Perhaps for american computers. ;) Actually, many home computers of the early eighties weighted less than the IBM PC keyboard. The ZX81 was about 300 gram for instance. Sharps handheld Z80 computers were at about the same weight. Same with similar products from Casio and others.
@Omega LUL Well, that has little to do with weight though. But speaking of it, the Z80 was actually the origin of 8086 (and x86), in two ways. Not only were the designers of the Z80 (F.Faggin and M.Shima) the same people that designed the first microprocessors at intel, including the i8080. But after their departure intel were extremely delayed (with their failed iAPX 432) and therefore worried about Zilogs first product, the Z80. So Stephen Morse was told to design the 8086 to compete directly with the Z80. That's the reasons as to why the 8086 look like an extension of the Z80.
Having never owned or even used either of these machines before, this was an absolute treat to watch. Nice work once again, David. And I am in love with that Hyperion machine's design! The disk drive mechanisms alone are fantastic. Shame about its lack of... working.
Much like Metal Jesus Rocks and LGR, these guys are jokes who would have been dead long ago if youtube and paetron didn't exist. They have no skills other than begging for money they didn't earn so they can shine a stool with their posterior. It's all sad and pathetic. All the mediocre individuals e-begging is such a poor ugliness. They all worked in call centers, retail or had a job removing spam from an otherwise working computer, who should live and die in obscurity. "Instead" they pan handle. The internet is their tin cup. Why? Because they're complete failures in life. 5, 10, 20 dollars a month for videos of you opening packages from other social rejects? Netflix is 13.99 a month, I don't think they upload one video a week of them opening fan mail. Get a job. Learn a trade. Give back to society. You people are so pathetic. Darwin would cheer for your demise so other stronger individuals could prosper and George Washington would wonder why you haven't committed suicide due to the Grand Canyon Sized shame you must feel every second of every day. James Rolf Doesn't do paetron. I guess he decided he wasn't going to be a loser like the rest of you.
In one of my computer labs at university, there just so happened to be a Hyperion sitting amongst a pile of old electronics in the back. Out of curiosity, I plugged it in and threw the switch to see if it was still functional. The light went on, but not the monitor, and I sat there baffled for a good 15 seconds before I realized that there was a rather unsettling amount of smoke pouring out the back of the machine. I frantically unplugged the computer and placed it back. Everybody in class saw what just happened and decided to pretend as if nothing happened. Good memory.
At least that one didn't catch fire like the one a friend of mine had due to a faulty power switch (wouldn't shut off) and a bad power supply that often overheated. I didn't see it catch fire myself, but the pictures of the damage were telling enough. The smell of scorched plastic, *_yum_* (lol)
Just the other day I was looking at old Apple marketing training material from the 80's, and they actually had split up the portable market into segments: "Transportable" - 20 lbs or more, A/C Power "Portable" - 12-20 lbs, Battery or AC "Laptop" - 5-12 lbs, Battery "Notebook" - 5 lbs or less, Battery Pretty fascinating how there were these submarkets based on capability. Link to some screenshots: imgur.com/a/dnXfwyn
There was a joke in the 1980s (or at least I think it was a joke, could be real), that the USSR standards body defined portable as having a handle. If it had two handles it was semi-portable :D
Fun fake fact: These computers actually weigh 2 pounds. They put lead weights in there to keep you from throwing these through the air and injuring a co-worker when your software crashes. :P
@@KarlBaron batteries werent ready in terms of size and autonomy by that time, and CRTs put batteries totally out of the equation (unless we think car batteries for those CRT "portables"); even when the first lcds were introduced in the portables the batteries back then were huge, lasted 1 hour tops and amounted for half of the computers weight
I worked in the back room of a couple of computer stores configuring IBMs and Compaqs for customers. I can attest to the fact that it's possible to open the Compaq without tools. You would put the front of the computer against your belly, position your fingers on the back of the top of the case and press your fingers where the tabs were located and it would release and you could pull it up and towards you. You had to have strong fingers for this as well as be careful that when it released you didn't jerk it back and hit yourself with the lid. I hated working on these because a lot of customers would order the math coprocessor which was located on the motherboard under where the hard drive is located on your system. You'd have to completely pull the motherboard to get access to it and that involved a lot of knuckle-scraping. But they were good machines and we sold a lot of them. I personally have a Compaq Deskpro (the original XT class version) with a pair of hard drives that, unfortunately, don't work and I'm looking to get a flash reader for it. Any suggestions for what to use?
I've used several of the SD to IDE adapters from China, and they seem to have a problem with properly shutting down the adapter with the computer. (I only use them on vintage systems, so maybe I'm supposed to "park the heads" or something), but anyway, they eventually, almost inevitably corrupt the data on the card and I have to restore my backups. Otherwise, they're cheap and use common media. I've heard much better things about the CompactFlash media drives, but since I don't have any CF media, I've never tried them.
@@VernonBalbert get one with a mounting bracket so it stays secure and can be accessed without opening the system up. If it uses a standard floppy connector it can use a gotek usb floppy drive emulator that can store up to 1000 disc images
They were good up to a point. Compaq cheaped out on mechanics in the keyboard, and the case plastic was brittle toy-grade and began to yellow as soon as it emerged from the box. For some reason this plastic attracted a lot of grunge - you'd see filthy ones and they always looked ragged and beat up. The screen phosphors were the easiest to burn I ever remember. The monitor section tended to be electrically fragile. They were really ugly computers! But they performed.
@@ultrametric9317 actually they were either Cherry or Keytronic keyboards, at least initially (they had dual sources in case of a logistics bottleneck). They may have gone cheap later, but initially they were quite high quality keyboards.
@@rkornilo Yeah I hate seeing stuff like that get thrown out. I have one working Atari ST 520 and another non-working ST 520, but I keep it around to see if I can manage to fix it. Already went through many troubleshooting parts on it to see if I can fix it. Next thing to check is the RAM, which can be time consuming to try and diagnose, which is why I'm stuck there right now with it.
The Compaq portable was the first pic my employer handed me and asked me to program product labels for our shipping Dept. From scratch in gwbasic including custom characters. I only had a beginner's understanding of basic at the time. This was in addition to my regular job as a machine operator at the time. Great video, model I used had dual floppies, ah memories!!
