Packard Bell Commercial

[kirbyyasha]

I miss the days of these Packard Bells, quite possibly the best computers ever built, my Legend 814CD still works like Brand New. Only thing I ever did was upgraded to a bigger WD HD, RAM, and Ethernet Card.

[Jakkinator45]

lookskinda like apple's 1984, almost

[ugforthewin]

Damn I feel old...

[Subacria]

...and then the internet came back on.

[james42101]

I was working at Packard Bell in Sacramento when they released this commercial

I still have a couple of slides from that commercial

[DirtyNerd86]

Am I the only one, who upon hearing the Intel Pentium Jingle... would hear "Bitch! We're Packard-Bell!" along to the tones?

[ugforthewin]

@DirtyNerd86 lmao @ that for real.

[favoritemoviemoments]

This commercial is so damn beautiful.  It's not advertising, it's art!

[VolleyFTW]

Fuckin' 90s. Jesus.

[HaloSpartanG13]

They should have put the budget toward QUALITY and not ads.

[01tiger]

i always wonder, being older and classic Packard bell out of most peoples minds. were computers really that bad in the 90s. or is it just no one knew how to actually Use one then.... (as compared to now)

[NTL1991]

@01tiger I think 1 of the reasons for PB's bad wrap was their use of non-standard case, motherboard, and power supply designs. Many users didn't like how they couldn't upgrade the motherboard of their PB because, 1, it wouldn't fit in the case, and 2, the power supply wouldn't work with a standard motherboard. Also, it made repairing more difficult, because you had to go to PB for parts. I personally had two PB desktops and a Statesman laptop, and never had any complaints about any of them...

[larstog94]

Very nice commercial. How I just love Packard Bell. My first computer was an Packard Bell, and I got it in 1998. Very good computers, after my opinion, the best in the world.

[TheDonutFox]

The shush nazis!!!

[lostpear]

I remember living in LA and seeing them film the scene outside the "BANQ" with the long line. It was shot at the old Park Plaza Hotel and they totally redid the exterior for that one scene. They also shot the interior of the red guards walking in the lobby. Huge crew for these little scenes on a cinematic level. Before the hotel, it used to be an Elks Lodge.

[erikhicks07]

I've owned and dealt with numerous Packard Hell PCs and NO, I would rather be anywhere but at home dealing with THAT crap again!

[arpitarshia]

cool like rogers

[arpitarshia]

@arpitarshia

[clintbw]

I have my Packard Bell Legend 18CD 486-DX2 sitting right beside me in her box, in mint condition. I haven't turned her on in over a year, and I think I may just do that right now! :)

[tijarslv]

i have this shit i am now using it lol

[AptivaXL]

That communist city looked pretty scary but did anyone else notice that colorful house looked alot like the town in Soundgarden's "black hole sun" video?

[01tiger]

I actually miss my Packard bell, and computers of the 90s; i was young then, i liked a lot about the 90s computing.

[01tiger]

.. oh to add on, i LIKED Packard bell navigator.

[vistaway3008]

ahh i used to have a PB 100Mhz 8gb ram and 1g hard drive. LOL! loved that thing!

[anomalousclouds]

I think the straight game is P.B.s were marketed well, and looked good on the surface... but if they were on the market now, they would never get the sales they did. Thankfully for all of us, I feel quality in both hardware and software has done nothing but improved. I might want to go back to the 90s for the music, but not for the computers. Ugh.

[mike2511]

Packard bells are still on the market,

[anomalousclouds]

Yes, but not in the US where they were once among the best sellers.... plus they're owned by Acer now... not those true p.o.s.'s of old.

[AlexBestGTA]

yes my laptop is a packard bell from 2008 whit vista (now 7)

[mike2511]

yeah just brought my mum a PB

[NTL1991]

I really don't know why people knock these computers so much. I had a PB Multimedia with a 333Mhz Cyrix MII Processor. The case/mobo/psu was standard ATX, the hard drive was a Fujitsu 6.4GB, it used SD-RAM, had PCI & EDO slots, and the CD-ROM was industry standard. This was the machine I got all of my first PC repair experience with, and not because it was broken, but because I tinker with it. My aunt still has an old Pentium Overdrive PB Legend with Win 3.11 set up in her basement. Works fine!

