So I Bought Those Weird New AliExpress Retro PCs…
Вставка
- Опубліковано 28 тра 2024
- An LGR review of the Book 8088 and Hand 386, newly-made retro computers on Aliexpress! No emulation here, these are DOS PCs running an 8088 and 386SX processor, using legacy chips on custom PCBs melded with open source projects, off-the-shelf components, and injection molded enclosures. They sure are neat! But lots of compromises, drawbacks, and odd design decisions.
● LGR links:
/ lazygamereviews
/ lazygamereviews
/ lazygamereviews
● Here's where I bought the machines in May 2023:
Book8088 - www.aliexpress.us/item/325680...
Hand386 - www.aliexpress.us/item/325680...
● All background music licensed from:
www.epidemicsound.com
00:00 These weird AliExpress retro PCs
00:58 What are these
02:07 Price and what they come with
03:34 The Book8088
08:45 Lack of I/O, ISA bus extender
10:31 The Hand386
12:37 D&MP 386 and what it can do
14:33 In summary: neat but compromised
#LGR #retro #computer #vintage #technology #aliexpress - Наука та технологія
I love how these replicate the experience of old LCD color screens where you have to look directly in front of it or you can't see anything.
Somehow the 8088 one is even dimmer than the _actual_ old color LCDs I have!
I was thinking it would probably cost a fortune to put a monochrome screen in it, which would be more appropriate for portables of the time. Interesting devices, anyway.
It probably is one of these old LCD color displays (in terms of tech)
Haha, the experience is certainly semi true, minus the massive Vaseline smearing of old displays.
@@LGRhey, it’s quantity over quality now. Just a modern sad fact 😢
I give the one guy in China building these total respect and doing it for less than $200, he is obviously a lover of old computers and software, what he has pulled off is kinda amazing, with a little more refinement he will actually have an awesome little machine. Props to the builder!!!
Definitely the guy should get all of the feedback from this (and other videos) because despite the obvious flaws, it looks extremely promising and with some more work he could really make some amazing devices of this kind.
Still kind of shitty he didn't give credit to the BIOS rip. I wouldn't respect the product or the builder. That just promotes bad behavior but still, neat tech is neat
Its promising though I wouldn't be surprised if this isn't a case of, "Oh we can tap that market!" and use an indie persona to gain trust. Components from the 80s in the US are rare because we recycle everything or throw it out (Which either way is dumb) but in China they have stuff like this lining storage facilities. No joke there was an issue with scam GPUs on ebay that would claim to be 2080tis but were actually decent cards worth 200$ to a particular market. So they were essentially scamming people out of 80$ with a card worth 200$. The leading theory is they had a surplus of these cards without a fan and rather then throw them out they recycled them through a scam.
It's probably not just one guy. From China, not exactly the home of the small business owner working out of his garage...
@@ronaldmullins8221 meh that's been addressed. He's been caught and won't do it again. China operates on the basis of communal IP and the idea of copyrighting ideas or code is a meme there. But if he wishes to sell this abroad he should take more care in future.
One of the biggest things I enjoy about your videos is that you never get too crazy to watch, you don't scream, you don't talk too fast, you don't play loud and obnoxious electronic music, you don't toss in unnecessary jokes and memes and all your captions are typed by you (or maybe someone else) and not automatically generated. You understand that people watch your videos for the subject matter and you deliver what we want and nothing we don't. Very commendable!
Thank you! My aim is to make the type of content I'd want to watch myself, so I'm glad it's appreciated.
Smooth jazz scene transitions really tie things up well.
This has to be one of the best thought out compliment I think I've read on a UA-cam video. I couldn't agree more, these are the reasons I subbed! Especially the no yelling and abnoxious misic. I typically watch these videos when I am winding down for the night and a slow and coherent narration is appreciated 👍 thanks LGR!
@LGR yeah man. No offense but sometimes I fall asleep to your videos at 2am. Your content is great.
Amen to that @Josh-le6lu. Well said.
Honestly, given that the Book 8088 is held together with phillips screws and made from off the shelf components, i imagine swapping the terrible screen for a better one is a piece of cake. 7 Inch displays are a dime a dozen, too.