The Hyperion doesn't get enough love. It beat the Compaq to market, making it the first IBM compatible sold, a point of pride to the Canadians. Christine McGlade, star of You Can't Do That On Television, carried a Hyperion computer back and forth on her motorcycle between her home and the TV soundstage, as by that time she had already begun her transition from an actress to writing and producing.
Most of the work on the Hyperion was done here in Ottawa. I have friends who worked at Dynalogic, and one of them was the lead programming for H-DOS. I actually saw the source code for it! He had a print-out of it...and back then that was the Royal Jewels of the PC world!. As you said, they had production problems...they had a *HUGE* number of pre-orders for the Hyperion based on their announcement at COMDEX...millions of dollars, but as manufacturing delays mounted, people started cancelling their orders to buy a Compaq. As they had needed that money to ramp up production, there were caught in a bind. It was at this point that Bytec came along and made Dynalogic a deal it couldn't refuse due to the loss of the pre-order money they were counting on for manufacturing... Bonus content: Old Joke from the day... Q: How do you tell if a person is a Compaq user? A: One arm is longer than the other! (a reference to the weight of the "portable")
Deniz yes it does just 2 rules: ..Keylock must be on and you cannot use the number keys across the top of the keyboard it must be the keypad...this will only work at MS-DOS command level... ALT+013 is one i have used alot...I did not know about CTRL+M thanks John
@Rex Warden Not necessarily -- a fancy screen editor will usually use low-level key messages to intentionally distinguish between such things, and allow ctrl-M to be a command shortcut like any other ctrl key. I just tried and it works in Notepad, though. In Notepad++, the default key bindings don't use ctrl-M and it defaults to Enter, but (I just tried this) it can be set to anything you want.
The Commodore connection to that Hyperion is interesting, when I saw that system it immediately jumped out at me that the keyboard had the same "inverted color" keyboard that Commodore PCs had.
I used to like Compaq as a brand, always seemed quirky and unusual with their designs (E.G. their Ipaq desktops, loved those things!), then HP bought them out and started selling junk-level HP tat under the Compaq brand, which pretty much killed them as something I'd want to buy...
Back in 2004 i used to have a Compaq Presario which ran XP (my older bro had a Presario that ran ME...the satan of OS's) It actually was a pretty stable system (though 85 gigs back then was nothing to sneeze at).
Loved Halt N Catch Fire! By far the most tech accurate production ever IMHO. Im still trying to learn more about that MCI Satellite Dial Up line Cameron had in her camper, cant find much info about it online. I also came across one of those Compaq Portables sitting out on my sidewalk in Brooklyn about 10 years ago, brought it in, found a power cord and it actually posted no issues! Realizing I had no 5.25 boot floppy of any sorts and NOT realizing its real value at the time being a 1st gen machine, it found its way back out onto the sidewalk. Yes I am a sinner, please forgive me......
I've had to repair a few CRTs with a partial vertical collapse on the bottom similar to the Hyperion in this video, and it was a small value capacitor on the way from the video/deflection IC to the vertical IC. 2.2uf. Gosh. You mentioned needing to work on those other Compaq machines, and I wish I could be there. Great videos!
Xilefian When running US layout software config on a typical non-US keyboard, you get the backslash in BOTH locations. Except with Linux which assigns the lower left key to it's Finnish characters < and > .
AltGr+V = @, Nikola :) The solution to this problem is just to set up your own, and then your mom's, your neighbour's, sister's, grandpa's, friends' computers to use Serbian Latin by default, Cyrillic as second, and third, if they are programmers, English (US). They'll figure it out, and if they have a US physical keyboard, hey, they'll learn to touch-type. But US layout as default needs to stop. BEGONE osisana latinica!
I love your videos! Thanks so much for being awesome :) I'm currently in the process of fixing up an old Tandy 1000 TL using a lot of the techniques I have learned from your videos. The only portable I have in my collection is the Kaypro 10 and I haven't gotten it to do much considering it runs CP/M but it's 10mb drive is still working and it has some games loaded onto it from the previous owner. It makes me happy to see all these old systems getting the love they get on your channel.
Ahh, brings back memories, I had a Compaq Portable Plus back in the 80’s (286 version). The covers are very easy to remove. Take an elbow and press down in the middle of the cover, then take your fingers and lift up the edge on the side with the handle. I always liked how the motherboard slides out on a tray after removing the inf cards, connectors and a couple screws. Thanks for the video David.
Indeed, the Hyperion had problems many... I've seen one with a faulty power switch that wouldn't turn off, and often overheated. Yep, that one ended up catching fire, though I didn't see it happen in person, I do remember seeing the damage taken by a Polaroid camera (and the guy had the sense to NOT flap the photos around like a fucking moron). The monitor itself had half-melted, and the interior of the plastic was burned black. The only salvageable part was the power supply, even if said power supply was the core of the problem. What a waste.
We had a Hyperion when I was a kid. I still remember dialing into BBS's with the built in 300 baud modem. I have such fond memories of the amber power button and the Hyperion star logo on boot up
I remember travelling with a Compaq like that for my job in the mid-80s. Lugging that heavy thing on the NYC subway system and stowing it in overhead baggage on airplanes. Half of the time the bus cards would get loose and I would open it up and re-seat them. Hard to believe that was considered portable, but back then we were on The Cutting Edge. Before that, I had a job using an Osborne. Wordstar and Lotus 1-2-3 (I think) and dBase were the main apps we used. We cranked out hefty business analyses with these simple tools, although when WYSIWYG came into being, that saved a lot of waste paper.
Lucky shit!! Serious though that's awesome, but do consider bolt modding it for strength, and also using some silicone lube on the springs, as it will help quiet it down some, and give the old springs a smoother feel. Lastly if you retrobright it, DON'T use cream as it will streak the plastics, use liquid peroxide, oxiclean, and water in a 50% peroxide/oxiclean, and 50% water in a clear sealed tub with a clear locking lid big enough to fit all the parts in at once on a warm day about 70F in direct sun light, but you might need to move the container around to catch more sun every few hours.
@@CommodoreFan64 Thanks for the tips! It hasn't really yellowed at all, it's been in school use which means the keys were just very dirty. All I did was I cleaned them and it looks brand new! I think I won't suppress the sound from the keys, I took it just because of the sound and feel :) Edit: in Finnish winter you can't retrobrite crap, I'd probably just stick it into a sauna because apparently it's the heat, not the light, that "unyellows" it.
