Info
I purchase and collect computers, electronics, books, and whatever else that was produced by Digital Equipment Corporation. If you are selling any, I may end up buying!
Alle Bewertungen (358)
- elisyst (3025)- Bewertung vom Käufer.Vor über einem JahrBestätigter KaufGreat communication. A pleasure to do business with.
- rmgit_llc (1365)- Bewertung vom Käufer.Letzter MonatBestätigter KaufHope to deal with you again. Thank you.
- techbuild (2981)- Bewertung vom Käufer.Letzter MonatBestätigter KaufGood buyer, prompt payment, valued customer, highly recommended.
- arg-tech (15025)- Bewertung vom Käufer.Vor über einem JahrBestätigter KaufGreat communication. A pleasure to do business with.
- kens_kards (310)- Bewertung vom Käufer.Letzte 6 MonateBestätigter KaufGood buyer, prompt payment, valued customer, highly recommended.
- greatozbetrayed (2637)- Bewertung vom Käufer.Letzte 6 MonateBestätigter KaufThank you again!
Rezensionen (3)
04. Mär 2017
Digital’s 90s Workstation
1 von 1 finden das hilfreich The VAXstation 3100 is a VAX based workstation from Ken Olsen's Digital Equipment Corporation (aka DEC or Digital) that was first announced in 1989. It's by no means a graphics or processing powerhouse, but it's a dependable and fun machine if you are in to collecting old computers. It can do monochrome graphics right or color with a co-processor card (the VS40X) that's nearly as big as the motherboard. You can either run UNIX or VMS, but in my case I prefer to run the operating system that was designed for VAXes, VMS. VMS was a DEC operating system that was tandem designed with the VAX architecture, which is prime example of a CISC architecture with close to 200 instructions. It's by no means a common operating system, it was marketed as an enterprise solution for workstations, servers, and mainframes from DEC. While VMS is primarily a command line OS, it does have DECwindows which is a graphical user interface that sits atop it. Historically VMS has always been used via text terminals, and that is still evident even with DECwindows, as the one program I use most of all is the terminal emulator program DECterm since many programs don’t have GUIs. That’s no problem at all since the commands are very similar to Microsoft’s DOS and there’s a built in help system.
3rd party software is mainly focused in science, engineering and mathematics not so much graphics, although graphics software was available. Software from Digital was mostly to support VMS/VAX systems or businesses. Just to name a few as examples like: DECtrace for collecting event-based data from other VMS products, DATATRIEVE for database queries and reports, DECset for program development and VAX SPM for system performance recording. As for games, there isn’t much out there, DECwindows does come with a simple slide puzzle game, but there are plenty of ports out on the internet, like LinCity and even Wolfenstein 3D. Even VMS Mosaic which is a 90s port of the Mosaic web browser. Software can be tricky to run if you don’t have the right combination of versions. I run VMS 5.5-2H4 on my VAXstation and haven't been able to get these programs to run, much less compile. Yes, in some cases you need to compile the software first. VMS is by no means convenient and it didn’t have to be since it was meant to be used in a managed environment.
The system is built exceedingly well, a prime example to DEC’s engineering and commitment to quality. The performance however isn’t as on par as some systems of the era, especially when the SGI Indigo came into the workstation market. Then again, based on the majority of software offerings that are mentioned in my various books from Digital this isn’t a big deal. Hardware compatibility can be a nightmare though, but this is more due to the times than any fault of the VAXstation. Not all 50-pin SCSI CD drives work on the system. A plus though is that the VAXstation has Ethernet built right in, either by thinwire or AUI and if you get a AUI to RJ45 transceiver you can hook it up to modern networks with no issue.