The small-ish battery makes me think the screen backlight on it is just running on very low power. It was probably a conscious decision if the prescribed fix is a resistor removal.
@@PaulSpades Exactly, the guy building it, probably found a tradeoff sweet spot between power consumption and readability. Display consume the most in every device.
I just received my Book 8088- ordered it a couple of days before Clint came out with this video, so it’s a newer batch and the screen looks fine to me. I wonder if he implemented this fix on newer builds.
80's sci-fi series (totally set in the future!) high tech props made reality
And due to prop recycling, also 90s sci-fi series (totally set in the future) only much more hokey-looking. A couple of the Star Trek: Voyager actors were snarking at the chunky 80s futuristic gadgets they had to use on Voyager in the mid-to-late 90s because they inherited them from TNG.
Given the trouble that radiation and other factors in space can cause trouble for electronics long term, it's not impossible that we might see a return of "simpler" 8 and 16 bit systems, albeit with modern upgrades, new architectures, and probably heavy redundancy.
I also wouldn't be shocked if a lot of them would be open source since that would be a lot easier for people to design and build, some mix of analog processing may well return too as you could have AI generated locked function (or robust FPGA) circuits that excell at specific tasks for very little power required.
Higher power hardware would still exist obviously but only used where actually nessisary and where power is abundant
The 8088 with a video out inplace of a screen would be perfect for me.
I'll always take that over hologram ipads and shiny white metal on everything lol
I finally got one and the hand386 feels like the "padd" that they used in TNG.
I'm kind of shocked there isn't more "modular" kits that use these old legacy/machine tool parts that are still being produced. It seems like some kind of cottage industry you could easily start making tiny DOS PCs for old games like that.
That'd be really cool to see.
True
This project would be excellent in a small form factor case, maybe replicating the look of the older desktop PCs. Since most of this is open source, a fun addition would be HDMI out, which could be made possible by running the video out through a GBS-Control scaler first within the case.
Oh how I would LOVE it if that were the case!! I would JUMP at the chance to buy a new version of a 386 or 486 PC!!
@@NLuKa420 Could also just have an STL file for the case; I'd imagine the venn diagram for "Classic computer nerd" and "owns a 3d printer" to damn near be a circle.
Clint, you are the longest-lasting retro-tech subscription on my account. Thank you for the years of "getting some" and running out of bubble gum on these funny boxes.
Thanks for sticking around!
@@LGR I love how you say "What are these?" Well, with that extra words....lol
This is my favourite genre of UA-cam video. It stops me buying dumb stuff on Ali express when I can watch someone else do it for me
favorite**
@@user-tg8do2kr4v It's spelt as favourite in British English.
@@user-tg8do2kr4v If you're going to correct people, make sure YOU are correct. Otherwise you just look stupid
@@user-tg8do2kr4v *Favourite.
@@1Thunderfire Spelt is a grain. 'Spelled' is the correct way to spell 'spelled'.
The New Hand 386 by Compy: "Yesterday's technology of tomorrow! Today!" I need a drink…
Absolutely incredible comment
Your verdict sounds about right - a Proof Of Concept of legacy hardware crammed into a modern small form factor. Good to see you covering this though.
In other words Pieces Of Crap.
My thoughts exactly. Frankly they seem like useless crap as-is, even for the enthusiasts they're aimed at, but show the potential for a product that would actually fill a fun niche if they sorted out the many problems.
clint, because of you (and a couple others) i discovered that retro computing was my special interest. for a few years now ive been religiously watching your videos - new and old - and im glad you've always been so entertaining! thank you for covering these old hunks of metal and silicon :)
Yes, same here! Retro computers have been one of my special interests since I was in elementary school.
When I was a kid I’d beg my parents for an original Macintosh (or something close to it) and they’d always say no because it was obsolete and they thought I’d grow out of that interest. So instead I built a model of one out of a bin and some craft supplies, that I brought into school for a project. I was worried people would think it was weird for a then-10-year-old to do that, but as I remember everyone loved it :)
It’s been a whole decade now and I still haven’t stopped loving retro computers!
