Compaq Presario CDS 520

[Loix404]

i cann't select 1024 screen resolution :(

[Loix404]

I've same computer, but I don't have graphics drivers for Win95 (Cirrus Logic 5424). Do you have it? could you send me? my email is loixartx"@"gmail"dot"com Thanks a lot!!

[thevisualboy37]

CompUSA is in business again. They're working with TigerDirect and have either opened up new locations or kept a few old ones. The important thing is, they're in business now.

[CodeOrDie]

Good for MsDOS applications and great old games, Windows is not really necessary on this computer today.

[skyscraperad]

Very happy to watch this clip. I had got this computer too, and it's also my first computer. My parents bought it from their friend who used this before.

The specs were:

-Intel 486 @ 66 MHz

-16 MB RAM

-Windows 95

-420MB Hard Drive

-3.5" 1.44 MB Floppy Drive

-No CD-ROM Drive (damaged or stolent)

-512 KB Video Memory with Integrated Compaq 1024 monitor. (800 x 600 w/ 256 colors or 1024 x 768 w/ 16 colors).

Surprising that it could run AutoCAD R14, but after more than 10 minutes starting :D.

[dice228YT]

I have presatio 520 cdtv..it is Fab... compusa also..came with a built in TV FAX phone answering machine good speakers microphone and a bunch of other goodies. Its in great shape...love it as a timeless curio...was way ahead of its time..and I too learned much computing on it. It still runs runs great 16 yes later

[smartalex61]

@dice228YT Awesome! It's amazing all the things they could fit into one box in 1994...

[nopochoclos]

Now i repair same machine, put Windows 98 SE with 3GB hard disk and a lot of DOS videogames, run like charm.

[MegaYogcast]

that cant even run tetris....WRONG SPELLINGS FTW

[ZVONIMIR111]

Why not to restore the machine into the original state?

[smartalex61]

@ZVONIMIR111 Hmm I could, but Windows 3.1 seems so limited compared to 95. Plus this is my only 95 machine, I have 2 of them with 3.1 already

[ZVONIMIR111]

@smartalex61 Maybe 98, sure it will work perfect.

[ZVONIMIR111]

@smartalex61 Or even Win32s? That would run apps for 95.

[wotldthe2006]

@ZVONIMIR111 Mine still is in its original state just the speaks and cd drive where gone when I got mine but it still works good and I have found one speaker for it so all I got now to do is find me a old cd drive for it to see if it will work

[ZVONIMIR111]

BTW, what was the clicking sound at 0:09?

[smartalex61]

@ZVONIMIR111 Not sure, something inside the computer. It always makes that noise

[ZVONIMIR111]

@smartalex61 I'm sure that can be the HDD.

[kbhasikevin]

@smartalex61 Thats the floppy drive

[smartalex61]

@CaptainPoovabladoo Sure is!

[Wesley683]

i just noticed that i have a compaq presario... its a laptop :D c500 widescreen with a vista basic that sucks.

[theryan96]

in years to come i bet we will have super computers the fraction of the cost of computers now adays

[smartalex61]

@theryan96 You could've said that 17 years ago too haha

[theryan96]

Put crisis in, i bet it would implode. wait put crisis on a floppy disk and do it!

[smartalex61]

@theryan96 Oh gosh, I can only imagine. Funny, I've had people post this at least a dozen times throughout my videos over the years. Great minds think alike!

[TheToploaderwasher]

OLD COMPUTERS ROCK!!!! THANKS FOR TAKING THE VIDEO!!!! :D

[smartalex61]

@TheToploaderwasher Haha I know it!!!

[Dariusjat]

Very good pc :) how you kepped it for 17 years?

[smartalex61]

@Dariusjat Thanks! I just keep it in a warm environment and make sure to start it up every here and there. It has been through 3 hard drives unfortunately though

[kingconily]

omg is that game Chip?

i remember that game!!!

[ZVONIMIR111]

@kingconily it is chip's challenge

[harlyparlycharlie]

kinda fast for such an old computer :O

[smartalex61]

@harlyparlycharlie Yeah lol pretty much because I don't have much on it and it's not used too often. But if you ever try to load Google or something then game over!

