Been gone a long time....but i return.

[Steve_G]

I, for the first time since 2005....have liberated an actual 68k mac.

Found a rather decent Classic in working condition on eBay. 4MB (according to seller) of ram.

 

[alectrona2988]

Sweet! I own a classic myself although I am not particularly impressed by its performance.

 

[Steve_G]

I got a G3/800 ibook if i want fast, i just wanted a nice compact mac to look at and sometimes goof around with, it's a nice piece of computing history. i do intend to recap it and make it safe for the future.

 

[cheesestraws]

I am not particularly impressed by its performance.

I'm curious: what about the Classic made you think you might be impressed with its performance?

 

[alectrona2988]

I'm curious: what about the Classic made you think you might be impressed with its performance?

The fact that it was released in 1990, but oh well.
It made sense for the low-cost market but a 68020 would have been nicer.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

The Classic was about NOTHING but its $999 price point. 68020 vs. 68000 cost differential explains that in a nutshell.

 

[Steve_G]

I only got it because i like the form factor, performance to me is not an issue. It will be fun to try some games on and do some word processing on. maybe load up Infocom's H2G2

 

[alectrona2988]

The Classic was about NOTHING but its $999 price point. 68020 vs. 68000 cost differential explains that in a nutshell.

Gee, why didn't I take that into consideration... oh well, I'm too much of an embarrassment.

 

[AndyO]

I find it just a bit amusing when people talk about performance of old systems like the Classic (amongst many others) when these days we seem dissatisfied with our multi-GHz, multi-core, dedicated silicon. It isn't performance I'm interested in with these type of systems, it's the experience of owning and using them. In some ways, the comparatively poor performance is part of that, because it's amazing what you could do with them despite that.

 

[Juror22]

Working condition is nice, so congratulations - I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I got a non-working one and attempted to resuscitate it, but I was not able to find the issue with the MB (simple re-capping did not help) and I had to buy a replacement board to get mine working. I have maxed out memory and a SCSI2SD in mine, so its an enjoyable machine.

 

[alectrona2988]

I find it just a bit amusing when people talk about performance of old systems like the Classic (amongst many others) when these days we seem dissatisfied with our multi-GHz, multi-core, dedicated silicon. It isn't performance I'm interested in with these type of systems, it's the experience of owning and using them. In some ways, the comparatively poor performance is part of that, because it's amazing what you could do with them despite that.

You've got a point. Honestly what I might do with my Classic is push the original hardware to its limits, and maybe do my Classic III project in a different case. I don't know why all that didn't get through my thick skull but I've just been in a terrible mood lately.

 

[reukiodo]

I am curious though if Apple was indeed trying to budget a 68020 into the Classic, as according to http://www.emulators.com/softmac.htm ROM table, it says the Classic's ROM supports the 68020, as does the Plus and SE. According to https://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/68020/index.html there isn't a 68020 in DIP form for a drop-in replacement. I assume that would be a huge undertaking to make a Classic-like board with a PGA... but it would really be a cool idea.

 

[KennyPowers]

I am curious though if Apple was indeed trying to budget a 68020 into the Classic, as according to http://www.emulators.com/softmac.htm ROM table, it says the Classic's ROM supports the 68020, as does the Plus and SE. According to https://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/68020/index.html there isn't a 68020 in DIP form for a drop-in replacement. I assume that would be a huge undertaking to make a Classic-like board with a PGA... but it would really be a cool idea.

There are accelerators for the Classic:

 

[reukiodo]

That's quite an thick upgrade, replacing quite a bit of the components.

 

[zefrenchtoon]

Here is another upgrade possible. The Performer works for Classic too (hence the CL in its ref)

Mac Plus/SE Performer accelerator build

I just finished my build of a Performer accelerator clone for the Mac Plus/SE. Enormous thanks to @Bolle, he reverse-engineered an original accelerator and posted the board file online, along with the GAL files. Thanks to @DrGonzo, his thread on his Performer build inspired to do my own. Link...

68kmla.org