What to buy LC475 or Performa 630

[Melkhior]

Don't know if there are any project on home build Ethernet card for the PDS slot ?

Not that I know of, but the PDS slot in the LC475 is using the interface from the MC68030, it's identical to that in the LCIII and backward compatible to the shorter, less capable slot in the LC and LCII.

There is a modern Ethernet card for the SE/30, the SEthernet/30. I have reworked my own version for the IIsi (see here).

I expect it wouldn't be very hard to do a LCIII/LC475 version. The slot is physically wired completely differently, but logically all the MC68030 signals are there so it's just a matter of doing the PCB.

 

[VMSZealot]

I have an LCIII+ that I bought from new and played Doom and Duke Nukem 3D on. At postage stamp sized resolution. I love that machine - but it seldom sees use these days - although it's been recapped and upgraded as far as it will go. Because…

Now I also have an LC475. And, as my son would say, the LC475 slaps. Essential upgrades? More memory and more VRAM. Both are cheap enough on eBay - even for new parts. A modern SCSI - SD solution (in the interests of avoiding an argument I won't specify which one!). An ethernet card. Then, if you can find one cheaply, install a full 68040 CPU (there are good games out there - including, now, Quake - which absolutely require an FPU - and SoftFPU won't cut it!). Then whack a heatsink on it - and overclock the hell out of it. I got a 33MHz rated 68040 and it's stable at 40MHz for hour after hour after hour. I use it as a development machine. It's just about the quickest 68k Mac there is now (close enough to the absolute pinnacle of speed that it makes no difference) and very very usable.

The difference between a standard 475 (even at 25MHz) and an LCIII+ (at 33MHz) is the difference between the LCIII and the LC. The poor old LCIII doesn't stand a chance.

 

[Phipli]

Weird. Not sure why mine doesn't in the Control Strip. My other one offers 1024x768 with 1MB RAM and the same adapter (not offering 1152x870 is the adaptor, because it doesn't tend to offer it for "VGA", only multisync 21")

Not really of interest to this thread, but quick test on my 512k VRAM LC 475 running B1 7.6.1...

Switches	Resolutions
VGA	640x480, 800x600
Multimode 21"	640x480, 832x623, 1024x768 (4bit), 1152x870 (4bit)

So the answer is, you need to set it to the Apple Multisync 21" mode to get all resolutions. The adapter I was using was a switchless "VGA" adapter from the G3 era that works great on a Beige G3.

@Trianon - the machine will do 1024x768 and even 1152x870 with only 512k, as long as you don't mind 16 colours. Good enough for development. Drop down to 832x624 or 640x480 if you need 256 colours. It actually looks quite good in 16 greys.

 

[MacJunky]

- LC475 has the better graphics, but I need to get 1MB VRAM first, making a PCB myself should be no issue.

Has anyone designed a pcb for this?

No need to design anything, they are already produced! These ones in particular are from Jurassic Computing in France.
I sort of regret not getting one for my LC II while I was at it, but it is what it is.

 

[Phipli]

No need to design anything, they are already produced! These ones in particular are from Jurassic Computing in France.
I sort of regret not getting one for my LC II while I was at it, but it is what it is.
View attachment 95766View attachment 95767

Sometimes... The fun isn't in just buying someone else's work.

 

[LazarusNine]

I'd recommend the 475. I used to have a few, a couple of which I donated to a righteous cause (@max1zzz). They all had various issues that I don't think were inherent to the model itself. I'm left with my Performa 630 as one of the latest model 68k machines. As others have said, the plastics are brittle. I've managed to avoid breaking anything significant, but every time I remove the faceplate, I get anxiety about breaking the clips.

While on the one hand the IDE drive makes for a more cost-effective upgrade in using an IDE-CF adapter, the 630 is very finicky and in my experience, will not accept a CF card much larger than 4GB (I've not tried with 8GB). You can still buy 4GB cards, but they're not much less expensive than those with higher capacities. Now, if money is not an object, you could just bypass the internal drive altogether and get yourself an external BlueSCSI. I've also booted the 630 off of one of those and it's a pretty good solution, though I like having internal drives.

Notably, if I'm not mistaken, the 630 uses the same LC PDS slot that the 475 has, so both machines are capable of using similar expansion cards. I have mine populated with an ethernet card that I likely pulled form one of the 475s. To conclude, the 475 has far less plastic inside the case, the plastic is more robust, the machine is lighter weight, and there's quite a robust tinkering community that's built around that form factor and that machine specifically. I'd opt for the 475. Just be prepared to sort out the PSU at some stage.

 

[Phipli]

will not accept a CF card much larger than 4GB (I've not tried with 8GB)

This is a CF problem rather than a 630 issue sadly. The same is true of almost anything that uses 90s IDE.

My understanding is that newer CF cards (read larger than ~2GB) dropped support for some of the IDE compatibility modes or something like that.

This is why you will find 2GB and smaller cards are strangely expensive on eBay.

Actual disks, I've had a 40GB hard disk in a 630 before, I think my dad mentioned using an 80GB disk in his!

I keep a stockpile of 2GB older cards. There are the occasional bigger cards that work, but I don't know how to specifically spot them.