@@pickledkool-aid THATS SO CUTE 😭😭😭🙏
I'd love to see someone with a 3D printer make a sort of docking station with the ISA breakout board.
FULL TOWER CASE
It would make it more like the IBM PC110 that this looks like. The PC110 had extra features; like an optical drive and more ports. The newer one would be neat if it had an optical drive but it definitely have more USB ports or older ports and other accessories like audio out and in.
On it
Lack of I/0 is the worst thing about these devices
And overpriced to boot
@@rommix0$200 for a handheld toy like the Hand386 isn't awful, although the lack of I/O as mentioned is an issue.
Maybe I'll just stick with Steam Deck and PCem
Eh hopefully in the next few years we'll get a new version or a better copy
@@rommix0 The prices are high because it's only one guy building them.
I've wondered why these weren't more common. I'm sure the OS freaks out with the wrong pieces/parts. I would kill for a brand spanking new windows XP machine to relive those janky games my family used to play together
It's a cool idea for sure.
Friend of mine just found one, old Dell windows XP machine new in the box. He had to re-cap the motherboard but it works great. I did the same to an old Packard Bell 486 last year. So much fun to play my old games again.
Windows XP minimum requirement is a Pentium. Trying to run it on a 386 just sounds like a terrible time, much less an 8088.
@@cosmicinsane516I know someone who worked for Dell during the capacitor plague, he'd just immediately replace a certain line of machines that arrived in his shop
I imagine it's hard to find a giant pile of new Pentium 4 processors to build such a system with.
The stickers on the laptop really sell it for me. MSDOS one hit some nostalgia inside me.
I think bringing back the 80s aesthetic fits well with the future of design in electronics. The dusty Ridley Scott spaceship esque design can be applied to computers aswell as cars, ships and other items. As a designer I honestly think that we have been kinda stagnating design wise, trying to achieve designs that look as clean as can be, which was the development set into motion by the iPhones evergrowing simplicity. You see it with toasters and fridges aswell. Things all have that carbon metal finish and don't get me wrong, that surely fits some households. But I do enjoy the BladeRunner aesthetic a whole lot more for myself. Cables, consoles, old display. This can be explored artistically not only for retro PCs
Absolutely
More importantly, most designers seem to be totally ignoring the basic tenants of UI these days. Like, car dashboards just becoming touchscreens with not a single knob to be found? Knobs are ingenious UI, _especially_ in a car where you want to easily reach for something and feel it rather than staring at a screen. Touchscreens on smartphones as a genius idea, but they're used indiscriminately.
UI design in operating systems? The "gentle skeumorphism" of the mid-late 90s was the peak. Everything was clearly delineated rather than getting lost in a sea of flat colors with no attempt to signal context switching between content and control.
...And yeah, tech in the 80s was just really damn cool, minus the wood veneer everywhere. I love the look of 80s car interiors. Usually more durable, too.
@@colbyboucher6391 i love wood veneer! Especially in cars. Wood, leather, metal is my jive ;) although to me wood and leather goes more in a 70s design aesthetic, but 80s has its own kind of aesthetic. I love both. And agree on the knobs part. Car computers are heinous! They are outdated the moment the car ships and drastically diminish the cars long-term value. Imagine picking up a "classic" 2010's car in 20 years and being met with computational power that by then will be nothing short of laughable? Its such a choke point for a cars potential. The pre-board-computer era of cars is much preferable to me
Soo true, I work in the postal service and it is such a pain in the ass to confirm deliveries when I could literally hit a button two decades ago to do the same thing, now I probably waste about 2% of my workday just staring at a tiny display to "push a button" @@colbyboucher6391
My main issue with the Hand386 was the lack of built in mouse they could have included some kind of nipple pointer as without a built in mouse it makes windows use very limited
My main issue is the appearance. It looks so cheaply made, it stinks of low quality pound shop plastic toys.
@@EgoChip It's literally one dude - the case was probably 3D printed, and it doesn't look half bad for that.
