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Monitors and Floppy Disk Haul
Posted by: JT737 on 2025-05-20 10:44:02 So these were headed for the trash-until I saved them! This is part of a larger haul I got yesterday. At the same place, there is a stack of mostly off-brand CRT monitors....I haven't decided if I am going to take any more of them. Most amazing to me was to find three unopened boxes of 5 1/4 floppies, as well as two unopened boxes of 3.5" floppies. Sadly I didn't find too many 800k floppies, just a box of 8 of them.
Posted by: olePigeon on 2025-05-20 13:47:08 I didn't know Imation made 5 1/4 disks.
Posted by: David Cook on 2025-05-20 14:16:40 Cool save!
Posted by: Forrest on 2025-05-20 15:34:23 Nice haul. FYI it’s not a good idea to store formatted disks on or next to a CRT
Posted by: Unknown_K on 2025-05-20 15:39:30 I didn't know Imation made 5 1/4 disks. They made 500KB 5.25" disks as well, have a dusty box on my shelf.
Posted by: Unknown_K on 2025-05-20 15:42:40 The CM-11 Tandy monitor isn't bad if you like CGA.
Posted by: olePigeon on 2025-05-21 08:40:17 They made 500KB 5.25" disks as well, have a dusty box on my shelf. Interesting. I always associated them with crapy quality neon colored 3.5" disks.
Posted by: RepairManiac on 2025-05-21 08:59:36 Nice Save!!! Bravo
Posted by: JT737 on 2025-05-21 10:22:10 Nice haul. FYI it’s not a good idea to store formatted disks on or next to a CRT I know! They are just their for the photo shoot. This is also after I gave the monitors an extensive cleaning; these two were being stored in a dusty garage:
Posted by: CC_333 on 2025-05-27 21:18:28 I like that IBM EGA display! It looks rather similar to the CGA display which was also designed to match the 5150 and 5160 (aka PC/XT). I almost had one back in 2017, but it got completely destroyed during shipping, and I haven't been able to afford another one (indeed, I haven't even been able to find another one locally; I will never have one of these shipped again!) c
Posted by: nathall on 2025-05-27 21:44:30 I didn’t realize they made EGA monitors in the PC/XT form factor/style. I always assumed they were all CGA.
Posted by: ArmorAlley on 2025-05-27 21:59:55 Keeping/rescuing CRT-monitors is not at all an easy decison. They are bulky, use a lot of electricity, are in need of repair and that repair requires working next to high voltage. Sometimes they require a specific video card. Well done sir for keeping these alive! They are as much a part of the 1980s & 1990s as the computers driving them.
Posted by: adespoton on 2025-05-28 15:50:30 Keeping/rescuing CRT-monitors is not at all an easy decison. They are bulky, use a lot of electricity, are in need of repair and that repair requires working next to high voltage. Sometimes they require a specific video card. Well done sir for keeping these alive! They are as much a part of the 1980s & 1990s as the computers driving them. Reminds me of a Sci-Fi short story I read years ago; the main character needed to use a Mac Plus to do something for some reason -- which was tricky, because they were considered highly illegal contraband at the time because of the (relative) amount of energy they consumed. Eventually the hero tracked one down and fired it up to save the universe. They had to build their own AC circuit from scratch to power it, while shielding the entire operation so the EM radiation wasn't visible to the scanners, IIRC. I'm glad there are still those of us brave enough to preserve this old hardware against such times 🙂
Posted by: cheesestraws on 2025-05-28 16:16:00 If we as a species ever get to the point of requiring a single Mac Plus to save us, we will have earned our extinction ;-)
Posted by: LaPorta on 2025-05-28 16:24:55 Sure hope it never comes to that. I like the current arrangement: if I'm willing to pay for it, I can use it!
Posted by: JT737 on 2025-05-30 19:46:44 Reminds me of a Sci-Fi short story I read years ago; the main character needed to use a Mac Plus to do something for some reason -- which was tricky, because they were considered highly illegal contraband at the time because of the (relative) amount of energy they consumed. Eventually the hero tracked one down and fired it up to save the universe. They had to build their own AC circuit from scratch to power it, while shielding the entire operation so the EM radiation wasn't visible to the scanners, IIRC. I'm glad there are still those of us brave enough to preserve this old hardware against such times 🙂 You know, these old compact Macs actually don't use as much electricity as you'd think. I myself always thought that something like a Mac Plus would use somewhere around 100 watts-which isn't completely horrible, especially compared with some of these modern gaming rigs! But it actually uses far less, about 33 watts according to my meter:
Posted by: LaPorta on 2025-05-31 14:12:33 Is it “The Pixelated Oracle”?
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