If you’re interested in a VAXstation 3100 here’s a few things you should know. To use it you can either hook up a VT terminal up or use a monitor. Personally, I like having some graphics. This can be tricky though as the VAXstation outputs sync-on-green, which means no ordinary monitor will work. I use an Extron SCS 300 that I got off eBay to accomplish this. I have some faint video ghosting in my case, but it might be due to the widescreen monitor scaling, since the VAX outputs an almost square 1024x864 picture. Disk wise, I have a 1GB hard drive, but I’d recommend getting a SCSI2SD and I plan on getting on myself. Be advised though, due to a firmware limitation you can only have hard drives that a 1GB in size in the system. VMS can read huge disks, but the VAXstation can only address up to 1GB and any higher it will begin overwriting your files! Also on the subject of disks, make sure to find a compatible CD drive, like my Toshiba XM-5401B, to install VMS or any layered products (unless you use network booting which the VAX is capable of). You can use CD-Rs, but make sure you’re running at least VMS 6.1 or 7.3 which has the ability to read modern CD formatting.
To wrap up, the VAX is a unique and uncommon workstation from an obscure, but highly influential computing company. It’s a highly technical system to use, like most enterprise workstations, so expect some work to figure things out. The manuals are online, and I’d recommend downloading the Model 38 user manual which is super detailed, so not a lot of shooting in the dark. Prices are typical eBay prices just like most systems. I can certainly recommend this to any computer collector, but make sure to do your research when you start buying parts and accessories. Despite it’s trickiness the VAXstation is by far my favorite system from Digital, so If you want more uncommons in your collection, get a VAXstation 3100!
08. Nov 2015
A flawed, but unique game.
1 von 1 finden das hilfreich Defcon 5 is a flawed game. It's rather poor as a Doom clone, since moving around is VERY annoying; you bump into objects way too easily, making that aspect of the game a loathsome experience. It's even worse when you're in small spaces or moving at an angle! Add the inevitability of getting shot at by enemies and the frustration is magnified. However, the game makes ammo limited and killing enemies causes the room to become toxic, so it doesn't exactly encourage you to go guns blazing. What you can do is shut doors in the maze like world of the game, trapping said enemies. You can also deploy security droids to do the killing for you (but make the room toxic), so there are options besides the obvious.
There isn't much of a story, but the premise and ideas are intriguing to me. This brings me to the VOS terminals that are in the game. VOS is a computer that runs the mining base you're sent to, you access it at certain terminals in the world and is by far the main attraction in the game. It does quite a lot such as shut doors, adjust defense options, check base stats, deploy security droids, and more. It's what originally attracted me to this otherwise lackluster game and actually made me a bit of a fan of the game, since it brings a totally different style of game play that you didn't see much in this video game era or even today (maybe more so today). It's fairly deep and can be rewarding, but you need to go on an Easter egg hunt to search for extra pieces software that expand it's capabilities. They don't change positions if you start a new game, so once you find them, you can grab em and go. This makes them ultimately redundant and unnecessary as a game play aspect, but they're still important for you to get.
The base in this game is huge and is easy to get lost in for two reasons. One, the map can only be accessed in the VOS. Two, the textures are very bland. While the textures add to the atmosphere, they could have added more signs! Wouldn't a base like this, if it existed in reality, have more direction signs? Of course it would! It would have added the requirement for more disc space, but I know for a fact that the ripped ISO of the game only comes up to around 200MB, so the game's disc has plenty of space for more textures. Not having access to a map isn't much of an issue in my opinion since that could have added to the realism that the game was going for if there were more direction signs.
The game has flaws no doubt and I'd say it's not as bad as others might say it is. I got mine on the Sega Saturn for $24 in a factory sealed state. I'd say as long as you don't pay more than that for it, it's worth it for the different game play and unique elements. Based on the game play, it could use a more modern rendition as well, since I find the game play so compelling. 4 out of 5: a flawed, but unique game.
