• Tag Archives Sony

  • Digital Archaeology: Sony Vaio PCG-FXA49

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    It seems that all laptop makers like to use confusing model numbers. Sony seems to have been no different. This particular model is the Vaio PCG-FXA49. If there is anything to be derived from those seemingly random numbers and letters then I don’t know what it is. Except that I’m pretty sure every Vaio notebook ever made started with ‘PCG’.

    Over the years Vaio notebooks ranged from bulky and thick to thin like most others. This one is somewhere in the middle but tends more towards the bulkier side. But somehow even the bulky models seem futuristic. Sony was always pretty good at that aesthetic. However, the hardware inside was always pretty middle of the road at best and I also think their notebooks and computers in general tended to be overpriced.

    The PCG-FXA49 features:

    • CPU: 1200 MHz Mobile Athlon 4
    • Memory: 512MB PC100 SDRAM
    • Video: ATI Rage Mobility P/M with 8MB (AGP 2X)
    • Hard Drive: Hitachi DK23CA-30 (ATA-100, 30GB, 4200RPM, 2MB Cache)
    • Optical Drive: Matsushita UJDA720 DVD/CDRW

    While it has ethernet, one important thing it is missing is Wi-Fi. Fortunately, there are two cardbus slots so it is easy to add a wi-fi card.

    Go here for more complete specs as reported by HWiNFO.

    Screen shot

    The CPU is somewhat interesting and I have never used a computer with this particular model. The Mobile Athlon 4 turns out to have been in reality the first Athlon XP. It has the same Palomino core as the first desktop Athlon XPs. I think they went with the “Mobile Athlon 4” name to make it obvious that it was competing with the Pentium 4M (the mobile Pentium 4 variant). When AMD went to the next iteration with the Thoroughbred core, they renamed their mobile processor to the Mobile Athlon XP-M.


    Mobile Athlon 4 1200 CPU

    Being one of the first Athlon XP processors, this one is slower than any desktop variant at only 1200 MHz. It also has a slower bus speed than any desktop variant at 200 MHz whereas the desktop versions started at 266 MHz. This particular laptop also uses SDRAM and most desktop Athlon XPs would have used DDR (though there were some motherboards that could take regular SDRAM as well). However, these compromises helped lower the power requirements which is useful for laptops.


    Block diagram from service manual

    In terms of speed, the Mobile Athlon 4 probably fell somewhere between the Pentium III-M and the Pentium 4M. However, because the Mobile Athlon 4 was a cheaper chip, it was usually packaged with other cheaper components so as a whole, Mobile Athlon 4 based laptops were often slower and lower end.


    Exploded parts diagram from service manual

    The ATI Rage Mobility in this laptop is a pretty good demonstration of this. It was a common video solution on lower end laptops. It was at least a discreet graphics chip so it could certainly be worse but as far as mobile 3D cards of the time are concerned it was near the lower end. Also, the 4200 RPM drive is pretty slow. This speed was not uncommon in laptops but higher end laptops would have something faster. Then the screen itself is another example. This laptop has a fairly large and nice looking screen but the resolution is only 1024×768. Another compromise already mentioned above is the SDRAM. Many (though not all) Pentium 4M based laptops used DDR memory.


    Specs

    Still, the Mobile Athlon 4 was certainly competitive and the desktop Athlon XP would beat out the desktop Pentium 4 for a while. It was really the slightly later Pentium M and its lower power use that was difficult for AMD to compete with. Even when AMD has been competitive or even beat out Intel on the Desktop, Intel has always dominated the mobile market. That seems to be true even today.

    The 32-bit single core CPU and a maximum memory capacity of 512MB really kill this laptop for any modern usage, at least if you want to use a modern OS or web browser. However, it can still crunch tasks for both Einstein@home and MilkyWay@home and probably other BOINC projects as well, even with only 512 MB of RAM, though it certainly won’t break any speed records. Click the links above to see how this laptop is doing or check out FreeDC.


