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It's not often when you see a 26 years old laptop, still packed in original packaging, never used. Although the processor was a 386 SX/20, pretty fast for that time, it is limited by 1MB of stock RAM, which barely allows to run Windows 3.1. Another drawbacks - many problems can arise from being in storage that long (capacitor failures, CMOS battery, HDD never used), but since it is was not overly expensive, and I really wanted to know how it feels to open a package of never used vintage laptop, so I decided to take a plunge. About two weeks later I had a package delivered to my door.
First came the excitement - I carefully unwrapped everything from the package, including seperaely packed charger, cables, battery, user manuals, floppy disks with DOS 4.01 and finally, the laptop itself. Sure, it is a heavy for today's laptop standards, but it was a rather light portable in the days it was made - back in 1990.
P1000791.sized.jpg
Some time later, when I put in the battery and connected charger, I pressed or, rather pulled the power switch. Nothing happened - no lights, no indications, just nothing. Multimeter reading shows 0 volts from the charger - probably dead because of all those capacitors fitted there. 17,5V - 2,5 A, reverse polarity. A trip to a hardware store, the closest I could find was 18,5 -3,5A charger, so I took it. Connected it to the computer - the only sign of life was a green battery indicator. Tried to switch the laptop on and off several times - still nothing, except keyboard light blink, and screen backlight comes on for a short while when switching Off. With the feeling of nothing to loose, I proceded to open the laptop - fortunately everything is fairly easy there, axcept two screws which did not really wanted to come out. Anyway, that problem did not prevent me from finally opening it. Once about 10 screws are removed, it literally falls apart by itself, so all I had to do was disconnect display backlight cable and data cable, and the internal parts of the machine were revealed.
P1000778.sized.jpg
Another power supply, inside the machine, which supplies the motherboard. Capacitors, lot of them. At least not visibly leaking or bulged. ESR meter shows very inconsistent readings. Checking for power reveals - instead of 12v, the cooling fan has a power of only 1,2V when the power is on. Since I did not have spare capacitors, I assembled the machine back. Tried to switch the power on and off - the same, lights blink, but this time battery light was gone. Again, dissasembled the machine, checked connectors - fine, everything connected correctly. I believe the light itself might have died.
Later in the evening I sat at the laptop, still trying my luck with the power switch. Then I noticed, that sometimes the baclight would start to stay longer and brighter. This gave me a small hope this machine could be revived. About one hour later, and countless power on/power off cycles, the cooling fan started, and a machine made a beep. The screen was still black, but this was a progress anyway. A few times on/off again, and finally I saw a message I had been waiting for - CMOS settings not set. The laptop was finally alive! Now, I could finally tested the other devices:
Cmos battery - fine, settings configured from floppy and saved
Floppy drive - Ok, no problems there
HDD - working, format resulted in no problems
Screen - one of the best monochrome screens I have ever seen, hands down. Very sharp, very good contrast, black is really black not dark grey
Cooling fan - works, however, it generates a lot of "white noise", and it's nowhere near a silent machine. I wish Nec would opted for passive instead of active cooling.
P1000789.sized.jpg
Screen backlight - great, perfect readability even at lowest settings, very bright.
Keyboard - fine, good tactile feedback, still, I prefer mechanical keyboards, so it's hard to give an objective rating for it.
Lomg time was spent fiddling with CMOS settings for extended memory - laptop wanted me to think that it does not have more than
640K, which of course, would not allow me to install any version of Windows. Finally it was sorted out, and with extra 384K I was able to install Windows 3.1, which runs Word 1.1. with no problems. The machine now works, but it takes several on/off cycles in order to switch it on - will need to address this issue sooner or later.
A comparision. It would be very unfair not to compare this laptop with another one from the same era - Compaq SLT 386. The same processor, form factor, detachable keyboard, carrying handle in front - they were competitors at their time. The main difference - Compaq SLT has 4 MB of RAM, and feels much more solid than Nec ProsPeed. Sure, in order to properly use a Compaq SLT, a new backup battery has to be soldered to the infamous Dallas CMOS chip, but it can be done, and once you do it, the problem is gone for a long time. I believe Compaq has much less capacitors inside, which also results in less failing Compaq's than Nec ProsPeed. Compaq SLT uses passive cooling, the only noise is from spinning hard drive, which is a big plus, it is also more dust sealed because of the design.
P1000794.sized.jpgP1000795.sized.jpg
However, Nec has some advantages as well. The screen ins undeniably better on the Nec, especially when both computers are placed on one desk, side by side. Compaq SLT screen is not even close to the clarity and contrast of the NEC ProSpeed.
P1000796.sized.jpg
The idea of being able to store power adapter in place of battery is neat as well (however unusable for me, since the power brick is a real brick now ).
P1000793.sized.jpg
The keyboard is similar on both machines, with about the same tactile feedback, and PS/2 connector. However, Nec designers did better with the design - you have to lift up the keyboard to pull it out, when typing on a desk. It does not feels so firmly attached on a Compaq SLT.
The conclusion:
My answer to the question - should I choose a new Nec ProSpeed or a used Compaq SLT 386, well, it depends:
Get a new Nec ProSpeed if you:
Want experience of opening brand new package
Don't mind the quirkiness and possibility of replacing capacitors even before even using it, or some time later.
Are not afraid to open the laptop and look for problems yourself.
