Ep09.A Superior Alternative to the Toshiba Libretto for DOS retrogaming! Portege 660.

[@ryuquen]

omg this make me curl up and crying... my first laptop in 2001-2003 is a protege 620CT, it's a solid little laptop i enjoy every moment with it when it last.

[@retrobecanes]

Such nostalgia with these little machines. Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. Cheers!

[@AK-vx4dy]

Portege are best 💪

[@badgerradzio9619]

OMG this laptop is great i need buy!

[@TheCarlosMendonca]

Love the Portege Pentium and Pentium II lines, but finding them is next to impossible. Which to me is surprising, because I thought companies bought them often for execs, much more so than Librettos. I guess the Satellite and Tecras were the models Toshiba sold the most.

[@retrobecanes]

They come in waves and indeed, were once the go-to models for corporate executives. A few months ago, there were still quite a few listed on eBay for around $50, but recently, their prices have risen to about $100. With some patience, though, you can still find them at more reasonable prices occasionally. However, even at these higher price points, laptops remain more cost-effective compared to building a desktop system with all the necessary components-though I'm not sure how much longer that will be the case.

[@pentiummmx2294]

i did just get myself a Satellite Pro 480CDT, i hope hibernate and cmos batteries didn't burp all over the electronics under the plastic covers, but it appears to POST on the listing

[@retrobecanes]

The 480 is a great laptop for DOS gaming! It checks the right boxes, MMX which allows for CPU branch prediction and pipeline tuning for those speed sensitive games., C&T graphics is great for full screen stretching, and also ISA Yamaha SA3 with OPL3!. Try finding a docking station PA2717U if you can. It will allow connection to an external MIDI module and a game controller. The 400 series is still fairly affordable and abundant, you may want a second donor unit - just in case. I have a couple 440CDT (133MMX) that I want to review soon.

[@pentiummmx2294]

@@retrobecanes yeah, i have a ISA OPL3-SA3 and i compared it side by side with my Creative Labs Sound Blaster 32 CT3930 which has a YMF262 IC and they sound the same. even the DS-XG has a real OPL3 too. certain P3 toshibas had that DS-XG as well.

[@xuchao9098]

I have this Portege 660, the cpu fan is too loud.

[@retrobecanes]

It's due to being equipped with such a tiny fan. Luckily many earlier DOS games don't need that much CPU power and run fine in low power mode. Thanks for watching!

[@xuchao9098]

@@retrobecanes IBM 365xd ,IBM 560/560e,you are welcome.

[@ibm5155]

I'd say ibm thinkpad 235 is far superior to Toshiba Librettom more because it doesn't need any adaptors to use the basic functions from it.

[@retrobecanes]

Yeah indeed. They were also available as Ricoh Bajio. These small form factors are so rare and expensive these days. At this rate, they are best left as collectors.

[@Atr3ju]

I am still of the opinion that a standard computer is better because it has a port (gameport) to support controllers.

[@retrobecanes]

Hey there, thanks for joining in and sharing your thoughts. Desktop computers are undoubtedly top-notch, offering versatility with expansion ports for enhanced components like sound cards, graphics cards, HDDs, optical drives, choice of keyboard and mouse. But, let's face it, prices have been soaring lately, especially for those reliant on online hardware sources. Building a Pentium desktop setup can easily surpass $100 once you factor in peripherals like keyboard, and monitor. Plus, they eat up a lot of space, and finding a single system that natively covers all gaming eras without emulation is nearly impossible, leading to the need for multiple setups. That's where laptops come into play. You can snag a fully functional one for around $50, allowing you to assemble, let's say, three units to cater to various gaming eras. Be sure to check out the other episodes; I hope you'll enjoy them!

[@Atr3ju]

@@retrobecanes Check out my episode “krotki test 104” in my channel I have one PC to three systems (DOS, Win98 & WinXP) with native devices without having three separate pc's. 1 motherboard 1 processor 1 sound card 1 graphics card 3 separate disks in 1 PC

[@retrobecanes]

Hi, I watched your video and loved the setup! Here in the States, these parts are getting pretty pricey. I'm estimating around $100-$150, unless you're lucky enough to be near recycling centers. I prefer AMDs for retro gaming, especially the K7-2+ or K7-3 since their multipliers are unlocked. I haven't had a chance to try the Athlon XP yet. Thanks for the video-I'll definitely be looking into this CPU more.

[@gdelappa3]

For IDE PATA, I do not quite understand the need to still promote Compact Flash from all these retro channels. I have never used ANY in my retro PCs, ZERO, NADA, since the beginning of time. You have so many better options than Compact Flash; Compact Flash or SD card adapters are way too slow. Better use a silent 7200rpm PATA DE HDD, any SATA-TO-IDE PATA adapter with an included mini SATA SSD, or any mini industrial PATA IDE SSD (4GB up to 16GB).

[@retrobecanes]

Hello, thanks for tuning in and for dropping a comment. SATA SSDs definitely offer superior performance. However, speaking for myself, CFs or SDs are much more practical for frequent file transfers from different machines with a card reader. When it comes to classic gaming in a pure MS-DOS environment, a slow CPU is actually good and I have to find various tricks to lower performance that unavoidably impacts IDE performance, somewhat negating the benefits of SSDs. It is a whole different ball game though for Windows 98 and XP retrogaming. I'm all about finding the fastest machine as long as it still has full driver support.

[@ibm5155]

CF is a good option because it's 100% compatible with IDE so you dont need any complex adapter. I also like the cf to sd card adapters or just PATA IDE to SD Card adapters since its easy to transfer data between old and new devices, plus the speed is kinda good if you have a fast SD Card

[@alakani]

IDE is 133MB/s max, lots of CF and SD cards can do that

[@MistahMatzah]

@@alakani Not this old timer, 16.6mbps maximum. It's only an EIDE interface. Basically any modern CF card will be able to saturate that bus.

[@hh7426]

@@ibm5155CF isn’t always ideal because some computers don’t support removable CF cards, and switching them to fixed disk mode can be hars or even impossible. Using an SD card is much more consistent