Looking to get into a dos/win95 build

[NightHawkRMX]

Hi i am currently trying to find a Windows 95/dos pc to play old games on. I dont know what specs i want but was thinking a laptop may be the way to go to forgo monitors and perpherials. I really dont know where to begin so i came here for help. I am the type of person that has never touched a floppy disk, wondered what the floppy drive noise was when i booted my old pc, and is used to modern computing.

I will play games like jazz jackrabbit, sim city, commander keen, and lemmings occasionally. i more commonly will play some other games like doom, ultima 6, monkey island, space quest 3,and epic pinball. I will do some tinkering with dos.

I would like a adlib/sound blaster (maybe a modern remake) and a fast enough cpu to run it all. i was thinking a fast 486 or pentium. i would use whatever graphics it came with. I have experience assembling modern components so i feel i could upgrade/build an old pc with some time.

What computer specs do i need to run most of these games?
Do i want a prebuilt?
Would a laptop be considerable?
Should i use a lpt sound card on a laptop?
Where can get pheripherals if i got a desktop?
Could a use an old crt tv with composite only instead of a crt monitor?
Could i use an old 720p lcd as a video display?
Where can i find a pc like this for cheap as well as games for it?

if anyone has a pc like that for sale i will offer.

 

[panathas]

The easier way is to get an old laptop, otherwise it will be difficult to get all the components you want and avoid facing compatibility issues. Also since you'll be dealing with very old parts, there is a great chance that you'll run into partially defective parts. Check this very helpful video =>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2v7k-wAm2E . It will answer almost all of your questions.

As an alternative you can always play all those games on modern system using DOSBox. Finally you can buy a lot of those games at cheap prices at GOG.com (especially during sales) . Those games come integrated with DOSbox, are very easy to install and play and can run on all modern systems. Good luck.

 

[USAFRet]

A period specific laptop would probably be the easiest.

However...Commander Keen in a current i7, inside WIn 10:

Spoiler

Many things are available via Steam.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Thanks for your knowledge. I actually have seen that video and follow the 8bit guy. I think after concidering your points i will go with a laptop. where do you think i can find a good model cheap? i have looked on ebay but of the good models most are too expensive or not functional. I may explore dos box further untill i get actual hardware. I want to play the game on actual hardware as part of the charm.

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks for your knowledge. I actually have seen that video and follow the 8bit guy. I think after concidering your points i will go with a laptop. where do you think i can find a good model cheap? i have looked on ebay but of the good models most are too expensive or not functional. I may explore dos box further untill i get actual hardware. I want to play the game on actual hardware as part of the charm.

Finding a 15-20 year old laptop thats not all beat up is going to be tough.

Dying drive, bad touchpad, OS will need a full reinstall...

 

[NightHawkRMX]

https://m.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Compaq-LTE-5380-Laptop-Computer-Intel-Pentium-133MHz-32MB-RAM-No-HDD/132698354321?hash=item1ee5703291:g:tPgAAOSwRWRbRO9P:sc:FedExHomeDelivery!17225!US!-1 what about this? 133mhz pentium and 32mb ram. tft screen. not a lot of io. its got a (presumably 1.44 mb) floppy drive. decent conditon but no hdd or ac adapter. not bad price. this is a very simmilar model to the one shown in the 8 bit guys video. this has a different resolution screen tho.

 

[USAFRet]

https://m.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Compaq-LTE-5380-Laptop-Computer-Intel-Pentium-133MHz-32MB-RAM-No-HDD/132698354321?hash=item1ee5703291:g:tPgAAOSwRWRbRO9P:sc:FedExHomeDelivery!17225!US!-1 what about this? 133mhz pentium and 32mb ram. tft screen. not a lot of io. its got a (presumably 1.44 mb) floppy drive. decent conditon but no hdd or ac adapter. not bad price

It probably works. Probably.
But you have no way to test it before money changes hands.
And then you have to source a compatible HDD, and an OS.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

so what should i do then? i may just run dos box and not take the risk. The ebay dispute system favors the buyer from my personal experience so i may have a chance if it does not work

 

[USAFRet]

so what should i do then? i may just run dos box and not take the risk.

Unless you can find a local system you can actually test...anything from fleabay is a crapshoot.
Maybe something on craigslist, or possibly a local mom and pop PC shop.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Ok i will look around. the thrift store near me dont sell computers unfortunately tho. I will look on ebay and locally

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Whould this laptop work? it has a sound blaster compatable sound chip and svga mode. the screen resolution is a bit high and it comes with windows xp. i would put 98 on it and scale down the screen. it has a 750mhz celeron and decent size of ram. intagrated 8mb agp graphics chip. i know this is powerfull enough but is it too new? the price is right to me and i may offer a bit less. it comes with ram, a hdd with windows, and a ac adapter. the cd rom drive is broken and the battery is gone.https://m.ebay.com/itm/READ-VINTAGE-LAPTOP-IBM-THINKPAD-1161-i-SERIES-WORKING-GOOD-TESTED-RARE/332791929535?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D20180306143914%26meid%3Dc188dba48b024d9ebf7dc427925fdcae%26pid%3D100935%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D183420120486%26itm%3D332791929535&_trksid=p2056116.c100935.m2460

 

[USAFRet]

Whould this laptop work? it has a sound blaster compatable sound chip and svga mode. the screen resolution is a bit high and it comes with windows xp. i would put 98 on it and scale down the screen. it has a 750mhz celeron and decent size of ram. intagrated 8mb agp graphics chip. i know this is powerfull enough but is it too new? the price is right to me and i may offer a bit less. it comes with ram, a hdd with windows, and a ac adapter. the cd rom drive is broken and the battery is gone.https://m.ebay.com/itm/READ-VINTAGE-LAPTOP-IBM-THINKPAD-1161-i-SERIES-WORKING-GOOD-TESTED-RARE/332791929535?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D20180306143914%26meid%3Dc188dba48b024d9ebf7dc427925fdcae%26pid%3D100935%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D183420120486%26itm%3D332791929535&_trksid=p2056116.c100935.m2460

It appears it originally came with WinME, so it should run Win98.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Ok. where would i get a win 98 iso and license key legitamately. i really dont wanna pay a lot (preferably free if possible)

 

[USAFRet]

Ok. where would i get a win 98 iso and license key legitamately. i really dont wanna pay a lot (preferably free if possible)

HAHAHA. That's the hard part about this.
I actually have no idea.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

should i just find a pc with windows 98 already on it? i found windows 98 se for like $20-49 which i think is a bit expensive. i want to keep this project under $50

 

[NightHawkRMX]

I was thinking about this. it comes with everything. has floppy and cd. windows 98 pre installed with install disk. looks really nice. ill try to get them down on price. do you think thats the way to go? a Toshiba Satellite 315CDS. its really weak compared to the ibm tho.https://m.ebay.com/itm/Toshiba-Satellite-315CDS-Vintage-Laptop-Working-with-Windows-98-OEM-AC-Adapter/183433830911?hash=item2ab58221ff:g:Y44AAOSwWuNbVe9z

 

[USAFRet]

I was thinking about this. it comes with everything. has floppy and cd. windows 98 pre installed with install disk. looks really nice. ill try to get them down on price. do you think thats the way to go? a Toshiba Satellite 315CDS. its really weak compared to the ibm tho.

A laptop that comes with that OS may be the way to go.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

ok. i think thats the model i want. now i have to convince myself to spend the money and haggle the person on price lol.