I love how you started this video with Halt and Catch Fire; probably my favourite show of all time. I've watched the entire series 5 times. Great soundtrack too! I never got a chance to experience this decade in computers since I was born in 1983. Great video!
Used to work at the first computer store in Kalamazoo as a technician, I fixed many Compaq and Hyperion computers as well as IBM's, several people lost their Compaq's at the airports as they got mixed up with other peoples sewing machines. They weighed about the same too! If you pressed in the middle of the top or bottom cover you cold get your fingers under the lip and pull the cover off, felt like it would break but it won't, learned this trick at Compaq tech training school in Houston, biggest trouble was the power supply board as I remember. Hyperion's seldom broke down, floppy drives needed alignment frequently on all machines. Still have all the tools and alignment disks needed to fix them, haven't used them in many years! Good to see them again.
Great video,, as always. Pretty sure I remember you doing a restore vid on that Compaq - nice to see it in a video like this. Looking forward to seeing the Hyperion some more when you’ve had a chance to fix the issues. Keep up the great work. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Man I love your channel. Computer History is so fascinating. I know its not for everyone but you make it very accessible. Kudos! I'm in my 40s and watch this with my son. He just likes spending time with me but he gets a kick out of seeing how "basic" (his words) the technology was back in the 70s and 80s. He's 9. I keep reminding him his Switch is in his hands thanks to the pioneers who developed these computers, processors and processes. He gets it.
I used to have one of those Compaq portables under my desk at work. I got it at an auction in the early 90's, and it ran Binkleyterm 24/7 so the ten remote branches of the company I worked for could dial in any time (1200 baud modems!) and upload sales data/download order status data. Nice piece of kit, very reliable.
Wonderful video. I enjoy these very early IBM PC clone documentaries as to get an idea of what computing was like in the early 80's. I've watched all 4 seasons of Halt And Catch Fire too. The entire show follows advancements of computing from 83 to 95.
Best way to learn assembly language, from what I've heard. I'm sad it didn't get any further than the 68060 (which I just found out about! Thanks, Wikipedia!)
@@KuraIthys I think the main reason people say that is because you don't have to deal with the crazy offsets of 16-bit x86 programming. What's your favorite assembly language, and why? I'm very curious, because I never really learned Assembly.
I have a neverending love affair with the 68000. Such a beautiful and simple design, it never ceases to amaze me. By far my favorite assembly language, and I've done pretty much all of them from 6502 to the 486, which was when I moved on to C.
@@retrodevdroid3670 From all the reviews I've read over the years on the show, that's the biggest issue, and why I've never bothered to start watching it. Really is sad.
Clickety Clack Seasons three and four are considered to be the best, but I loved the first season, when the show did focus more on the process of creating a new product, and less on the interpersonal relationships.
Yeah, the critical response was good, but the consensus seemed to be that they spent way too much effort on the technology. They "fixed" it by making everything about the relationships, which satisfied the critics, but, really, c'mon...
I love green monochrome, 80s memory. Even today I still set up my terminal windows at work to be green on a black background. I love your channel for the same reason I loved Halt and Catch Fire, there was a lot of history going on in the 80s that deserves to be remembered.
I have to mention 6:11 for some reason. You went from a mostly black screen to a mostly white screen instantly which was not pleasant for the eyes at all. Maybe a short transition would be better, a simple fade would do. It's REALLY nit-picky, but I noticed it and couldn't not say it.
I have a lovely working Compaq Portable, and this video definitely inspired me to play with it this winter. I never thought to expand upon it, but the Flash Reader is a super smart idea, and a great first step!
Anders, the big reverb on the snare(and other instruments, but it's especially fun on snare) of the end track is superb and a great touch. I like all your tracks I've heard on the channel but I had to give a special shoutout to this one since I prefer it's more "warm" sound compared to the more "shinny" sound of some of the others. It really sounds like a kickass, era-appropriate tune
Wow! You did a great job cleaning those guys up! That Compaq looks like you just ordered it out of Computer Shopper back in the 80's. I love learning about the history of forgotten popular, and quirky systems like these.
I used one of the Compaq’s as a “portable” back in the 80’s. The company owned 2 if I remember right. Every weekend there was a 32 hour job that ran on the mainframe that took another 9 hours to print. We used 1 of the Compaq’s to monitor the mainframe from home while the job was running so we didn’t have to babysit. Definitely a trip down memory lane for me. Thank you for a great video with good explanations. Your subscription numbers amaze me. I had no idea that there’s so much interest in these antiques!
Good video. My Aunt owned a Compaq when she was studying in systems analyst career. She later sold the compact when became obsolete in 1991. Nevertheless I didn't saw a Hyperion, but I knew about its existence. Excellent work, this video brought me memories.
Thanks Mr. Murray I really enjoy your videos i learn something every time I watch them..... im not really old enough for the computers you showcase, but my family was a "hand me down" family so I started out playing c64 games in the late 90s. I wish I had saved those old tanks of pc legend.
I started using one of these machines in the summer of 1983 for work. I traveled extensively throughout the Pacific and Latin America regions. Every single time I went through customs in any country (including the US), I had to remove the skin of the machine (as well as the soft case cover) to prove that it was in fact a computer. I can verify that it is very possible to remove the cover without tools. I was so impressed with this machine that I went to work for Compaq 3 years later.
I worked at Ontario Hydro in 1987 in the tech support department. We also did software training on DOS, 1-2-3, WordPerfect, dBase, etc. There was a classroom in head office near my desk. The neat thing was that we had a "travelling road show." We'd go to the regional offices and power plants around the province. We had a cargo van loaded with a dozen or so Compaq portable computers! So the trainers would travel to the site, move into a boardroom or classroom, and set up all the computers. We'd teach a bunch of courses over a week and then pack up and head home. Fun! Built up some muscles lugging those beasts around.
I never owned a Compaq... but my dad had one, and it was the computer on which I first used a word processor (Wordstar) and immediately started cranking out reams of bad amateur science fiction. It was this amazing feeling of freedom, being able to type away and not just correct mistakes, but insert and delete and reflow text and rearrange the whole story. Writing suddenly felt frictionless in a way it hadn't before. I think I also first used a spreadsheet on that machine. I remember that whenever the screen switched video modes you'd see this funky sine-wave oscilloscope-trace pattern flash for a fraction of a second.
