I remember the first time I discovered the option in a PC BIOS to boot from LAN. I was very excited because to me it meant that I could finally do something with a PC that I had been doing with NeXT computers for a long time. Of course the first time I tried it I was immediately disappointed. It turned out that the built-in BIOS on computers had no idea how to talk to a random network interface card that had been installed in a slot. I did a little research and found out that you had to install...

At work an old HP LaserJet P2035N printer just had the fuser go out. Quickest solution was to replace it with a new printer rather than hunt down repair parts and go through the trouble of swapping them in. Looking at the price of the same printer, it's currently at close to $500. However there's what seems to be the same printer for under $200, but it's a P2035. Notice the missing N in the model number? Parallel card in P2035 The P2035 printer was ordered, and when it arrived...

A computer that I remember hearing about a lot, but had never seen, was the BBC Micro. It was a near mythical computer that "people in the know" would talk about. I really didn't know much about it, but it sounded very interesting to me. I always wanted one and now I finally have one. My BBC Micro My BBC Micro model B is the real deal, not a US conversion. Of course that presents a couple of problems. The first is the power standard is different, it wants 220/240V at 50hz,...

After doing a bit of testing, it turns out the only thing wrong with the Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer 2 that I got was the keyboard itself. I was able to get some schematics and I tested the PIA with a logic probe and manually jumpered the keyboard connector and I was able to type. This was both good and bad. It meant I didn't have to hunt down a long extinct PIA, but it meant I was going to have to repair a membrane keyboard. I took apart the keyboard to see how it was constructed...

Feeling like I don't have enough TRS-80 computers in my collection, I purchased a Color Computer 2 from eBay. There were only a few photos of it and not enough info to determine which specific version of CoCo2 it was. The seller only took the time to plug it in and say "no light, as-is untested." I got it for a good price because of that, and I'm sure because it was really dirty. Once I got it the first thing I did was hook it up and was delighted to find it works! Or at...