@@PhysicsGamer It definitely looks injection molded. A lot of small-run stuff designed in China uses custom injection molded cases, the setup and engineering costs seem to be less of an issue for them for some reason.
@@makomk He probably works at a factory that makes molded plastic, that would make a lot of sense. This is his fun side project.
He he... "Nipple"
I... Want them???
🤦♂️ Real talk though, they could make some cool dedicated music trackers. Toss a port of octamed or protracker on there and make some really 90s juuuungle.
I was hoping you'd cover these eventually! My hope is someone else does these concepts just a bit cleaner. That, or someone finds a way to mod systems like the Libretto with modern screens and batteries, like we've seen in the Gameboy space.
This makes me want to dig out my old Toshiba Librettos which look just like the mini laptop, identical size. one had a 486 75mhz, and the other was pentium 233mhz... I couldn't bare to throw them out 20 years ago :)
That the heck are these! Talk about brand new oddware
just plan to purchase one and LGR reviewed it , Lucky !
Well, you absolutely made the right choice on covering these. They seem to be back in stock right now
Not anymore
The screen here is a total miss :( I’m mostly talking about its aspect ratio. I do understand that it’s impossible to find 4:3 screen today, but they could add some scaling option, black bars on sides.
Aspect ratio is my personal pain, that I faced when was searching for good DOS laptop. The 16:9 laptops can’t do scaling in pure dos, so all these “square” games are squeezed. When I switched to 4:3 laptops it was also not an easy task since not all ancient GPUs could properly display Mode 13h resolution, so some laptops displayed 320x200 games squeezed. Ended up with Toshiba Satellite 2805 that covered all my needs, geforce 2 properly display and scale everything so 320x200 took full screen and YMF754 plays fm and wavetable. A truly unique machine.
Yeah, aspect ratios suck now! I get that most PCs are expected to display "cinematic content" well but for text, a PC's bread and butter, even for web browsing, more vertical space please! There's a reason books are portrait-shaped.
I understand maybe 1% of anything you ever talk about but have been subbed for what has to be close to 10 years now. I always enjoy your content output, you have a knack for making topics/videos interesting for ppl who know nothing about old/new tech. Cheers! 👍
I'd rather see these boards with I/o breakouts and a nice case. Great review as always!
Yeah, the little Blackberry-esque 386 floor tile thing would be perfect if they just omitted the keyboard and included ports for keyboard, mouse, and a monitor.
Did they make ISA video cards that you could use with the breakout board?
I was thinking the same thing. I always thought the WeeCee was nicely executed. All the parts most people would want packed in a small case, bring your own keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers.
Thanks for covering those, now I can relax knowing I'm not missing out on much 😊
Haha, no problem. Perhaps a version 2.0 of this could get the Phil treatment though!
@@LGR 😊😁
I would love to see a ITX Motherboard with integrated SVGA, SB/Ablib Sound, and all the IOs you would ever need powered by a DC (USB type C) plug.
I need that Portable Retro (Steam Deck) PC
Nice something to watch while having a smoke on a sunny Friday.
Do love me abit of LGR
I’ve been messing around with my Book8088 for a week or so. Other than the rubbish documentation, you already mentioned my main issues.
That screen is just horrible. For anyone watching, Clint has done an awesome job of even making it viewable on camera. But not only is it dim and locked to 16:9, it also has a habit of flipping out and moving the entire image a whole DOS character off screen, to the left. All it needed was some physical controls and the ability to do 4:3 and it wouldn’t have been half bad.
The other one for me is IO. If it’d just had a single, onboard serial port - it would have made a huge difference. The obvious choice here would have been for a mouse, but also hooking up a modern wifi modem could have been very very cool.
So close, yet so far.
Appreciate your thoughts, sir! It really is a shame that there are such drawbacks to core functionality. Frustratingly close to being awesome.
I would love to see enhanced versions of these. A tiny Win 98SE machine that can output to VGA? Yes please!
The "WeeCee" project was pretty much that. I don't know if it ever made it to production though.
Shit, those are pretty cool! That Book reminds me of the Toshiba Libretto.
Love that you can't resist becoming Duke Nukem when removing stickers lol
Today I learned Clint has two right hands. Cool!
