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Why you don't want a vintage 286 PC -- but I like mine anyway

VWestlife

92,189 views

I really enjoy using my 1990 NCR PC286, but I go over the reasons why an 80286 may not be the ideal vintage PC for you, especially for DOS gaming. (Or if you're weird enough to try OS/2.)

Games like Lotus III and Flight Simulator 4.0 actually run surprisingly well on this 286, mostly due to the strength of its onboard Western Digital/Paradise graphics chip, but other 286 systems with plain VGA, like IBM PS/2s, would not do nearly as well. And a 386 opens the door to a whole range of games and programs which simply won't run at all on a 286.

Many thanks to LGR, RetroSpector78, The 8-Bit Guy, and mbbrutman, short clips of whose videos I have used to illustrate some of the points I make.

20 Comments

@afrose71 6 years ago

I was part of the OS/2 product development team at IBM in the early 90s. Can't believe we've had personal computers for over 40 years now.

@3DGECASE 6 years ago

"This product is licensed to:
Steve Jobs
Apple Computer, Inc."
I almost spit my drink laughing at that.

@jamesslick4790 6 years ago

The monitor might not be "period correct", but damn, it looks "right" on that box, and it's the proper aspect ratio. Pretty!

@TRLTheRandomLab 6 years ago

That picture looks like something out of 90s Grindr

@youdud44 6 years ago

"You're using a 286? Don't make me laugh! Your Windows boots up in what, a day and a half?" -Weird Al Yankovic

@awhooley 6 years ago

when I was young our family had a 16mhz 286, many many games were played on it.. Crystal Caves, Duke Nukem, Halloween Harry, Commander Keen 1, 2, 3, and 4, Accolade grand prix, Trek (star trek clone) battle chess, prince of persia, xenon 1 and 2, and many many more... That machine was fantastic and gave us many hours of enjoyment :)

@Rouxenator 6 years ago

That is one sleek 286, glad to see it again.

@noelj62 6 years ago

1990s shirtless selfies, 2010s clothes-less selfies, 2030s self-less selfies.

@jamesslick4790 6 years ago

Okay, it's for ever and a day to load that 640x480 256 color digital photo, but in 1990, I'd have been STOKED just to be able to DO that!

@galacticusX 6 years ago

The one downvote I see must be from a grumpy spreadsheet anthusiast who still hasn't received his C80287XL math coprocessor in the mail.

@theprogressiveatheist7024 6 years ago

I was watching the part of the video where the image downloaded at 21:07 when my dad came into my room to let me know he was leaving.

@ObligedTester 6 years ago

We need a vwestlife demonstration of OS/2! Thanks for a great video as always

@TheSulross 5 years ago

the 16-bit era of mid 80s to early 90s doesn't get enough retro love - thanks for showing it some

@DMadHacks 6 years ago

9 views
9 likes
perfectly balanced

@galaxymaster 6 years ago

I wish I would find cheap old Computers like that in europe. The retro community makes everything freaking expensive over here

@PCUSER486 3 years ago

This is really bodacious! Lucky to have found this in a thrift shop! 💕

@wishusknight3009 6 years ago

That screen looked really good, especially at the end.

@jamesslick4790 6 years ago (edited)

That last photo seems modern and yet not modern based on the camera, but, I guarantee that Polaroids exist from the early '50s that are remarkably similar, LOL We people don't actually change as fast as our gear does! 😊

@zerstorer335 5 years ago

In all honesty, I think one of the few reasons I’d be interested in a 286 is the masochistic nostalgia of how limited it could be for playing games. I remember the rush of rifling through the games at the store and finally finding one that should have been able to work. But I also remember sitting around nervously around midday on Christmas Day, wondering if our new games were going to work.

@JasonStevens 6 years ago

So true about the 286/386 clock speed. On the one hand going from a 286-16Mhz to a 386DX-16 was a let down in terms of speed, but being able to run 32bit code was incredible. No, fabulous even! No more 64kb segments!! And dos in a window!