just received this Compaq DeskPro model 1(?) for free today, including perfect keyboard (also included expansion HDD
Posted by dankestofstolenmemes@reddit | vintagecomputing | View on Reddit | 26 comments
Necessary_Bit_6934@reddit
Wow that's sick, I have one of those myself although I can't find really any parts for it. It's just got a 5.25-inch 360k drive with a 20-megabyte hard drive and I got it for free from a university that was going to throw it out. The monitor, hard drive boot sector, floppy drive and keyboard all have some issues but I've made that keyboard less painful to use (pressing keys multiple times) got the Delrin piece on the floppy drive that keeps the lever down and fixed the broken files on hard drive, haven't gotten to the bottom of where the vertical sync stuff is on the broken green-monochrome monitor yet.
spoonified@reddit
Hard card and a MFM HD, that system is decked out storage wise
TxM_2404@reddit
Maybe they had a big collection of naughty images.
spoonified@reddit
That reminds me of a system I once encountered. Back in about 2000 I was working one of my first jobs at a small computer repair shop. We actually had a system dropped off which I was really impressed by the specs. Dual P3 Xeon (probably 700mhz) 2 GB RAM, and 15 9.1GB Ultrawide SCSI HDs in it. Which were absolutely massive for the time and well over $1000 each. Because we were troubleshooting performance issues we had to look around the HDs a little bit. Every single one was filled to the brim with fake celebrity porn images. Organized by the person that they were suppose to be off. I don't remember how many hundreds of thousands of images there were and of how many 1000's of people they were of but we were all in shock.
robertkb1@reddit
I owned one of those Compaqs!
I got mine with just the 2 floppies, and added a standard 30M hard drive later (not the hardcard). I also replaced the 8086 with an NEC v30. I think the hard drive died and I retired it, but it is probably still in my mom's basement.
VohaulsWetDream@reddit
is that a Seagate mfm I see out there?
(a little jealous and happy for you)
dankestofstolenmemes@reddit (OP)
what’s so special about the drive on the card?
PineappleProstate@reddit
Rare af
KindaTheQuietkid43@reddit
Rarity
sidusnare@reddit
That is a beautiful keyboard
dankestofstolenmemes@reddit (OP)
it looks so pristine it’s crazy, just a little yellowing.
KayArrZee@reddit
If by absolute luck that hardcard still works back it up immediately
UnderstandingFlat407@reddit
Nice I have it’s younger siblings the 386s
mnotgninnep@reddit
You’ll be very lucky if that hard card is working. They’re almost all dead. There is a rubber stop for the head inside that degraded and went all sticky causing the heads not to be able to move.
kweiske@reddit
Probably just like a Quantum Fireball - hit it on a table a couple of times and it'll fire up.
mnotgninnep@reddit
Please don’t. It’ll already be spinning and you’ll really destroy it if you do. It’s the actual head arms that stick to the degraded rubber. You can open it up and remove the rubber affected but it’s REALLY messy.
Sample_And_Hold@reddit
That Hardcard 40 was like having a 4 TB hard drive nowadays - and definitely cost a lot more.
Stoney3K@reddit
Hard cards: Doing IDE before it was cool.
kweiske@reddit
BRICK on a STICK.
will_i_be_pretty@reddit
I had one of these growing up. The PSU would power cycle if it got too hot, so you couldn't use it in the summer.
texan01@reddit
Nice! I had one, built like a tank and a good performer.
Neat trick if the version of Dos is not Compaq specific is hit control alt / to change speed from 4.77 (red led) to 8mhz (green)
TechCF@reddit
Awesome specs and great looks. Treasure it, and use it 😀
teknolog@reddit
I had a Hardcard 80. Good memories.
Xkaper@reddit
Good find!
ItyBityGreenieWeenie@reddit
That keyboard looks sweet!
lordofthedrones@reddit
Nice!!!