    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana 📎and tagged

  • Seiko Matsuda for Sony HiT BiT HB-55 (1984)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    MSX is a standard computer architecture that was developed by Microsoft and ASCII. Despite Microsoft’s involvement, MSX was virtually unheard of in the U.S. Though there were a couple of MSX computers released here, they did not do well. However, in some markets they did very well, especially in Japan where 9 million MSX computers were sold.

    The original MSX standard called for a Zilog Z80A CPU running at 3.58 MHz, at least 8 KB of RAM (though most machines had 32 KB to 64 KB with some having up to 128 KB), a Texas Instruments TMS9918 video display processor, an AY-3-8910 sound chip and two cartridge ports among other features. Cassette and floppy drives were available but at least with the original MSX standard most software came on cartridge or cassette. MSX-DOS was the primary OS and it was similar to CP/M and early versions of MS-DOS, using the same file system for disks.

    The first MSX computers were released in 1983 and there were quite a large number of companies that released computers based on the MSX standard including Sony, Yamaha, Canon, Casio, Daewoo, Dragon Data, Fujitsu, GoldStar, Hitachi, JVC, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Sanyo, Samsung, Sharp, SpectraVideo, Toshiba, and others. Before the Famicom (A.K.A. the Nintendo Entertainment System) came along, the MSX was the primary platform for games in Japan. Many popular franchises got their start on the MSX including Bomberman, Metal Gear, Parodius, Aleste and others. Many other franchises saw releases on the MSX platform including Castlevania, Contra, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Gradius, R-Type, Wizardry, Xevious, Ys, and many others.

    The MSX standard was enhanced over the years with the MSX2, MSX2+ and MSX TurboR (which was originally to be the MSX3). The newer standards had newer built in software (e.g. newer versions of BASIC) and upgraded sound and video capabilities, larger amounts of standard RAM on average, and other upgrades. Only the TurboR had an upgraded CPU. It had an R800 running at 7.16 MHz but had an embedded Z80 for backwards compatability. By the time the MSX TurboR came along in 1989, Panasonic was the only manufacturer of MSX computers. They continued to make them up until 1993 when they stopped making them to focus on the 3DO instead.

    The Sony HiT BiT HB-55 released in 1984 was an early Sony MSX computer (their first I believe) and was fairly typical of computers following the MSX standard. It featured 16 KB of RAM (plus 16 KB of video RAM), included RF video output, composite video output and mono analog sound output. One unique feature of the HB-55 was a battery backed-up SRAM cartridge that could be used for storing data instead of a cassette or disk. It could store a whopping 4 KB of data. Japan was much better at making their computers seem sexy and futuristic. The fact that J-Pop star Seiko Matsuda was used to advertise the HiT BiT probably helped with that first part for Sony. The HB-55 also came in red and grey when computer makers in the U.S. could only even think in various shades of beige.

    Sony produced a number of other MSX computers over the years and most of them weren’t beige. There were black ones, blue ones, grey ones, and of course red which seemed to be a recurring color choice. The last MSX computer Sony produced was the MSX2+ based HB-F1XV which was released in October 1989 though that one only came in black. Most MSX computers and the Sony ones in particular looked like they were made for the future.

    The MSX is a computer I’ve never had the chance to use personally but it is one that I’ve always kind of wanted. I would love to have that red HB-55 from Sony along with the matching red Sony monitor. Maybe it’s because red is my favorite color…or maybe it’s just because of the advertising. Don’t get me wrong, I had a Commodore 64 and I wouldn’t have traded it for anything at the time but it was about as futuristic looking as a potato. Maybe from the 1960s it would have looked futuristic. However, I would argue that it did have better graphics and sound than the MSX.

    https://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/696670783077072896/contac-seiko-matsuda-for-sony-hit-bit-hb-55


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  • PSM (February 1998)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: PSM – Issue Number 6 – February 1998

    I don’t know if it was in fact the most popular PlayStation magazine but PSM (short for PlayStation Monthly) always seemed to be. The February 1998 issue includes:

    Features

    • Cover Story: Massive Resident Evil 2 Preview! – Survival horror was all the rage at the time so the upcoming Resident Evil 2 was a pretty big deal. This was a last minute preview before the game was released.
    • What Makes Good Gameplay? – This covers everything from innovation to character design to game length to difficulty level and much more.
    • Alundra: The Ultimate Secrets Guide – Getting to secret places, finding secret items and how to use them.
    • Final Fantasy Tactics: Tips and Items – Some tips on doing well in Final Fantasy Tactics as well as descriptions and abilities of all of the character classes and all of the items.
    • Star Wars: The Ultimate Secrets Guide – This covers Masters of Teras Kasi. Not the best fighting game in the world but this strategy guide will teach you all of the moves and combos for each character.
    • Broken Sword: The Complete Walkthrough – These guides can be a blessing and a curse. While it is useful to have somewhere to look if you are stuck, the temptation to look ahead and ruin the game for yourself is high for some reason.
    • Steel Reign: All the Hidden Tank Power-Ups – Each level in this tank shooter has a hidden power up and this guide tells you where to find each one.
    • Grand Tour Racing: The Hidden Bonus Levels – Three extra tracks and how to find them.

    Main Menu

    • Monitor – The latest PlayStation News: Metal Gear Solid gets U.S. release date; new 3D Contra game on the way; Eidos shows off Ninja; Sony exceeds sales goals (one million PlayStations sold in November 1997 alone); Alien: Resurrection game coming soon; info about the Net Yaroze Development system and how to get one; Tekken 3 coming soon; Metal Slug coming soon; Sony considers renaming Gran Turismo for U.S. market (but that didn’t happen); Square’s deal with Sony expires; Bushido Blade 2 in the works; Namco working on Soul Edge 2; some info on the upcoming Tenchu; other upcoming releases include Einhander, 3-D Fighter Maker, Bust A Move, Gundam the Battle Master 2, and more.
    • Reviews
      • Alundra – A pretty good action RPG from Working Designs.
      • Micro Machines V3 – The latest iteration of Micro Machines gets an ok review here.
      • FIFA ’98 – Is it soccer or football?
      • Auto Destruct – Compared in this review to a city-based Spy Hunter.
      • Nagano Winter Olympics ’98 – Winter Games on the Commodore 64 is still my favorite Olympics themed game.
      • One – A 3rd person run and gun game reminiscent of an action movie.
      • Tennis Arena – A mediocre tennis game.
      • Lode Runner – An update of the classic that doesn’t get a very good review here.
      • Reel Fishing – I was never a fan of video game fishing.
      • NBA In The Zone ’98 – An OK basketball game that might tide over fans who were waiting for something better.
      • Dragon Ball GT Final Bout – An apparently terrible fighting game.
      • Broken Sword – What turns out to be a not so great graphics adventure.
      • Ray Tracer – A racing game that looks and plays like a lot of others but isn’t as good.
      • Also a look back at Twisted Metal, WipeOut and ESPN Extreme Games
    • Previews – Previews of upcoming games, including: Bloody Roar, Gex 2, Breath of Fire III, Tekken 3, Rascal, Tonba, Newman-Hass Racing, Master of Monsters, Mega Man Neo, Power Boat Racing, Need for Speed 3, Diablo, Riven and NBA Shootout ’98.
    • Code Junkies – Codes to get infinite lives in Frogger, various easter eggs in NCAA GameBreaker ’98, a first person view in Armored Core, invincibility and level select in Fighting Force, plus tons more codes for G Police, Pandemonium 2, MK Mythologies – Sub-Zero, NHL ’98, Tomb Raider 2, Courier Crisis, Resident Evil: Director’s Cut, NHL FaceOff’ 98, Nuclear Strike, Grand Tour Racing, Colony Wars, Fantastic Four, Bravo Air Race, Castlevania X, Moto Racer, Dragon Ball GT, and more plus a bunch of Game Shark codes too.
    • Letters – Feedback on previous content, ‘Girls and Games’, questions about RPGs, retrogaming on the PlayStation, and more.
    • Reset – Coming next month, a massive Resident Evil 2 strategy guide, a preview of Dead or Alive, and the PlayStation’s craziest, wackiest games (and much more I’m sure).

    …and more!


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