[harlyparlycharlie]

@smartalex61 oh lol

[quatz1981]

Jesus i had one almost the same as this except mine was a 486 sx 66mhz that originally came with 4mb Ram and a 270 Mb hard drive. Top of the line when it was new. This brings back some very fond memories.

[itzmeoscar]

I was our first family PC as well. I remember all this cranking bootup sounds it made to. ha ha.. My actually came with Win 3.1 and TabWorks as the shell.

I remember playing TONS of The Incredible Machine, DOOM, X-Wing and Tie Fighter. The ONLY thing that kinda disappointed me was a short few weeks after this purchase, a buddy of mine was so jealous of this computer (we were about 15 at the time), he convinced his parents to get him a new PC too... It was a Gateway with the first Pentium. :(

[itzmeoscar]

@itzmeoscar It that moment I learned my lesson to always research on the new technology curve before buying any new electronics.. But you know, considering it was not a Pentium, she was still very snappy. We used it for a few years until my tastes for games had significantly increased. 

I finally had my revenge on my Gateway buddy for 1-up'ing me. I convinced my parent to get me a new computer that would last for the long haul. We ended up getting a Dell XPS1000SE.

[itzmeoscar]

@itzmeoscar I got it when Pentium I and Pentium II were still be sold as the newest PCs at stores at no higher 333mhz. This rig was one of the first Pentium III's 1GHz machines.. It cost us a stiff $5200 smackers.

It's still be used today at my parents house... Over 10years of you and she still screams. I just do full formats every 2 years or so.. They just go on the internet, so it's perfect.

[smartalex61]

@itzmeoscar Wow, your parents are behind the times! We had dial up until 2007, then we got DSL for only $10 per month, and it was actually less than dial up. (And much faster of course!)

[smartalex61]

@itzmeoscar Haha, Dell, everybody has Dell's these days! Believe it or not, we used this computer as our main computer up until like 2003! By then it was so obsolete though we could never buy new programs for it or do anything online besides E-Mails. Then in 2004 I went half with my parents to buy Compaq Presario SR1320NX for $500, which we are still using. I guess we're sort of Froogle, to say the least!

[smartalex61]

@itzmeoscar Mine came with Win 3.1 and TabWorks to! I've gone back and forth between 3.1 and 95 twice, but the older this computer gets the more fragile it is, and I just want to keep it as is for now. But yeah, The Incredible Machine was really cool. My Mom was addicted to that back then like most people are addicted to bejeweled these days. I remember that little furry guy saying "Whew!" at the end of a level and at the start of the game. Haha, yeah, Pentium's were "The Thing" back then.

[itzmeoscar]

@smartalex61 WHEW! - lol, Yup, I remember that! I never got to beat that game thou.. I'm not sure if you know, but they came out with a few upgraded versions after the original. I'm not sure I have the most recent, I believe it was called, The Even More Incredible Machine.. HORRIBLE! For a upgraded graphic version, it was not as smooth as the original and it just wasn't as fun.

We're going to try to keep the CDS going is as long as the hard drive decides to throw in the towel...

[itzmeoscar]

@itzmeoscar So it just sits at my rents if someone comes over and wants to type out a doc or if they have any children over that want to mess around with a computer. I don't think Compaq is the quality that it was once, but it's nice to see that they are still being made under the Compaq name. I almost considered by one of their laptops last year, but I was just concerned with parts and longevity of third part support. So I went with a Asus Netbook, 1201N, Nice little thing. Les than $500

[itzmeoscar]

@itzmeoscar Now that I've gotten old, I've really pushed away for high graphic games and pretty much I stick to web-surfing, flash gaming, emailing, and paying bills. So I now I'm considering going tablet PC.