[Watcher3223]

Wow. That commercial must have cost a lot of money to produce.

I think that money would've been better spent on making sure their quality control department did their jobs!

[Geforce2187]

i still use the keyboard from a 1995 packard bell. its very noisy.

[JesdaG]

I love those things! With the wavy grey plastic!

[spartanmonster]

i need to know how to overclock a packard bell 5094 pc specs 2.53 ghz and 768mb ram used to b 512 graphics nvidia geforce 6200 agp 128mb!!

[mradamcooley]

brilliant

[blazerrips91]

doe anyone else feel that when you get a new dell it feels like its been used before

like recycled

i had my dell for 2 years up untill last week just got myself the packard bell ipower i9820 desktop

easly this best desk top ive have ever used

[FlySpades11]

hell yeah

[cydonia2012]

ive also got i9820 17 cpu 920 (2.67Ghz) with very good graphics 250gts

Also Excerlent Ram (ddr3 @ 4Gb) Now I've Maxxed At 12280mb (12Gb) super hot ...

But beware The Cooler for the cpu is bogg standard it does it job but there is better coolers for the i7 and it's needed for gamers ...

AWSOME MACHINE ... YOu Must Own To Believe IT

[blazerrips91]

it could really use a liquid cooling system or somthing like that cause it really does get hot someimes i have to play games with the side of the case open and put a fan by it but its a fuckin awsome piece of tech btw alienwares suck

so does the acer preditor i knew a guy that had one his case melted lol (plastic is for pussys)

[cydonia2012]

LOL have you seen the water cooler's and prices ... the other thing is where the hell do you buy them as i cant find a retailer who sells a good brand named one anywhere in the uk ...

Preditor is just old ddr2 ram like the NEW Packard bell ?? x2.0 thats gone backwards a step with the ddr2 with 8gb max shame ...

[blazerrips91]

yeah lol

[NESklok]

Why are there mounties everywhere? Will the RCMP be running things everywhere in the future?

[iwantrickenbacker]

A good example how to market paranoid isolationism and agoraphobia to the yuppies and white-collars.

[CiniCraft]

i remember owning this piece of shit...

heh, played starcraft on it a while back

[Jcc3279]

I remember these pieces of shit

I have a modded packard bell legend 422cdt computer

It used to have windows 95 now has windows 2000

I had 16mb of ram now has 64mb of ram

used to have a intel pentium at 75mhz now has a pentium II at 400mhz

ADDED A CD BURNER INSTEAD WITH THE CD-ROM

upgraded the hard drive with 2 40gb westren digital back not to long ago.

I USE THIS THING DAILY WITH MY OLD HP LASERJET 4L PRINTER

Mine is not a piece of shit no more.

[Alvarado68]

Yes. I too had a piece of crap Packard-Smell. I even convinced my buddy's back in the day to buy one of these puke machines. (1995-1997) Never again. These machines were designed to be non-upgradeable,the motherboard space was confined. If you got one, you were probably stuck with its config. The desktop/tower was about as upgradeable as a laptop. I remember installing a CD-drive and adding more memory. I later added a 56k modem (Woo-hoo) and later upgraded it to windows 95 and sold

[Jcc3279]

I just did the processor upgrade I bought a Intel Penitum II back when they came out and upgraded mine when the pentium II at 400mhz was new man did that thing fly when I did the processor.

If you want to know more about my piece of junk that I use for a spare computer feel free to message me.

[BadNinja16]

damn

i like the library scene

i dont know why but its dramatic awesome

[TheReapersSon]

Wow, this came out in '96? It looks like something that would have been released a few years ago...

Way ahead of its time.

[jackster1212]

@TheReapersSon Ha... wow, this came out in '96? It seems like something that would have come out in, say, 1983... oh wait, that was Apple's "Why 1984 doesn't have to BE like '1984'" ad. This is a flagrant rip-off of that style and concept. Even the long shot of marching, disheartened workers. Woof.

[TheReapersSon]

@jackster1212

Well since I never saw that Apple ad you speak of, I wouldn't know. Don't you think that if I had seen it, I would have commented differently?

Comment differently... lol. That's what Apple fans do, right?

