4 ms·

A HN poster questioned the existence of 80286 computers with VGA displays. And then there were a bunch of Amstrad PCs with 8086 and VGA: https://www.seasip.in

by tpmx 4y ago

A HN poster questioned the existence of 80286 computers with VGA displays. And then there were a bunch of Amstrad PCs with 8086 and VGA: https://www.seasip.info/AmstradXT/models.html#pc2086 https://www.seasip.info/AmstradXT/models.html#pc2086 https://www.seasip.info/AmstradXT/models.html#pc3086 https://www.seasip.info/AmstradXT/models.html#pc3086 https://www.seasip.info/AmstradXT/models.html#pc5086 https://www.seasip.info/AmstradXT/models.html#pc5086

nottorp 4y ago
> A HN poster questioned the existence of 80286 computers with VGA displays. Young uns... I personally had a 286 with VGA back then...
- ForOldHack 4y ago
  Well, then I might as well point out, that IBM did make a 8-bit adapter for VGA, so I could use my Sony Trinitron with my PC XT 10Mhz clone. Beat the daylights out of my roommates 6Mhz AT, and ran Xenix, which most unfortunately turned me into a Xenix expert of crap ware. After a bad compile, it destroyed both drives file system, so I went back to just Windows 1.0.6, and DOS.
  - lproven 4y ago
    IBM itself or a 3rd party? Because the last IBM 8086 PC, AFAIK, was the PS/2 Model 30 and it didn't ship with VGA. It's an important difference.
    - tssva 4y ago
      The IBM PS/2 Display Adapter was a confusingly named 8-bit ISA VGA adapter. The PS/2 in the name referred to the fact that it allowed your prior generation machines to run the same graphics system as the PS/2 line.
      - lproven 4y ago
        (!) https://www.vgamuseum.info/index.php/cpu/item/1014-ibm-ps2-display-adapter https://www.vgamuseum.info/index.php/cpu/item/1014-ibm-ps2-d... How about that. TIL. Thank you.
- ido 4y ago
  My brother in law had a 286 with SVGA around 1990...
  - nottorp 4y ago
    I don't think I ever had an original VGA limited to 640x480. For a while I did have a monitor that wouldn't do more than 640x480 though.
    - ido 4y ago
      Yeah, I think these didn't last for long? Maybe only late 80s. SVGA came about pretty quick.
- 2000UltraDeluxe 4y ago
  Me too. And a Sound Blaster.
  - danielrpa 4y ago
    I played Secret of Monkey Island for the first time on a 286 VGA with a Sound Blaster...
thanatos519 4y ago
When my IBM PC 5150's CGA monitor lost its vertical sync (and I was on a BBS and vibrated my lips so I could read the text to logout properly ... really!) I got a Cardinal VGA card for the 8-bit bus. So yeah, VGA was possible all the way back to the original.

by tpmx 4y ago

nottorp 4y ago

> A HN poster questioned the existence of 80286 computers with VGA displays. Young uns... I personally had a 286 with VGA back then...

ForOldHack 4y ago
Well, then I might as well point out, that IBM did make a 8-bit adapter for VGA, so I could use my Sony Trinitron with my PC XT 10Mhz clone. Beat the daylights out of my roommates 6Mhz AT, and ran Xenix, which most unfortunately turned me into a Xenix expert of crap ware. After a bad compile, it destroyed both drives file system, so I went back to just Windows 1.0.6, and DOS.
- lproven 4y ago
  IBM itself or a 3rd party? Because the last IBM 8086 PC, AFAIK, was the PS/2 Model 30 and it didn't ship with VGA. It's an important difference.
  - tssva 4y ago
    The IBM PS/2 Display Adapter was a confusingly named 8-bit ISA VGA adapter. The PS/2 in the name referred to the fact that it allowed your prior generation machines to run the same graphics system as the PS/2 line.
    - lproven 4y ago
      (!) https://www.vgamuseum.info/index.php/cpu/item/1014-ibm-ps2-display-adapter https://www.vgamuseum.info/index.php/cpu/item/1014-ibm-ps2-d... How about that. TIL. Thank you.
ido 4y ago
My brother in law had a 286 with SVGA around 1990...
- nottorp 4y ago
  I don't think I ever had an original VGA limited to 640x480. For a while I did have a monitor that wouldn't do more than 640x480 though.
  - ido 4y ago
    Yeah, I think these didn't last for long? Maybe only late 80s. SVGA came about pretty quick.
2000UltraDeluxe 4y ago
Me too. And a Sound Blaster.
- danielrpa 4y ago
  I played Secret of Monkey Island for the first time on a 286 VGA with a Sound Blaster...

thanatos519 4y ago

When my IBM PC 5150's CGA monitor lost its vertical sync (and I was on a BBS and vibrated my lips so I could read the text to logout properly ... really!) I got a Cardinal VGA card for the 8-bit bus. So yeah, VGA was possible all the way back to the original.