Why no more parallel ports on Dell desktops?

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

I'm with you on the IBM model M keyboard, clickety-click. There are PS/2-USB
adapters, for the time when a new motherboard lacks a PS/2 keyboard port and you
want to continue using the model M, of course... Ben Myers

On Wed, 21 Sep 2005 01:39:41 GMT, "William R. Walsh"
<newsgroups1@saveyourspam.walshcomptech.com> wrote:

>Hi!
>
>> You would eschew an otherwise capable and desirable computer merely
>because
>> it doesn't accomodate your printer through the parallel port?
>
>If it hasn't got legacy ports, then it is not capable or desirable in my
>eyes.
>
>They can have my IBM Model M keyboard when they pry it from my cold dead
>fingers.
>
>William
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Hi!

> XP lists the "IBM Personal Pageprinter" but there's no way in hell that
one
> of these would actually work under XP - it used a MicroChannel interface
> card for it's engine that only ever worked under DOS/Win3.1 or OS/2.

That's not correct. The higher up models (4216-031, 030) had their own
standard parallel, serial and even Apple ports on them. There was no card
required with those.

I ran my Personal PagePrinter under Windows 2000 SP4 nicely for quite some
time...with an HP Vectra VL6/233 Pentium II computer.

William

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"William R. Walsh" <newsgroups1@saveyourspam.walshcomptech.com> wrote in
news:AZ2Ye.355781$_o.87759@attbi_s71:

> Hi!
>
>> XP lists the "IBM Personal Pageprinter" but there's no way in hell
>> that one of these would actually work under XP - it used a MicroChannel
>> interface card for it's engine that only ever worked under DOS/Win3.1
>> or OS/2.
>
> That's not correct. The higher up models (4216-031, 030) had their own
> standard parallel, serial and even Apple ports on them. There was no
> card required with those.
>
> I ran my Personal PagePrinter under Windows 2000 SP4 nicely for quite
> some time...with an HP Vectra VL6/233 Pentium II computer.
>
> William
>
>
>

I stand corrected. I've owned several IBM Personal Pageprinters (4216-020,
IIRC) and they all needed the MCA card.

It was a helluva printer in it's day, the forerunner of the venerable IBM-
Lexmark 4019/4029/4039 series. It used a Ricoh laser engine as I recall.
And the only thing that could even come close to it's speed and quality at
the time was a Canon CX engine coupled with an Adobe "Redstone" board. (As
packaged by QMS).

- FM -

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

No, no, no! If you have not experienced the sheer delight of tapping on an IBM
Model M keyboard, you have not lived! They are simply too well made for anyone,
even the folks out there on the Pacific Rim or those low paid types in Outer
Mongolia, to manufacture them any more.

Way back when, maybe in the 486 or early Pentium days, Dell had a deal with
Lexmark for Model M keyboards with the Dell logo on them. I have one of them
here, too... Ben Myers

On Tue, 20 Sep 2005 22:57:44 -0400, "Ted Zieglar" <teddyz@notmail.com> wrote:

>You need to get out more.
>
>Ted Zieglar
>
>"William R. Walsh" <newsgroups1@saveyourspam.walshcomptech.com> wrote in =
>message news:xR2Ye.354244$x96.259511@attbi_s72...
>> Hi!
>>=20
>>> You would eschew an otherwise capable and desirable computer merely
>> because
>>> it doesn't accomodate your printer through the parallel port?
>>=20
>> If it hasn't got legacy ports, then it is not capable or desirable in =
>my
>> eyes.
>>=20
>> They can have my IBM Model M keyboard when they pry it from my cold =
>dead
>> fingers.
>>=20
>> William
>>=20
>>

 

[bill]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

On Wed, 21 Sep 2005 01:41:07 GMT, "William R. Walsh"
<newsgroups1@saveyourspam.walshcomptech.com> wrote:

[. . .]

>I think that is very well said, especially the bits about DRM in hardware.
>
>Every computer I own is going to run until it will run no more...anything
>else would be wasteful.
>
>William
>


Have you tried getting a 9 in TV and set it on a shelf right above an
IBM selectric?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

I do remember IBM keyboards. I also remember Fizzie's tablets and Tinker
Toys, all of which I enjoyed in their time but not enough to have someone
"pry it from my cold dead fingers." I'm not stuck in the past.

--
Ted Zieglar
"You can do it if you try."

<ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers)> wrote in message
news:4330cc34.33916056@nntp.charter.net...
> No, no, no! If you have not experienced the sheer delight of tapping on
an IBM
> Model M keyboard, you have not lived! They are simply too well made for
anyone,
> even the folks out there on the Pacific Rim or those low paid types in
Outer
> Mongolia, to manufacture them any more.
>
> Way back when, maybe in the 486 or early Pentium days, Dell had a deal
with
> Lexmark for Model M keyboards with the Dell logo on them. I have one of
them
> here, too... Ben Myers
>
> On Tue, 20 Sep 2005 22:57:44 -0400, "Ted Zieglar" <teddyz@notmail.com>
wrote:
>
> >You need to get out more.
> >
> >Ted Zieglar
> >
> >"William R. Walsh" <newsgroups1@saveyourspam.walshcomptech.com> wrote in
=
> >message news:xR2Ye.354244$x96.259511@attbi_s72...
> >> Hi!
> >>=20
> >>> You would eschew an otherwise capable and desirable computer merely
> >> because
> >>> it doesn't accomodate your printer through the parallel port?
> >>=20
> >> If it hasn't got legacy ports, then it is not capable or desirable in =
> >my
> >> eyes.
> >>=20
> >> They can have my IBM Model M keyboard when they pry it from my cold =
> >dead
> >> fingers.
> >>=20
> >> William
> >>=20
> >>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Then you didn't truly appreciate IBM's keyboards. Nothing has even been
like them. Amazing.


"Ted Zieglar" <teddyz@notmail.com> wrote in message
news:GhdYe.1811$BE1.633987@news.sisna.com...
>I do remember IBM keyboards. I also remember Fizzie's tablets and Tinker
> Toys, all of which I enjoyed in their time but not enough to have someone
> "pry it from my cold dead fingers." I'm not stuck in the past.
>
> --
> Ted Zieglar
> "You can do it if you try."
>
> <ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers)> wrote in message
> news:4330cc34.33916056@nntp.charter.net...
>> No, no, no! If you have not experienced the sheer delight of tapping on
> an IBM
>> Model M keyboard, you have not lived! They are simply too well made for
> anyone,
>> even the folks out there on the Pacific Rim or those low paid types in
> Outer
>> Mongolia, to manufacture them any more.
>>
>> Way back when, maybe in the 486 or early Pentium days, Dell had a deal
> with
>> Lexmark for Model M keyboards with the Dell logo on them. I have one of
> them
>> here, too... Ben Myers
>>
>> On Tue, 20 Sep 2005 22:57:44 -0400, "Ted Zieglar" <teddyz@notmail.com>
> wrote:
>>
>> >You need to get out more.
>> >
>> >Ted Zieglar
>> >
>> >"William R. Walsh" <newsgroups1@saveyourspam.walshcomptech.com> wrote in
> =
>> >message news:xR2Ye.354244$x96.259511@attbi_s72...
>> >> Hi!
>> >>=20
>> >>> You would eschew an otherwise capable and desirable computer merely
>> >> because
>> >>> it doesn't accomodate your printer through the parallel port?
>> >>=20
>> >> If it hasn't got legacy ports, then it is not capable or desirable in
>> >> =
>> >my
>> >> eyes.
>> >>=20
>> >> They can have my IBM Model M keyboard when they pry it from my cold =
>> >dead
>> >> fingers.
>> >>=20
>> >> William
>> >>=20
>> >>
>>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

lol...I concede! (But I'm still not stuck in the past ;->)

--
Ted Zieglar
"You can do it if you try."

"Tom Scales" <tomtoo@softhome.net> wrote in message
news:RNgYe.102828$p_1.82782@tornado.tampabay.rr.com...
> Then you didn't truly appreciate IBM's keyboards. Nothing has even been
> like them. Amazing.
>
>
> "Ted Zieglar" <teddyz@notmail.com> wrote in message
> news:GhdYe.1811$BE1.633987@news.sisna.com...
> >I do remember IBM keyboards. I also remember Fizzie's tablets and Tinker
> > Toys, all of which I enjoyed in their time but not enough to have
someone
> > "pry it from my cold dead fingers." I'm not stuck in the past.
> >
> > --
> > Ted Zieglar
> > "You can do it if you try."
> >
> > <ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers)> wrote in message
> > news:4330cc34.33916056@nntp.charter.net...
> >> No, no, no! If you have not experienced the sheer delight of tapping
on
> > an IBM
> >> Model M keyboard, you have not lived! They are simply too well made
for
> > anyone,
> >> even the folks out there on the Pacific Rim or those low paid types in
> > Outer
> >> Mongolia, to manufacture them any more.
> >>
> >> Way back when, maybe in the 486 or early Pentium days, Dell had a deal
> > with
> >> Lexmark for Model M keyboards with the Dell logo on them. I have one
of
> > them
> >> here, too... Ben Myers
> >>
> >> On Tue, 20 Sep 2005 22:57:44 -0400, "Ted Zieglar" <teddyz@notmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >>
> >> >You need to get out more.
> >> >
> >> >Ted Zieglar
> >> >
> >> >"William R. Walsh" <newsgroups1@saveyourspam.walshcomptech.com> wrote
in
> > =
> >> >message news:xR2Ye.354244$x96.259511@attbi_s72...
> >> >> Hi!
> >> >>=20
> >> >>> You would eschew an otherwise capable and desirable computer merely
> >> >> because
> >> >>> it doesn't accomodate your printer through the parallel port?
> >> >>=20
> >> >> If it hasn't got legacy ports, then it is not capable or desirable
in
> >> >> =
> >> >my
> >> >> eyes.
> >> >>=20
> >> >> They can have my IBM Model M keyboard when they pry it from my cold
=
> >> >dead
> >> >> fingers.
> >> >>=20
> >> >> William
> >> >>=20
> >> >>
> >>
> >
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Hi!

