I tend to disagree with the following argument. My Packard Bell is a Pentium 100 MHz. I bought it with 8Megs memory and a 1 Gig HD. I now have 32 Megs memory (PNY) and two hard drives (2 Gig and a 1 Gig), also an IDE CD-ROM. I have had no problem upgrading. You do really have to pull the computer apart to get to some of the parts, but nothing to tough. I have been very satisfied with it. It had all good parts inside, nothing second rate. Seagate hard drive. I would recommend it if you get a good deal on it. I have had mine for over a year and I have had no problems, and the thing is on more than it is off.
Tom Veldhouse [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Mon, 6 Jan 1997, Dale Scheetz wrote: > On Sun, 5 Jan 1997 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > I wonder if anyone on the list may have experience with Packard > > Bell machines, running Debian ? The reason for the question is, a local > > store is selling excess stock that didn't sell during the holiday season > > at a price that is very, very, tempting. Actually, the price is only a > > little more than the cost of a decent motherboard, and it is for a > > complete system, including monitor, 4X CD-ROM, etc. The processor is a > > 75Mhz Pentium. I don't know the whole story of the Pentium line, but > > would it be reasonable to assume that the cpu could be readily upgraded? > > Thats a detail that might depend entirely on the capability of the board > > in the machine, and I know little about PB, other than the adverse stories > > of the recent past. Are they still using "refurbished" stuff and selling > > it as new? Do their machines use standard memory components, so they > > could be easily upgraded with parts from other vendors, etc? They don't > > mention the vendor, but the machine includes an video accelerator type of > > card, and the machine is billed as a "multimedia home PC". The monitor is > > one of those goofy looking things with speakers glued to its sides. It is > > a model 4240. Anyone have any comments on its insides, and whether it > > might be as good a buy as it appears to be? > > > > My current machine is an old 486 box, and I need space for an > > additional HD, etc. Running an AMD 486/133, so this machine would not > > really be much of an upgrade in itself in terms of performance, but if > > possible, I would quickly upgrade its cpu and memory. Would this be a > > decent platform to build on or not? > > > My experience with Packard-Bell machines is that these folks made a decent > car an an ok telephone, but their computer stinks worse than a landfill of > diapers. These machines are almost completely NONE upgradable. They are > typically incompatable with all other components (memory etc) and in order > to get their "low profile" design they mount expansion boards horizontaly > rather than virtically, typically giving only 2 or 3 expansion slots. > Literally everything is on the mother board, so if the least thing breaks, > you own a "not so functional" boat anchor. > If you never need to upgrade or fix them, they are just fine for "limited" > applications, but my advice would be, upgrade to a pentium mother board > (PCI) and you will get two ide channels to hang drives on. Spend the rest > of your money on memory and drives. You will be much happier with the > results. Remember: You get what you pay for! > > Luck, > > Dwarf > > ------------ -------------- > > aka Dale Scheetz Phone: 1 (904) 656-9769 > Flexible Software 11000 McCrackin Road > e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tallahassee, FL 32308 > > ------------ If you don't see what you want, just ask -------------- > > > -- > TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Trouble? e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > -- TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Trouble? e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]