Get a used Compaq SLT if you:
Want a more reliable laptop (there are many still ticking)
Are not afraid to modify infamous Dallas CMOS chip, or you will not be able to store CMOS settings
Want to save some money - if you are patient, you can grab some for a very cheap price
- This review was written on a Nec ProSpeed 386 SX/20 -
It's not often when you see a 26 years old laptop, still packed in original packaging, never used. Although the processor was a 386 SX/20, pretty fast for that time, it is limited by 1MB of stock RAM, which barely allows to run Windows 3.1. Another drawbacks - many problems can arise from being in storage that long (capacitor failures, CMOS battery, HDD never used), but since it is was not overly expensive, and I really wanted to know how it feels to open a package of never used vintage laptop, so I decided to take a plunge. About two weeks later I had a package delivered to my door.
First came the excitement - I carefully unwrapped everything from the package, including seperaely packed charger, cables, battery, user manuals, floppy disks with DOS 4.01 and finally, the laptop itself. Sure, it is a heavy for today's laptop standards, but it was a rather light portable in the days it was made - back in 1990.
P1000791.sized.jpg
Some time later, when I put in the battery and connected charger, I pressed or, rather pulled the power switch. Nothing happened - no lights, no indications, just nothing. Multimeter reading shows 0 volts from the charger - probably dead because of all those capacitors fitted there. 17,5V - 2,5 A, reverse polarity. A trip to a hardware store, the closest I could find was 18,5 -3,5A charger, so I took it. Connected it to the computer - the only sign of life was a green battery indicator. Tried to switch the laptop on and off several times - still nothing, except keyboard light blink, and screen backlight comes on for a short while when switching Off. With the feeling of nothing to loose, I proceded to open the laptop - fortunately everything is fairly easy there, axcept two screws which did not really wanted to come out. Anyway, that problem did not prevent me from finally opening it. Once about 10 screws are removed, it literally falls apart by itself, so all I had to do was disconnect display backlight cable and data cable, and the internal parts of the machine were revealed.
P1000778.sized.jpg
Another power supply, inside the machine, which supplies the motherboard. Capacitors, lot of them. At least not visibly leaking or bulged. ESR meter shows very inconsistent readings. Checking for power reveals - instead of 12v, the cooling fan has a power of only 1,2V when the power is on. Since I did not have spare capacitors, I assembled the machine back. Tried to switch the power on and off - the same, lights blink, but this time battery light was gone. Again, dissasembled the machine, checked connectors - fine, everything connected correctly. I believe the light itself might have died.
Later in the evening I sat at the laptop, still trying my luck with the power switch. Then I noticed, that sometimes the baclight would start to stay longer and brighter. This gave me a small hope this machine could be revived. About one hour later, and countless power on/power off cycles, the cooling fan started, and a machine made a beep. The screen was still black, but this was a progress anyway. A few times on/off again, and finally I saw a message I had been waiting for - CMOS settings not set. The laptop was finally alive! Now, I could finally tested the other devices:
Cmos battery - fine, settings configured from floppy and saved
Floppy drive - Ok, no problems there
HDD - working, format resulted in no problems
Screen - one of the best monochrome screens I have ever seen, hands down. Very sharp, very good contrast, black is really black not dark grey
Cooling fan - works, however, it generates a lot of "white noise", and it's nowhere near a silent machine. I wish Nec would opted for passive instead of active cooling.
P1000789.sized.jpg
Screen backlight - great, perfect readability even at lowest settings, very bright.
Keyboard - fine, good tactile feedback, still, I prefer mechanical keyboards, so it's hard to give an objective rating for it.
Lomg time was spent fiddling with CMOS settings for extended memory - laptop wanted me to think that it does not have more than
640K, which of course, would not allow me to install any version of Windows. Finally it was sorted out, and with extra 384K I was able to install Windows 3.1, which runs Word 1.1. with no problems. The machine now works, but it takes several on/off cycles in order to switch it on - will need to address this issue sooner or later.
A comparision. It would be very unfair not to compare this laptop with another one from the same era - Compaq SLT 386. The same processor, form factor, detachable keyboard, carrying handle in front - they were competitors at their time. The main difference - Compaq SLT has 4 MB of RAM, and feels much more solid than Nec ProsPeed. Sure, in order to properly use a Compaq SLT, a new backup battery has to be soldered to the infamous Dallas CMOS chip, but it can be done, and once you do it, the problem is gone for a long time. I believe Compaq has much less capacitors inside, which also results in less failing Compaq's than Nec ProsPeed. Compaq SLT uses passive cooling, the only noise is from spinning hard drive, which is a big plus, it is also more dust sealed because of the design.
P1000794.sized.jpgP1000795.sized.jpg
However, Nec has some advantages as well. The screen ins undeniably better on the Nec, especially when both computers are placed on one desk, side by side. Compaq SLT screen is not even close to the clarity and contrast of the NEC ProSpeed.
P1000796.sized.jpg
The idea of being able to store power adapter in place of battery is neat as well (however unusable for me, since the power brick is a real brick now ).
P1000793.sized.jpg
The keyboard is similar on both machines, with about the same tactile feedback, and PS/2 connector. However, Nec designers did better with the design - you have to lift up the keyboard to pull it out, when typing on a desk. It does not feels so firmly attached on a Compaq SLT.
The conclusion:
My answer to the question - should I choose a new Nec ProSpeed or a used Compaq SLT 386, well, it depends:
Get a new Nec ProSpeed if you:
Want experience of opening brand new package
Don't mind the quirkiness and possibility of replacing capacitors even before even using it, or some time later.
Are not afraid to open the laptop and look for problems yourself.
Get a used Compaq SLT if you:
Want a more reliable laptop (there are many still ticking)
Are not afraid to modify infamous Dallas CMOS chip, or you will not be able to store CMOS settings
Want to save some money - if you are patient, you can grab some for a very cheap price
- This review was written on a Nec ProSpeed 386 SX/20 -