> I'm with you on the IBM model M keyboard, clickety-click. There are
PS/2-USB
> adapters, for the time when a new motherboard lacks a PS/2 keyboard port
and you
> want to continue using the model M, of course... Ben Myers

Gotta love those keyboards...nothing else quite compares. (And if you really
want...you can buy them new...but I have box after box should one ever
break. As if. 🙂 ) They feel good, sound great and if one ever gets
dirty--a 7/32 nut driver (with some kind of special sizing to fit the
plastic holes) will open 'em up. Set the electronics aside, pop the keys off
and throw 'em in the dishwasher with the case. Voila! Brand new keyboard!

I have had some strange behavior from USB > PS/2 adapters. Quite honestly I
would have to say that I vastly prefer just having the right ports on the
system to begin with.

William

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"William R. Walsh" <newgroups1@nojunquemail.walshcomptech.com> wrote in
news😀jlYe.355775$x96.63408@attbi_s72:

> Gotta love those keyboards...nothing else quite compares. (And if you
> really want...you can buy them new...but I have box after box should
> one ever break. As if. 🙂 )

I gues I'mm the odd one out. My favorite keyboard is the Hewlett-Packard
#C3758 that came with certain (pre-Compaq) Vectras and HP9000s. Every bit
as rugged as the model M and quieter.

As for DELL, Some of the early "QuietKey" models weren't so bad (But a
distant second to the HP). Vastly superior to what they have today.


- FM -

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Hi!

> You need to get out more.

Oh, maybe. 🙂

Nothing else quite compares to the IBM Model M. Try one and you'll see what
I mean.

They aren't everyone's favorite, I'll grant you that much. However, they
are:

1. Almost impossible to break
2. Solid and very reliable
3. Easily cleaned (7/32 deep socket nut driver, four nuts, two case halves,
keycaps, set the electronics aside and wash the rest...how many other
keyboards can you name that may be cleaned that easily?)

I also like the tactile feedback.

William

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Hi!

> I stand corrected. I've owned several IBM Personal Pageprinters (4216-020,
> IIRC) and they all needed the MCA card.

Yeah, I think the 020s are much more common.

> It was a helluva printer in it's day, the forerunner of the venerable IBM-
> Lexmark 4019/4029/4039 series. It used a Ricoh laser engine as I recall.

Absolutely right on the engine.

I was working at a grocery store that had an HP LaserJet 6-something just up
and die one day. IIRC the fuser burned out. In a pinch I brought my 4216-031
up there and put it into LaserJet emulation mode. The printer was used to
print video rental tickets...a job it did more reliably than the HP unit
ever managed.

Once I got it back home I continued to use the 4216 until a bad basement
flood ruined it. Someday I would certainly like to find another one.
Printing with it was especially cheap--I had box after box of toner
(original IBM brand, no less!) and at least two spare drums...all obtained
for about $20 at an auction.

William

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Hi!

> lol...I concede! (But I'm still not stuck in the past ;->)

🙂

Those IBM keyboards are good enough that I sold two whole boxes to a
gentleman in Japan. I seem to remember that each box had 40 pounds worth of
keyboards inside...

Shipping was well over the $100 mark and the guy didn't even flinch at
paying that.

I'm not quite *that* crazy about 'em though...

