• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here
  • From now on we will require that a prefix is set for any items in the sales area. We have created regions and locations for this. We also require that you select a delivery option before posting your listing. This will hopefully help us streamline the things that get listed for sales here and help local people better advertise their items, especially for local only sales. New sales rules are also coming, so stay tuned.

Packard Bell computer

kcfoxie

Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2006
Messages
10
Greetings everyone!

I hate that my first post is a wanted post, but c'est la vie!

Here's my story...

I'm a Mac convert, going on over a decade. I've had up to 30 vintage (ie 1984-1988 model) macs, and some of the rare ones: macTV, Color Classic II, etc.

Presently, I've been saving "obsolete" G3s from various places. I've had an iMac that died, the CRT failed. Thanks to the ingenious design, the whole system will refuse to power on if the LG CRT is attached, but a Mac to VGA adapter will get it working again with any old VGA monitor.

What the hell does ANY of that have to do what a Packard Bell, you ask? Well...

When I was first exposed to computers, the place my mother worked at kept buying Packard Bells from Sams Club because they were cheap and expendable. I have a story about one of the 15" PB monitors catching fire from that place, actually.

Anyhow, they invested a lot into the early Pentium models -- many were the P60 desktops, that had the gray edges on the bottom, but then we got in this nifty Art-deco-but-not-really tower, a Platinum something or another. I'm really looking for one of these machines, and it need not function. Why? I just want the case. I want to mount the iMac (a work of art in an of itself -- for the curious, the case is being transformed into a fish tank) into the tower case, and expand it a bit (two HDDs, a CD-RW, etc) and use an old 15" PB monitor I've got sitting around with it. I realize this will be a dremel-intensive task, but the PB tower will likely be more help than hinder in its internal design for this, especially given that the iMac PSU is a vertical mount, and the logic board is a horizontal mount (and the PB towers had the main MB on the bottom of the power and PSU up top). Ebaying has yielded me nothing... alas. So I turn to the vintage forums.

Do you have one? Know a relative/neighbor/stranger down the street who hates theirs or upgraded? Please please please get them in touch with me!

Thank you for listening to my rant... and keep these good old machines alive. We still use an Atari 2600 at the house from time to time :)

-kc
 
(ignore this, just a bump so I get an email notification should someone reply this this)
 
Hey Chris, I got your email... :D

Been doing some snooping eh? http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/showthread.php?t=2868

Yeah, if you've followed my posts on here I've "upgraded" to a Dell GXpro... so yeah, the PB is just gatherin dust in the closet :(

I've cannibalized the CD Drive though so there's a hole in the front. Since tgunner was so nice to give me his 486 at just the cost of shipping I guess I should pass on the love. I'd be willing to let it go for the cost of shipping. I'm assuming you'd want me to gut the PB though so it'd save some money eh?

Where are you located, have paypal?

Laters,
Mike
 
Hey Mike!

I actually didn't see that you'd replaced it ... I didn't finish the thread! But hey cool! Yeah, if you don't mind, gut it. Use everything out of it that you can, or recycle/chunk the rest. The case shouldn't be more thn 15 pounds I wouldn't imagine, I DO have paypal. You're a real sport man, thanks! I knew if I looked hard enough I'd find one of these towers :)

I'm located in Raleigh, North Carolina. I do have paypal, I'll pvt you my email address. This has really made my day! I feel like I'm gonna have a functional system again with a tower I've always wanted to have!
 
I'm the slowest man alive!!! Sorry!

Finally found a box and did all the packing/weighing and what not... you should have a paypal invoice before too long :D

Worked out to what I had estimated.. 19.5 lbs.

Later,
Mike
 
^ i don't know, this is an interesting project they have going. I've heard of putting a PC in a gutted Mac, but a Mac in a gutted PC? I'd like to know how this will turn out!
 
Back
Top