I Love Fixin' Computers!
Mon, 2005-07-18 10:49 — jrearick
So, last weekend (the weekend before last), I was up in Grundy Center for a family thing. My cousin approaches me and asks if I could come down to fix a computer, I agree and we part ways. So, now I am scheduled to go down to my cousin's to work on her computer. I give her a call to find out the details so I know what to expect and what stuff to bring as she is only on dial-up. So, anyway, I find that the computer she wants me to work on is an Ascentia 810n. I figure it was some crazy off-brand, but ask her when it was manufactured. The response, 1994. Ohhh. You want wireless on this thing you say?
I do some Googleing and find an old BYTE article that describes this machine. I find that it's a laptop, 486DX2 (pre Pentium) with 20 MB RAM and 510 MB hard drive. My thought is that you can barely get Windows 95 on that sucker.
Luckully, she has other computer work to do. She needs a new Palm Pilot configured. She mentioned Zire, so I know it is at least still supported by the manufacturer. As for the notebook, I don't think I can do much for it other than sell it for $1.00 in a garage sale or take it to the recycling plant.
I guess, at current market rate, dinner for me and the girlfriend is about par for the work I'm going to be doing.
I do some Googleing and find an old BYTE article that describes this machine. I find that it's a laptop, 486DX2 (pre Pentium) with 20 MB RAM and 510 MB hard drive. My thought is that you can barely get Windows 95 on that sucker.
Luckully, she has other computer work to do. She needs a new Palm Pilot configured. She mentioned Zire, so I know it is at least still supported by the manufacturer. As for the notebook, I don't think I can do much for it other than sell it for $1.00 in a garage sale or take it to the recycling plant.
I guess, at current market rate, dinner for me and the girlfriend is about par for the work I'm going to be doing.
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Despite the age of her system, I think you can make her computer work on a wireless network. Below you'll find some (hopefully) useful information. However, this is your project; you can do the rest of the research on your own.
According to the links below, you could get Win95 on there or even Win 98 first edition. However, Win98 leaves you with little space for anything else. <a href="http://www.lowendmac.com/macdan/991109.shtml">Manuel Mejia Jr</a> offers some useful hints on low-RAM computers, though his comments are about Macs.
<B>Windows 98 F.E. requires:</B>
<LI>Min Processor Type Intel 486 or higher - 66 MHz</LI>
<LI>Min RAM Size 16 MB</LI>
<LI>Min Hard Drive Space 120 MB</LI>
<a href="http://www.windowsmarketplace.com/specs.aspx?itemId=35482">http://www.windowsmarketplace.com/specs.aspx?itemId=35482</a>
<a href="http://www.windowsmarketplace.com/Specs.aspx?itemId=35481">http://www.windowsmarketplace.com/Specs.aspx?itemId=35481"</a>
<B>Windows 95 + Internet Startup kit requires:</B>
<LI>Min Processor Type Intel 486 or higher - 25 MHz</LI>
<LI>Min RAM Size 8 MB</LI>
<LI>Min Hard Drive Space 40 MB</LI>
Source: <a href="http://www.windowsmarketplace.com/Specs.aspx?itemId=36598">http://www.windowsmarketplace.com/Specs.aspx?itemId=36598</a>
Oh, and btw, old laptops work quite well for typing papers and performing basic tasks, though the user does sacrifice some of the "frills" and features of newer computers. Nevertheless, Baby and some of the old computers that Dad's collected are/were particularly excellent for me...or at least before I realized that Baby could support tempting distractions such as games and Internet. 0:) I encourage you (and others) to consider the value of individuals' computers based on their ability to fulfill the user's goals rather than how they compare against top-of-the-line versions.
Thanks for all the information. Trying to make wireless work on that machine would have taken more time and resources than what it was worth. I was doing this for a dinner for me and Gaila. She settled that it would be good to install Windows 3.1 and run some preschool games for Nicholas. I doubt even that will happen, though.