Emmy's Dream Machine

[EmmyOcelot]

After selling my 610. I was determined to get a machine to run A/UX 3.1 get up and running. Well, few hours later I found this guy for a real steal and got it yesterday. One install and some ram configuration later, this Quadra is a screamer! Hope to find a good nubus graphics card for it to make it perfect. If anyone has ideas of cards I should look at please let me know.

 

[elbaroni]

Congrats. Always brilliant to get the one you really want. 
 

For memory the built in video on these was pretty good - it’s have to be a pretty good NuBus card. 

 

[EmmyOcelot]

This is what I had my eyes set on. It’s Better than 800*600 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/SuperMac-Spectrum-24-Series-III-Nubus-video-card-for-Macintosh-II-Quadra/184402219381

 

[cheesestraws]

This is what I had my eyes set on. It’s Better than 800*600 

Pretty sure the 650's onboard video will go up to 1152x870, but you might need to put some more VRAM in it

Very nice, though.  I'd love a 650

 

[elbaroni]

Did you end up winning it? Didn’t go for all that much in the end. 

 

[EmmyOcelot]

Yep. Dug a little deeper and found out that my wonderfully ancient Acer monitor can’t do 1152*870. Plus the onboard graphics can’t show millions at the resolution. $26 was nice grab and I’ll hopefully have it next week.

 

[ArmorAlley]

Yep. Dug a little deeper and found out that my wonderfully ancient Acer monitor can’t do 1152*870. Plus the onboard graphics can’t show millions at the resolution. $26 was nice grab and I’ll hopefully have it next week.

Even it does 256 colours at 1024*768, you are still doing well.

 

[EmmyOcelot]

Hmmm. Didn’t know that. Thanks for letting me know!

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

That's a very nice machine, never had enough interest in A/UX to play with it though. The VidCard/Display side of things is a different matter entirely. That VidCard's a nice conquest in and of itself. You might want to look at getting a 4:3 MultiSync panel to compliment its resolutions for stretch free viewing:

640 x 480 up to 24-bit

832 x 624 up to 24-bit

1024 x 768 (at 75 Hz) up to 24-bit

If you're sharing that or any other display with any oddball resolution Compact Mac VidCard, an Extron Scaler might be a more interesting way to go?

 

[elbaroni]

I’m torn between LCD panels that are 1024x768 and CRTs. The latter’s period accurate, but LCD is so much better.

Perhaps CRT for games. Perhaps I should just fix my CRTs....

Still, congrats on your dream machine. Enjoy building it. 

 

[EmmyOcelot]

If you're sharing that or any other display with any oddball resolution Compact Mac VidCard, an Extron Scaler might be a more interesting way to go?

This may be a near future purchase for me. A/UX works, but the thrift stores near me have some “nicer” old monitors. I’ll most likely then look at some of them so I can enjoy the experience a little more. If not, I may go with the an Extron Scaler. I’ll tell you though, trying to setup gcc so I can compile other programs like sudo or bash is quite the joyride. The Supermac Card comes in a week so I’ll hopefully have pictures of it running soon.

Edit: CRT monitors are great for that “authentic” experience but I’ll take a LCD for terminal viewing!

 

[cheesestraws]

I may go with the an Extron Scaler

FWIW, I have mine plugged into the internal video of my Quadra (which also runs A/UX) doing 1152 x 870 (but same as you, only 256 colours) and using it to put it onto one of my work LCD monitors via HDMI.  For their second-hand price, they're seriously decent bits of kit.  So glad I got mine.

Edit: CRT monitors are great for that “authentic” experience but I’ll take a LCD for terminal viewing!

Yup.  I'm afraid I do not miss CRTs at all.  LCDs are so much nicer for most practical purposes.

 

[just.in.time]

Nice Quadra!

I agree, team LCD here as well. As great of a picture as CRTs may have, the space required for them is so high. The weight and depth of the display seem to go up really fast on anything greater than 14 inches or so.

Dell had some decent quality 4:3 LCD displays from the 2005 to 2012 era, with many offering both VGA and DVI connections. These can usually be found at Goodwill in the $10 range or on eBay for just under $50 shipped, sometimes even less. Thanks to the engineering bathtub curve of failure rates, any that are still working today should be good for the foreseeable future, unlike many CRTs from the 1990s that are getting to the point of needing new capacitors and flyback transformers with their best days behind them.

 

[Juror22]

These can usually be found at Goodwill in the $10 range...

This is the one thing that seems to be relatively stable, price wise these days.  When I moved, I  found a couple of Samsung 17" Multisync 4:3 LCD's, one for $10 at Goodwill and the other at an estate sale for $5.  Both look great, don't weight 75 pounds and you cannot beat the price.  I just wish they came in 90's Mac-tone as a color.

 

[EmmyOcelot]

Our thrift stores here in the north Florida are have been pretty decent in mid 2000s parts. Haven’t gone in for a hot minute so hopefully when I do, I can grab an new one.

 

[EmmyOcelot]

This fella came in yesterday. Let’s give it a spin