I'm torn with going IPad 2, or leaping to Android. Do I get my first Apple product due to their edge with the market and their growing support of the global market or should I take the risk of jumping on the Google train with Andrioid, and hang tight with Google world domination! haha

[smartalex61]

@itzmeoscar Yeah, I'm the same way. I never play high end graphics games anymore, but most my friends still do. That's a tough decision to make though! I'm a bit oldschool though (even though I'm only 20 haha). I think it'll be awhile before I get a tablet. I do love the iPads though, but never got used to that touch screen. My main computer is a 2003 HP desktop, and I still have an old CRT monitor from 1997 and a dot matrix printer.

[smartalex61]

@itzmeoscar Oh, that's so funny! I bought an Asus Netbook too, for like $260 at Best Buy a few years ago. Mine's an "EE" model though.

[smartalex61]

@itzmeoscar Oh yeah, I remember the upgrades. I never did own a copy of them though. Glad to hear that I didn't go out and buy them! Haha. And yeah, my Compaq has been through 3 hard drives. And the old low capacity hard drives are really hard to find these days. I agree with you though, the quality has certainly gone down, but it is nice to see they're still making them (even though they're HP's).

[smartalex61]

@duranmedine The speakers are loud, and a bit annoying sometimes because the volume is software controlled and only has like 4 levels(quitest, quiet, quiet,and BLARINGLY LOUD)

It's funny you say that it looks like a Macintosh, I remember people used to say they thought it WAS a Macintosh when they first saw it. Macs were famous for they're all in ones. And it's funny, I have a Peforma 5200 all the way to the right of this table and I have a video of it too. (But it's rebadged PowerMac 5500/225 )

[CaptainAwesomeness34]

Nice. i had a chance to get one of these but before my friend could give it to me, it acidentaly fell over and broke.

[smartalex61]

@CaptainAwesomeness34 Yipes, that's terrible. That must have been a mess, this thing weights like 50 pounds.

[fertub26]

The bios of these computer is on the first partition are 2 or 3 diskettes, then when i update the bios i do thought the diskettes interface. the first time that i can update this computer i cant becouse these partition is not dos partition and windows 98 was so slowly on load. The new technology for the age was "the multimedia equipment, modem 14.4k , cd-rom 2x, windows 3.1 tabworks lol )...

[smartalex61]

@fertub26 I know, mine was considered "Multimedia" as well, but it was a lower end model so it didn't do as much as other computers at the time.

[fertub26]

nice computer i have these same model too some changes change the original 486 SX for one 486 Dx2 at 66 mhz and i incredase the memory of 4 mb to 53 mb and the harddisk from 420 mb to 6.4 Gb with windows 98

[smartalex61]

@fertub26 Neat, I've tried to install Windows 98 but it says I can't because I don't have a math coprocessor. I've thought about updating the hardware, but I don't just because since this was my first computer I want to be able to keep all of the hardware as ORIGINAL as possible. (Although I've had to replace the HD twice.

[anonymousUser97]

Mrs. Robinson!

0:00 - 0:03!

[smartalex61]

@anonymousUser97 Good ears!

[TheDemoniusX]

Can't find notetalker, I googled it myself.

[mies1888]

What is that game name 1:44

[smartalex61]

@mies1888 Chips Challenge, it comes with the Microsoft Best of Entertainment Package.

[KartSeven1]

@mies1888 Chip's challenge

[ftrt46hce]

@smartalex61

Not bad. I want it... JUST KIDDING!!!!

[smartalex61]

@KartSeven1 It's called Note Talker, try Googling it to download it.

[gavenusman]

Oh, and I just noticed something: Mine has 32MB ram. Sorry I'm kinda spamming here

[smartalex61]

@gavenusman Nah, that's fine. 32mb? That's great for a computer of this age. I've thought about upgrading it, but then I would have to remove the original RAM, which I wouldn't want to do since everything else in this computer is original.

[ftpaddict]

Can I have your mechanical keyboard? Hehehe.

[gavenusman]

Lucky, yours works, with 95! Mine had 3.1, and I tried to upgrade it. It kept saying "You interrupted the setup process." and I was just sitting there, not doing anything. Just to see if it was the kb or mouse, I unplugged the KB and mouse after starting the copy process. It said it again. I gave up and tried to reinstall 3.1. It didn't accept it. I copied command.com to a floppy, but forgot the .sys files, and I formatted the C: drive. Rebooted, "Invalid system disk." Continued in next post....

