• Tag Archives digital archaeology

  • Digital Archaeology: Gateway NV57H

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    The Gateway NV57H is an i3-2310M based laptop. As such, it certainly isn’t “vintage” and it would be stretching things quite a bit to even call it “retro”. It’s really just kind of old. It dates back to circa 2012. This is well after Acer bought them and was basically using the name to rebadge Acer’s low to mid-range hardware.

    The model number, like most, is pretty indecipherable. The hardware includes:

    • CPU: Intel i3-2310M @ 2.1 GHz
    • RAM: 4 GB DDR3
    • Video: Intel
    • Hard Drive: 300 GB
    • Screen: 1366×768

    For more complete hardware specs, check out the output from HardInfo.

    I was a huge fan of Gateway back in the day. Before they were bough by Acer. Before they bought E-Machines. Before then, they made some pretty good hardware. After that, it was pretty generic stuff. Not necessarily bad for what you were paying but nothing that really stood out from the crowd either. Today, you can still buy Gateway laptops in Wal-Mart. But again, these are just rebadged machines from other makers. Gateway hasn’t made anything in a long time.

    I assume this laptop was designed for the budget minded consumer. It has no discrete GPU and otherwise pretty average/lowish-end stats for the time. If you were buying this machine it was because it was the best deal at the time or because you liked how it looked (I do kind of like the red color). It certainly wasn’t for the high-end specs or unique features.

    There’s nothing wrong with a budget laptop if it meets your needs. My biggest problem with them is that cheap laptops tend to have cheap screens. For instance, this one only has a resolution of 1366×768. For a machine you are going to use a lot, a higher resolution screen is a huge benefit, even when this one was made.

    Obviously, this laptop isn’t useful for gaming. The 4 GB of RAM is enough for Windows 7 (which it shipped with), Windows 8, or Windows 10 if you are a bit of a masochist. It runs Linux fairly well (I have it running Xubuntu currently). Also, you should be able to upgrade it to 8 GB of RAM. This would be beneficial for any 64-bit OS and it would help Window 10 significantly. The other major upgrade you could do is to replace the hard drive with an SSD. With those two upgrades it would be quite useable in a modern environment (with the exception that you can’t install Windows 11).

    One problem I’ve notice with my particular machine is that the CPU throttles under heavy load. This could either be because of poor thermal design or because the heatsink is clogged with dust on the back side. I haven’t taken it apart yet to check…looks like it might be a pain to disassemble.

    Despite the throttling, I have this laptop running BOINC like I do with all of the hardware I use. It can do work for pretty much any project and so far it has returned work units for Einstein@home, MilkyWay@home, Asteroids@home and World Community Grid. You can see how it is doing overall at FreeDC.


    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana DOS 📎and tagged

  • Digital Archaeology: Floppy Disk #14 – DM0126B.DOC

    Posted on by Azrael Comment


    A summary for those that haven’t been keeping up with this series:

    I found a number of 5.25″ disks at a thrift store a number of years ago (we are talking late 1990s probably). I finally got around to acquiring a 5.25″ disk drive and extracting the contents a several years back. Since then, I have been occasionally posting the content here.

    Based on the contents, at least some of these disks were apparently once owned by someone named Connie who used to run the “Close Encounters” Special Interest Group (SIG) on Delphi in the mid 1980s.

    A description of this SIG was found in a document on one of the disks: “This SIG, known as ‘Close Encounters’, is a forum for the discussion of relationships that develop via computer services like the Source, CompuServe, and Delphi. Our primary emphasis is on the sexual aspects of those relationships.”

    This service was text based and was accessed via whatever terminal program you used on your computer to dial in to Delphi’s servers. Many of these disks have forum messages, e-mails and chat session logs. All of this is pre-internet stuff and I don’t know if there are any archives in existence today of what was on Delphi in the 1980s. In any case, much of this stuff would have been private at the time and probably wouldn’t be in such archives even if they existed.

