3 things for $10 a piece. Which one should I grab?

[iamdigitalman]

So, I have a choice. Sadly, I don't have enough for all 3, sadly.

There is a Power Macintosh G3 233mhz desktop form factor. I don't see any other specs than CPU speed, but I have a MT already, and I had a AIO. Nice machines with interchangeable motherboards. I think it would be kind of redundant to have the same machine basically (the MT and the AIO's old board are both 233mhz.)

the second is a Laserwriter 4/600 PS. Nice printer, from what I have read. I have a network laserwriter, but it does not work, but still has a toner cartridge, which from what I have read can be damn expensive.

The last, and my pick, is a original Macintosh II. It looks to be a model with a hard drive (I have never even SEEN a 5.25" HD), as it has a single floppy disk. It also seems to be in some sort of vertical stand, as that is how it looks in the photo. Again, no specs on RAM. It has the 68020, which I have owned the only other machine Apple ever shipped with one, the original Macintosh LC.

So, which one should I go snag?

 

[porter]

The last, and my pick, is a original Macintosh II. It looks to be a model with a hard drive (I have never even SEEN a 5.25" HD), as it has a single floppy disk.

My MacII was upgraded (before I acquired it) with a IIx's motherboard. The harddrive was still a 3.5" one. The upgrade included a 1440kd floppy so now it's a dual floppy machine.

The downside of an original II is they need a PMMU before they can run A/UX or NetBSD etc.

 

[Unknown_K]

I would personally take the Mac II since I like those machines and need one for the collection.

I have a 4/600 PS printer and it works fine, a bit slow at 4PPM but works with just about any serial equipped mac and does 600 DPI along with having a low power use mode when on and not printing (there is no on/off switch). Can be upgraded from 2MB to 6MB of RAM but that is not common to find.

I have a G3 desktop (300Mhz 1MB RAM) they are ok but I prefer the Towers (have a 433 tower). You need to make sure that the ROM supports slave devices or you have fewer options for adding drives (unless you use an ATA card or SCSI card).

 

[porter]

I have a G3 desktop (300Mhz 1MB RAM)

Did you get it to run System 6?

 

[Unknown_K]

1MB cache, sorry.

 

[Brooklyn]

+ 1 for Mac II

 

[iamdigitalman]

alright, I shot them an email about the Mac II, asking them what precise model it was (I hope a IIfx, but I doubt I am THAT lucky.) Hopefully they know the exact specs of it, and who knows, it might have some super ultra mega rare card in it. One can only hope.

Gonna see when I can pick it up. Hopefully before the weekend. Nothing about a monitor, but I have a couple DB-15s I can use, or one of my VGAs if I can ever find my adapter again. Little bugger is too small...

 

[iamdigitalman]

Well, I just got this from the person:

It is an original 68020 Mac II with the 800k floppy drive. The original hard drive was upgraded to a 500 MB SCSI drive if I remember correctly. I have to drag it out of the closet to confirm, but I remember 500 MB. I know it has had a RAM upgrade as well, but I can't remember what it is up to. It has the Apple Mac II video card in it, but I don't recall that much about it. I don't have a monitor specifically for it. The last time I used it about a year ago, I hooked it up to my 17" Apple studio VGA monitor using a Liberty video adapter which I had lying around. I recall that it booted up and worked fine, but there was a color shift on the display. I may not have had the settings right for the Liberty adapter. It's been since 1996 since I last used the II regularly and I never used it with the 17" studio monitor I have now. The II was finally replaced with a Quadra. I brought the II back out a year later after the Quadra succumbed to a lighting strike. After that I obtained a G3 PowerMac which is for sale as well and the II went in the closet for good. I know that there is some interest in old Macs, maybe not so much in the original II's, but I figured I would try to find it a home before binning it. I do have an old Apple ADB keyboard. I may have two, I just have to dig. I also have some old Apple ADB mice and I believe a couple of old modems that are compatible with the II. I even have a Mac compatible Connectix video camera from that era. I also have some old software, games and a drafting package that I used on the II. Well that's about all I remember for now. Let me know if you have any other questions.

sounds like quite a deal. I may even see if I can trade them anything.

