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Hitachi M1200 Notebook- Rehabilitation/use

Forum Laptops & Notebooks : General Laptops & Notebooks - Hitachi M1200 Notebook- Rehabilitation/use

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Coronado   09-30-2008 at 09:15:06 AM

I'm trying to rehabilitate an old laptop for a friend who intends to use it for college work (as in word processing, presentation creation, etc).
The following are not pictures of the actual machine, but a similar model.
Back- http://i35.tinypic.com/1zgq3ix.jpg
Front- http://i35.tinypic.com/ohqpew.jpg
Ports- http://i37.tinypic.com/29vnt46.jpg
Side- http://i33.tinypic.com/10za3qa.jpg
Pictures' source- http://www.propertyroom.com/itemdetails.aspx?l=5911398

Its specifications are the same as those described in the above link, with two exceptions: it has an OS (Win98) installed, and appears to have two PCMCIA type II card slots, one of which is occupied by an XJack phone modem.

My questions are:

  • Can either the serial port or one of the two PC card slots be fitted with an adaptor to USB? If so, what's the best adaptor to look for?
  • What should I look for in a wireless receiver card for a type 2 slot?
  • What's a good OS for a low-spec device like this?


Also, if anyone has suggestions on what to look for in RAM-upgrade PC cards, I'd be grateful to hear them.

Thanks in advance for any help.

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Bronze Laptops badge frozenlead   09-30-2008 at 04:42:08 PM
- 0 +

To my knowledge, you cannot convert a serial connection to USB.

There's nothing really special to look for in a wireless receiver for PCMCIA. External antennas are nice, but it doesn't matter. You'll need good luck finding one with compatibility for win 98.

There's a point to cross in the OS. Windows is the sure fire way to link yourself with the university, which likely uses linux and windows machines. You can use linux - but drivers may turn into an issue.

In terms of word processing, this machine gets a 2/10 and presentations I'd give it a 1/10. You can't do much with this and still make good looking documents and presentations in the modern world. I'd imagine the college has some sort of computer lab he can use - he's better off using it. You'll spend more time fighting with this and making it connectable to today than the result is really worth.

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