My second computer was a Compaq Portable (my first was a 386 class, yes, the Compaq Portable was OLD). Still, it was a fantastic second system. I used it for BBSing mostly, along with some programming. Actually used it as an intelligent light controller running some high school theatre shows, was loads of fun. A fantastic piece of hardware, even over 10 years after introduction.
Lucky, now I'm imagining you on some short-lived 80's TV teen crime fighting drama with said computer to solve mysteries. I kid on that part. But still, that was a fun experience. Though I came up when the internet was just full bore.
Very, very interesting the video. I did not know about Hyperion or the remnants of computers. These historical videos enrich the Internet. I congratulate you.
Interesting video. When I worked as a field service engineer, the Compaq Portable III was part of the tool kit. I look forward to your video on that model.
I still have find memories of the IBM Portable PC. It was the first PC-compatible my family had, given to us by a computer teacher who saw that interest in learning more about computers, especially considering it was broken when we first got it! I fixed it, and it all snowballed from there.
In the 80s, "portable" meant you could move it without a forklift.
The Tyttuutface No, that was the 1970s. In the 1960s you needed a full size truck.
Perhaps for american computers. ;) Actually, many home computers of the early eighties weighted less than the IBM PC keyboard. The ZX81 was about 300 gram for instance. Sharps handheld Z80 computers were at about the same weight. Same with similar products from Casio and others.
The predecessors of laptops, carry it around and plug in the wall to use it like a desktop.
@Omega LUL Well, that has little to do with weight though. But speaking of it, the Z80 was actually the origin of 8086 (and x86), in two ways. Not only were the designers of the Z80 (F.Faggin and M.Shima) the same people that designed the first microprocessors at intel, including the i8080. But after their departure intel were extremely delayed (with their failed iAPX 432) and therefore worried about Zilogs first product, the Z80. So Stephen Morse was told to design the 8086 to compete directly with the Z80. That's the reasons as to why the 8086 look like an extension of the Z80.
The days when a 4 MB hard drive was as big as a washing machine.
Still seeing a chiropractor after lugging that entire 5150 setup around.
He lives! I miss your channel man.
When are you gonna start making videos again? We miss you Rob!
And here I just bought one after 30 years!
That's pseudoscience! Go and look for a real doctor!
Your telling me
Having never owned or even used either of these machines before, this was an absolute treat to watch. Nice work once again, David.
And I am in love with that Hyperion machine's design! The disk drive mechanisms alone are fantastic. Shame about its lack of... working.
Don't you have Kaypro or Kaypro II that you got while thrifting, Clint?
That needed a video of its own ;)
With all the IBM compatible systems you have, I would have figured you had a Compaq Portable stashed somewhere...
Much like Metal Jesus Rocks and LGR, these guys are jokes who would have been dead long ago if youtube and paetron didn't exist. They have no skills other than begging for money they didn't earn so they can shine a stool with their posterior. It's all sad and pathetic. All the mediocre individuals e-begging is such a poor ugliness. They all worked in call centers, retail or had a job removing spam from an otherwise working computer, who should live and die in obscurity. "Instead" they pan handle. The internet is their tin cup. Why? Because they're complete failures in life. 5, 10, 20 dollars a month for videos of you opening packages from other social rejects? Netflix is 13.99 a month, I don't think they upload one video a week of them opening fan mail. Get a job. Learn a trade. Give back to society. You people are so pathetic. Darwin would cheer for your demise so other stronger individuals could prosper and George Washington would wonder why you haven't committed suicide due to the Grand Canyon Sized shame you must feel every second of every day. James Rolf Doesn't do paetron. I guess he decided he wasn't going to be a loser like the rest of you.
@@Gamble4545 You might want to check your account. It looks like some lunatic hacked it and is putting nonsense comments on people's videos.
@@bitset3741 I hate being right. It’s a curse, really.
In one of my computer labs at university, there just so happened to be a Hyperion sitting amongst a pile of old electronics in the back. Out of curiosity, I plugged it in and threw the switch to see if it was still functional. The light went on, but not the monitor, and I sat there baffled for a good 15 seconds before I realized that there was a rather unsettling amount of smoke pouring out the back of the machine. I frantically unplugged the computer and placed it back. Everybody in class saw what just happened and decided to pretend as if nothing happened. Good memory.
x__X
No doubt the electrolytic capacitors in the power supply had "dried out" over time and needed to be replaced..
I was working on a project and saw an Altair 8800 and some SGI machines just chilling around. Crazy stuff!
At least that one didn't catch fire like the one a friend of mine had due to a faulty power switch (wouldn't shut off) and a bad power supply that often overheated. I didn't see it catch fire myself, but the pictures of the damage were telling enough. The smell of scorched plastic, *_yum_* (lol)
How's a computer going to work when you let all of the magic smoke out of it like that?
Ahh, the good old days when you could put a handle on a 30-pound piece of equipment and call it "portable." 😂
Just the other day I was looking at old Apple marketing training material from the 80's, and they actually had split up the portable market into segments:
"Transportable" - 20 lbs or more, A/C Power
"Portable" - 12-20 lbs, Battery or AC
"Laptop" - 5-12 lbs, Battery
"Notebook" - 5 lbs or less, Battery
Pretty fascinating how there were these submarkets based on capability.
Link to some screenshots: imgur.com/a/dnXfwyn
There was a joke in the 1980s (or at least I think it was a joke, could be real), that the USSR standards body defined portable as having a handle. If it had two handles it was semi-portable :D
Fun fake fact: These computers actually weigh 2 pounds. They put lead weights in there to keep you from throwing these through the air and injuring a co-worker when your software crashes. :P
And sell it for 1000 dollars less than the desktop variant with the same config.
@@KarlBaron batteries werent ready in terms of size and autonomy by that time, and CRTs put batteries totally out of the equation (unless we think car batteries for those CRT "portables"); even when the first lcds were introduced in the portables the batteries back then were huge, lasted 1 hour tops and amounted for half of the computers weight
_HYPERION?_ DAMMIT THEY'RE SENDING LOADERS! *EVERYONE GET DOW-*
Surprised to find a Borderlands reference here, but cool
*takes 509 damage* ouchie
@@udemo5695 *I like being a gun. BANG, POW, BAM.*
*RELOADIN'!* *AeAOEAAROAOEOAEOAOEOROSOAOSOREOSOSEOAOAOEOE*
*MAYBE YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TO RELOAD SO OFTEN IF YOU DIDN'T WASTE AMMO!*
The 8-Bit Guy Episode 2: Attack of the Clones
:D
@@morganrussman xd
@@mitsostechtips9047 ? :/
But now, with better actors and better VFX.
