CF-41 Toughbook or ???

I am in need of a old Intel 486 PC, 75MHz or Faster. I could also use a notebook as fast as a P90. The smaller the better, with real serial port. It needs to be in good shape.

I would love to use an old CF-25C Toughbook at 100MHz, but most CF-25 are too fast for my application. I wish that it was possible to slow down the speed of the CPU from 166 MHz to 90 MHz.

This will be used to program old radios and they are particularly sensitive to CPU speed.

 

Would an M34 work?

 

I think that the slowest version of the M34 is a 400 MHz P3, which is W A Y too fast. I need it to be slower than a P100, or a Intel 486 100 MHz.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Panasonic-C...174835?hash=item25df0100b3:g:KlEAAOSw30tZqX1g

specs http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/4932/CF-41-Personal-Computer/

 

I've got a CF-41. I can dig it out.

This CF-M33 had a desktop dock and floppy drive. Out in the dark there may be a CF-25.

 

Why doesn't that surprise me?

 

And a CF-45.

No video on CF-25.....hmmmmm.

Working on front brakes F250 ...computers on back burner.....Azrial knows my number yes?

 

Laptop or desktop? In the attic I have a old desktop they use to use in school. It is a Pentium ( I think first gen) and has the "turbo" button on the front. I would have dig it out and look at the specs on it and see if it has a serial attachment on the back. The hard drive was still working and I it still has a floppy and cd drive on it I think. I think it's a first gen Pentium.

Slowest M34 is 300 mhz Celeron. I got a 41 or 45 also with under keyboard but I haven't had any luck getting it on yet. Battery was busted and may have messed up the motherboard, but has parts if you wind up needing one for parts. Has national guard logo on it.

The CF-25 is socketed with desktop style cpu. I have one complete CF-25 with just about all accessories made for it I have in my collection, but I do have another parted out one motherboard and CPU is still there and good. Maybe a older CPU will fit if it's too fast. It's a Mk3 Motherboard with mine being a Mk2. Got that unit for a few minor parts and it was the only way to get the missing side door for my unit.

I also have a working cf-17 with dock and the special floppy that only works with that one dock with the 17. I will have to look up the cpu specs for it since it has been so long since I have messed with it.

If you need to refresh your CF-25 info.

http://kishy.ca/?p=115

So they did make a 100 mhz CF-25 Mk1

CPU Field:
Ex. CF-25 LJF8EAM

• C – Pentium 100MHz
• D – Pentium 120MHz
• E – Pentium 133MHz
• F – Pentium 150MHz
• L – Pentium MMX 166MHz

 

Yeah, I saw that one, but I did not want to put up with the aggravation of finding a HDD Caddy for such an old machine. Also, I think that is a bit high for something so old and missing parts. But Thanks!

 

The fact that the CF-25 was made with a P100 is very interesting! That would be my preferred set-up. I really need it to be a notebook, I have a need to carry it in the field sometimes. I am going to start looking for a CF-25 C!

I find specs on the CF-17 from "66 MHz" to a "300 MHz Celeron Processor with 192 MB RAM." The first would do, the second spec, if true, is waaaaaayyy too fast!

Thanks for your info!!

 

I will give you a call this weekend!

 

I am wanting to say it is a Celeron on the 17, If I get time this weekend I will fire it up and see. Anyway you can under clock any of the other easier to get pc's? The CF-07 brick was advertized at 300mhz, but after another member looked at a motherboard good. I pulled one unit apart to confirm and it was a 600 mhz pentium 3 under clocked to 300 mhz from the factory. That would make it run very cool. Then it would open up a lot of older options.

One other older one I have is a toshiba libretto 70ct with factory dock, it's just a tad too fast for what you want at 120mhz. But there are older models that will work. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshiba_Libretto

Very small and light. The dock has a serial port on my 70 model, not on the laptop it's self.

I don't think I have any other older models on hand than the ones already listed.

 

I had a idea. Will a program Like throttle stop work? You can use it to limit CPU speed to a certain setting. Overclockers some time use it.

 

man , this scenario sure seems familiar to me ... and it is .
a friend had a communications business and there were two major brands of radios he dealt with (dealership/sales/repair) :
moldyroller
tek
(i knew comps and helped him out on this side of things as well as the tech side)
his biggest issue with the software/programming side was setting/managing the baud rate of the serial port .
(the crap that happened with developing the software to run on windows ME (uuuggghhh) notwithstanding)
i recall that there were some software revisions that were written and had to be installed that addressed the problems that happened over a few years .
i became more aware of this issue and solutions after i built him a "modern" fast machine for his workshop at his house .
the software would load on XP but simply failed to program the radios ...
this is where the revised software took into account the changes in hardware and dealt with the serial port speed/parameters .

is there a possibility that you can obtain software that had been written for (relatively) *newer* computers ?
this way you might get by with a machine that is easier to obtain .

 

If it is a Pentium 1, and the underclocking is done in hardware. A lot of this software runs under DOS!

The underclocking might work for the socketed CF-25, if it has hardware jumpers to set the clock speed for 100 MHz.

Thank you! I had forgot the name of the Toshiba Libretto! But, I was astonished just now to see one on eBay for over $600!!! I have never heard of "collectible computers." Frankly, I do not believe it.

 

It needs to be no faster then a P100 under DOS.

 

There are certain advantages to using the older software...

 

yeah ... there was a couple of things that the older software would do that the newer stuff did not incorporate .
the modern term for it would/might be *jail breaking" .
then there is the case for the old radios being left in the dust .
(the old moldyroller bricks)

 

Azriel, What are you trying to program?

Not ME of course, but I know a guy that knew a guy who had some HT1250's he needed to program and used an old CF-28 with Win98 on it and they programmed just fine...

If you can't find a computer that works I do have a 28 (w/GPS!!) that you can have for shipping but it might be too fast...
I also have an IBM (ptuu ptuu) laptop that runs Win95 you could borrow.

 

Hell, I have a Panasonic executive partner. Kinda heavy though.

 

a comp that meets the criteria is going to need a quart of kerosene and a decent pair of scissors to trim the wick with .
if i get time , i think i have an old hp/compaq "toaster" out in the big shed ...
(small , roundy cornered and cutesy)
it was from the batch that had the hdds mounted vertically and a lot of them failed .
man , i want to say that was around 1998-99 ?

 

Yeah, I know many people who have used fast machines to program these old radios. You will brick perhaps only one in 25 this way... That is a lot of radios when you have to buy them from the owner. Trust me, I know what I am doing here. But really, thanks for the offer!

 

i remember that there was a certain model of the HT that would brick itself on occasion .
some of these could be revived by resoldering the connections of the chips and cleaning between the leads with MEK on a q-tip and a straight pin .
in other cases , applying a piece of "bug-rug" to the micro/COP for a few seconds would do the trick .
my friend had a few spares on hand ...
one of the city cops , HPO , tribal police , sheriff's deputies or fire department guys would stop by with a dead one and if my friend was in , he would program one up as a swap out replacement .
occasionally he would ask me to program one as he was out on a job maaany miles away (100 miles one-way was not really uncommon) .
i never paid a lot of attention to the small details involved ... the instructions/steps were pretty simple and all the information was stashed in a few notepad files .

i repaired several of the multi-chargers (shame on you motorola ... what a bunch of crap) and rebuilt battery packs (old NiMH and NiCd) .
changing over to NiMH from NiCd increased the operational life of the radio ...
well documented ... my buddy would get *pulled over* or otherwise told about the longer life of the rebuilt packs .

we could never get the micros/COPS from motorola ... they insisted on having the radio sent in .