Laptops supporting Windows 9x: discussion

Compa · Unread post by **Compa** » 24 Nov 2024, 08:24

Since the ThinkPad T42p and Toshiba Satellite 2805 are insanely expensive* - and getting rarer and rarer (mostly ending up in the hands of collectors and influencers) these days, it's about time we at Eclipse made a thread documenting 'Windows 9x-compatible' laptops, not even necessarily ones that would be deemed suitable for all games of the era, but ones that can be considered affordable enough.

(I also want to actually kickstart some activity around these OSes here, since there isn't nearly enough and it does intrigue me to some extent.)

It is especially worth pointing out any additional things to look out for like model variants, what sort of things you can expect to find like connections and what features the motherboard has; whether it has DVD support; whether there's 'true' wavetable and/or FM synth built in or not; how 'upgradable' the machine is; which 9x version runs most stable on it... these things will all add up for any user deciding what models to actually go for, and your experiences are always worth adding input.

The OP will be continuously updated once a reasonable list can be compiled. No particular format is 'required'. I'm just curious since I was personally looking into it and the amount of info out there is scattered kind of everywhere (and finding info about specific models is difficult, especially anything from before the modern computer hardware duopoly came into play).

YouTube · Unread post by **K4sum1** » 24 Nov 2024, 10:31

iirc, someone in a Discord server I have long since left had 98 or something on a C2D laptop and it worked I think. Not sure what model it would've been or anything.

Compa · Unread post by **Compa** » 24 Nov 2024, 22:47

K4sum1 wrote: ↑24 Nov 2024, 10:31 iirc, someone in a Discord server I have long since left had 98 or something on a C2D laptop and it worked I think. Not sure what model it would've been or anything.

Likely upgraded an older motherboard to take it, or it was a very early revision of the C2D from before 2006 - unless it was running a discrete GPU, which might have boosted his options somewhat.

Either way, multicore CPU support is more primitive under 9x, so something like that is incredibly overkill, and you'd be forced to look for more 'specific' boards/configurations, since the Intel GMA dropped support for Windows 98SE/ME around the same time the C2D came out if I remember rightly.

YouTube · Unread post by **K4sum1** » 27 Nov 2024, 01:16

I'm pretty sure it had a discrete card, but I can't remember if it was ATI or Nvidia.

Unread post by **Duke** » 27 Nov 2024, 20:37

I've found this:
https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?t=42762

And that:

Code: Select all

https://www.reddit.com/r/windows98/comments/1gmaups/does_windows_98_support_pentium_dual_core_cpus/
https://www.reddit.com/r/windows98/comments/18j7v4g/windows_98_with_core_2_duo_e8600/

I've put the links between Code tags because I hate those forced Reddit previews

Compa · Unread post by **Compa** » 28 Nov 2024, 14:34

While your post covers desktop PCs, it's still pretty cool, especially that first post.

I wonder if the Penryn Pentium Dual-Core T4500 can go into an older laptop motherboard that supports Windows 98SE/ME. I know on this Dell Inspiron 1545 - which unfortunately is too new to support Win9x - the CPU can be upgraded to (some variant of) the C2D Extreme x9100 or C2D T9900, so uh, maybe?

I don't know much about hardware honestly lol

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