05. Mär 2017
Digital’s 90s Workstation
The VAXstation 3100 is a VAX based workstation from Ken Olsen's Digital Equipment Corporation (aka DEC or Digital) that was first announced in 1989. It's by no means a graphics or processing powerhouse, but it's a dependable and fun machine if you are in to collecting old computers. It can do monochrome graphics right or color with a co-processor card (the VS40X) that's nearly as big as the motherboard. You can either run UNIX or VMS, but in my case I prefer to run the operating system that was designed for VAXes, VMS. VMS was a DEC operating system that was tandem designed with the VAX architecture, which is prime example of a CISC architecture with close to 200 instructions. It's by no means a common operating system, it was marketed as an enterprise solution for workstations, servers, and mainframes from DEC. While VMS is primarily a command line OS, it does have DECwindows which is a graphical user interface that sits atop it. Historically VMS has always been used via text terminals, and that is still evident even with DECwindows, as the one program I use most of all is the terminal emulator program DECterm since many programs don’t have GUIs. That’s no problem at all since the commands are very similar to Microsoft’s DOS and there’s a built in help system.
3rd party software is mainly focused in science, engineering and mathematics not so much graphics, although graphics software was available. Software from Digital was mostly to support VMS/VAX systems or businesses. Just to name a few as examples like: DECtrace for collecting event-based data from other VMS products, DATATRIEVE for database queries and reports, DECset for program development and VAX SPM for system performance recording. As for games, there isn’t much out there, DECwindows does come with a simple slide puzzle game, but there are plenty of ports out on the internet, like LinCity and even Wolfenstein 3D. Even VMS Mosaic which is a 90s port of the Mosaic web browser. Software can be tricky to run if you don’t have the right combination of versions. I run VMS 5.5-2H4 on my VAXstation and haven't been able to get these programs to run, much less compile. Yes, in some cases you need to compile the software first. VMS is by no means convenient and it didn’t have to be since it was meant to be used in a managed environment.
The system is built exceedingly well, a prime example to DEC’s engineering and commitment to quality. The performance however isn’t as on par as some systems of the era, especially when the SGI Indigo came into the workstation market. Then again, based on the majority of software offerings that are mentioned in my various books from Digital this isn’t a big deal. Hardware compatibility can be a nightmare though, but this is more due to the times than any fault of the VAXstation. Not all 50-pin SCSI CD drives work on the system. A plus though is that the VAXstation has Ethernet built right in, either by thinwire or AUI and if you get a AUI to RJ45 transceiver you can hook it up to modern networks with no issue.
If you’re interested in a VAXstation 3100 here’s a few things you should know. To use it you can either hook up a VT terminal up or use a monitor. Personally, I like having some graphics. This can be tricky though as the VAXstation outputs sync-on-green, which means no ordinary monitor will work. I use an Extron SCS 300 that I got off eBay to accomplish this. I have some faint video ghosting in my case, but it might be due to the widescreen monitor scaling, since the VAX outputs an almost square 1024x864 picture. Disk wise, I have a 1GB hard drive, but I’d recommend getting a SCSI2SD and I plan on getting on myself. Be advised though, due to a firmware limitation you can only have hard drives that a 1GB in size in the system. VMS can read huge disks, but the VAXstation can only address up to 1GB and any higher it will begin overwriting your files! Also on the subject of disks, make sure to find a compatible CD drive, like my Toshiba XM-5401B, to install VMS or any layered products (unless you use network booting which the VAX is capable of). You can use CD-Rs, but make sure you’re running at least VMS 6.1 or 7.3 which has the ability to read modern CD formatting.
To wrap up, the VAX is a unique and uncommon workstation from an obscure, but highly influential computing company. It’s a highly technical system to use, like most enterprise workstations, so expect some work to figure things out. The manuals are online, and I’d recommend downloading the Model 38 user manual which is super detailed, so not a lot of shooting in the dark. Prices are typical eBay prices just like most systems. I can certainly recommend this to any computer collector, but make sure to do your research when you start buying parts and accessories. Despite it’s trickiness the VAXstation is by far my favorite system from Digital, so If you want more uncommons in your collection, get a VAXstation 3100!