😄
They really do appear to be a sort of proof of concept, they are interesting if they decide to make an improved version.
The port in back used to connect a dock?
@@thomasleemullins4372 i do not know, you should ask mr. LGR.
@@thomasleemullins4372 sort of. An option was a three ISA slot expansion board, which made it more usable, especially if you already have a collection of cards already.
Since I learned about these devices, I have been waiting for this video!
Some Fresh new LGR content? 2 minutes ago? OH GOLLY: Making my Slow Work Day So much more enjoyable!
The fact that the manufacturer told you that turning up the screen brightness is as easy as replacing a resistor on a board feels like the most authentic part of the build.
And I AM old enough to have used an 8088 pc when I was a teen (and a Commodore Pet, and an Apple II etc. etc. etc.)
I oddly quite liked the stickers on the side of the screen, it’s somewhat nostalgic for me, and I’m sure others, whose parents wouldn’t let you peel off stickers like that on your old electronics.
Another time, another great day by the myth and the legend himself, LGR!
Thanks for the video, you bright up my (and everyone's) day! ^_^
As a writer, I would absolutely LOVE a modernized version of the Hand model for on the go writing. Pulling out a laptop form factor device can be cumbersome no matter how compact. The hand can be used standing. The physical keys would be far more concise than a smartphone screen too.
I wish the BlackBerry Priv design caught on
Give the Clockwork Pi guys a look.
I bought the Pocket 386 from the same manufacturer on AliExpress for $350 Aud. It seems they took your wishes to heart and combined the Book 8088 format with Hand 386 gubbins and, voila, the Pocket 386. Nice.
I have an original 386 laptop but it's getting unreliable, screen flickers, so I too purchased the 386sx40 pocket PC, still waiting for it to arrive. If I had the time and a little more skill, I would have loved to have repaired and repurpose a 386DX CPU + motherboard that I salvaged from a closing down PC shop from years ago, its suffered from significant track corrosion from a Darth Varta battery!
Thanks for this video!
It confirms exactly the experiences I have made with my Book 8088!
Also, I can confirm that when I plug in an 8087 FPU, it overheats quite quickly. As soon as it's overheated, the boot sequence does not detect it anymore.
Wonder how long till retro repro components start to become more common in the mainstream market
It's always gonna be niche. It's cheaper & better in almost every possible way to emulate (hardware) or run in a VM. It won't disappear either, but it's always going be low volume hobbyist stuff.
The one thing that I would love to see made again are crt tvs. Not just for gaming but for also watching TV shows made before the switch to HD.
@@Play-On7 Im surprised there aren't any manufacturers or NOS CRT, especially for industrial markets!
They are already mainstream in countries like Ghana, South Africa, Bulgaria, Greece, etc. It is very weird seeing them in the USA though.
@@0326Hambone I'm curious what industries still need CRT screens in particular. I know they tend to keep old equipment around to avoid having to overhaul their processes, but screens are pretty interchangeable.
Nice, I love that you play Doom on almost everything!
Interesting… big shame about the poor handling of the software licenses. Definitely agree the choice of 95 on the hand is weird with the lack of mouse input.
One of the nice things is if you get a vintage machine that you like, you can adapt a lithium ion battery to run what used to be NiCAD or NiMH safely.
I mean, to be fair, I would be shocked if this dude could even read the GPL in English, or know what it is in the first place
A new version of the Book8088 is out with a VGA connector added. Serial (RS-232) and parallel ports have been added too.
I was about to post about the added ports, but not sure which listing to trust, as they mention VGA graphics and 15 pin connector doesn't show an actual VGA connector in any pics, just a sub-board and a door added for it to go in the bottom, in a similar way the sound board goes in the top. I'd like to think they're getting this good at rapid revisions. The version with most pics has the serial and parallel ports, so I trust those are in fact added. I'd guess the VGA card may be offering the graphics on the built in display, which probably supports at least the full 256 color palette. The supporting drivers for the VGA chip may also bring things like a software based adjustment to brightness.
Glad you bought these and not me.