I worked in the back room of a couple of computer stores configuring IBMs and Compaqs for customers. I can attest to the fact that it's possible to open the Compaq without tools. You would put the front of the computer against your belly, position your fingers on the back of the top of the case and press your fingers where the tabs were located and it would release and you could pull it up and towards you. You had to have strong fingers for this as well as be careful that when it released you didn't jerk it back and hit yourself with the lid. I hated working on these because a lot of customers would order the math coprocessor which was located on the motherboard under where the hard drive is located on your system. You'd have to completely pull the motherboard to get access to it and that involved a lot of knuckle-scraping. But they were good machines and we sold a lot of them.
I personally have a Compaq Deskpro (the original XT class version) with a pair of hard drives that, unfortunately, don't work and I'm looking to get a flash reader for it. Any suggestions for what to use?
I've used several of the SD to IDE adapters from China, and they seem to have a problem with properly shutting down the adapter with the computer. (I only use them on vintage systems, so maybe I'm supposed to "park the heads" or something), but anyway, they eventually, almost inevitably corrupt the data on the card and I have to restore my backups. Otherwise, they're cheap and use common media. I've heard much better things about the CompactFlash media drives, but since I don't have any CF media, I've never tried them.
I've got a 4 GB CF card that I'm going to use, so that's what I'm looking for. I'm just totally unsure which one to get because there are so many.
@@VernonBalbert get one with a mounting bracket so it stays secure and can be accessed without opening the system up. If it uses a standard floppy connector it can use a gotek usb floppy drive emulator that can store up to 1000 disc images
They were good up to a point. Compaq cheaped out on mechanics in the keyboard, and the case plastic was brittle toy-grade and began to yellow as soon as it emerged from the box. For some reason this plastic attracted a lot of grunge - you'd see filthy ones and they always looked ragged and beat up. The screen phosphors were the easiest to burn I ever remember. The monitor section tended to be electrically fragile. They were really ugly computers! But they performed.
@@ultrametric9317 actually they were either Cherry or Keytronic keyboards, at least initially (they had dual sources in case of a logistics bottleneck). They may have gone cheap later, but initially they were quite high quality keyboards.
It has to be such a gratifying feeling to load your own game onto one of these relics and watch it go. :-)
The oldest thing I own is a Commodore amega 500 and it's dead in the bin
Woo! JD FTW!
I hope you never throw it in the trash and at least donate it if you dont intend to fix it. Keep it in circulation.
@@rkornilo Yeah I hate seeing stuff like that get thrown out. I have one working Atari ST 520 and another non-working ST 520, but I keep it around to see if I can manage to fix it. Already went through many troubleshooting parts on it to see if I can fix it. Next thing to check is the RAM, which can be time consuming to try and diagnose, which is why I'm stuck there right now with it.
Agreed. My first computer, a Sony Hb10P, MSX, is over 32 years old and still works perfectly.
The Compaq portable was the first pic my employer handed me and asked me to program product labels for our shipping Dept. From scratch in gwbasic including custom characters. I only had a beginner's understanding of basic at the time. This was in addition to my regular job as a machine operator at the time. Great video, model I used had dual floppies, ah memories!!
Such a shame the Hyperion was faulty, it looks so pretty, minimalistic and modern, I love it!
The Hyperion doesn't get enough love. It beat the Compaq to market, making it the first IBM compatible sold, a point of pride to the Canadians. Christine McGlade, star of You Can't Do That On Television, carried a Hyperion computer back and forth on her motorcycle between her home and the TV soundstage, as by that time she had already begun her transition from an actress to writing and producing.
The word is "luggable"
You can get "build your own luggable PC" cases, complete with CRT.
@@andymadden8183 Do you know a good source? I can't find anything.
The other word is "hernia".
My backslash is between the left shift key and Z key to this day. In the UK, that's where it normally is.
Yup, when he said that I instantly looked down and thought, well that is where it always has been.
On my keyboard layout (HU), the key between the left shift and Y (that's QWERTZ) is í.
The US gets a bigger L-shift key than us bu t we have a bigger backspace
I was gonna say, he calls this keyboard weird but apart from the " being where @ is on a UK layout, it's damn near identical.
Well in nordic keyboards we have the < (with > and | ) there.
Most of the work on the Hyperion was done here in Ottawa. I have friends who worked at Dynalogic, and one of them was the lead programming for H-DOS. I actually saw the source code for it! He had a print-out of it...and back then that was the Royal Jewels of the PC world!. As you said, they had production problems...they had a *HUGE* number of pre-orders for the Hyperion based on their announcement at COMDEX...millions of dollars, but as manufacturing delays mounted, people started cancelling their orders to buy a Compaq. As they had needed that money to ramp up production, there were caught in a bind. It was at this point that Bytec came along and made Dynalogic a deal it couldn't refuse due to the loss of the pre-order money they were counting on for manufacturing...
Bonus content: Old Joke from the day...
Q: How do you tell if a person is a Compaq user?
A: One arm is longer than the other! (a reference to the weight of the "portable")
10 PRINT "8 Bit-Guy Comes through with another winning Video"
20 GOTO 10
RUN
Thought I'd write a really basic programme...
Did you mean "BASIC joke"? (I'm bad at jokes)
Lol
Fuck you man, fuck you
I C what you did there. Yeah, it's a really BASIC joke.
@@brunor.1127 Wow dude, you need to calm the fuck down.
How many times did it take to say "Pack and unpack the Compaq" without getting tongue-twisted?
That's easy
Neh, a tongue twister would be "Pack and unpack the Compaq Cot."
That is easy
Serious question for The 8-Bit Guy, is this where Compaq got their name? Because they were producing a PC clone that was compact?
How many pacs could a Compaq pack if a Compaq could pack pacs?
I love the 8-bit guy. He just does so many cool things
me too
Same
"16 Shades of Green" sounds like a computer romance novel.