[gavenusman]

@gavenusman So now it doesn't work. Now, it is just sitting in the storage room, gathering dust... And I really liked to use the monster! It had important files on it I got it for free. I am really into computers, and I am 11 years old. I really wanted it, itt was donated to my mom's office. i asked her if i could bring it home, she said if I cleaned m room. So I cleaned my room, and she took me to go get it. I brought it home and hooked it up, Windows 3.1 was corrupt but I had disks. Continued.

[gavenusman]

@gavenusman So I used those disks to install. It worked, and I found some cool software on it, but since I deleted the WINDOWS directory, nothing worked, but it had the MIDI files. I used those, they were pretty interesting, so I saved those. But now it is just gathering dust. I have a nother computer that can write floppies, but I haven't used it in awhile. Maybe I can get DOS off of it and use that... Anyway, CDS 520s are cool

[smartalex61]

@gavenusman I agree! I'm glad you finally got yours to work, this computer is my favorite one since it was my first computer ever. It's very common for hard drives to stop working after awhile, this computer is on its 3rd one.

[MixerVM]

I have Chips Challenge too! Great game

[miguelfp1]

I had one of these!! amazing little machine

[wheely132]

man they dont make computers like that anymore!

[ADDMEONPSN]

Thumbes up if you wanna bang this laptop...no one okay..

[MusicMini11]

u should try xp on it ;p

[Dariusjat]

@MusicMini11 are you blind? this pc has a 66 mhz and you want to run xp on it? it's just impossible. xp requires 233 mhz and better intel proccesor

[ZVONIMIR111]

@Dariusjat Did you see some guys were running Windows XP on 8 MHz? Check it out on Winhistory.de!

[SonicAnimator1]

@ZVONIMIR111 I dont believe that 8 mhz can handle Windows XP

[ZVONIMIR111]

@SonicAnimator1 That was just for fun. No way it will run fast.

[likitty20]

my first os was windows 98 X3

[Vintagecomputer]

Fast. Run fine.

[pomfrit93]

What is it exactly making that dododoot sound? the harddisk?

[smartalex61]

@pomfrit93 I'm not hearing it. It could be music though, the radio was on in the background.

[pomfrit93]

@smartalex61 listen at 00.21 - 00.22

[smartalex61]

@pomfrit93 Oh, I see what you mean now. That's the floppy drive making that noise, the computer is checking to see if it is there and functional.

[brandonkr]

ahhh i love seeing these old things run. the beauty of microsoft. it just goes and goes and goes.

[hddr3]

looks like a performa with windows :P

[smartalex61]

Yeah, I remember when we first got it a lot of people thought that it was a Macintosh.

[gavenusman]

Aww you got 95 I got corrupted :O Windows 3.1 that came with mine, it was donated to my mom's office (I'm only 10) and I bought it from them and I will reinstall Windows 3.1, but I will install 95 when I can

[poopskinTheLiar]

The entertainment pack? Skifree! :D

[ceracecar]

That startup sound most certainly brings back memories.

I have that same keyboard too!

[Lachlant1984]

What's the program you used to make the computer talk just before you played Chip's Challenge? What kind of sound card does the machine have in it? Because it's an all in one case, how easily can the system be upgraded?

[smartalex61]

NoteTalker from Willow Pond. As for the sound card, it is a ESS ES688 AUudioDrive which is SoundBlaster 16 compatible. It's not that easy to upgrade, because the sound card and video card cannot be upgraded because the monitor and speakers are built in. The only things that can be upgraded are the RAM (To 16mb I think), the Hard Drive (To a certain extent, newer hard drives won't work), and the floppy or CD-ROM drive if needed.

[KartSeven1]

@Lachlant1984 Note Talker

[ZXRulezzz]

OMFG!!! I remember that game, "Chip's Challenge"!!! From "Microsoft Entertainment Pack" or something like this!

