sulement's picture

My Take On The NIC

On September 3rd, 2006 sulement (not verified) says:

I have recently had the pleasure of playing with the NIC. Using the original disc shows too many limitations. The dead links, the aged and crashy Netscape 4.76 browser lead you to believe it's only current purpose is to provide you with a good working laptop CD ROM drive.

BUT, add a Puppy Linux Barebones or a Damn Small Linux hacked especially for the NIC, (a better choice, by the way), and something magic happens.

The NIC I used was given a memory upgrade from 32MB to 64MB. Good as long as you use a low-profile RAM stick. (It has to be low-profile to keep the CD ROM from tilting too far forward to allow its door to open).

I'm told the NIC can take up to 256MB of RAM. I wasn't able to try it.

The Puppy Linux is a great light-overhead version of Linux and the Dillo browser is pretty darned nice. But if you're going to make it
an ultimately user-friendly box, I recommend the Damn Small Linux.

Automatic video settings, automatic network card discovery and Firefox as the browser of choice give the old NIC a flair that makes it a kick to use.

With no hard drive, you are surfing on a virus-free, spyware-free
compact machine. If websurfing is your largest goal, this little box is the most fun you can have on a low-priced little computer.

Of course Puppy and Damn Small come with some great programs, as does
the original NIC CD. And the NIC is a pretty tweakable little box.

I have one that we pushed to run with an AMD K6-2 at about 457Mhz. thanks to the adjustable voltage and multiplier settings in the BIOS.

All-in-all, the NIC is a cool and still very useable computer. If you
are lucky enough to get your hands on one, have fun with it. It's bound to put a smile on your face.

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