factor that looks quite sleek and presentable, especially folded up. It seems a bit overkill now that you can just pull files from the cloud wherever, but back in the mid-aughts? I could see this thing being a miracle worker for presenters.

[@mateorojas3542]

Damm this was an absolute throwback, I remember my dad used to own one of this back in 08-09, he went on a business trip to the us and came back with it, he absolutely loved it, it was at the time the replacement to his office tower pc and he liked it because it was easy enough to carry once a day from the office to our home for some late night excel work whitout the “change between laptop and full desktop pc” i remember him having a dedicated ac adapter at home and another at the office, he used it with the keyboard attached at home in the more “traditional laptop” setup, and with the keyboard detached and the screen moved forward once at the office!

[@v-1nce]

i worked at geek squad for a few years circa 2010. i distinctly remember one of these appearing on the bench and thinking it was a branded briefcase *containing* a laptop 😆 we cleaned up the OS, but there wasn't really room to upgrade and sadly nothing comparable & newer to offer... iconic machine

[@dancingwiththedogsdj]

My first Harmony I picked up for $20 on a sale had the built-in in learning capabilities without external software... And it was just a dot matrix display but it even had the ability to download your local TV guide for like a weeks worth and look at it on the tiny screen... It was my favorite. Blue color and blue backlit buttons. Amazing device. I think it was the 480 series but I could be way off and I don't need to go down a rabbit hole lol Great video! ☺️🌎❤️🕺🏻🐶

[@USSMariner]

I have one of the next to last Harmon remotes, entirely to control my PS3 from the couch. Worth it.

[@stevef6392]

Dammit, I love these super long videos about computers that make me immediately go "oh yeah - I remember that absolute _piece_ " . Forget the eclipse, I'm watching this!

[@Radi0he4d1]

Thank you for putting the whole kit together. Awesome machine

[@rarbiart]

47:58 "newgrounds flash game". that blast from the past came unexpected!

[@Cantimule]

That music picker on the actual remote is insane

[@sonicjms]

The wallpaper is called Energy Bliss for those wondering (in case he doesn't mention it, I haven't finished the video)

[@noneofyourbusiness76]

I bought the M2010 in early 2007 and absolutely loved it as my daily driver. I still have it in storage. My only complaints were the nonexistent battery replacements after the originals perished, and how Dell completely abandoned driver support after Vista. I had a heck of a time getting windows 7 installed because there wasn’t a driver for that video card. I eventually found a hacked universal driver without 3D support and used Windows 7 until I had to move to a new machine in late 2012. Six years was a good run. I would buy a modern version of it with identical form factor if it existed.

[@martinkeatings7126]

I actually had an M2010 and it was the best "laptop" I ever had. I didn't actually class it as a laptop due to the size, I considered it more of a portable PC. But its power (for the time), size and layout made my life 10 times easier. No squinting at small screens or having to zoom right in. The ability to set it up on a car seat platform next to me and not have it slide around. Larger peripherals which were much easier on the hands...........and a heavy solid machine to hit people with when they insulted my "laptop".

[@ihartmacz]

Man, that things got more drivers than an HP softpaq!

[@CarletonTorpin]

I’m sitting here waiting an hour for my eclipse-video timelapse to finish rendering, and I click over and I see an hour-length CRD video! Amazing. EDITED TO ADD: My laptop is currently on my lap.