61
votes
Accepted
Why did trackballs disappear?
Why did trackballs disappear?
To start with, they didn't. They are still around and can be bought in many variations. For example, Kensington sells six kinds of trackball, and Logitech sells three.
...
- 199k
32
votes
Why did trackballs disappear?
Trackballs are Alive and Well
I have a Logitech M570 for my desktop computer. I have another one for my laptop. I got another one for my daughter. Every few years they break and I replace them.
I find ...
18
votes
Did any laptop computers have a built-in 5¼-inch floppy drive?
The closest thing to a modern laptop that I'm aware of featuring an internal 5 1/4 drive is the Findex of 1979 which had a fairly complete (optionally battery-powered) CP/M computer including a hard-...
- 30.7k
17
votes
Did any laptop computers have a built-in 5¼-inch floppy drive?
If the definition sought after is very strictly speaking "integrated 5.25 inch floppy" and "battery powered", then I would like to enter the Kaypro II from August 1982:
Which is a ...
- 1,556
17
votes
Accepted
Did any laptop computers have a built-in 5¼-inch floppy drive?
As so often this depends on your definition of laptop - which is not an exact one either. There where many level of size and weight between a bulky schleppable like a Compaq Portable and a notebook ...
- 199k
15
votes
Why would a laptop freeze randomly after running fine for a while?
Unfortunately, the reason for random freezes can be hard to identify as a lot of different failure modes can lead to this outcome.
Try to get hold of a bootable burn-in test program that works with a ...
- 4,466
10
votes
Why did trackballs disappear?
Dirt is another issue.
In a mouse, the hole where the ball is exposed is pointed down and stuff naturally falls out. On a trackball it naturally falls in. Goop, especially skin oils, gets stuck to ...
- 18.5k
10
votes
Accepted
What is this port?
That would be USB, Audio out, Microphone in, FireWire. And PCMCIA slot above the two connectors.
And there is a connector for a docking station at the bottom.
- 25.4k
8
votes
Why did trackballs disappear?
As other have noted trackballs aren't dead ("disappeared").
But compared to other input methods trackballs are indeed much less popular or widespread as they once were.
Cost, scale, competing ...
- 1,556
7
votes
Accepted
Bad floppy drive in T1910CS 486 laptop
As far as I know this laptop can’t easily be connected to a network, which leaves three options for getting software onto it:
transfer over the serial or parallel ports, using an appropriate cable ...
- 113k
7
votes
Why did trackballs disappear?
Gaming
I can't play FPS or flight simulators with a trackball because I cannot intuitively self-center them. The only games they're good for are bowling and Missile Command - because those are played ...
- 422
7
votes
Using generic SMPS adaptor on old IBM Thinkpad makes strange symptoms
I think you have a fake or mislabelled adapter.
These symptoms seem to me to be those of a cheap adapter that's browning out when it's trying to supply the current the laptop wants at the voltage it ...
- 71
6
votes
Bad floppy drive in T1910CS 486 laptop
Use the following manual for disassembly: http://www.minuszerodegrees.net/manuals/Toshiba/Other/Toshiba%20T1950%20T1950CS%20T1950CT%20-%20Maintenance%20Manual.pdf
You have to unscrew about 30 screws. ...
- 101
5
votes
Did any laptop computers have a built-in 5¼-inch floppy drive?
Nobody has mentioned the Xerox Notetaker yet, which I'd think has to be the earliest portable machine that's both battery powered and containing a 5.25" floppy drive.
However, at a bone crunching ...
- 1,519
5
votes
Accepted
Using generic SMPS adaptor on old IBM Thinkpad makes strange symptoms
I would say that it is more likely that the laptop was shelved because it's internal power circuit is at least partially shorted. This would explain the symptoms observed from the power supply LED. ...
- 917
5
votes
Accepted
The laptops in the Turkish movie Recep İvedik 3 (2009)
The laptop in clip 3 looks like a Commodore C286-LT, judging by the shape and placement of the hinge, the pattern on the top of the case, and the general fit of the look of everything with the laptop ...
- 908
5
votes
Need help restoring the OS of an "AST Premium Exec 386SX/20" laptop
I have not been able to find any official settings for the hard disk
geometry that this laptop expects to see on the IDE hard drive.
A few days ago I acquired a Toshiba T1800 386SX laptop with the ...
- 6,485
4
votes
Where can I find a 26-pin flex flat cable for the floppy drive in a Toshiba T19x0 laptop?
Making your own cable is another option. Flexible blank PCBs such as this (Pyralux) or these (1-ply fiberglass) are available1; they can be etched using standard home etching techniques2. You could ...
- 9,240
4
votes
Can I change laptop's RTC and backup battery with generic Ni-MH?
These NiMH batteries usually have very simple charging circuitry and replacing them with generic 3 or 6 x 1.2V NiMH cells in series will almost certainly be fine. I remember there were even (3.6V) ...
- 1,475
4
votes
Why did trackballs disappear?
One disadvantage is that they are hard to use for users that prefer using a mouse at high acceleration and with the wrist resting - of course using it with a fingertip like a mouse wheel is possible, ...
- 5,550
3
votes
Why did trackballs disappear?
I'm using a trackball myself right now. I saw about 12 of them on sale at Best Buy last week. Three of my coworkers use them. I"m not sure where you get that they 'went away' but they haven't. I think ...
- 131
3
votes
Why did trackballs disappear?
As the other answer said, trackballs are live and well. I use a track ball on my PC as well as Mac. I found a fantastic brand whose trackball lets it connect with 2 different computers.
I will add ...
- 141
3
votes
Why did trackballs disappear?
My first engineering job was to create a drop-in trackpad replacement for PowerBook trackballs. We had potential customers with thousands of PowerBooks for sales, inventory, anything that would use an ...
- 31
3
votes
Did any laptop computers have a built-in 5¼-inch floppy drive?
I do not know what this is (have a identify question posted). But it might qualify.
- 281
3
votes
Did any laptop computers have a built-in 5¼-inch floppy drive?
Didn't see anyone mention the Commodore SX-64. Another one in the luggable category, of course. It was mass produced, and marketed towards executives.
- 31
3
votes
Why would installing Windows 9x on a Sager NP8200 or Wedge 466/DX2 laptop brick the system?
Educated guess: The Windows setup routines probed hardware for non-PnP devices. Perhaps there was a "killer poke" in the BIOS of these laptops that caused damage when the probe ran.
Perhaps ...
- 236
3
votes
Why would installing Windows 9x on a Sager NP8200 or Wedge 466/DX2 laptop brick the system?
I can only guess that it might be something like parts of the firmware being stored on the HDD that could get nuked by the Windows installer.
At least I have a Compaq DeskPro 486 that had a nice ...
- 207
3
votes
Where can I find a 26-pin flex flat cable for the floppy drive in a Toshiba T19x0 laptop?
Most laptops of that time period used a straight through flex cable with the same pitch connector on both ends, so yours is custom made for that series/model. While there may be other laptops that ...
- 917
3
votes
Where can I find a 26-pin flex flat cable for the floppy drive in a Toshiba T19x0 laptop?
I have one of these from an older Toshiba laptop - don't know if it will work or not. (Edit: Toshiba part number is p000214850 and I have two right now in my personal stock. It's a 1.25mm to 1.00mm ...
- 41
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible