Refurbing a Sony Slimtop from 1999

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I had a chance to pick up this Sony Vaio Slimtop from 1999 and absolutely could not pass it up after I've been looking for one for a few years. I needed a little work, and then a bit more work than I thought. But it wasn't too bad to get it back up and running.
I really didn't plan on making a separate refurb video for this system, I wanted to get into what is so cool about it right away. But this took a lot more time to get done than I anticipated so my choices were to throw all this footage out and skip to using the computer, or make a two videos one on the refurb and a followup on what's so special about it. People seem to enjoy videos about getting old things back into good condition so this felt like the best move. The next video is already filmed, so it will be coming up soon.
Drive Backup: archive.org/details/sony-pcv-...
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13 май 2021

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Комментарии : 491

@user-yr1uq1qe6y 3 года назад

10 years ago if someone asked me if I’d like to spend some of my day off watching dudes clean old computers, I’d look at them like they were crazy. But here I am....!

@cbw56 3 года назад

exactly same here lol

@doodles113 3 года назад

Welcome aboard!

@BilisNegra 3 года назад

While you love the stuff onscreen but almost despise, or at least don't care much about the much more capable, however humble, computer you're watching this on (a nearly 8 yr old beaten-up laptop I got for 70 bucks a couple of years ago in my case).

@milklordnomadic 11 месяцев назад

10 years ago people were looking at me crazy for watching dudes mess with old computers on the internet 😅

@dbozan99 3 года назад

At 14:38 you mention using ddrescue for failing drives in the future but IMO when doing preservation you should always assume that the drive is failing and just start with ddrescue. You never know when the drive might fail and you might only have one shot! Booting the drive was also really risky and put a bunch of wear on the drive. Loving the videos, keep it up!

@Ptero4 2 года назад

Came here exactly to mention ddrescue.

@confusedkemono 3 года назад

Gotta love how 75% of the comments are about Shelby's cat (completely understandable!)

3 года назад

The hardest part: do not allow myself to be distracted by the cat-business happenings so being able to focus on the computer ;)

@TommyAgramonSeth 3 года назад

I have to agree. "Wow, this computer is rea- KITTY!"

@TheSulross 3 года назад

or just decide that this is really more so a cat video than a vintage computer video

@BertGrink 3 года назад

If you can pull that off, you have stronger willpower than me.

@allentoyokawa9068 Год назад

My cat died today..

@adamsavard535 3 года назад

Petition to start a Cat Tangents channel. I need more cat in my life.

@ps5hasnogames55 3 года назад

get a girlfriend then

@jaywing9764 3 года назад

@@ps5hasnogames55 Giggity

@rommix0 2 года назад

@@ps5hasnogames55 Ba-dum-tsssssh

@patricktrakzel9657 Год назад

@@ps5hasnogames55 And her name should be Catherine.

@Ozfrank 3 года назад

Какой толстый шикарный котэ! What a fat, adorable cat!

@JarosawSzadkowski 3 года назад

And yes! The cat is adorable ;)

@BilisNegra 3 года назад

It does very much live the typical home cat life, without absolutely any care in the world.

@AmstradExin 3 года назад

You have one lick, cat. Make it count!

@gilah6565 3 года назад

Еще бы не лез куда не просят)

@brianmarshall6746 3 года назад

This is really great. Sony VAIOs, both desktops and especially laptops, stood out in the late '90s and early 2000s. In an era of generic beige boxes, Sony's design team was just on fire. Those systems were so pretty. They charged you about a $1000 premium versus what everyone else was charging for the same components, too. As a result, it never really made sense to plunk down the extra money (at least not for me as a young adult gamer, as money was tight). Yet the design aesthetics that Sony had going for its VAIO line were incredible. This video really brings the nostalgia, and isn't that the point of this hobby? Great video.

@prismstudios001 3 года назад

The cat’s tail startled me good st the start of this!

@ZeroHourProductions407 3 года назад

That vocal protest from the kitty

@victorvangrimgamming6784 3 года назад

Am I the only one who noticed that cats are often in computer videos. LGR, David does tech, Craft Computing, and a few outgers I can't remember. I'm not saying it's bad, but its funny

@ptzzz 3 года назад

Did you mean Dawid Does Tech Stuff? I agree with the cats being around on the vids are kinda funny.

@visu7135 3 года назад

the 8 bit guy too

@Okurka. 3 года назад

That's why they have to clean out their computers so often.

@visu7135 3 года назад

@@Okurka. No. Dust always collects too fast. No matter how many pets you have.

@schmatzler 3 года назад

Cathode Ray Dude also features his cat quite often. :D

@j81851 10 месяцев назад

Love your kitty reminds me of my Prince who was one of the sweetest cuddliest baby of all my babies over the years. I lost him several years ago but to see your baby reminds me fondly of my sweet baby boy bringing back pleasant memories. Love your channel!

@DarkVeilGaming 3 года назад

So THAT'S what that keyboard is!! I saw a keyboard that was incredibly similar (has the palmrest flap thing) at a thrift store and I almost grabbed it, but figured I didn't need anymore keyboards. Definitely gonna snag it if it's still there! Edit: Oops forgot to update! Sadly the keyboard was gone :( (along with the CRT that was next to it, hopefully someone bought it to build a cool retro setup!)

@ptzzz 3 года назад

I share the feeling of not needing any more keyboards. At some point I had like 8, some PS2 and some USB. Now down to 6 and maybe 5 after I give another one away to a buddy who needs a keyboard.

@DerekWitt 3 года назад

"Ah, a keyboard. How quaint!"

@DanSaundersYT 3 года назад

the PS4 took inspiration from this design 😂

@StrawberryServal 3 года назад

Well they're both a Sony! Quite a time gap though...

@amirpourghoureiyan1637 3 года назад

I'd say more the PSX dvr, but I can see where you're coming from though

@genzo53 3 года назад

You meant *PS5

@MuscarV2 3 года назад

Wow, a box standing... It's as "similar" to a white Xbox as what you "think". It doesn't even work as a joke because it's so dumb. And as said, it's PS5, how the fuck do you get that wrong? That only puts another nail in the coffin of evidence that you're immensely stupid.

@spungbob_spare_pant 3 года назад

@@MuscarV2 Anger nerd

@alexisnik19911 3 года назад

So good to see these retro (now) VAIO machines with the original software! Thanks for the video!

@themadoneplays7842 3 года назад

AWW love your cat, especially when it tried licking your thumb (my cat does that too!)

@subtledemisefox 3 года назад

My orange cat will gently nibble on my hand if I don't pet him when he's feeling needy lol

@larrywilliams8010 3 года назад

And did you also notice how he held his thumb out for the cat? That's what Cat Lovers do. :)

@ironhead2008 3 года назад

Kitteh be like: No, dammit, I AM THE STAR HERE!!! Fetch me a Mahi Mahi steak human!!! By the by, about the only thing that system needs is a PCI Voodoo 3 and you'd have an awesome little glide pc.

@humidbeing 3 года назад

I replaced a lot of those Seagate drives in the early 2000s.. We called them condom drives because of the rubbers.

@jondough76 3 года назад

I thought you'd missed some spots while you were cleaning the case. Turns out I just really need to clean my monitor.

@timothyverbist5795 3 года назад

That VAIO monitor seems to be one of the first flat panel monitors!

@TheOriginalCollectorA1303 3 года назад

That is a really cool setup, Vaio systems always have interesting designs!

@Leahi84 3 года назад

I loved Sony Vaios so much. I never had a Vaio desktop, though always wanted one. But I had a Vaio laptop in the mid to late 2000s.

@nickwallette6201 3 года назад

Half the laptops I’ve ever owned were VAIOs. Small, light, good screens and track pads... I’ve moved to the MacBook Pro now, which was inspired by VAIO. Apparently I have a type.

@thelastNokiauser 3 года назад

Same here!

@jvcox9665 3 года назад

Love how he pays attention to detail, great job keep up the great work. Glad I came across your videos, I'm now a sub!!!

@SubwooferVideosx Год назад

i love your videos, been binging them

@Keullo-eFIN 3 года назад

Gotta love the cat. :3

@Fuzy2K 3 года назад

My dad had a Sony VAIO desktop back in 1999. It wasn't a slimtop, but it was still pretty cool. It came with a few Star Wars games because Episode I was coming out in the theaters at the time. It had a DVD ROM drive, so my dad got a 21" Sony Trinitron monitor, which was, at the time, the second largest monitor I'd ever seen (the largest being my brother's Gateway Destination monitor which was BLOODY HUGE). I miss that computer.

@patricktrakzel9657 Год назад

Huge and heavy.

@Fuzy2K Год назад

@@patricktrakzel9657 I remember the box it came in had these plastic handles that held it together, and to unbox the monitor, you'd unhook and remove them, then pick up almost the whole box, leaving the monitor and the bottom of the box on the floor. :P

@TonyBMan Год назад

Thank you for uploading all your notes and software to the Grand Archives. You're doing the lord's work!

@DavidWonn 3 года назад

I don’t know which I liked more, the PC or your cat! Anyway since this is Windows 98, before Microsoft broke the internal search feature, it’ll be a breeze to find the location of the wallpaper, among other things.

@naikjoyx4291 3 года назад

I really like this whole form factor... and of course how compact it all is.

@Halterung01 3 года назад

I really loved the depth you went in to demonstrate imaging a failing IDE drive on linux. Also that diff command. I learned a lot today :D

@itsGeorgeAgain 3 года назад

The mouse reminds me of the PlayStation mouse, and the rest of the thing has PS2 dev unit vibes ...

@SKY11211213 3 года назад

I cant wait for the next video!!!

@ianphilip6281 3 года назад

Shelby, I prefer ddrescue/gddrescue, dcfldd or dcfldd over vanilla dd for any work especially imaging. Ddrescue in particular is fast and fairly safe thanks to its configurability, syntax is very similar as you'd expect. Perhaps give them a try if you get the time to take a look. Also, it supports using a map file so it can pick up where it/you left off if interrupted.

@valerieeslick6324 3 года назад

I love the aesthetic of the mid to late 90's

@sprybug 3 года назад

Oh wow! I worked on one of these back in the day when I was a computer repairman. It was around '99 too if I remember it right.

@codenamegamma 3 года назад

For the feet, since the shape is just a Pyramid with the top cut off, it shouldn't be very hard to model replacements and 3D Print them. just get some smaller rubber feet to go on the top and it should be basically good as new. matching the color would be hard but a normal grey PLA probably won't be too far off.

@darthrevan1344 2 года назад

Outstanding video and many thanks for the Internet Archive upload!!!…These Sony machines are beautiful

@satysin630 3 года назад

What a beautiful computer. Sony really knew how to make a superb looking system. For a 1999 TFT that screen looks incredible as well. Is it as good in person as it looks in the video? It looks so sharp with good colours and contrast. The keyboard looks and sounds a dream as well. I know mechanical keyboards are more popular but 90s membrane keyboards have a special place in my heart, so comfortable to type on. The mouse... well yeah it is what it is ;) Thanks for the video, not had a great week and a nice 40 minute break to sit and watch this was just what I needed.

@RetroGadgetMan 3 года назад

I have the Sony PCV-LX1 windows me version of this machine, which I did a video about. Your example is in much better condition than mine. Such an unusual machine and a great find.

@ThatBulgarian 3 года назад

what is this video about? i was just looking at the cat

@1980sGamer 3 года назад

I believe that mouse was actually made by Logitech. They made a lot of mice for OEMs. That scroll wheel design looks very similar to a mouse I opened up a long time ago that I do recall being made by Logitech. Try sourcing a Logitech mouse from around the same time frame and i bet it would have a scroll wheel that you could use.

@PhillyMJS 2 года назад

Except for the two buttons and scroll wheel, that mouse looks absolutely identical to the Apple Desktop Bus Mouse 2 from 1993. In 1999 it was a new era for them and I doubt they’d care that anyone copied a 6 year old mouse design. Of course, in 1999 Apple was shipping that awful hockey puck mouse, a step backward in mouse design for them.

@dormcat 3 года назад

3:29 "This thing is like, purrrfect."

@FennecTECH 3 года назад

Oh god. Those missing feet :(

@Danny-wv8ec 3 года назад

That monitor has that weird hinge because some models came with a touchscreen and stylus. No wonder Steve Jobs' favorite computers were the Sony VAIOs, I can't think of any other computer that had these features back in 1999.

@anancient24 3 года назад

What a comfy episode.

@TheClau809 3 года назад

> This is a prebuilt. This isn't really supposed to be opened up and modified > The case opens up with two plastic clips, not even one single screw PLEASE take me back to when all devices were this repairable

@_marlene 2 месяца назад

Sony (and particularly the Vaio) design language is some of my favorite of all time. Just beautiful

@Eppopower 3 года назад

Hey @Tech Tangents, I love your content. I listen to these video's during work or to go to sleep, and watch them during my free time, but I do have some pointers if you'll accept 'em. I recommend you to compare your build & refurbish video's to LGR's. I think for example, that when you input some soft background music, and remove the sound when fast-forwarding, it could increase the overall viewing/listening pleasure of those parts! Keep going strong!

@CptJistuce 3 года назад

Man, I had forgotten how lovely Sony's computers were at the turn of the century. I've never owned a prebuilt, and learned a mild disdain for them early on, but... damned if I didn't want a Vaio anyways.

@TheXarus Год назад

Never even had a laptop?

@CptJistuce Год назад

@@TheXarus Well, never a new one. I've picked a few elderly ones up from folks who consider a decade-old computer useless.

@TheXarus Год назад

@@CptJistuce Me too, me too haha

@jay3fox 3 года назад

I have fallen in love with your cat!! - I have to say he stole the show! lol

@m3gAnac0nda 3 года назад

I believe it's a she. I had the exact same. Crazy...

@art2k179 3 года назад

The computer looks so clean I wished more computers looked like this!

@LeftoverBeefcake 3 года назад

Always liked that Sony bucked the trend of the boring beige box with the lovely purple-ish & blue-ish gray color scheme (though IIRC I think IBM was trying a black color scheme on some of their machines around this time which was pretty sharp too).

@TheGamerWithMore 3 года назад

i am excited for this video.

@PaulinesPastimes 3 года назад

It's very interesting and also really nice looking. Very pretty. Looking forward to the exploration. I love the way cats have an annoying and endearing way of trying to take over when you are trying to do some work. Your car was determined to be petted, no matter what. 🐱 😊👍

@TyTytheCat2004 3 года назад

I need to buy one of these for old DOS experimentation.

@SUCRA 3 года назад

Thanks for another great video, Shelby. First of all that's a great cat, my partner's cat is just like it, apparently only female cats have that fur color patern. Your video alerted me that I need to backup my Sony PCV-W20, I also made a video about it, people are asking for the drivers, I think I can help by saving the system32 folder. Congrats on the find, sony things are really cool, I love their design on retro systems, specially their MSX, those look so good. Thanks for another one and I can't wait for the next!

@Okurka. 3 года назад

This is the first time I got an allergic reaction by watching a video featuring a cat.

@tjmichael 3 года назад

14:08 Glad you found an accredited IT professional and power linux user to help you image the disk.

@TJDunaway 3 года назад

It's recommended to have a second keyboard for these purrfessionals to relax on as well.

@cadeanderson422 3 года назад

3:29 "This thing is like, purrrfect"...as he pets his cat haha

@DerekWitt 3 года назад

Kitty's infatuated with the keyboard. "I wants. I sits!"

@John-uc6gb Год назад

Cute cat. Mine sometimes sits on the keyboard. Great video I had a VIO laptop many years ago. Thank you

@Rubycon99 3 года назад

That company from Poland you mentioned does really good work. Their case badges look 100% professional.

@zilog1 Год назад

now thats an aesthetic i love. awesome.

@samuelschwager 3 года назад

Sweet system!

@daw7563 3 года назад

Those rubbery seagate drives really sucks, happy to see it was still working for you. EDIT: spoke to soon...

@Alexis_du_60 3 года назад

Ech I've got a Maxtor DiamondMax in my iMac G3 that makes similar worrying noises, I keep hearing a lot of horror stories about DiamondMax HDDs but mine's still kicking since 1999... lol

@DavidWonn 3 года назад

That’s an unusual location for the Num Lock key, even on a truncated keyboard such as yours. Ordinarily I’d see it combined with Scroll Lock in such scenarios, though that’s more common on laptops.

@amberselectronics 3 года назад

Grew up using one of these. Wish I could find one.

@mcamp39004 3 года назад

I had a Vaio mini tower circa 2002 paired with flat screen trinitron crt. It was my first windows PC. Up until then I’d only had a Mac IIsi and a first gen iMac. I still use the powered speakers that came with it.

@olik136 3 года назад

For the mouse wheel you may be able to use that SUGRU stuff Ben Heck sometimes uses for modified controllers

@dave4shmups 3 года назад

Great video on this Sony Vaio! I love the cat, too! Did you ever do a video on that PC that's running Kubuntu?

@pcphilanthropy 2 года назад

Just did a video on one of these myself. Great little machines.

@osgeld 3 года назад

I worked for a refurb house in 2000 did a ton of that family of systems, always liked the form and style but just like now I was into hot rod gaming PC's and it wasnt going to cut my needs... ever since I kind of wish I bought one (cause they were grade B+ refurb's and cheap, and always liked them)

@draggonhedd 3 года назад

Hey Shelby i have the enitre theme and cursor pack for this if you need it, with all those wallpapers too. They are some of the best windows themes and cursors and i use them on all my pre-vista systems

@HeyImGaminOverHere Год назад

That rubber sleeve is stock for those drives. I have a few in storage and all of that series came with those sleeves.

@janmrog 3 года назад

great video

@Satelitko 3 года назад

Thanks for the Win98SE key :D

@beatadalhagen 3 года назад

I'm wondering if you could get the mouse wheel printed in some sort of semi-flex.

@yourproblemthesolution Год назад

Great video, love the old pc rebuilds. However, why were you so worries about the drive and the software though? I'd bet a W98SE install would take care of most drivers and I just looked the system up, though Sony doesn't have any drivers for it, I readily found some by a google search. Anyway, love the vids, they got me back into vintage pc's after being a computer nerd back in the nineties.

@WuschelWolf 3 года назад

I'm glad the cat is back too!

@thedungeondelver 3 года назад

From a design point of view, this thing is kind of Amiga like. Low profile, PCMCIA card slot on a desktop, etc.

@scottcol23 Год назад

Fun fact, the VAIO logo which stands for Visual Audio Intelligent Organiser... is supposed to be a sign wave (analog) and a 1 0 (digital binary code) signifying the evolution of sonny's products.

@vaiotuber Год назад

I learned a long time ago that VAIO stood for Video Audio Integrated Operation.

@scottcol23 Год назад

@@vaiotuber look it up dude

@willouboy 3 года назад

Beautiful vintage computer

@kaydot6889 3 года назад

I was just thinking "man, I haven't seen TT post in a while" like 20 minutes ago lol

@xPaulRulesTheWorldx 3 года назад

I would like to hold your cat! So cute!! Awesome video as always :)

@KingGameReview 25 дней назад

I'm glad I'm not crazy with those SD card readers not showing up. I have never once gotten them to work on any motherboard of ever tried.

@MrHamof Год назад

For the feet, there's a process to make rubber parts using 3d printing. Maybe something to look into? I don't know the details but Robert Finger used it to make some parts for his bike restoration project and it seemed to work really well.

@LaskyLabs 3 года назад

I miss when sony made computers...

@BCProgramming 3 года назад

My old Toshiba Satellite 440CDX had a similar effect with the display. I didn't get it new, but I got it in 2001 when it was about 5 years old, and it always had that effect. So it's possible it was just how the LCD tech of that time period looked. (And explains why we didn't flock to LCD screens as soon as they were available!)

@nicwilson89 Год назад

11:19 Oh hey, I have one or two of those drives from some of my old machines still! :D

@computercloset6165 3 года назад

Dude I saw this exact setup for sale on OfferUp too! Do you live in AZ?!

@nathantron 3 года назад

TIL that soft rubber eventually becomes conductive?

@NelsonBigGunP200Fan Год назад

that rubber around the drive is to protect the PCB from shorts. its called a "seashield" seagates barracuda and U series had it to protect the PCB from shorts and static shock that can make it lose data or die.

@darkwinter6028 3 года назад

I suspect that the scroll wheel can be replaced with one from another non-Sony mouse; but you might have to find a surplus store that has a big bin of them to find the right one. Alternatively, you could 3D print one with a resin printer... won’t be rubbery, but you could texture the surface for traction.

@m1geo 11 месяцев назад

There are specialist tools for recovering broken harddisks. I'd use those to grab a disk image. They prioritise ordering to get the highest recovery rate, and will retry failing reads at different seek and access approaches.

@cemsengul16 3 года назад

Kitty loves the old Vaio too.

@mndlessdrwer 2 года назад

Aww, your cat is so sweet.

@LouisCYUL 3 года назад

For keycaps a good tool is an ultrasonic cleaner. My guess is the mouse wheel hydrolyzed, old polyurethane soles also do that.

@FreeportHometown Год назад

LOL the cat trying to sleep was so funny

@thedopplereffect00 3 года назад

Don't forget to replace the teflon pads on the bottom of the mouse. There should be somewhere online that sells that with a sticky backing that you can cut to size.