    This post includes the contents of DM0126B.DOC. This file is dated September 2nd, 1985 and contains e-mail dated in January 1985. This seems to be a file capture of a mail reading session. Included are several e-mails regarding The Friendship Circle Special Interest Group and some related to SIG Operators. It also looks like the mail reading session was interrupted with a couple of direct messages. Many of the files from these disks have been related to a special interest group on Delphi called Close Encounters. However, this mail reading session as well as the previous one I posted contains e-mails related to another Special Interest Group called Friendship Circle. The e-mails read here are among the oldest of any I’ve found so far. Based on one of these e-mails, I don’t think Friendship Circle and Close Encounters were really separate SIGs but rather Friendship Circle became Close Encounters.


    ===
    DM0126B.DOC
    ===

                                                                   
     MAIL #3

From:   CABUYS         26-JAN-1985 20:47  

To:     CABUYS

Subj:   request from jsplear



I can only assume that you wish to join the Friendship Circle

SIG. 



Your message to me only included your anname.  I checked the

PEOPLENET to see if you had a profile there and you didn't,

so I must know your age to add you.  This is required becauase

PRINCESS>> you ok? everything ok?

the main topic we discuss is sexu - with emphasis on the

sexual aspects of telecommuncations via services like the

Source, CompuServe and Dellphiphi.

BCOLBERT would like to talk with you.



As soon as I ahve have aheard from you as to your age, I will be

more than happy to sen dyou addd you additional information.



Thank you for your interest in The FriendShip Circle SIG.

-CABUYS (Sig Manager)
MAIL> fforor

Unrecognized command 'FFOR'
MAIL> for
To: Armias
Subj: The Friendship Circle SIG
MAIL> d
MAIL> 

                                                               
     MAIL #3

From:   CABUYS         27-JAN-1985 00:25  

To:     WES,JOHNWG,@SIGOPS

Subj:   some suggestions



I am sure I speak for all the SigOps in expressing my

appreciation to Wes and JohnWG for a very informative

conference.  I'm sure we are all looking forward to the

changes in the SIG program.



We all seem to realize that regular conferences with fellow

BCOLBERT>> I'm still learning.

SigOps and Delphi personnel are a must for a successful

partnership.  However, if I may, I would like to make some

suggestions about these conferences.



First, my SIG, The Friendship Circle, has held conferences on

CIS for several years and has been holding them on Delphi

since last August.  We have a conference protocol that allows

each person to have his say uninterrupted. Although this

protocol tends to slow things down a bit, you do have the

feeling of having accomplished something when a conference

is over and the frustration of trying to have your say is

greatly diminished.



Second, all TFC conference topics are announced in advance,

using Dmail.  I would suggest that possible topics for

discussion be sent to Chris and that he schedule conferences

to discuss these particular topics.  This, in addition to

the conference protocol, will allow for a more organized

meeting and we will not all feel as tho we are jumping from

one thing to the other without resolving anything.



Granted, since SigOp conferences are new, there is a lot to

discuss, but we need to do it in an orderly manner.  Also I'd

like to suggest that we try to stick to a two-hour time limit

for conferences and have the conferences on the same night

or same date as this will help enable many of us to work the

conferences into our busy schedules.  (But please, please

don't have the conferences on Saturday nights!) 



Another suggestion to make things flow smoothly would be to

use the /send function to say your individual "hellos" and

"goodbyes" when someone says he/she is leaving.  This will

allow the normal conference to continue uninterrupted.



Let's all work together as a team to have the most successful

SIGs around!



                           -Connie, SigOp, The Friendship Circl
e



P.S.  If you would like to review the conference protocols I

mentioned above, TFC Info article #10 is the place to look.

Or you can send me a note via Dmail and I'll send you a copy.

Thanks.
MAIL> d
MAIL> ^Z

(Back to Conference)
read 2

                                                               
     MAIL #2

From:   UAP0M          24-JAN-1985 19:31  

To:     WES,DAN,CHUCKG,KIP,@SIGOPS

Subj:   SIGOP Conference reminder.





A quick reminder of the first monthly SIGOPs meeting this comin
g sSaturday

01/26/85 at 9:00 pm (ET) in group SIGOPS MEETING in DELPHI CONF
ERENCE.  The

passordword is: SGIS   Hope you all can make it.



