A Computer Comparison Video In the Works

[Zhinü]

A while back I thought of comparing various machines together to see which one would’ve been the better buy back then and now.

One of the machines on the comparison block is the Macintosh SE, which I’ll be comparing to a similar PC counterpart that was being sold roughly around the same time.

So I hopped on eBay and grabbed the cheapest one I could find at the time, a 100-dollar untested unit that came with an Apple Standard Keyboard and a mousepad. It came weirdly packaged, but with no damage (just a lot of styrofoam), so I took and tested it. It gave two bongs and no images; so I took it back downstairs to take it apart on the workbench.




On first look it seemed pretty standard, a SE with a taped-over floppy port that was either broken or meant to be disabled. It’s also missing the FDD blank that’s supposed to be in the upper drive slot to fill it in. (Speaking of that if anyone has a spare I’ll buy it off of you).

However, some interesting… modifications were on it.

 

[Zhinü]

On the front of the machine was a LED sticking out of one of the vents at the bottom. It was loose but held in somehow. I couldn't find a hard drive light anywhere on the machine so I assumed it was for that.

The next thing I noticed while looking around was a small hole drilled on the top of the SE. I assume it's not standard.



I decided to crack it open and see what was going on.

 

[olePigeon]

Gah! The suspense is killing me. What's inside?!

 

[Zhinü]

The neckboard was slightly popped off (which I put back on).

And there's a hard drive modification of some kind. Someone set the HDD back about 2-3 inches back from the tube for whatever reason. I don't understand why. It's made by MicroNet (or installed by MicroNet), and seems to just move the hard drive away from the tube. I guess whoever installed it maybe had CRT issues? Not too sure.



I also cut out the LED as it wasn't working, and found this mess of a wire. The ends are terminated in scotch tape, and parts were shorted out. No wonder why it wasn't working.


As for the motherboard, I got pretty lucky.

A 1.44mb drive upgrade, for one. I was expecting an 800k system and got a 1.44mb system instead.


As for the RAM, i'm pretty sure I got a max of 4mb. I'm not sure though and i'll have to check when I get home.


The 40mb HDD (It's an Apple Quantum of some kind), is DOA. I can hear it spin up, but nothing more.

 

[Zhinü]

The system works otherwise! The HDD will need to be replaced (or left inside for B-roll) and the picture tube will need to be adjusted. (Possibly a replacement coming up as well because it is burned in.

I'll most likely fab a blank for the slot with the hard drive, as I don't really want a 2 floppy system, and unless I can get a standard blank, I'll have no LED. It sucks but it'll work for the video.

 

[olePigeon]

I love the LED.

What's wrong with a dual floppy system? Mount the HDD somewhere else. Dual floppies is nice.

 

[Zhinü]

What's wrong with a dual floppy system? Mount the HDD somewhere else. Dual floppies is nice.

I’m trying to get a mostly stock system for the video. Since the other machine is basically stock I wanted a machine that was similar so that I could compare the two in terms of stats and other info.

The machine was supposed to come with 1 floppy 1 hard drive, and while I’m not going to nitpick over the 1.44mb vs 800k, it’s going to not be close to stock if I tossed another floppy on and installed the HDD somewhere else.

In that vein, I’ll probably downgrade it back to 1MB of memory just for the video, then reinstall 4MB after. Either that or keep it and max the memory on the other machine.

 

[olePigeon]

Oooh, I see.

You know, with that second hole on top ... you could put a red LED. Have it blink with the floppy access. *beep* *beep*

 

[Zhinü]

Oooh, I see.

You know, with that second hole on top ... you could put a red LED. Have it blink with the floppy access. *beep* *beep*

That would certainly be interesting, but does the SE have a floppy access pin?

 

[olePigeon]

Sort of, but it was never an option. You can get one by using the connector board from an external floppy drive.