Use ctrl-M to get around the lack of Return key. That should work for BIOS input such as the DOS command line.
That's right! Why doesn't he know?
ALT+013 might work too
Deniz yes it does just 2 rules: ..Keylock must be on and you cannot use the number keys across the top of the keyboard it must be the keypad...this will only work at MS-DOS command level...
ALT+013 is one i have used alot...I did not know about CTRL+M thanks John
@Rex Warden Not necessarily -- a fancy screen editor will usually use low-level key messages to intentionally distinguish between such things, and allow ctrl-M to be a command shortcut like any other ctrl key. I just tried and it works in Notepad, though. In Notepad++, the default key bindings don't use ctrl-M and it defaults to Enter, but (I just tried this) it can be set to anything you want.
@@DenizTurkmen In the modern Windows, it works. Going to test that on my Portable 1 and see what happens.
The Commodore connection to that Hyperion is interesting, when I saw that system it immediately jumped out at me that the keyboard had the same "inverted color" keyboard that Commodore PCs had.
Looking forward to the video of you fixing up the Hyperion!
I used to like Compaq as a brand, always seemed quirky and unusual with their designs (E.G. their Ipaq desktops, loved those things!), then HP bought them out and started selling junk-level HP tat under the Compaq brand, which pretty much killed them as something I'd want to buy...
Pretty sure ipaq was a line of PDAs...
Back in 2004 i used to have a Compaq Presario which ran XP (my older bro had a Presario that ran ME...the satan of OS's) It actually was a pretty stable system (though 85 gigs back then was nothing to sneeze at).
My first laptop was a Compaq C555NR. It's what got me into technology.
iPAQ was also used as the name for their line of compact desktop PCs:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPAQ_(desktop_computer)
I used to have a Compaq AIO, one heck of a relic.
Loved Halt N Catch Fire! By far the most tech accurate production ever IMHO. Im still trying to learn more about that MCI Satellite Dial Up line Cameron had in her camper, cant find much info about it online.
I also came across one of those Compaq Portables sitting out on my sidewalk in Brooklyn about 10 years ago, brought it in, found a power cord and it actually posted no issues! Realizing I had no 5.25 boot floppy of any sorts and NOT realizing its real value at the time being a 1st gen machine, it found its way back out onto the sidewalk.
Yes I am a sinner, please forgive me......
The Hyperion is a really handsome machine. Very space age!
Personally I liked the Compaq for the finesse it offered.
A handsome machine for handsome jacks.
I've had to repair a few CRTs with a partial vertical collapse on the bottom similar to the Hyperion in this video, and it was a small value capacitor on the way from the video/deflection IC to the vertical IC. 2.2uf. Gosh. You mentioned needing to work on those other Compaq machines, and I wish I could be there. Great videos!
Oooh that's where the backslash is on my British keyboard, so didn't come across as a weird place for me.
Xilefian When running US layout software config on a typical non-US keyboard, you get the backslash in BOTH locations. Except with Linux which assigns the lower left key to it's Finnish characters < and > .
@@johnfrancisdoe1563 Finnish characters? Aren't that just the less than () symbols?
@@johnfrancisdoe1563 did you mean Nordic layout?
AltGr+V = @, Nikola :)
The solution to this problem is just to set up your own, and then your mom's, your neighbour's, sister's, grandpa's, friends' computers to use Serbian Latin by default, Cyrillic as second, and third, if they are programmers, English (US). They'll figure it out, and if they have a US physical keyboard, hey, they'll learn to touch-type. But US layout as default needs to stop. BEGONE osisana latinica!
Glad to have a Canadian computer product for you guys back then!
For a deeper dive into the history of Compaq I suggest you check out the Silicon Cowboys documentary.
Second!
50 shades of Green
LOL!
Or 50 shades of Amber.... If you go that way. 😂
You mean this? (oldcomputers.net/victor-screens.html)
@Maksim Radevski 69 ShAdEs
Never saw a Hyperion in the wild, but I did install literally hundreds of hard drives in Compaq portables in the mid-1980s. Ahh, the memories...
This thing was way more sophisticated than I thought it would be. The dual video modes is impressive. Great video as always!
It's funny that I frequently thought of this channel while watching Halt and Catch Fire. Maybe David should've been a consultant to the show.
Me too. I also think of HCF whenever he does these more documentary style videos
Only youtuber I have notifications enabled on
I love your videos! Thanks so much for being awesome :) I'm currently in the process of fixing up an old Tandy 1000 TL using a lot of the techniques I have learned from your videos. The only portable I have in my collection is the Kaypro 10 and I haven't gotten it to do much considering it runs CP/M but it's 10mb drive is still working and it has some games loaded onto it from the previous owner. It makes me happy to see all these old systems getting the love they get on your channel.
Ahh, brings back memories, I had a Compaq Portable Plus back in the 80’s (286 version). The covers are very easy to remove. Take an elbow and press down in the middle of the cover, then take your fingers and lift up the edge on the side with the handle. I always liked how the motherboard slides out on a tray after removing the inf cards, connectors and a couple screws. Thanks for the video David.
Indeed, the Hyperion had problems many...
I've seen one with a faulty power switch that wouldn't turn off, and often overheated. Yep, that one ended up catching fire, though I didn't see it happen in person, I do remember seeing the damage taken by a Polaroid camera (and the guy had the sense to NOT flap the photos around like a fucking moron). The monitor itself had half-melted, and the interior of the plastic was burned black. The only salvageable part was the power supply, even if said power supply was the core of the problem. What a waste.
Why didn't someone just unplug it?
@@MilesPrower1992 I'm guessing that it already started burning before unplug, so it burned down anyway.
These portable computers are amazing! I would love one. It just looks so cool
We had a Hyperion when I was a kid. I still remember dialing into BBS's with the built in 300 baud modem. I have such fond memories of the amber power button and the Hyperion star logo on boot up
I remember travelling with a Compaq like that for my job in the mid-80s. Lugging that heavy thing on the NYC subway system and stowing it in overhead baggage on airplanes. Half of the time the bus cards would get loose and I would open it up and re-seat them. Hard to believe that was considered portable, but back then we were on The Cutting Edge.
Before that, I had a job using an Osborne. Wordstar and Lotus 1-2-3 (I think) and dBase were the main apps we used. We cranked out hefty business analyses with these simple tools, although when WYSIWYG came into being, that saved a lot of waste paper.
