old latitude LM

“…a bad buy…?

As much as I love my old Latitude LM, I would have to say probably yes :(

As for monetary value, my $3300 had dropped below $200 within a few years after my 1997 purchase. Dell produced the Latitude LM from about 1994 to 1997 when it was replaced by the first Inspiron. A dollar value of an LM today might be about $40-50 in excellent working condition and perhaps a little for parts if it is not.

Although a truly great system for many years, technology has left it in the dust for a long time now, not ‘Cardbus’ capable, 16bit only, no USB possible, can’t run newer Windows, the list goes on and on.

An LM in good working order with Win98 installed will serve as a good word processor and internet browsing system; with the proper protection installed, (I recommend the free version of AntiVir’s www.free-av.com for Win98/ME).

If you need to find parts (like that special Parallel Port to Floppy Drive Cable or ‘paired’ RAM modules), you are going to find the prices absurdly high, due to the scarcity alone.

A lack of ‘Suspend-to-Disk’ is a minor issue, follow that tab that Chris mentioned and you will see that there are different versions available, depending on if you are running original Win95 or upgraded to Win98.

With WinXP, it is built into the system (and I keep it disabled anyway) but with the older systems, Dell supplied a program that you use to create a partition (before loading OS) of a size slightly greater than your total RAM for s2d.. I have the i3k version at 74MB on a 6.1GB HD, but I also have Roxio GoBack installed and this disables s2d so I boot with that same warning anyway.

You could use an Emergency Boot Disk for Win95 or Win98 (need to know which is installed) preferably with CD driver on it to operate a Win9x install/repair CD and this is where that special ‘floppy’ cable is needed.

Although I still use mine as a backup and its TouchPad is a far better than any other that I have touched, I would halt at pouring any money into it, the reliability has been fantastic though.

If you can get (not buy) the Floppy Drive with Cable and Win95  or Win98 Disk, it would be worth putting some time into getting it working; otherwise, it is a candidate for the next recycle day.

Careful shopping will find you a system for a very few hundred dollars that will be hundreds of times more capable and useful than the finest Latitude LM in the World.

Hi,

Value is a subjective thing, I knew Art would reply ! You still have a few options, you may find the floppy and cable from another brand / model will work. The other thing I would try, is taking out the HDD, using a 3.5 inch adapter and put it in a desk-top. Using the start up diskette you can download, Fdisk, Format and copy DOS with the generic CD driver. Put it back in, and then when it boots, load the driver, switch to the CD and Windows, here we come ! Worth a try, I have done similar things with other models that have worked. You may even be able to load Windows 3.1 complete on another computer. Just my thoughts.......

                                                                      Regards Chris

well now comes the fun part,I am an old **** that does not know to much about computers,I gave $25.00 at the auction and thought it mite be worth getting it set up for my grandson to use for school to take notes and such.Is this stuff you are talking about something I could do or take it to the shop? thanks jim cohan

Hi,

There are software boards, and many helpful regulars, [and newcomers ] that can help you along. It may be a fun project to do together. The adapter I mentioned would only cost a few dollars. It may not be worth taking to a shop, really it is your call.

                                                                 Regards Chris