Best Compact Mac for a newb?

[PotatoBox]

I'm lookin for a compact Mac. I've been looking into the Classic model, as they seem like the most affordable on eBay. But are there other models that you guys could recommend that's fairly affordable?

 

[Juror22]

The mac SE is generally the lowest maintenance from my experience.  They can have analog board or power supply problems (same as other compacts), but don't have the MB cap problems that the SE/30 and the Classic has.  I've never had a Classic II, so I cannot really comment on those.  The Color classic has its own issues, but I would not run away from one that came my way, just because its a compact and it supports color.

 

[Elfen]

An SE with the Superdrive or FDHD label on it; it has the SWIM and Enhanced ROMs so can access 1.4M high density floppies. An SE without these labels, it has the IWM and regular ROMS, so it can only 800K floppies. At least you can put a SCSI Drive in them, and they are the strongest Macs as in they are the ones after all these years do not have bad caps issues.

The Classic is also great. It's equal to the SE on many respects.

Third place and fourth place goes to the Classic II and SE\30 respectively. The Classic II will need a recapping, but a recapping a Classic II repairs brings nearly all of them back to life. The SE\30 would be the best but they require more to fix them and get them going again. But the Classic II and the SE\30 have the faster CPUs and use more RAM (fully loaded - 10MB or the Classic II and 128MB on the SE\30).

It depends on how low you can get them for. My Classic II was found in the trash and only needed a logic board washing and recapping (about $8 in caps and 2 hours of my time) to get it fixed and running.

 

[Compgeke]

I'm another fan of the SE Superdrive (FDHD) as a beginning system. The SE Superdrive 's old enough you don't have to deal with the bad caps like the newer systems with 1.44 drives but it's new enough you can just grab a USB floppy to write disks.

If you can't track down one of those, the next best thing for a beginner system's an SE with a SCSI zip drive and a newer Mac system (or something that can write Mac disks) with an internal or USB Zip drive. While you can't easily make boot disks this way, you can at least copy some files. 

 

[PotatoBox]

Now that's another question... How do I transfer files to these things? I don't have any other Mac around the house and I only have Windows and Linux computers. But I've heard Linux supports HFS, but can it write to HFS?

 

[unity]

FloppyEMU

 

[olePigeon]

I think what unity means is, FloppyEmu. (with a link.)

That would be the easiest solution.  There's also a sale on Revision A FloppyEmus, so it's a good time to buy one.

Another option is to use Basilisk II on your Windows or Linux PC, then run AppleTalk over ethernet.  You can get a low cost ethernet AppleTalk adapter.  Mind you, it won't do TCP/IP, but it'd be enough to set up a simple AppleTalk network between your PC and your Mac.

 

[zerobotman]

An SE with the Superdrive or FDHD label on it; it has the SWIM and Enhanced ROMs so can access 1.4M high density floppies. An SE without these labels, it has the IWM and regular ROMS, so it can only 800K floppies. At least you can put a SCSI Drive in them, and they are the strongest Macs as in they are the ones after all these years do not have bad caps issues.

I can attest to the SE superdrive being a good choice. even if the HD is dead it still has the ability to boot from a 1.44 or 800 floppy, it's a very versatile machine!

 

[unity]

Thanks Pigeon! That is what I meant to do.

 

[PotatoBox]

But wheres the fun in using a floppy disk emulator? I want to feel the real disks!

 

[PotatoBox]

How much should I expect to pay for one of these compact macs in this day and age.

 

[unity]

The Superdrive 1.4mb model commands a better price than the 800k versions. So I would say $60 depending on condition would be reasonable. You can certainly find them for more or less. If you buy in bulk like me, you can really save!

If it has a hard drive, and most superdrive models do, dont expect it to work. If it does, dont expect it to last. But this can be used as a negotiating point if buying locally.

 

[zerobotman]

But wheres the fun in using a floppy disk emulator? I want to feel the real disks!

Its more for making better use of your hardware because you often need to have "in between" computers or crossover cables (to modern internet enabled pcs) which also kind of defeats the feel of going solo on floppies. That being said $79 + shipping at the sale price is still a pretty steep investment though when you consider the work involved it's pretty fair for such a great resource for die hard mac collectors. if you're big on collecting authentic software then disk is the way to go. Just remember...

 

[Elfen]

Well, in NYC, things are a bit more expensive. I seen on Craigslist old Macs go for around $100. It's a bit steep but once in a while you find a gem in the trash.

 

[Elfen]

But wheres the fun in using a floppy disk emulator? I want to feel the real disks!

Now that's a Die Hard Old Mac User!

 

[Compgeke]

Now that's another question... How do I transfer files to these things? I don't have any other Mac around the house and I only have Windows and Linux computers. But I've heard Linux supports HFS, but can it write to HFS?

One easy way of writing disks is to use an emulator to make the disks then write with something like rawwrite. Sheepshaver and iirc Basilisk II support mounting "My Computer" to allow the emulated system. Using that and diskcopy it's easy to make a Mac-formatted disk image then write from the host. This only works with 1.44 meg disks however.

How much should I expect to pay for one of these compact macs in this day and age.

I'd watch out on Craigslist and any alternatives around you. Looking on ebay for pickup only auctions also helps. I paid a whole $8 for my superdrive SE from a pickup-only ebay auction. On the local craigslist SEs of both kinds seem to sell for $40-$100 depending on condition and included accessories.