Consider myself very, very jealous.
i had a Compaq Portable when i was a 5 year old Kid, that's realy nostalgic for me
Just got an original Model M keyboard from my history teacher for free and you upload a video!
Lucky shit!! Serious though that's awesome, but do consider bolt modding it for strength, and also using some silicone lube on the springs, as it will help quiet it down some, and give the old springs a smoother feel. Lastly if you retrobright it, DON'T use cream as it will streak the plastics, use liquid peroxide, oxiclean, and water in a 50% peroxide/oxiclean, and 50% water in a clear sealed tub with a clear locking lid big enough to fit all the parts in at once on a warm day about 70F in direct sun light, but you might need to move the container around to catch more sun every few hours.
@@CommodoreFan64 Model Ms don't yellow as the keycaps are PBT instead of ABS and the case is painted.
Man you're lucky :) enjoy!
@@CommodoreFan64 Thanks for the tips! It hasn't really yellowed at all, it's been in school use which means the keys were just very dirty. All I did was I cleaned them and it looks brand new! I think I won't suppress the sound from the keys, I took it just because of the sound and feel :)
Edit: in Finnish winter you can't retrobrite crap, I'd probably just stick it into a sauna because apparently it's the heat, not the light, that "unyellows" it.
Pate Jate did you tell him thank you
Bring back the full restoration/repair videos! I’d love to see you repair the Hyperion in a video. Thanks David, this was super cool
Thank you very much for making this video, this is one of my favorite series, the information you give and everything is pure gold
I literally rushed home so I could see this video
You are doing a great job The 8-Bit Guy.
You should do livestreams on youtube whenever you're doing any kind of repairs :-D
Or on Twitch.
I love how you started this video with Halt and Catch Fire; probably my favourite show of all time. I've watched the entire series 5 times. Great soundtrack too! I never got a chance to experience this decade in computers since I was born in 1983. Great video!
Used to work at the first computer store in Kalamazoo as a technician, I fixed many Compaq and Hyperion computers as well as IBM's, several people lost their Compaq's at the airports as they got mixed up with other peoples sewing machines. They weighed about the same too! If you pressed in the middle of the top or bottom cover you cold get your fingers under the lip and pull the cover off, felt like it would break but it won't, learned this trick at Compaq tech training school in Houston, biggest trouble was the power supply board as I remember. Hyperion's seldom broke down, floppy drives needed alignment frequently on all machines. Still have all the tools and alignment disks needed to fix them, haven't used them in many years! Good to see them again.
Thank you 8 Clone Guy
LMAO
8:58
The Good Bit Guy
Great video,, as always. Pretty sure I remember you doing a restore vid on that Compaq - nice to see it in a video like this. Looking forward to seeing the Hyperion some more when you’ve had a chance to fix the issues. Keep up the great work. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Man I love your channel. Computer History is so fascinating. I know its not for everyone but you make it very accessible. Kudos! I'm in my 40s and watch this with my son. He just likes spending time with me but he gets a kick out of seeing how "basic" (his words) the technology was back in the 70s and 80s. He's 9. I keep reminding him his Switch is in his hands thanks to the pioneers who developed these computers, processors and processes. He gets it.
That Hyperion is sexy!
When a keyboard key doesn't work, use the ALT key plus the numeric code. For enter, I believe it would be ALT 13.
Or just use Ctrl+M (13th letter). I used to always press Ctrl+I for inventory in Space Quest, et al. when my tab key stopped working circa 1987.
I used to have one of those Compaq portables under my desk at work. I got it at an auction in the early 90's, and it ran Binkleyterm 24/7 so the ten remote branches of the company I worked for could dial in any time (1200 baud modems!) and upload sales data/download order status data. Nice piece of kit, very reliable.
Wonderful video. I enjoy these very early IBM PC clone documentaries as to get an idea of what computing was like in the early 80's.
I've watched all 4 seasons of Halt And Catch Fire too. The entire show follows advancements of computing from 83 to 95.
1:04 "More or less 100% compatible" so it might be 105% XD
Personally, I'm a fan of the Motorola 68000
Best way to learn assembly language, from what I've heard.
I'm sad it didn't get any further than the 68060 (which I just found out about! Thanks, Wikipedia!)
@@RamLaska Really? Because I find 68000 Assembly... Unpleasant.
Then again, x86 assembler is worse, so, I guess it's all relative...
@@KuraIthys
I think the main reason people say that is because you don't have to deal with the crazy offsets of 16-bit x86 programming.
What's your favorite assembly language, and why? I'm very curious, because I never really learned Assembly.
I have a neverending love affair with the 68000. Such a beautiful and simple design, it never ceases to amaze me.
By far my favorite assembly language, and I've done pretty much all of them from 6502 to the 486, which was when I moved on to C.
I started on Intel 8080 using toggle switches...then later Z80 using MASM
Great show David! Thank you for doing content on this system, and including the pictures of my machine!
To this day, I can still remember an insurance agent coming to our house and doing my parent’s insurance policy on a luggable.
10:08 Argh...... My ears.... :D
What are you referring to? I don't hear anything
@@rachael1090 It's a very high frequency tone from the crt (sounds like around 17 kHz)
I heard it too. It was brief though. You can hear it if you have younger ears.
@@SarahLJP Crap, I passed the old mark XD
I thought it was my crt tv turning on by itself!
Wow, Pip-Boys sure have gotten smaller!
Great episode. I'm looking forward to the videos on the 2 and 3, seeing as Compaq made some really interesting ads for them.
Thank you for showing me this series (and catch fire) ! Btw, great video as always :-)
hyperion repair video ?
Yes!
Halt and Catch Fire had such potential to be an amazing show. Too bad it turned into repetitive, maudlin nonsense in which nothing ever happened.
My biggest complain with this show is, that they didn't focus on the technology enough. After a while it seemed like any other drama.
@@retrodevdroid3670 From all the reviews I've read over the years on the show, that's the biggest issue, and why I've never bothered to start watching it. Really is sad.
Clickety Clack Seasons three and four are considered to be the best, but I loved the first season, when the show did focus more on the process of creating a new product, and less on the interpersonal relationships.
Yeah, the critical response was good, but the consensus seemed to be that they spent way too much effort on the technology. They "fixed" it by making everything about the relationships, which satisfied the critics, but, really, c'mon...
