This Does Not Compute | Could this prebuilt vintage PC actually be GOOD?! @ThisDoesNotCompute | Uploaded December 2023 | Updated October 2024, 6 hours ago.
There were an increasing number of cheap, proprietary PCs in the late 1990s -- many of which couldn't be upgraded well, or at all. But this Dell Dimension XPS could be almost as good as a custom-built computer.
Sources:
"Professional PCs," PC Magazine, December 2, 1997.
Ensoniq AudioPCI photo: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ensoniq_AudioPCI#/media/File:Ensoniq_ES1370_1.jpg
"Company News," The New York Times, December 11, 1997.
"Pentium Part II," PC Magazine, June 10, 1997.
Pentium Pro photo: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Intel_80521ex200_256k_top.jpg
Pentium II commercial: youtube.com/watch?v=npoeopfU-IQ
Pentium II photo: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pentium_II_300_Deschutes_-_SL2W8_-_case_removed-4670.jpg
"AMD challenges Intel with cheaper MMX chip," Computerworld, April 7, 1997.
"Intel's Celeron 266," PC World, May 1998.
Slot 1 Celeron photo: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:KL_Intel_Celeron_Covington.jpg
"Celeron CPU Caches Up, Adds Muscle to Basic PCs," PC Magazine, October 6, 1998.
"Celeron 300A," Maximum PC Power User Handbook, autumn 2000.
Pentium II in box photo: wiki.preterhuman.net/index.php?title=Intel_Pentium_II&mobileaction=toggle_view_desktop#/media/File:P2box1.jpg
Socket 370 photo: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Intel_Socket_370_-_open-top_oblique_PNr%C2%B00346.jpg
Socket 370 slotket adapter: postlmg.cc/4K6p8jmw
"Rage 128," Maximum PC, February 1999.
00:00 - Introduction
01:11 - Drives and ports
01:53 - Not quite what it seems
04:35 - Upgrades
06:09 - The Slot 1 story
09:24 - Reassembly and cleaning
11:19 - I should have installed Windows Me on this
12:34 - Video cards kinda sucked back then, but we still liked them
13:31 - passport.mid is the best, fight me
15:40 - It's a good computer
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Please consider supporting my work on Patreon: patreon.com/thisdoesnotcompute
Follow me on social media! @thisdoesnotcomp
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music by Epidemic Sound (https://www.epidemicsound.com).
Intro music by BoxCat Games (freemusicarchive.org/music/BoxCat_Games).
There were an increasing number of cheap, proprietary PCs in the late 1990s -- many of which couldn't be upgraded well, or at all. But this Dell Dimension XPS could be almost as good as a custom-built computer.
Sources:
"Professional PCs," PC Magazine, December 2, 1997.
Ensoniq AudioPCI photo: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ensoniq_AudioPCI#/media/File:Ensoniq_ES1370_1.jpg
"Company News," The New York Times, December 11, 1997.
"Pentium Part II," PC Magazine, June 10, 1997.
Pentium Pro photo: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Intel_80521ex200_256k_top.jpg
Pentium II commercial: youtube.com/watch?v=npoeopfU-IQ
Pentium II photo: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pentium_II_300_Deschutes_-_SL2W8_-_case_removed-4670.jpg
"AMD challenges Intel with cheaper MMX chip," Computerworld, April 7, 1997.
"Intel's Celeron 266," PC World, May 1998.
Slot 1 Celeron photo: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:KL_Intel_Celeron_Covington.jpg
"Celeron CPU Caches Up, Adds Muscle to Basic PCs," PC Magazine, October 6, 1998.
"Celeron 300A," Maximum PC Power User Handbook, autumn 2000.
Pentium II in box photo: wiki.preterhuman.net/index.php?title=Intel_Pentium_II&mobileaction=toggle_view_desktop#/media/File:P2box1.jpg
Socket 370 photo: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Intel_Socket_370_-_open-top_oblique_PNr%C2%B00346.jpg
Socket 370 slotket adapter: postlmg.cc/4K6p8jmw
"Rage 128," Maximum PC, February 1999.
00:00 - Introduction
01:11 - Drives and ports
01:53 - Not quite what it seems
04:35 - Upgrades
06:09 - The Slot 1 story
09:24 - Reassembly and cleaning
11:19 - I should have installed Windows Me on this
12:34 - Video cards kinda sucked back then, but we still liked them
13:31 - passport.mid is the best, fight me
15:40 - It's a good computer
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please consider supporting my work on Patreon: patreon.com/thisdoesnotcompute
Follow me on social media! @thisdoesnotcomp
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music by Epidemic Sound (https://www.epidemicsound.com).
Intro music by BoxCat Games (freemusicarchive.org/music/BoxCat_Games).