I didn't played that for 3 or 4 years. I still have that game somewhere =)

[NYz3R0dAY]

the piratebay has the complete windows entertainment pack. i have all 4 volumes

[theedge76]

omg my dad had the same exact computer, except it had 3 green lights i think, i cannot remember, and i remeber those weird noises wen u turn the computer on!!!

[smartalex61]

Yeah, they were fairly common. We had one in my 4th grade classroom too.

[Brato86]

lol i had a IBM 486 with 8 mb of ram

and 66 mhz cpu with about 500 mb of harddrive.

i found one i think 486 in my university and its still working ...its used for some regulator machines and it has a turbo button on it XD

[jansonlive]

hola tengo el sofware original de ese equipo yo tengo el mismo, pero la version cdtv528 el sofware me lo mandaron directamente de compaq este sirve para todas las series 520 trae tabworks los cliasicos juegos xD

oye aun tienes el cd del king quets v en mi computador lo trajo pero se me extravio estaria más que agradecido si me mandaras una copia

[smartalex61]

No tengo los discos, pero yo puedo mandarte los archivos por E-Mail. ¿Podrías llamarme tu direccíon de E-Mail? ¿Y tienes algunos archivos que podrías mandarme? Como "operator", y "Media Pilot".

[jansonlive]

si tengo el programa que mencionas el mediapilot que es para la television y el operador y el tabworks en ingles y español

[fryersoncaptain]

That machine is... beautiful, in it's own way.

[fryersoncaptain]

Sorry, grammar error, meant to say "its" instead of "it's". My apologies.

[smartalex61]

I agree! Just like old cars.

[smartalex61]

It's actually an Apple PowerMac 5500/225. I do have a video of it, but no comparison video yet.

[blenheimears]

Wow, I have the exact same computer. I'm running FreeDOS on it. I've upgraded it to 64 MB of RAM (the maximum it can handle), a 6 GB HD, an NE2000 network card, and a DVD burner (can read CDs and DVDs and can burn CDs but not burn DVDs (can't find a DVD burning program for dos)). I hope to get a Pentium Overdrive soon.

[smartalex61]

Wow! Did you find a way to upgrade the graphics card too? Mine goes up to 1024x768 w/ 16 colors, or 800x600 w/ 256 colors max.

[ZackMcLeish13]

lol my dad bought our first computer for about 2200-2300 and it blew up in the first week. piece of shit. but the funny thing is he has a Presario that's like 5 years old with a P4 and only been in the shop like 3 times. disk drive failure, virus, and another virus. you can barely tell it's running as it's so quiet....

[ssj4david]

hey, I used to have the exact same PC! Parents bought it in 1994 for $2000cdn from Future shop, a Best buy subsidary here in Canada. Anyways, currently using a Phenom X4 9850BE rig with 4GB of RAM and an ATI HD4870 video card while using the original Compaq keyboard!

[milinkovic10]

Yo tambien tuve ese computador, pero lo vendi hace un par de años. Mejor eso que mandarlo a la basura. Era muy fiel y tuvo Win 3.1, luego le colocamos win 95 y con eso lo vendi.

[pepsiru1es92]

I used to have a 500 series. We couldn't get windows 95 on it because of a math co-processer chip or somthing like that. I'm not really sure, I was like 5 at the time. I still have the keyboard from it. I'm typing this comment with it. This video brings back so many memories, thanks for uploading.

[smartalex61]

Yeah, this computer originally had Windows 3.1, then we upgraded to Windows 95. I wanted to upgrade to Windows 98 but that requires a math coprocessor.

[pepsiru1es92]

That's probably what happened. My dad only has a copy of windows 98. He was probably trying to put that on. I was sure it was 95, but it was years ago. The little compaq programs included with it were fun to play with.

[TinyTracey]

I have a 95 model comppaq 5520 model,someone had put windows 98 on it and forgotton the passwords so i reformatted and put windows 95 on it using the windows 98 floppy with cd rom support for the pc to see the cd.There a vid on my profile of the compter.

