Testing an IBM Aptiva Desktop PC from 1997

This IBM Aptiva 2137-E14 was saved from an e-waste fate recently and sent to me in unknown condition with unknown parts inside. So let's open it up, look inside, power it on, and try out some software! Windows 98 and MS-DOS goodies await.

[subtlewookiee]

Oh neat, I'm glad this got to you! (I'm the one who sent it in). I forgot to get the tracking number from FedEx, and I think I missed seeing it in the unboxing video around Thanksgiving, so I was unsure its fate. Glad to see it featured. :)

[vwestlife]

A cAPTIVAting video. IBM tried advertising it by reworking Alice Deejay's song "Better Off Alone" as "Do you really want a clone?"

[HamburgerAmy]

as cool as the "10, 000.00" vintage PC's are, I kinda enjoy when you revisit every day machines that a lot of us grew up with.. we had these at a hotel I night clerked for & it was good enough to play Diablo over LAN with the clerk next door at the motel 6 xD

[TheDrewCrawford]

Holy crap, I had this exact computer (my first PC). I bought it at Office Depot and I think I paid around $1200 dollars for it back in 97. So many memories. I kept the hard drive from it for years as it was rock solid. What a trip down memory lane.

[Ranger_Kevin]

Ah, the good old days.... when the malware-protection-software actually slowed your PC down about as much as the actual malware.

[shawnbrown]

Love the content. My father had a Aptiva desktop like this(but ran Win95). We would spend hours playing Flight Sim 95 and Star Wars Monopoly. He sadly passed in 2016. Thanks for bringing back wonderful memories. and please restore this Aptiva!!

[thishereanakinguy]

My favorite part of getting an old PC is when the HDD is included. It's like opening a time capsule and bringing me back to my childhood. Yes show the restoration process!

[stennisrl]

Man, this was my very first PC growing up. Some seriously fond memories of playing Myst and the Descent II demo that came with it! Thanks for the unexpected nostalgia!

[HeadsetGuy]

I love seeing old PC restore processes, so yes, I would love to see this being restored.

[neonblurb]

There's something nice about firing up a machine like that that hasn't been touched or used in years and having a browse, it's like opening up a time capsule.

[dingdongbells]

WOW, the very first PC I ever had in my bedroom as a kid in the late 90s was an Aptiva. Literally, my dad was one of those "techie nerds" who at the time, much to the annoyance of my mother who hated computers, INSISTED that I needed it to help me grow up to be tech literate (And to play Total Annihilation with him)

[ThatMatt]

this kind of discovery of old computers and inspections is definitely my favorite content on all of LGR channels.

[warwagon]

I would love a video of it being restored. But no cuts, I want to watch the entire Windows 95 install start to finish :)

[bradskaallama]

Man, this takes me back. This was my first PC, I think we got it around 1999. No internet connection, but I remember getting PC game demos from cereal boxes and playing them on this system. Simpler times.

[MyMyMicah]

Awesome video. I was really touched by the fact there was so much information on the previous user before they passed. Would it be possible for you to pass the photos and poems onto possible relatives of the user, as you said there was emails etc. I just think this kind of data shouldn't just be deleted but given to surviving friends and family.

[davidmedal]

I’d love to see another restoration video. Doesn’t need to have a deep story behind it… just something short putting a lovely PC like this back to factory stock. Then maybe further videos with various upgrades. Great stuff!

[jordanclock]

My first PC was an IBM 2176! It was somewhat similar but had the mega cool "stealth" front panel that had a cover that slid up and down to cover the front bays.

[Astfgl]

This looks *very* close to the IBM Aptiva that our family upgraded to in late 1997. Ours had a Pentium 200 MMX in it, pretty sure an original Intel one. Other than that it's nearly the same; same case, same ATI Rage video chip, same Crystal audio chip, same horribly slow and loud Quantum Bigfoot 5.25" hard disk drive. I really enjoyed this PC, it was such a huge upgrade from our 486 and allowed me to play Quake and Duke Nukem 3D properly for the first time. It's also the first PC that I performed upgrades on myself; first basic stuff like RAM, later it would receive my first 3D accelerator in the shape of a Voodoo 2. It's also the PC that carried me into the internet age. A true classic and what a nostalgia trip.

[jonat_gabl]

There's usually a sense of contending with one's own mortality when dealing with old computers - the last two Windows 98 computers that I handled which weren't mine were to recover copies of deceased or elderly family members' documentation.

[KeithSurvell]

Oh wow, this was a nostalgia trip - that exact model was my first ever totally brand-new pre-built PC I ever had, which I got just before heading off to college.