386sx with win95, big oof
Wow as a vintage portables lover I was so expecting a video like this! Thanks!
Cool that they tried, but since it lacks external connections... also a 486dx2 would be better to run almost all famous '90's dos stuff.
This... needed to be a 486DX2/Pentium with brightness and volume controls on the front to really be useful
9:35 I thought it said "Hello there. I'm a f-ing parrot."
I still have my netbook...but these retro pcs intrigue me
I remember seeing you referenced in an old Game Dungeon episode. I've been subscribed ever since! You've helped me relive some old nostalgia, especially during your old Edutainment series.
Thanks for covering this. Very cool!
Very cool devices! Even though they didn't live up to your expectations, I would really like seeing more of those odd machines in the future.
They came back in stock last week, so I picked up the Book 8088. Hasn't shipped yet, though. Maybe this next batch has some improvements.
Out of curiosity, was the price still $200,-? I get a feeling the „Limited first release“ might've been a test of market interest, or might've been done for more nefarious purposes that I won't go into here. 💸
@@dieseldragon6756 Yeah, that was about the price. A little bit over $200 with all the accessories (minus the co-pro which was out of stock). It shipped a week ago and should be arriving soon.
8087's run super hot normally. So yeah, that would be a melted/warped plastic door soon enough
excellent wow never knew this existed keep finding cool shit like this. can't believe the level of patience you had in the back end to do all of this. kudos!
They are compulsive buying toys that'll take dust after a month, tops. A proper screen and keyboard would make the 8088 one a nice retro-coding machine.
Yeah, you have to really want that retro feel to run an 8088.
Arguably that's probably the one I'd chose, but I already had an 8088 as a kid and I don't really miss it too much, there wasn't a lot of stuff I cared to run on it.
But it would be funny to pull that out and use word perfect to write a document in dos.
Pretty much a novelty.
@@volvo09 I had a 8086 PC in the early 90's, it was great to code in QBASIC and then Turbo Pascal. Getting that pleasure back would have been nice, but not with a keyboard that will get me raging after 20mn while my eyes are bleeding.
@@alexandredevert4935 I had a computer programming course (html and qbasic) and I brought a 486/50 with windows 3.1 as my laptop to the class "before it was cool" (back in 02 -03)
I just enjoyed older machines. Everyone else used the new school computers, but I used my 10y old laptop (I've got a similar one today)
The instructor thought I was dumb and said it won't work, and I said it will do everything this course requires, it's just old. And it did... I passed the course with it.
But no one understood it, they thought I was poor. Haha
LGR need to get some *GPD MICRO PCs* for comparison
I don't comment much but I just wanted to say I've been watching your videos for... jeez 6 years now and they always make my day a bit better. Thank you.
they got one thing right that smoke clear case is awesome. I can't wait to see what they do in version two even though it's probably not something I would get.
The laptop sized one is currently available in Taobao in China for 695-755 RMB depending on chips choice
Would be cool if someone made an handeld similar to the first two gpd win devices, but with windows 98 SE and hardware that could run most games of the 90's.
@@dvanatendibecause of issues with dos games (issues with dos mode).
But if you or someone else doesn't care about the dos games, I would say that XP 32 bit would also be a good one, but I'm not sure if there's old new chips compatible with XP.
I really like the old netbooks of the XP era with the ultra wide screens. That's the look I want to see again.
Yes I agree, especially for my nostalgia towards 90s Edutainment games (after all, they don't have powerful minimum requirements)!
Nice! I saw these in the FB groups the other day.
they now made a new version of the hand386, the pocket 386, kinda like the Book 8088 with a 386
For some reason the book 8088 reminds me of my HP Omnibook 600c. Would love something like that with a better screen, USB and modern shortage (CF or similar)
Pocket 386 looks like it met all your criticisms.
been watching your channel forever. It's so comforting
This is awesome! Just the kind of content we expect from LGR.
