Old PCs and Parts

This MAY belong in Fun and Games. Please deliver me from the wrath of the Mods if I've placed it in the wrong spot.

I've been on an admittedly weird kick of wanting to pick up copies of old games I played as a teen in MS-DOS or Windows 3.1/95. Unfortunately, while emulation in things like DOSBox is solid, part of me really wants to build a dual-boot system with DOS and 95 on the old, native hardware (I'm thinking an original Pentium system with a Soundblaster 16 and 16 megs of ram - so robust, right!?).

Question is, where I CAN find these systems, it's usually old Gateways being sold as "vintage" kit for stupid prices on eBay. I've posted an ISO ad on my local Craigslist, but does anyone have any ideas as to where I might be able to track down one of these aged and noble machines?

I have a couple of old systems that run DOS/3.1 & 95. I generally see them on the super cheap at second hand shops & thrift stores locally. I think I found one of mine at a garage sale, which are gold mines for such things. I bought an old working Tandy 1000 setup with about 70 disks including games for $25 at one last year.

Phew... That's a really nice find. I am genuinely jealous.

Sadly, with the winter months upon us, I'll have to keep combing the thrift stores in my area. I HAVE been having some decent luck finding old "big box" PC games there lately, so it's not a total wash.

Actually, a few weeks ago, I found the weirdest stuff - a Windows XP-era graphics card sealed in its box (with the board games, naturally) and a complete in box racing controller set (steering wheel w/ accelerator/brake pedal set). I was sorry that I had zero use for either because it was so wild just finding them there.

Runicen wrote:

Actually, a few weeks ago, I found the weirdest stuff - a Windows XP-era graphics card sealed in its box (with the board games, naturally) and a complete in box racing controller set (steering wheel w/ accelerator/brake pedal set).  I was sorry that I had zero use for either because it was so wild just finding them there.

If I see something like that for cheap, I'll generally buy it in case I might be able to use it later. My wife hates that I do that.

Haha. Yeah, that habit almost always gets odd looks from people who don't share it. I was lucky in that case to also be broke, so that saved my bacon something fierce. Once I get a build going, I probably won't be so restrained. Replacement parts (on the cheap) will be jealously hoarded.

This is something I've wanted to do as well (us 30-somethings and our DOS games). I've played them on emulators but it's not the same thing for whatever odd reason.

I'm half waiting to actually get my wish, put one of these systems together and have one of these two reactions (possibly both at once):

1.) Wow... There's a REASON I stopped using MS-DOS!
2.) Hmm... This looks, feels and sounds exactly like DOSBox.

I could be totally blown away by native hardware, but I am trying to curb my enthusiasm just a LITTLE in case it turns out to have been for something 100% redundant.

Funny thing, nostalgia. I fired up my copy of Normality from GOG and realized 3/4 of the way through the game that the voice acting in the GOG copy was all from the UK version and I'd played the US version as a kid. Fortunately, some kind soul on their forums issued a patch that changed the voice files, so I can go back and nerd out spectacularly. But it is weird the nagging sense of, "I'm pretty sure it wasn't like this before."

Runicen wrote:

Funny thing, nostalgia.  I fired up my copy of Normality from GOG and realized 3/4 of the way through the game that the voice acting in the GOG copy was all from the UK version and I'd played the US version as a kid.  Fortunately, some kind soul on their forums issued a patch that changed the voice files, so I can go back and nerd out spectacularly.  But it is weird the nagging sense of, "I'm pretty sure it wasn't like this before."

If one tiny little thing is off even the slightest, it sticks out like a sore thumb. If you're anything like me, it will drive you nuts until you get it exactly how you remembered it.

I picked up one of those Retron3 systems a year or so ago, hoping it would eliminate the need for an NES, SNES and Genesis. I returned it after trying to play Mario 1 and hearing this sound from collecting coins that was the wrong pitch. I felt like an idiot, but it drove me up a wall.

So yeah, I can relate a little..