[SOLVED] Help Identifying a Packard Bell

Jul 6, 2019
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I recently picked a Packard Bell for free at a nearby computer store, I have searched the model number (PB400T) and for the life of me, I can not find it though there is a similar one for sale on ebay. (search Packard bell legend 1155) Also at http://pbplanet.info/wiki/index.php/Early_Mini-Tower is says that it was their first mini-tower
This computer is working perfectly and running Windows 3.1 (it’s in almost perfect cosmetic shape too)
 
Solution
Packard Bell (affectionately referred to as Packard Hell) was know for making some low quality systems.
To be fair, they developed this reputation in the early 486 era when they bought the cheapest boards on the market at the time, some of which were equipped with the infamous fake cache chips (hey, SRAM was expensive back then and they didn't actually claim to have any L2 cache. The problem was the fake chips meant there were no sockets to add any actual cache later).

By the time the Pentium arrived, almost all of their motherboards were manufactured by Intel who made the most reliable boards in the world then. Notably, Intel used fewer short-lived electrolytic caps and more ceramic ones than anyone else. giving their boards...
I recently picked a Packard Bell for free at a nearby computer store, I have searched the model number (PB400T) and for the life of me, I can not find it though there is a similar one for sale on ebay. (search Packard bell legend 1155) Also at http://pbplanet.info/wiki/index.php/Early_Mini-Tower is says that it was their first mini-tower
This computer is working perfectly and running Windows 3.1 (it’s in almost perfect cosmetic shape too)

If the system came with Windows 3.1 it was before everything was put on the internet, the only records of your model may be in some old box filled with papers in a storage unit in a small town outside of Tolledo.
 
Jul 6, 2019
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When I came to work at a Plant full time in 1998 the computers were running windows 3.1, some were running NT. What are your plans for it? I see people on YouTube restoring computers from the 1970's-80s' for museum pieces.
@lynx1021 I don’t really know what to do with it. I don’t know if it is rare or not... what do you think I should do with it?
 
There have some people that have taken the old cases a built a new computer inside to make a conversation piece, saying Look what this old computer can do, LOL! Actually I need to clean out some of my stuff, I have an old AMD socket 7 machine from about 2003 and some AGP video cards upstairs that I need to get rid of. You can probably play solitaire on your PB.
 
Jul 6, 2019
8
0
10
There have some people that have taken the old cases a built a new computer inside to make a conversation piece, saying Look what this old computer can do, LOL! Actually I need to clean out some of my stuff, I have an old AMD socket 7 machine from about 2003 and some AGP video cards upstairs that I need to get rid of. You can probably play solitaire on your PB.
Yes I have seen some pretty impressive “sleeper” PCs and I have also played solitaire!
 
Packard Bell (affectionately referred to as Packard Hell) was know for making some low quality systems.
To be fair, they developed this reputation in the early 486 era when they bought the cheapest boards on the market at the time, some of which were equipped with the infamous fake cache chips (hey, SRAM was expensive back then and they didn't actually claim to have any L2 cache. The problem was the fake chips meant there were no sockets to add any actual cache later).

By the time the Pentium arrived, almost all of their motherboards were manufactured by Intel who made the most reliable boards in the world then. Notably, Intel used fewer short-lived electrolytic caps and more ceramic ones than anyone else. giving their boards an almost military-spec appearance. Intel of course was known for odd things like 8MB of memory soldered to the board and strange form-factors like OP's LPX and BTX, but they did also develop the standard ATX as well back in 1995.

Back then, ATX was weird too because IBM's AT form-factor had been the standard for a long time.
 
Solution