Just when I thought today would be boring you come through ❤
I think the thing i like most about these is the black transparent plastic shells, maybe a V2 might be in order tho
I saw these a while ago and my first thought was "LGR will definitely review these". Satisfactory.
thanks for bringing these to light. i miss my old beige box terribly, and even with the shortcomings of the hand 386, i think it would be absolutely perfect for my needs.
i think that they are pretty neat if you can use ISA cards. how else are we to play with random ISA cards we find about the place?
Babe, wake up…new LGR just dropped.
I never thought in my lifetime I'd be watching a shipping youtube channel... yet here we are. Very good information presentation with little to no bias. Amazing work.
they did also make a 386 sx laptop with roughly the body of the book8088. Can't remember the name. I think it was like "Pocket 386"
Interesting, so these chips still exist because of the need for them in old automation controller equipment?
Pretty much. A lot of those customers aren't interested in a computer that can do more faster, they just need a computer that slots into the existing production line without disrupting anything when they need to replace it. They don't want to have to deal with new software, drivers, firmware, etc. or replace still-functioning industrial equipment to be compatible with new systems.
Tons of new old stock
Or weapons of older design. Could explain why the computers are not in stock right now.
@@Kr-nv5fo weapons of older design that's a weird one.
@@TheSlyMouse How so? Lots of them are currently used in Ukraine by both sides.
Hopefully the developer of these makes an update on these devices I know it’s incredibly difficult to develop old hardware into modern translations
Thanks for posting this! I saw ads for these machines and was genuinely tempted to cough up for one (likely the 386) just to satisfy my curiosity. Now my curiosity is satisfied without the disappointment I would've certainly felt.
Back to lovely emulators for me!
This looks like something you would use if you wanted to seamlessly boot an old application.
"Worst display ever"
Very accurate for the time.
A color lcd back in the 8086 days was basically unthinkable.
7:39 yo, Round 42! Literally the first video game I ever played, on my grandpa's IBM PC back in the day. He only had an amber screen monochrome CRT so I never actually saw it in color until now.
So I actually need something like soon to travel around with (so small size) and save some legacy files on old computers at schools (compatible, can test), and so I just ordered a working Libetto.
Thanks LGR, you entertained and saved me a lot of hassle.
I was thinking of solutions like this for my retro needs until I reached the exact same conclusion by then. Why not just look for a decent laptop from that age that can play the games I care about (mosty late 90s/early to mid 2000s) instead of wasting time experimenting with modern hardware or weird devices like the ones in the video? Which is exactly what I did.
but you still have old hard repairable machine, this new unit is easily serviceable - you totally missed the point ;)
Can’t get enough “Retro” computers. Literally just ignored my GF to write this and show my thanks. Time to find out if I’m in trouble.
Women come and go, LGR is forever
also currently ignoring tophus girlfriend to write this. lets go lgr!
so funny girls don’t understand teChNoloGy you’re so clever and original get a life
🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩 Run, soldier
I hope they keep doing this. brings back a lot of memories. I'd love a Powerbook Duo 280c clone, hackers was my jam and it would be sweet to mess around with the things I couldn't afford back in teh day
would love to see more of these type of oddware reviews
The hand looks like a Moto Q had a baby with a Zune.
You might be able to flash the panel's EDID to get the desired resolution.
The Hand386 looks like it'd be good as a prop for a hacker in a retrofuturistic movie--
They came back in stock a couple weeks ago, and I couldn't help myself. My Book 8088 is on the way!
I am hoping for a Book386 model with integrated PS/2 ports and VGA output. That would be great !
Exactly my thoughts, with better display also and some kind of connectivity, maybe serial port. That would be a dream and actually useful. And neat.
@@ninefingerdeathgrip I wrote to the seller and he told me that he is considering making a Book386. So hopefully it will happen! And probably he is aware of the current feedbacks and the points to improve.
Huge respect for the guy giving you component level support options for screen brightness.
I love the little 386. It's like my first computer in fun size! If it could be optimized and had a keyboard as good as my Palm Treo I would want one.
Thanks for sharing such rare gadgets!
Seen these get reviewed on other channels. If the stock is out, then the fact you've done a review on it, will incentivize them to produce more, because your reviews typically clear out ebay and every other vendor within hours. Here it's the opposite. Coverage may result in more units being made.