presario 2200 desktop

[oblivion]

this pc may be slightly out of the range of this forum but for something released in 97 the specs look more like something earlier. i was recently given this pc and according to wikipedia its a bit rare due to it selling extremely poorly. it looks like the one i recived was the upgraded version with ram expanded to its max of 80mb and the subwoofer installed. the finiky cd-rom drive that came with it i also replaced with a black dvd drive and its running the origional win 95 it came with (apperently even upgrading to 98 can be a ordeal without first transplanting the hdd). dispite alot of this machines additanly horrible flaws its kinda grown on me the last few days and i really like the built in speakers along with the upgraded sound i just really wish there was a way to add a soundcard or better video card.

so i suppose my main point here is are there any other computer models from this era that did the whole built in speakers thing but was more expandable? also i cant find alot of information on this units cpu, a cryix 180mhtz mediagx chip. i cant find for sure if it supports MMX and whats its pentium equivilent is as some sources i read claim its faster then a pent 200mhtz. any thoughts on this machine?

 

[Old Thrashbarg]

I believe Packard Bell made some similar systems, though I don't know if they're any less rare than that Compaq, and they wouldn't be much better specs-wise anyhow.

If you want something more expandable, there were some generic AT desktop cases that included speakers... in fact, there's a guy on eBay selling them, if you can stomach the price.

The MediaGX is kind of an oddball, it's a system-on-chip rather than just a regular CPU, and it actually uses a (fairly heavily modified) 486-class core. It was designed to be cheap, not fast. You have the GXi version, which lacks MMX support. It can mostly keep up with a Pentium for general 'office' sorts of uses, but it falls flat when it comes to gaming, or really anything floating-point intensive.

 

[oblivion]

i really like the cases that guy has. i dunno, i've always been partial to the desktop style pc and i like how incorperating the speakers into the case just makes it seem neater and also 1 less power cord. those prices are way more then i can stomach though.

 

[Raven]

I'd buy that machine from you, if you don't want it terribly. I had one shipped to me but the faceplate fell off and is too damaged to repair - makes me sad to look at it, so I don't have it in use at all..

I have many machines, so I could build you one to whatever spec you want in the 486->P2 range (except PPro, not enough of that gear).

There is a 5.25" bay speaker you can get to put in a desktop and do the same cord/power-cord elimination (I could include this and get myself a new one).

Being a late 80s/all 90s Compaq buff, I also know that there are many All-In-One Compaq machines (I collect those) and desktops with built-in speakers similar to the 2200 but with different specs (like normal Pentiums, and things all the way up to Pentium 3 and I think 4 even).

Please consider my offer. ;3

 

[oblivion]

thanks for the offer, to be honest its very tempting but i think i'll keep the 2200 in my collection. if I do decide to let it go i'll keep you in mind. thanks for the offer.

 

[SpidersWeb]

There were generic cases with built in speakers. I got offered one with a generic Pentium board installed a while back.
It had a 3.5 and 5.25 bay and HD room plus was a full desktop (so no riser cards etc) and two decent sized speakers on each side of the drives. Would take any normal sized AT board.

Edit: just realised a few posts above somebody already said that, my bad

Another alternative for machines without built in speakers are CRTs with the speakers on the side, that was quite common. My Pentium era Compaq Presario tower was sold like this.

I can't remember any specific OEM models with speakers built in to the case though.