@@Dodo-bf3dmMr.Robot did the same thing, great first season, but couldn't keep up the pace
I love green monochrome, 80s memory. Even today I still set up my terminal windows at work to be green on a black background. I love your channel for the same reason I loved Halt and Catch Fire, there was a lot of history going on in the 80s that deserves to be remembered.
So much awesome information. Happy to start my weekend with your video, 8-bit man! Thanks 👍🏻
I have to mention 6:11 for some reason. You went from a mostly black screen to a mostly white screen instantly which was not pleasant for the eyes at all. Maybe a short transition would be better, a simple fade would do. It's REALLY nit-picky, but I noticed it and couldn't not say it.
Stop watching UA-cam videos in the middle of the night at full brightness 😂
@@enzoperruccio it was actually daytime and I was watching on PC. If you watch in full screen like I did, it is really unpleasant.
Positive id: Toby from the Office.
HMMM, it seems that I am 14 hours late
Oh wait, this video just released, youtube being youtube again.
Patreon people get to see the video early.
It's nothing to do with UA-cam. It's been uploaded but not published for 14 hours.
That's why it shows *Published* on 11 Jan 2019
I have a lovely working Compaq Portable, and this video definitely inspired me to play with it this winter. I never thought to expand upon it, but the Flash Reader is a super smart idea, and a great first step!
Anders, the big reverb on the snare(and other instruments, but it's especially fun on snare) of the end track is superb and a great touch. I like all your tracks I've heard on the channel but I had to give a special shoutout to this one since I prefer it's more "warm" sound compared to the more "shinny" sound of some of the others. It really sounds like a kickass, era-appropriate tune
and another great video from the 8-bit guy, thanks and keep up the good work ;)
Wow! You did a great job cleaning those guys up! That Compaq looks like you just ordered it out of Computer Shopper back in the 80's. I love learning about the history of forgotten popular, and quirky systems like these.
I used one of the Compaq’s as a “portable” back in the 80’s. The company owned 2 if I remember right. Every weekend there was a 32 hour job that ran on the mainframe that took another 9 hours to print. We used 1 of the Compaq’s to monitor the mainframe from home while the job was running so we didn’t have to babysit. Definitely a trip down memory lane for me. Thank you for a great video with good explanations.
Your subscription numbers amaze me. I had no idea that there’s so much interest in these antiques!
Good video. My Aunt owned a Compaq when she was studying in systems analyst career. She later sold the compact when became obsolete in 1991. Nevertheless I didn't saw a Hyperion, but I knew about its existence.
Excellent work, this video brought me memories.
Thanks Mr. Murray I really enjoy your videos i learn something every time I watch them..... im not really old enough for the computers you showcase, but my family was a "hand me down" family so I started out playing c64 games in the late 90s. I wish I had saved those old tanks of pc legend.
Great video. Really fascinating retrospective.
Excellent video as usual, David.
I always liked the "luggage" style of computers ever since I saw a Kaypro.
always amazing to watch your videos. please keep it up!!
wow. I really enjoy this upload. Great production. tx
I started using one of these machines in the summer of 1983 for work. I traveled extensively throughout the Pacific and Latin America regions. Every single time I went through customs in any country (including the US), I had to remove the skin of the machine (as well as the soft case cover) to prove that it was in fact a computer. I can verify that it is very possible to remove the cover without tools. I was so impressed with this machine that I went to work for Compaq 3 years later.
Man I love your music tracks!
Halt and Catch Fire is one of my favorite shows, as soon as I saw the introduction I knew this would be a great video!
ATI used to make an EGA for the Compaq portable. Great video Dave. Well done!
I worked at Ontario Hydro in 1987 in the tech support department. We also did software training on DOS, 1-2-3, WordPerfect, dBase, etc. There was a classroom in head office near my desk. The neat thing was that we had a "travelling road show." We'd go to the regional offices and power plants around the province. We had a cargo van loaded with a dozen or so Compaq portable computers! So the trainers would travel to the site, move into a boardroom or classroom, and set up all the computers. We'd teach a bunch of courses over a week and then pack up and head home. Fun! Built up some muscles lugging those beasts around.
10:08 That sound of the CRT! Always brings me back. I can still here those high frequencies.
Happy new year 2019 8-Bit guy... like always i enjoy your vids...
I never owned a Compaq... but my dad had one, and it was the computer on which I first used a word processor (Wordstar) and immediately started cranking out reams of bad amateur science fiction. It was this amazing feeling of freedom, being able to type away and not just correct mistakes, but insert and delete and reflow text and rearrange the whole story. Writing suddenly felt frictionless in a way it hadn't before. I think I also first used a spreadsheet on that machine.
I remember that whenever the screen switched video modes you'd see this funky sine-wave oscilloscope-trace pattern flash for a fraction of a second.
My second computer was a Compaq Portable (my first was a 386 class, yes, the Compaq Portable was OLD). Still, it was a fantastic second system. I used it for BBSing mostly, along with some programming. Actually used it as an intelligent light controller running some high school theatre shows, was loads of fun. A fantastic piece of hardware, even over 10 years after introduction.
Lucky, now I'm imagining you on some short-lived 80's TV teen crime fighting drama with said computer to solve mysteries. I kid on that part. But still, that was a fun experience. Though I came up when the internet was just full bore.
Wow I always Wanted this in my collection Great work Keep it up
Very, very interesting the video. I did not know about Hyperion or the remnants of computers. These historical videos enrich the Internet. I congratulate you.
Good video! I've been waiting for another one!
One of my favorite TV dramas ever. Took me right back to those exciting early days.
Thank you The 8-Bit Guy, much appreciated IBM Clone review.
I miss my first PC a Packard Bell 386sx 2mb ram with Dos 5.0 and Dos Shell.
Thanks for another great video. Looking forward to those repair vids :)
Interesting video. When I worked as a field service engineer, the Compaq Portable III was part of the tool kit. I look forward to your video on that model.
My mom used to work on a compaq model similar to that one. But wow, yours is beautiful and very clean
love seeing you fix up these vintage computers and get them in working order.
I still have find memories of the IBM Portable PC. It was the first PC-compatible my family had, given to us by a computer teacher who saw that interest in learning more about computers, especially considering it was broken when we first got it! I fixed it, and it all snowballed from there.