[computergeek80]

i had a smilar computer to this. except mine was probably older because it only had a floppy drive. my dad got it from his work and had gave it to me. i wish i still had it. but i think one day windows 95 crashed and we threw it out ):

[smartalex61]

Yeah, I've seen ones like those on eBay. Too bad he threw it out because it crashed! It was probably just a software problem. This computer has crashed on me a few times, and it's on its third hard drive. Other than that the rest of the hardware has lasted and is in good shape.

[drdos4]

COMPUSA IS BACK FROM THE DEAD!

[ilikecheesecake2k8]

Nice computer, nice music in the background at the start! SUBBED!

[smartalex61]

Yeah, I broke out the old record player at the same time I was recording this video. My dad has a really nice 80's stereo, and tons and tons and tons of lp records.

[themaritimeman]

Yay! I just read up about the CDS-520 and I hoped I would find a video here! One of the few desktop PCs made with a built-in monitor, just like a Mac!

Too bad the OEM HD with DOS/Windows 3.1 is gone. That thing seems to run Windows 95 pretty good, though.

Wow! an 80486, 12 MB of RAM and a Double-Speed CD-ROM drive! That computer is an antique - take good care of it!

Do you know what model of 486 it is? (486SX, 486SX-S, 486DX, 486DX-2, etc.)

[smartalex61]

Yeah, Windows 3.1 was too good for it, so Windows 95 is great for now. I would also never get rid of this computer, it was my first one ever and I try to take really good care of it. As for the processor, I'll have to get back to you on that. (I'll check in the BIOS settings.) If you like all in one PC's (I do!) then check out my IBM EduQuest 30 video. (It's pretty much an IBM PS/2).

[themaritimeman]

I just took a look at all of your videos - you my friend just got a subsciber!

[smartalex61]

Hey that's great; thanks!

[cheetoman222]

what was the game you opened on the computer. my first computer had that and it broke so i have a new one. I LOVED THAT GAME.

[smartalex61]

It's called Chip's Challenge. It came in the Microsoft Best of Entertainment software suite.

[Rusty0918B]

Ah, that game was pretty dang addictive!

Some levels simply could not be beaten, as strange as it sounds. At least they let you skip ahead if you struggled too much.

[brandonkr]

that looks like my tv that i have in my room. its the same size too. hahaha.

[poopskinTheLiar]

My first PC (ok, it was technically my dad's...) was a windows 95 compaq presario, and i loved playing SimSafari and TIM3 on it. Shame i can't remember what happened to it.

[poopskinTheLiar]

err, that was my 2nd. My first was a Packard bell, if i recall.

[smartalex61]

We were using my Compaq 520 as a main computer for a long time, until about 2002 when it was way obsolete. After we had a Packard Bell, which I used to play The Sims and Midtown Madness on. It was on this computer that I became familiar with the internet. Then we got a faithful Compaq Presario 4660 which was shaped like a rocket ship, unfortunately it was given away in 2005.

[themaritimeman]

Haha, my 5360 uses the "Rocket Ship" case. Compaq used that case for many models of the 4xxx, 5xxx, and 7xxx series of Presarios throughout the late 90's.

[smartalex61]

Yes! My old Compaq Presario 4660 had that case as well.

[smartalex61]

Yeah, Compaq really did make some great long lasting computers. My main computer is a 2004 Compaq Presario SR1320NX, which is technically an HP. At first I was disappointed when they merged with HP, but in retrospect HP really is a great computer company as well.

[marquesbrownlee]

wowzers .... this is ancient!! haha that thing'll be an arfigact in a few years, hold on to it!

[lapinator12]

I have the same computer with windows 3.11 and Office installed

[smartalex61]

Really? Is it the original installation of Windows 3.11? I remember mine came with a bunch of neat programs like TabWorks, Operator (telephone), Media Pilot (A neat media player), and neat games like The Incredible Machine. Unfortunately those were a lost 2 hard drives ago.

[lapinator12]

No, it isn't the original Windows

[smartalex61]

Aww, I would've loved to have some of those old programs. I've spent hours looking for Media Pilot with now luck.