🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <breadyg-210193152706@heavmac22.cc.purdue.edu> breadyg@sage.cc.purdue.edu (george bready) writes:
>i need some friendly advice, or at least reassurnace that my current plans
>are safe and sane.  my current system :generic 286 clone, ega card,
>original nec multi-sync, rrl controller and 30mb hd.  while i would love
>turning it into a second machine, my wife is funny about money matters.  my
>plan: getting an "upgradeable" 386-33 or 386-40 motherboard, an 800x600 vga
>card and necessary adapter cable.

   Sounds good here.  When you say "upgradeable" you mean the m/b that
supports 386DXnn to 486DXnn, right?  
 
>questions: nec says this venerable monitor should support this video mode,
>even though it is only speced to 560.  any experience out there with this? 

   Which NEC is this? I'm running a old 2A, and 800x600 works fine.

> next question: some of the new motherboards make the claim that i can pull
>the 386 and replace it with a 486 when prices come down (like after the
>pentium or 586 is released).  is this accurate?  i know the "upgradeable"
>motherboArds that required daughterboards were bogus, but this solution
>seems reasonable.  any ideas???

    All the new ones just require a processor change.  When you buy
one, just make sure that the 32 bit slot is VESA standard, and that it
can synthasize all the necessasary clock speeds for future processors.

>final question:sure, i want a big hard disk (and my wife might appreciate
>it, too!!nudge, nudge, wink,wink), but my budget precludes the move to a
>big ide now.  can i successfully Stack my old yet trustworthy 30mb seagate
>in the setup i am describing???  i know it won't be a speed demon, but it
>will hopefully meet my needs for a while.

   I'm about to do the same thing you are.  My drives consist of a 70
meg Micropolis MFM drive and a Rodime 203E (30 meg MFM).  They're
antiques, full height, but they run forever, and never seem to barf up
data.  The only problem with those compression programs is that they
vary the compession.  Text and most stuff will compress.  Archives,
graphics, and some other stuff will not compress.  So when DOS says
you have 5 meg free, is it REALLY 5 meg or is it only 2.....

>thanks to one and all for your kind and generous advice on this.  also, it
>seems this must be a problem others might have...any good articles in any
>of the magazines about such at-class upgrades??? 

   Never seen one.  They always push people to go get a whole nother
system.  A waste, IMHO, unless you get a bundled deal that is way
cheaper that the sum of the parts.  I'm keeping my old case, because I
much prefer the flip-top style.  So what if it kills the reception on
my roommates tv?. 8->.
                      -->   Bob Valentine  <--  
                  --> ravalent@mailbox.syr.edu <--