Dell and Packard Bell computers

[kb2syd]

Does ANYONE collect these? I have 3 Packard Bells (1 386 and 2 486), and 2 old 486 Dells.

If anyone wants them, I can ship these, but they are HEAVY, I don't have original packing materials, and I am slow.

So, anyone want these old beasties? Just need to cover shipping and the Paypal vig.

They are located in north west New Jersey, USA.

Kelly

[IBMMuseum]

Does ANYONE collect these? I have 3 Packard Bells (1 386 and 2 486), and 2 old 486 Dells.

If anyone wants them, I can ship these, but they are HEAVY, I don't have original packing materials, and I am slow.

So, anyone want these old beasties? Just need to cover shipping and the Paypal vig.

They are located in north west New Jersey, USA.

I know someone whom (amazingly, in my view) collects PBs. Speaking of older Dells, I've got a couple 386SX Dell units. What is the oldest Dell system around?

[Unknown_K]

Dell was PCs Limited when it started (selling XTs I think), changed the name to Dell computer in 1988 or 1989.

[Mad-Mike]

Dells oldest machine I think I have seen is that PC IIT Wugo on E-bay, PC's Limited I think came around sometime circa 1985-1986ish I think, then came Dell around 1988 or so. I used to have a VGA Monochrome monitor marked PC's Limited, which actually came with a Dell 386 DX/25 system I had, so maybe that was a transitional unit.

[Yzzerdd]

If I weren't saving for my move this summer(gas!) I'd be all over those Packard Bell 486's.

As for the PCs Limited/Dell, a fellow I know owns a PCs Limited 286, an IBM PC/AT clone. Looks exactly like the real thing but with a different label.

--Ryan
(probably get pics of you guys wanted some)

[Unknown_K]

Post some pics, that gets people drooling.

[vwestlife]

I had a "PC's Limited" (yes, the incorrect plural was part of the name; it should be "PCs") amber monochrome (MDA) monitor. The company became Dell in 1988. In the early years, the Dell logo was a plain typeface, without the tilted "E". Dell's OEM for keyboards back then was IBM/Lexmark, so it's not uncommon to see a Model M clicky keyboard with the early Dell logo on it.

I believe Dell was one of the few computer makers to offer a 486SX-16 machine. That was a big joke because you paid a lot to get a 486 which was easily outperformed by a much cheaper 386SX.

Packard Bell had a long-standing reputation as a maker of "cheap" computers, both in price and in quality. Nonetheless, they sold very well until the mid-'90s, and Packard Bell innovated ways to make PCs more beginner-friendly, such as color-coded cables and a simplified user interface shell for Windows (a practice which Microsoft later banned).

[vwestlife]

Post some pics, that gets people drooling.
Michael Dell with a modern Dell machine and his first PC's Limited model from 1985, clearly built from off-the-shelf parts (the monitor looks like an Amdek).

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/07I316Q7N4bub/610x.jpg

Video:
http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2007/05/15/14876.aspx

Grainy photo of a PC's Limited 286. Wow, 8 MHz!!!!!! :)

http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue86/10-1.jpg

[Floppies_only]

Does ANYONE collect these? I have 3 Packard Bells (1 386 and 2 486), and 2 old 486 Dells.

If anyone wants them, I can ship these, but they are HEAVY, I don't have original packing materials, and I am slow.

So, anyone want these old beasties? Just need to cover shipping and the Paypal vig.

They are located in north west New Jersey, USA.

Kelly

Kelly,

Before I won my Pentium I wanted to buy a Packard Bell 486. Do yours have both sizes of floppy disk and a CD-ROM installed? That's what I'm looking for. Also, do they have the restoration disks and drivers?

Thanks,
Sean

[kb2syd]

Too late. The Packard Bell and Dell 486s have been scrapped. I now have a box full of 486 and pentium motherboards, and a VERY large stack of case parts.