A couple keyboards and something even better

[MrMacPlus]

Anyway, yesterday I call my Grandpa (who had noticed that one of his friends had a couple old Apple ][gs, and I ended up getting one a while back), and tell him that I've gotten around to hooking the ][gs up and that it worked, even though the monitor doesn't (I hooked it up to the TV, the image was horrible that way though). He then tells me that one of his other friends went to a garage sale and got "$240 worth of computer parts for me." Instantly my interest is peaked, I go over there and there's a brand new Apple Extended Keyboard II in box, a Apple Adjustable Keyboard new in box, and a box of used 30-pin SIMMs (4MB I think). I also find out the origin of "$240" and that was the total of the original prices, even though the lot only cost $3.

Also, I have a Thinkpad A20m headed my way. :O

Hell yes.

 

[Osgeld]

woot

 

[Unknown_K]

Is the Thinkpad A20m a recent ebay purchase?

I have been going nuts collecting old P1 and 486 Thinkpads lately (blame Cory5412 for getting me started).

Most old laptops were built to fall apart, but thinkpads seem to hold up well over the years.

I have the following: 755C 755CD 760CD 760ED 760XD 760EL 765L 365XD 365

 

[MrMacPlus]

Most old laptops were built to fall apart,

But modern laptops are designed to have hardware failure after a couple of years. xx(

Yes, it is from eBay. Have fun with the old ThinkPads, you gotta love computers that seem to last forever.

Also, I believe the answer is obvious but if this thing doesn't have USB I'm not going to be happy.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

. . . a brand new Apple Extended Keyboard II in box, a Apple Adjustable Keyboard new in box, and a box of used 30-pin SIMMs (4MB I think). I also find out the origin of "$240" and that was the total of the original prices, even though the lot only cost $3.

NICE PERIPHERALS Conquest you've got there, comrade! I've always wanted the AAKbd, did yours come with the Numeric Keypad section?

If so . . . where was it you said you live? }

jt

 

[MrMacPlus]

When I said "new in box" I meant "new in box."

The adjustable keyboard came with everything, even the numeric keypad, the adb cables were still packaged too. Best thing: no yellowing. Also, I noticed that the adjustable keyboard has keyswitches, I thought it was newer than that. And my broken Extended II is now reverting to oversized-blunt-weapon mode. }

 

[Unknown_K]

Most old laptops were built to fall apart,

But modern laptops are designed to have hardware failure after a couple of years. xx(

Yes, it is from eBay. Have fun with the old ThinkPads, you gotta love computers that seem to last forever.

Also, I believe the answer is obvious but if this thing doesn't have USB I'm not going to be happy.

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/USB_Port

A20m is listed as having USB 1.0/1.1

 

[MrMacPlus]

Fair enough, USB 1.1 will suffice. The real question is whether Linux will like it or not.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

. . . I noticed that the adjustable keyboard has keyswitches, I thought it was newer than that. And my broken Extended II is now reverting to oversized-blunt-weapon mode. }

They're the ultimate Alps keyswitches, IIRC. Just like the IBM Kbd everyone loves so much and the Extended I, IIRC!

Good thing you've not liberated one of those Escort Carrier Class behemoths . . .

. . . THAT would be a deadly oversized-blunt-weapon! 8-o

jt: reverting into his (very early 68kMLA era) assumed (accused of?), but never admitted to, Ronin/Ninja mode . . . }

 

[Cory5412]

Yeah, I ran ubuntu desktop as well as debian etch or lenny (or both?) on my A21m and it was perfect, nothing needed any special setup.

Both of those keyboards and the A21m are nice finds.

 

[4seasonphoto]

I have the following: 755C 755CD 760CD 760ED 760XD 760EL 765L 365XD 365

No collection would be complete without a 701c "butterfly" and perhaps the Z50 Workpad!

 

[Unknown_K]

The 701c butterfly is the one most colletors want in the 7xx series, and the ones that you see are mostly beat and expensive. If I come across one cheap I will probably snag it but I am happy with the units I have now. I have 3 good working batteries as well (1.5-2hrs).

I might get one P3 class unit someday.

 

[Cory5412]

Yeah, the 701c looks great but I'm not too interested in it for a few reasons, the biggest of which is that my entire pre-P3 thinkpad collection went to _K. [] ]'>

The next machine I want for my "collection" is a P4M, either a T30, despite their multitudinous problems, or an R4* or a G4* series. That, and I would so love any tablet thinkpad, (360p, 730t, X4*t or X6*t, or even X200t) along with a Z series, just because they look cool.

 

[MrMacPlus]

Yeah, I ran ubuntu desktop as well as debian etch or lenny (or both?) on my A21m and it was perfect, nothing needed any special setup.
Both of those keyboards and the A21m are nice finds.

That would be the a20m, but I hope that my wireless card will work with ubuntu as well (I've decided to go with ubuntu instead of Debian). The trackpoint is another concern of mine, because I'm certainly not used to it, I've used one before and it doesn't feel right. I'm also hoping that 128MB will suffice for web browsing with firefox and listening to music at the same time, though I don't see how it should be a problem.

Also, say I'm planning on putting my /usr and /home directories on seperate partitions, so that a reinstall could be done without having to backup. Is there a way to have the partitions dynamically resize so if a partition needs more space it can have it?

 

[MrMacPlus]

Eh, I think I'm actually going to take a chance with Debian (maybe NetBSD), I heard some bad things about Ubuntu regarding updating. But I would like to know whether to use lenny, squeeze, or even sid as my release.

 

[MrMacPlus]

It arrived today and It works, battery holds some form of a charge and it's in nice condition. :O

And it's time for some Nixification. Woooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Already have problems, the laptop just randomly shuts down. Any suggestions?

 

[Unknown_K]

Is the cooling plate touching the top of the cpu?, I would open it up and see what there is to see (unless you have issues doing that).

 

[MrMacPlus]

Is the cooling plate touching the top of the cpu?, I would open it up and see what there is to see (unless you have issues doing that).

The problem "seems" to go away if I run the machine w/o the battery. Weird. Anyway Ubuntu is installed on it, but I still need a GUI.