GeoBook 486 prototype

  • There are two rules in life:
    1. Never give out all of the information.

    2 Mal editiert, zuletzt von jpolzfuss (30. April 2018 um 15:32) aus folgendem Grund: Bilder von Flickr nach addpics verschoben

  • This is a quote from qvc for the normal NB80c: It features a 10.4" color VGA display & offers a AMD-ELAN SC300 processor, GEOS(R) 3.0 operating system & GlidePad pointing device. Other features include a built-in 33.6/14.4 Kbps data, VGA port, memory PC card slot/type II, 1 serial port/1 parallel port, standard 3.5" 1.44MB floppy disk drive, 5 MB ROM, 4 MB D-RAM, 1 MB flash memory, 1 NiCd battery & an AC adapter. 11-5/7"x2-2/5"x9-3/5". 5.97lbs.

    Given Bretttiktin's photos, it looks like nothing has been changed on Bretttiktin's model: same modem (according to the sticker), same display (640x480 DSTN), same pcmcia-slots, same (limited) lpt-port, ... .

    So: what has been changed? The specific UI (@Brett: is it still called "yago"?)? Or is this just another ui-mode that is triggered via the geos.ini and is also available in the other models?
    What CPU is included? Has the amount of RAM/ROM been increased? Is there a soundcard? Is there a LAN-connector (ethernet or BNC)?

    There are two rules in life:
    1. Never give out all of the information.

    Einmal editiert, zuletzt von jpolzfuss (25. Februar 2018 um 19:44)

  • This is a quote from qvc for the normal NB80c: It features a 10.4" color VGA display & offers a AMD-ELAN SC300 processor, GEOS(R) 3.0 operating system & GlidePad pointing device. Other features include a built-in 33.6/14.4 Kbps data, VGA port, memory PC card slot/type II, 1 serial port/1 parallel port, standard 3.5" 1.44MB floppy disk drive, 5 MB ROM, 4 MB D-RAM, 1 MB flash memory, 1 NiCd battery & an AC adapter. 11-5/7"x2-2/5"x9-3/5". 5.97lbs.

    Given Bretttiktin's photos, it looks like nothing has been changed on Bretttiktin's model: same modem (according to the sticker), same display (640x480 DSTN), same pcmcia-slots, same (limited) lpt-port, ... .

    So: what has been changed? The specific UI (@Brett: is it still called "yago"?)? Or is this just another ui-mode that is triggered via the geos.ini and is also available in the other models?
    What CPU is included? Has the amount of RAM/ROM been increased? Is there a soundcard? Is there a LAN-connector (ethernet or BNC)?

    Hi Everyone: This is the original email regarding the Geobook 486 that I got from Frank when he gave me the Geobook 486 enjoy!
    From: Frank S. Fischer

    Sent: ‎1/‎21/‎2015 12:37 AM

    To: Brett Tiktin

    Subject: NB-80C interface


    Now that I think of it, the interface of the 486 NB-80C I sent you
    is a proto-type and different from a regular GeoBook. So you've got a very rare
    GeoBook on it's way, plus it's a 486. All others are 386..

  • Given the fact that the prototype was most likely made at the same time as the NB80c and that it most likely uses the same batteries as the NB80c, it looks like they have only replaced the AMD Elan SC300 with an SC400. The only difference between those two models is the CPU (386 vs. 486)... The SC300 was available as 25 and 33Mhz. The SC400 was available as 33-MHz, 66-MHz, and 100-MHz... So: which version did they use in this prototype?

    There are two rules in life:
    1. Never give out all of the information.

  • Yes the Geobook 486 has a different UI one that dose not have a name to it. Also it has other programs not included in a regular Geobook such as "presentation" a slide show program not related to Geopoint. It has the ability to connect to zip drives in the preferences program. plus much more I wish to upload the entire version of PC/GEOS software that is contained in this Geobook but I will need help with this. As I do not know how extract the software from the Geobook. I have almost every version of PC/GEOS that ever came out and all of the breadbox programs and betas and I have never seen anything like this. All of the software in this is undocumented, and was unreleased Brother.

  • The "presentation"-software was optional on the normal NB80c. It came with some windows software to convert ms PowerPoint presentations into a format known to the geobook.

    Even on the normal NB80c, it was possible to connect a zip drive. However, the driver was not included and there was no preference module for this.

    To copy the contents of the geobook onto another computer, you would have to enter the dos-mode and to simply copy everything from drive F: (If it's still F: on the prototype) onto floppy discs (would require a dos backup program or arj) or onto a pcmcia-card/zip-disc/jaz-disc (using MS-DOS' xcopy). For more details: http://www.mgroeber.de/gb-fund.htm

    There are two rules in life:
    1. Never give out all of the information.