William

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

I'm not stuck in the past, either. But if you touch type, there is nothing like
it, except an IBM Selectric, which is REALLY in the past, and which was the
design model for the IBM clickety-click Model M and the similar keyboards used
on IBM 3270 terminals... Ben Myers

On Wed, 21 Sep 2005 09:32:58 -0400, "Ted Zieglar" <teddyz@notmail.com> wrote:

>I do remember IBM keyboards. I also remember Fizzie's tablets and Tinker
>Toys, all of which I enjoyed in their time but not enough to have someone
>"pry it from my cold dead fingers." I'm not stuck in the past.
>
>--
>Ted Zieglar
>"You can do it if you try."
>
><ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers)> wrote in message
>news:4330cc34.33916056@nntp.charter.net...
>> No, no, no! If you have not experienced the sheer delight of tapping on
>an IBM
>> Model M keyboard, you have not lived! They are simply too well made for
>anyone,
>> even the folks out there on the Pacific Rim or those low paid types in
>Outer
>> Mongolia, to manufacture them any more.
>>
>> Way back when, maybe in the 486 or early Pentium days, Dell had a deal
>with
>> Lexmark for Model M keyboards with the Dell logo on them. I have one of
>them
>> here, too... Ben Myers
>>
>> On Tue, 20 Sep 2005 22:57:44 -0400, "Ted Zieglar" <teddyz@notmail.com>
>wrote:
>>
>> >You need to get out more.
>> >
>> >Ted Zieglar
>> >
>> >"William R. Walsh" <newsgroups1@saveyourspam.walshcomptech.com> wrote in
>=
>> >message news:xR2Ye.354244$x96.259511@attbi_s72...
>> >> Hi!
>> >>=20
>> >>> You would eschew an otherwise capable and desirable computer merely
>> >> because
>> >>> it doesn't accomodate your printer through the parallel port?
>> >>=20
>> >> If it hasn't got legacy ports, then it is not capable or desirable in =
>> >my
>> >> eyes.
>> >>=20
>> >> They can have my IBM Model M keyboard when they pry it from my cold =
>> >dead
>> >> fingers.
>> >>=20
>> >> William
>> >>=20
>> >>
>>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Hmm! Maybe I better throw some in the dishwasher, too. I have several cartons
of them, and they usually get cleaned and tested one at a time, for the people
who appreciate a good keyboard. I've got my wife and two sons hooked on them,
too... Ben Myers

On Wed, 21 Sep 2005 22:49:31 GMT, "William R. Walsh"
<newgroups1@nojunquemail.walshcomptech.com> wrote:

>Hi!
>
>> lol...I concede! (But I'm still not stuck in the past ;->)
>
>🙂
>
>Those IBM keyboards are good enough that I sold two whole boxes to a
>gentleman in Japan. I seem to remember that each box had 40 pounds worth of
>keyboards inside...
>
>Shipping was well over the $100 mark and the guy didn't even flinch at
>paying that.
>
>I'm not quite *that* crazy about 'em though...
>
>William
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Ted Zieglar wrote:

> I do remember IBM keyboards. I also remember Fizzie's tablets and Tinker
> Toys, all of which I enjoyed in their time but not enough to have someone
> "pry it from my cold dead fingers." I'm not stuck in the past.

IBM keyboards have always been well regardrd (probably due to IBM's
former Typewriter Division), but the Northgate (?) keyboards had a very
good rep in the early 90's as well.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Hi!

> I gues I'mm the odd one out. My favorite keyboard is the Hewlett-Packard
> #C3758 that came with certain (pre-Compaq) Vectras and HP9000s. Every bit
> as rugged as the model M and quieter.

I like those as well...they would easily be a second place choice. If for
some reason an "M" isn't available or practical, these are nice. I have ones
with and without Windows keys onboard. Some also have a "powering on
computer" picture on the spacebar, but this only works on certain HP Vectra
desktops FAIK. Some I got used and a few I bought new in the box.

Those HP keyboards were made by Key Tronic the last I knew.

> As for DELL, Some of the early "QuietKey" models weren't so bad (But a
> distant second to the HP). Vastly superior to what they have today.

Probably a third place choice for me. These were a decent 'board, but I had
a lot of them develop funny behavior...desire to ignore keys, type the wrong
letters or do other strange stuff.

William

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Hi!

> Hmm! Maybe I better throw some in the dishwasher, too.

The technique works impressively well.

However...one important note of caution! If you find a grey IBM Model M
keyboard, ***keep it away from excessive heat***...these things will melt
very easily. Even direct sunlight on an otherwise cool day will do these in.
Use extreme caution in a dishwasher.

I think the grey ones shipped with the PS/2 industrial line machines...but
they also go well with other grey machines like the PC Server 5x0/7x0
series.

William