  To JOIN a PASSWORD PROTECTED GROUP, do the following:



1)  Enter the DELPHI CONFERENCE SYSTEM

 

2)  issue the following command :  /PASS  SGIS



3)  Issue  ?/JOIN  SIGOPS MEETING  or /TALK  ,<3# assigned to grou
p>

^Y
MAIL> d
MAIL> 

                                                               
     MAIL #2

From:   BCOLBERT       27-JAN-1985 00:30  

To:     CABUYS

Subj:   RE: some suggestions



THhanks for the note. I was late as I was in the midst of workin
g on a Telephone

directory for the Deaf in Florida on the same computer.



Your thoughts sound good to me. I missed your name, since I am 
new as a SIGOP

and didn't recognize it. 



Hope JAX warms up a little. We are due to have a freeze here in
 Orlando, too.



Bye



Bob
MAIL> /

Unrecognized command '/'
MAIL> re

To:     BCOLBERT

Subj:  RE: some suggestions

Enter your message below. Press CTRL/Z when complete, CTRL/C to
 quit:
Thanks for your
AH>> hello
 support and comments regarding my suggestions.

And best of luck with your SIG!!!
-Connie
^Z


Press RETURN to return to reading your mail

MAIL> d
MAIL> 

No more messages
MAIL> dir

                                                               
             MAIL

    # From                 Date         Subject

 

    1 THESTRANGER          24-JAN-1985  Final Confrence
MAIL>

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  • Digital Archaeology: Gateway MX6426

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    The Gateway MX6426 has an interesting dichotomy of features. It has a Turion 64 processor which is among the earliest 64-bit laptop processors. It competed with the Pentium M early in it life and later on with the Core and Core 2 processors. It was quite a bit faster than even the fastest Pentium M processors and competed favorably in terms of price.

    However, this laptop (and probably lots of other featuring the Turion 64) has some limitations that prevent this processor from reaching its true potential. The biggest limitation is the fact that this laptop only supports a maximum of 2 GB of RAM (it originally shipped with 1 GB). I’m not sure why they skimped on the hardare this way as the biggest advantage of 64-bit processors was support for RAM above 4 GB.

    The next limitation makes the first one a little less important. This laptop shipped with Windows XP which is a 32-bit OS. This isn’t really the fault of Gateway though, AMD just had 64-bit CPUs available commercially before 64-bit operating systems were ready for prime time. This laptop can of course be upgraded to a 64-bit OS and I have it running a 64-bit version of Xubuntu at the moment. However, the 2GB limitation means that this really isn’t much of an advantage.

    Unfortunately, the video solution isn’t that great either, at least if you were hoping to play any games. This laptop features the Mobility Radeon Xpress 200. While slightly better, this was more or less the equivalent of the Intel GMA 950 which is about as low end as you can go. So while the CPU would have been more than enough for the latest games, the Xpress 200 with its shared memory and limited capabilities would have been useful only for older titles or those with very light requirements at the time.

    The hardware of the MX6426 includes:

    • CPU: Turion 64 MK-40 @2.2 GHz (K8)
    • RAM: 1 GB DDR-333
    • Video: Mobility Xpress 200 (RS480M)
    • Screen: 1280×800
    • Hard Drive: Fujitsu MHV2080A (80 GB)
    • Optical Drive: HL-DT-ST DVD-RW GWA-4082N

    For more complete specs, see the output of hardinfo here.

    As far as the design, it’s similar to other Gateway laptops of the era. They had an understated gray and black design with blue lighting that seemed to be popular with many manufacturers at the time. It feels solid and well built and the keyboard is reasonably nice to type on. Overall, it seems like a pretty good choice for a budget laptop. Obviously for gaming you would have needed something with a dedicated GPU as opposed to the integrated motherboard solution this laptop provides.

    Though useable with a modern OS, it’s not the greatest choice. The single core and limited RAM expansion really hurt it in that regard. However, if you are looking to play around with Windows XP it would work great.

    Like all the old (and new) computers I play around with, this one runs BOINC and it supports most of my favorite projects including Einstein@home, Asteroids@home, Universe@home, and World Community Grid. It hasn’t received any work for Rosetta@home but that project doesn’t alway provide non-VM work and this laptop may not have enough memory for Rosetta work anyway. You can also check how this laptop is doing on FreeDC or BOINCStats.


    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana 📎and tagged