 

[MultiFinder]

Ooooo, sweet, lucky! Good luck with your II

 

[IPNixon]

I love my II, but unfortunately, the monitor I have a card for died (it was one of those "The Big Picture" things). And I'm sure the battery's dead by now.

It's a really nice machine though. The hard drive is quite a sight to see

 

[Unknown_K]

You mean the video was for a dual page monochrome monitor?

 

[iamdigitalman]

ok, this sounds really interesting:

I will hold the II for you. I'm glad it will find a good home. I always felt the II's were somewhat unloved. I thought it to be a fine machine, but...
I found the original 5.25" hard drive. It was still mounted in the II. I will have to see if it still boots with that drive. Just let me know when you have time to pick it up. I think you will be pleased with how clean it is. Oh and this II is special in that the PRAM batteries (there are 2) have a holder on the mobo and can be easily replaced. I thought all II's had the PRAM battery soldered to the board. Go figure.

an original Macintosh II with battery holders? I thought those did not exist!!

I am going to pick it up on Friday. It's almost an hour's drive to go get it, and that is on a good day! Oh well, it will be worth it.

 

[Bunsen]

Weell, if you want something useful, I'd say the LaserWriter, but speaking as a loyal soldier, I say:

Mac II / 500 MB / RAM upgrade / Apple Mac II video card / Liberty video adapter / ADB keyboard. I may have two / ADB mice / Mac compatible Connectix video camera / old software, games and a drafting package

$10?? LIBERATE NAOW

 

[Unknown_K]

ok, this sounds really interesting:

I will hold the II for you. I'm glad it will find a good home. I always felt the II's were somewhat unloved. I thought it to be a fine machine, but...
I found the original 5.25" hard drive. It was still mounted in the II. I will have to see if it still boots with that drive. Just let me know when you have time to pick it up. I think you will be pleased with how clean it is. Oh and this II is special in that the PRAM batteries (there are 2) have a holder on the mobo and can be easily replaced. I thought all II's had the PRAM battery soldered to the board. Go figure.

an original Macintosh II with battery holders? I thought those did not exist!!

I am going to pick it up on Friday. It's almost an hour's drive to go get it, and that is on a good day! Oh well, it will be worth it.

They exist, its a little board soldered into the space with 2 battery holders. You can still find the older batteries you solder in place on ebay on a normal mac II.

 

[LCGuy]

Get the II! Even if its an hour's drive, DEFINITELY worth it

 

[iamdigitalman]

Alright, I just got back with this baby. She's got an 80mb 5.25" HD. I dunno what happened to the other HD that he said was in it, but he probably swapped it out. no SCSI cable, but I have plenty (he needed it for something else). It has the weird socket battery mod, I must take pics of this.

There are 3 slots on the back uncovered, but only one card, the video card, which is just the standard "Macintosh II video card" AFAIK.

For an additional $5, I got:

an Apple Extended Keyboard II, with no cable, a Connectix webcam (I was told it's black and white, but you never know), and a Daystar Nubus accelerator.

He said the accelerator would not fit, but I just popped the cover, and it hooked in just fine!! I might have a nice fast Mac II here in a bit. The chip on the accelerator says "XC68040RC33M", so am I to assume it's a Full 68040 proc running at 33mhz? Will it work with this machine?

I also noticed the machine had 8,192k of RAM (8mb), and was running System 7.5.1 on it.

Does this call for A/UX? Or won't it work?

Now I just need to hook a CD-ROM to it (I am going to hook an internal one on the main SCSI chain with the HD, or can't I do this?)

edit: the accelerator LOOKS like it will fit, but the connector is longer. Is this some sort of "extended" nubus, or is it a PDS? If either way, is there an adapter I can get so it will work, or is this one of those square pegs in round holes type things?

-digital

 

[porter]

Does this call for A/UX? Or won't it work?

I refer the honourable gentleman to my previous answer.

The downside of an original II is they need a PMMU before they can run A/UX or NetBSD etc.

 

[joshc]

iamdigitalman, you may find ChristTrekker's A/UX FAQ useful:

http://christtrek.dyndns.org:8000/doc/aux/faq.html

 

[iamdigitalman]

yeah, I know what it needs to run it, but will it run? How do I tell if it has what it needs to? I don't need a 68030 upgrade, do I?

if so, I might try to put system 6.0.8 on it. Imagine how fast it would run...