[jackster1212]

@TheReapersSon Don't take my comment personally, ReaperSon... wasn't intended as a dig. I was just shocked at how directly this ripped off the Apple one. I work in advertising, so maybe I'm more likely to have seen it that some viewers. On the other hand, the Apple 1984 commercial is among the most famous ever shot. (I'd give a link but the comments don't allow it).

[RABBIDGamfan]

@TheReapersSon No; it looks like it would have come out around that time. :/

[iydsysstole101]

Do you need a pill?

[sensathug]

great commercial! ~simply amazing. Packard Bells used to be all over the place. i saw laptop from them the other day and it was a pretty rare sight. anybody hear of those pretty dark Packard Bell jokes? those used to put me in stitches!

[CelineGoddessDion]

pb is still big in europe

[bluman892]

This is an incredible complex and deep commercial from the arduous acting and slothfulness and evil associations of old world to the CGI. the overall attention to detail i thought was incredible for 1996.

[727Hushkits]

I remember when packard bell were reigning the computer market about 10-15 years ago. Nearly everyone i knew had a packard bell. Now the likes of Macintosh and Dell have taken their place. I also heared that they have been brought out by acer in 2008?

[Roadgeek]

My first computer was a Packard Bell, bought in 1995. It was a nice computer.

[sarangkorean]

@Roadgeek : My first was in 99 also a PB and it's THE WORST THING I EVER SEEN really a huge crap... Happily they do better product now

[gregvick98]

I too made the mistake of purchasing a packard bell 486sx/33 system in 1993. What a POS.

[RPZ975XL]

I would rather be at home smashing that peice of shit known as Packard Hell.

[meesternadim]

i hate packardbell, its very bad quality, it sucks, my nindendo is even better

[pinkbabyspeaks]

Yes! I WOULD rather be at home! I LOVE IT!!!

[james42101]

I was working for Packard Bell in Sacramento when they made this commercial.. it was pretty exciting when they gave us the preview of it. Imagine seeing it after all these years.

[correctmugshot]

I wish computer commercials were all like this. Now all they care about is saying their 16 MB of ram is the best! lol. (my first comp. was a packard bell w/16 mb or ram, still have it!).

[pjzamor88]

Who directed this piece? Has he or she moved on to feature work? I've been watching this ad over and over since I found it and it's making me misty-eyed. It's truly a work of art.

[pjzamor88]

I remember when I first caught this commercial back in 1996...I remember that it would give me chills every time I saw it and it still gives me chills today. It's quite possibly one of the most haunting ads I've ever seen. This clip oozes with atmosphere and I love every bit of it.

[COWESSES]

According to Ellen Ullman, this video "reflects the ultimate suburbanization of existence: a retreat from the friction of the social space to the supposed idyll of private ease." In other words, Packard Bell is trying to sell us the idea that it is better just to stay at home and on our computer rather than interact in that messy world with all those people. It's a message that is ultimately anti-democratic.

[Blackenedbarman]

I had an older packard bell

[bibliofuture]

A buddy of mine reloaded the video. If you search for iBookWatch and look under his videos you will find this video. The sound is perfect on that upload.

[acitrano]

indeed; it's great on his. i changed my link.. thanks!

[acitrano]

although unfortunate that the encoder has the audio/video sync off by a second or so...

[bibliofuture]

This happened during the upload. The file plays fine on my computer. When I uploaded to YouTube there is now the slight delay between the clip and the sound. I may try to reload the video and see what happens.

[acitrano]

the opening sequence - the imagery, the dystopian vibe - is powerful and amazing considering what it is. the ending is chintsy though.

[Drakkhim]

I hear Clancy Brown narrating.

[Druaga1]

Like its all depressing and slavery and what not to a computer. big change there

[miyabisan]

Wow. Impressively well made.

Ending sucks tho.

[ferrell]

How ironic.

As many former Packard Bell owners will surely attest, the first half is much more descriptive of what it's like to use a Packard Hell.

[Watcher3223]

I was thinking the same.

Very funny.

[reznicek111]

Thanks for posting this! I'd been telling people for years about this disturbing/striking commercial from 1996 (with an oddly mixed message) but no one seemed to recall seeing it - now I can point them to the video. Great!