TPU's Nostalgic Hardware Club

[stinger608]

All this talk about VHS's is frigging awesome!!!!!!! I truly miss them days!

I have a couple of VHS players/recorders..........Can't remember what brands or how old, and a ton of old VHS tapes in a very large box. Hell, some of them are recorded tapes from having it hooked to a TV. I remember Syfy had a marathon with The Stand and I recorded it. Been some time now.

 

[Trekkie4]

All this talk about VHS's is frigging awesome!!!!!!! I truly miss them days!

I have a couple of VHS players/recorders..........Can't remember what brands or how old, and a ton of old VHS tapes in a very large box. Hell, some of them are recorded tapes from having it hooked to a TV. I remember Syfy had a marathon with The Stand and I recorded it. Been some time now.

Older units or modern ones? Either way you should take them all out from storage & make sure they work. If not, then maybe you can fix them? It's a very satisfying job

Speaking of VHS repairs, I'll be having more stuff to show & talk about soon. I'm negotiating for yet another (older) VHS unit, made by Casio. Description reads "doesn't work, won't accept the tape", so it's clearly something to do with mechanical deck. I might be able to pick it up cheaply, or even trade it for a modern (and cheap) DVD player in which case I'll only have to pay for new parts, in case I'll be needing any.

Meanwhile I got some problems of my own, that Funai-Shintom unit is having a weird problem with the tape speed. I'm guessing it's electrical fault, but until I confirm with my meter, it might as well also be mechanical one. What happens is that during the playback tape gradually slows down to the point where the picture (and sound) are distorted. It only happens after 5-10 mins of usage, so I'm guessing it has something to do with either voltages or control head. Sometimes playing in reverse, going back & then reversing again to regular playback helps with the problem (temporarily corrects it), but it usually reappears again within 20-40 seconds. Actually, now that I think about this, it sounds like a tape alignment issue, which SHOULD be fairly simple to fix... Either way, this will have to wait for a day or two, since hunting down the problem might take me a while, as I want to do it properly.

Edit
Well, I don't want to jump ahead of myself here, but it seems I fixed the problem

Took the VCR apart earlier today & after analyzing the situation inside, I assumed it's the Audio/Control head behind the problem, so I tried to adjust it. To my surprise, it actually worked, I managed to stabilize the picture but only for a short while, before the problem reappeared. This led me to a (wrong) conclusion that I'm dealing with damaged A/C head, so I replaced it... I found at least two other (identical) heads laying around, so it wasn't really a problem to source a replacement part, except of course the actual calibration process took me a while, since the head has to be perfectly aligned, in order to read (or record) the signal. Anyhow, long story short - I still had the same issue despite using a "new" head, so the next step was aligning the tape. Then the VHS threads the tape around the drum, it needs to be perfectly aligned, so that the tape goes from one end to another, passing through all the 6 "checkpoints" so to speak, before it's being wound back into the cassette. This includes the following: Erase head, left takeout arm, head drum, right takeout arm, audio/control head & pinch roller, then it goes back inside the cassette. However, it seems the alignment was just slightly off-track, causing the tape to be out of sync with the heads.

Still have to give it a proper test tomorrow, to make sure the tape isn't getting wrinkled or damaged in any way, but as far as the signal goes, it seems to be working OK now.

Edit2
Here's a nice (and educational) video on how to set the VHS tape alignment using the scope. Unfortunately I don't have one available, and even if did I wouldn't have anywhere to put it, since I don't have a proper "work bench There's just too much stuff laying around, so I have to use the more conventional methods instead. In other words, you power the VCR & tinker with takeout arms, until you get decent sound & picture, without wrinkling or tearing the tape in either direction (upwards or downwards)

 

[Red_Machine]

Back in 2012, I took my ancient Dell Inspiron 8100 with me to college. I had much newer laptops available to me, but colour me eccentric, I took the Pentium III-powered Dell with me. It was running Windows 2000, I had a bunch of games installed on it (including Steam games, which isn't officially supported on 2k), VLC, internet access, the works. I partied like it was 2002 all over again, and the 1600x1200 LCD panel really helped with web browsing and word processing.

Fun fact: I can open this thing up, swap the CPU, and have it back together again in under 5 minutes.

