The Silicon Underground

Marx 55950 train set

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 11:00:33 +0000

Marx train set 55950 was an electric train set from Marx that W.T. Grant and Spiegel, two large retailers, sold in 1955. It featured Marx’s best locomotive pulling 8-wheel plastic cars. Marx train set 55950 Set #55950 was a higher-end

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FSD-2 Excelerator Plus disk drive

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 11:00:50 +0000

The FSD-2 Excelerator Plus, also known as the Oceanic OC-118, was one of the more successful third party Commodore 1541 clone disk drives. Reviewers at the time liked its compact size, easy ability to change device numbers, external power supply,

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Third generation video game consoles

Dave Farquhar — Tue, 23 Apr 2024 11:00:14 +0000

The third generation of video game consoles was less numerous than the second, with Nintendo and Sega asserting their dominance. But there was more to this generation than Nintendo, Sega, and Atari. After the game console market came back from

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Atari Portfolio: Pioneering palmtop PC

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 22 Apr 2024 11:00:22 +0000

In a 1989 television episode of Computer Chronicles, Stewart Cheifet drove into the camera frame in an MG to start up the episode and said, “A small car and a small computer,” and held up an Atari Portfolio. In this

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Marx train set 3994: A classic combination

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 11:00:43 +0000

The Marx train set 3994 is an early postwar set, dating to 1948-49. A number of retailers sold it, including Sears, Montgomery Ward, and others. It was a mid-priced electric train set, O gauge, headed by a Commodore Vanderbilt Art

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First CD-ROM drive: Philips CM-100

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 11:00:33 +0000

The first CD-ROM drive is generally credited as the Philips CM-100, a product announced in 1985 for the IBM PC/XT. It cost $1,495 when it was new and its requirements were straightforward: An IBM PC/XT with 256K of RAM and

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How to use Commodore disk drives

Dave Farquhar — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 11:00:54 +0000

If you’ve used other types of computers, Commodore disk drives can be a bit confusing. In this blog post, I will give an overview of the essential commands concepts you will need in order to use Commodore disk drives. All

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Emerson Arcadia 2001: Peak 1982 video game console

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 11:00:36 +0000

It wasn’t the only console released in 1982. It certainly wasn’t the best console released in 1982 either. But the Emerson Arcadia 2001 wrapped the state of the home video game console industry up into a tight package of a

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Marx diesel freight train set 9644

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 11:00:02 +0000

The Marx diesel freight train set number 9644 was a 1958 electric train set featuring twin diesel locomotives pulling 6-inch freight cars. It’s an attractive set and a very good example of post-war tin lithography, which was becoming something of

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NEC V20 vs Intel 80186

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 11:00:16 +0000

An acquaintance recently asked me what the difference was between the NEC V20 and the Intel 186 and why the NEC V20 makes a better PC clone than an Intel 80186. The V20, after all, was compatible with the Intel

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