Compaq Armada 7770DMT Laptop

Here is nearly thirty minutes of laptop filled goodness!

My dad picked this relatively well-kept Compaq Armada 7770DMT laptop and a much less common docking station up from the "free" pile at a garage sale. (Compaq actually calls the docking unit an "ArmadaStation".) It is fully functional, although it could stand a good cleaning and reloading of the operating system. Windows 98SE is probably the "best" operating system for this machine due to its RAM limitations. (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 would run, and is supposedly supported on this machine, but it is not well-suited to laptops.) Everything works, right down to the battery. This was from Compaq's business grade laptop line. The Armada name was used by Hewlett-Packard after their purchase of Compaq Computer Corporation.

Does anyone have any information on the Compaq NorthStar chipset...technical reference, datasheet, whitepaper, anything?

This machine has a few unique features. In particular, it has a built in power supply, so there is no power brick to lose or break. I well remember when this was new, and the advertisements that Compaq ran in computer magazines of the time. They did not stick with the built in power supply design for long. Toshiba's use of built-in power supplies on their laptops was longer lived, although they eventually abandoned the design as well.

This computer was new in late 1997 and I found one review of it still online today from PC Pro magazine:
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/laptops/1110/compaq-armada-7770dmt

The computer was priced at £4,229 including VAT, which would be US $6,886.74 (using conversion data as of 8/2/2011). Sales tax is not referred to as a "value added tax" here, yet it would still be charged.

The ArmadaStation was priced at £699 (excluding VAT) or US $1,138.29. The prices mentioned are the only ones I have found and probably would have been lower than the converted figures. They were the only prices I could find, so they will have to do.

As I only have one of these, it's more of a flotilla than an armada. :-)

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• computer
• laptop
• Compaq
• Armada
• 7770DMT
• docking
• unit
• station
• ArmadaStation
• technology
• software
• overview
• demonstration
• windows 98SE
• Compaq NorthStar
• chipset

[james42519]

why do you like to reinstall so much? that makes it not factory then since the factory os has stuff the generic one won't. i would do anything not to have to do that.

[uxwbill]

@james42519 Any computer I'm using must be trustworthy. Who knows what might be lurking in a pre-existing software installation? I'm not willing to take that chance for any computer that I use for any serious purpose.

Many computers that I get do not come from computer literate people and were often discarded because they quit working after a collection of malware built up in them.

[james42519]

@uxwbill i guess but it also breaks stuff if you don't have the factory installed os too. about every infection can be cleaned without a install too. i had trouble before. bleeping computer helped me fix it.

[uxwbill]

@james42519 Whether it breaks stuff or not is a matter of some debate. Most any driver for a hardware device can be found. Supplemental applications are another matter, though I've got many of them in a software library.

It may take so long to clean up a malware infestation that reinstalling the OS will be quicker, especially if the exact infestation is unknown--and I'd rather have a fresh OS that I can set up the way I like, and know that it's working properly.

[james42519]

@uxwbill most infections can be cleaned up in a few hours with someoen that knows how to read logs and help use some programs to do it. sure you used some stuff they used. GMER, dds, mbam, hjt ect. there really isn't any infection that is unknown unless it has came out in the last few days. i have trouble finding software on the companys site that makes something all the time. they stop giving the software to make you get new.

[uxwbill]

@james42519 Fair 'nuff. You spend those several hours cleaning things up--with the knowledge that you may or may not have gotten everything. Some things you can't ever really remove (Alureon, Zeus, misc other rootkits).

I know how this works, I clean this stuff up for people all the time.

When it comes to something I'm using personally, I demand that it be trustworthy above all else. It's worth it to me to invest the same time and just get a fresh copy of the software as a result.

[uxwbill]

@vwestlife Might have to put the Handycam into LP mode for that one! (Be very, very careful what you ask for around here. ;-) )

[Knaeckebrotsaege]

@redneckbryon dicks with PCI or ISA slots? :X

[BrianWiiProductions]

I'm getting a laptop thats Windows 95 and its a Compaq Armada.

[Jerkwad152]

It just occurred to me that "Laptop of Doom" might apply to those Sony Vaios with the exploding batteries. :D

[novachevyguy]

hey uxwbill , install a linux system on that thing , it'll be a speed demon..

[midtown292]

Very engaging video, I had forgotten Compaq made laptops; laptops were so much more interesting in the 90s!!!