 

[Trekkie4]

Hey guys

Things sure had been pretty quiet around here lately... Just thought I'd make another contribution to Nostalgic Hardware Club & (hopefully) make video driver searches a lot more easier in the future. Don't know if any of you heard about this one before, but there's thing called "VBEMP 9x Project", which is pretty much universal driver for all Windows 9x platforms and works perfectly fine with most of the video cards that I've tested. TBH, it's been a while since I used this, mainly because I found the original ones, but just in case you get stuck, here's the official website & download link:

VBEMP 9x Project
Universal VESA/VBE Video Display Driver
(for Windows 9x Architecture)

It works pretty much like the original Win driver (Standard VGA adapter), except this one will actually provide you with D3D support, so you can use the hardware in its full potential & resolution. Be warned however, some bugs & errors might pop out due to various differences between the card designs & model specs but it SHOULD work nevertheless. It's obviously not going to be as stable & efficient as original ones, but it's still better than nothing

 

[agent_x007]

I wanted to own something cool for game storage on other PCs, so I got myself a 1TB VelociRaptor HDD

Edit : Also, Creative Sound family I own :

 

[stinger608]

Awesome @Trekkie4

Included them in the original post!

 

[micropage7]

I wanted to own something cool for game storage on other PCs, so I got myself a 1TB VelociRaptor HDD

Edit : Also, Creative Sound family I own :
View attachment 90197

I got audigy too but since newer board has no pci slot it just sitting in the box, too bad since it still works pretty solid

 

[Trekkie4]

Thanks, @stinger608

I just bought myself couple of VGA coolers online, from AliExpress. In fact, I bought the same one from Phil's Computer Lab, the one he talked about in his latest video. Except he paid 3.30 USD for each, while AliExpress offers the same model (with free int. shipping) for around 1.70 USD each. So I grabbed two of those, since one will immediately be mounted on one of my GeForce4 Ti4200 cards, which doesn't have a cooling fan (since the previous owner tore it off) Don't think I ever uploaded the pic of this 4200 card before, but then again I barely even used it to begin with. It has a red PCB with golden heatsink that's missing a fan in the middle.

Also bought one of those smaller VGA coolers, which are compatible with smaller (and older) video cards, which don't require aggressive cooling solutions. I'm sure it'll come in handy sooner or later! Might even mount it on a 3dfx Voodoo3 3000 card

Either way, a lot bang for the buck that's for sure. Customer feedback is 5 out of 5 stars, so I strongly recommend that you get one of those while you still can, in case you need any.

 

[Robert B]

The MAGNIFICENT.....four

 

[Trekkie4]

The MAGNIFICENT.....four

Hmm... Is that 3dfx Banshee, up in the upper-left corner? I recognize the original Monster 3D from Diamond, and (obviously) GeForce2 Ti card, but I'm not sure what to think of the 4th one... Has to be something "newer" since it has AGP 4X notch, so I'm thinking GeForce3 maybe?

 

[Robert B]

You got 3/4 - not bad

1. Creative Labs Graphics Blaster RIVA TNT - CT6710 - 16MB AGP
2. Diamond Monster 3D (3Dfx Voodoo 1) 4MB PCI - Rev.E
3. AOpen Geforce 2 Ti 64MB DDR AGP - GF2TiVX V64
4. ASUS nVIDIA GeForce 3 Ti 200 V8200T2/DELUXE/64M/P - V8200T2/64MB/(TVR) Rev. 1.00

 

[Trekkie4]

You got 3/4 - not bad

1. Creative Labs Graphics Blaster RIVA TNT - CT6710 - 16MB AGP
2. Diamond Monster 3D (3Dfx Voodoo 1) 4MB PCI - Rev.E
3. AOpen Geforce 2 Ti 64MB DDR AGP - GF2TiVX V64
4. ASUS nVIDIA GeForce 3 Ti 200 V8200T2/DELUXE/64M/P - V8200T2/64MB/(TVR) Rev. 1.00

Right, I thought I recognized Creative card, so I assumed it's 3D Blaster, as in Voodoo Banshee

See what I mean? On a side note, I would LOVE to get my hands on both Riva TNT & Banshee cards, as I don't have either one of those two. I got TNT2 Pro, and several M64 ones, I also have Voodoo Rush but not Banshee. Speaking of which, I also don't have any GF3 cards either lol, not even a single one. (Used to) have one GF256, several GF2 "MX" ones, several GF4 "MX", two Ti4200, one Ti4800SE, one FX5700, one 6200, one 6600GT and one 7600GT. All AGP interfaces. I also have 8800GT but that's way too modern for this topic

 

[Trekkie4]

Not really nostalgic hardware, but almost there...

 

[Trekkie4]

Question guys, is it worth buying this ATI All-In-Wonder card, that's powered by "Rage Pro Turbo AGP" GPU for around 1,50 USD?

How much performance gain (or decrease) I can expect when comparing this card to a Riva TNT or 3dfx Voodoo2? Seems to be Dell OEM part, which is kinda perfect since I'm hoping to pair it up with Optiplex GX110, that's currently running onboard graphics in combination with 3dfx Voodoo2. It does work, but IDK ... Current setup looks absurd & unnatural, mildly exaggerated since Optiplex was never meant to be a gaming system. Still, I'm sure "All-In-Wonder" will be tons better than what the onboard graphics has to offer

 

[Red_Machine]

The Riva TNT is a MUCH better card. It has twice as many rendering pipelines as the Rage Pro Turbo and has faster memory.

 

[uuuaaaaaa]

The Riva TNT is a MUCH better card. It has twice as many rendering pipelines as the Rage Pro Turbo and has faster memory.

This is $1.50, I mean it costs less than a beer, can't go wrong from a collectors perspective I think.

 

[biffzinker]

Lowest prices I found on E-bay for that ATI All-In-Wonder card is $15.00/$22.00 then $29.99, and $50.00.

 

[Trekkie4]

The Riva TNT is a MUCH better card. It has twice as many rendering pipelines as the Rage Pro Turbo and has faster memory.

Yeah, I realized that later on, when I actually took the time (and patience) to analyze the VRAM modules. 4MB of memory, that's about the same league as Voodoo1, or Voodoo Rush. Much older (and slower) than what I hoped for, even makes me wonder if it'll get outpowered by Intel's onboard graphics...

This is $1.50, I mean it costs less than a beer, can't go wrong from a collectors perspective I think.

Lowest prices I found on E-bay for that ATI All-In-Wonder card is $15.00/$22.00 then $29.99, and $50.00.

Good point guys! IDK, guess I'll pick it up some time soon, but I don't think it'll replace Voodoo2 or anything remotely similar for that matter... In fact, I might end up using this thing inside 5x86 machine or maybe one of the three Pentiums MMX (233) as the alternative to 3dfx Voodoo card.

 

[stinger608]

As you said @Trekkie4 , ya might as well grab it. At that price, you can't go wrong.............Unless it doesn't work. LOL


From what I recall though, the All-In-Wonders were more of a "TV" rendering card rather than a full out video card. So it stands to reason that they would perform a bit less than a counter-part.

 

[Trekkie4]

You're right @stinger608 Might even go pick it up tomorrow, in which case I'll post some pics & make an update on the overall condition & initial test. I mean seriously, even if it doesn't work, you can't really go wrong for that price. I am however having doubts on what to do with this thing, and where to put it. It's not part of any particular hardware collection, and (from what I understood) it's extremely limited in 3D performance so I'm not quite sure where to use it.

 

[stinger608]

You're right @stinger608 Might even go pick it up tomorrow, in which case I'll post some pics & make an update on the overall condition & initial test. I mean seriously, even if it doesn't work, you can't really go wrong for that price. I am however having doubts on what to do with this thing, and where to put it. It's not part of any particular hardware collection, and (from what I understood) it's extremely limited in 3D performance so I'm not quite sure where to use it.

I hear ya bro! Isn't like it'll work for capturing modern television anyway...............Wow, tough call, to be honest.

 

[Trekkie4]

TBH, I'm more interested into the actual GPU, "video card" portion of the card and not the TV tuner one. But I might set up both just for fun (and sake of perfection) even though I'm not actually going to watch anything off this thing.

Edit
Which (now that I think about it), makes me wonder - would it be possible to keep the existing on-board graphics as primary video output source & use All-In-Wonder as a standard PCI TV tuner? I might give it a try at some point

Edit2
I found some interesting results on THIS website, featuring full comparison (in the terms of FPS) between Rage Pro & 3dfx Voodoo Graphics... Check this out!

 

[Red_Machine]

The ones that have big FPS differences in favour of the Voodoo will most likely be using 3dfx's proprietary Glide API. The ones that have big FPS differences in favour of the Rage Pro are probably using Direct3D, which Voodoo cards could never do very well because they weren't fully compliant with the standards Microsoft set.

 

[Trekkie4]

This whole conversation about Rage 3D Pro cards seemed so familiar, so I realized last night that I already have one... In fact, it was put inside that (ugly ) Celeron 466 system that I've made, which looks like Compaq Presario from the late 90s

Spoiler

In fact (to make things even more interesting), I've used this one along with 3dfx Voodoo 1 card, has some decent results which are more-less identical to what the benchmarking chart has to say, if not even better (in ATI's favor, since this is AGP model and not PCI one)

 

[dorsetknob]

Unless your AIW has Analog/ Digital Tuner (DVB) the only use for the tuners is as input capture Device ( if it has AV/ input )