Just scored a 128K for $76 bucks on eBay!! Woo hoo!!

[krye]

I currently have 2 Mac 512s, a Mac Plus, a Mac SE, a Mac Classic, and a Mac LCIII. I've been dying to get my hands on a Mac 128K for about 2 years now. I haven't been able to win one on eBay. And believe me, I watch eBay weekly. I've bid on several of them and I always lose out at the end. They keep hitting $200 bucks and higher, and that's just a little too pricey for me. I really wanted to get one for a $100 or under.

A few weeks ago I saw one on Craig's List with an external floppy, keyboard, mouse, and all the original disks and manuals for only $100!! I couldn't believe it. The drive was only 2 hours away! A small price to pay for such a hook-up. I contacted the guy, but to my disappointment, he had sold it 2 days prior and forgot to take the listing down. I was so bummed.

Today, I'm happy to report that I just scored a 128K on eBay for a mere $76 bucks! With keyboard, mouse, and in working order!

I can't wait for it to come in. All it needs (as far as I know) is a battery door cover. And that's easy enough to come by. There's a few on eBay right now. Also, I'm in the process of restoring one of my 512s to working order. I got it on eBay for $36 bucks because it was poorly stored and has a lot of rust and corrosion inside. If I can't get the logic board in working order, then I might swipe the battery door off that and part it out.

Can't wait to post pictures!

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Lookin' forward to seein'em! :beige:

 

[mcdermd]

If you can't get the 512k logic board working, want to sell the ROMs? I need a pair of original 512k ROMs (and a pair of 128k for that matter) to restore an upgraded board.

 

[jsarchibald]

I just hope it's a 128k board inside. My recent mega conquest included a 128k, but when I got it home, it had a 512k upgrade inside. Damnit! Good luck!

 

[krye]

I'll be mighty upset if it's been upgraded. I'll just have to grab parts on eBay as I see them. In any case, it'll be nice to finally own a 128.

 

[krye]

My 128K was delivered today!

The machine is well-yellowed, but overall free from scuffs and scratches; and is relatively clean. Looks like this guy was well taken care of.

I thought the 512s I recently picked up were pretty yellow, but looking at the keyboards side-by-side it’s easy to see that the 128K is far worse. 128K on the top, 512K on the bottom:

The seller on eBay was not the original owner of this Mac because he didn’t appear to know what was up with the switch hanging out the back. I though maybe that it was connected to a fan that had been modded into the case or something, but it turned out to something completely different. First order of business was opening it up to check it out.

The inside is almost spotless. No cob webs. No rust. No corrosion.

So that little switch on the back leads down to the logicboard and is attached to a homemade prototype board. What could it be?

I pulled out the logicboard to find that the previous owner had modded this pristine original 1983 board to accept 8 Megs or RAM! A cool mod, but NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! I was really hoping that the board was original and untouched. On the bright side, at least it wasn’t upgraded to a Mac Plus or 512K board.

Fortunately, he soldered DIP sockets to the board and popped the 512K RAM chips into them. So if I wanted I could easily remove them and put original 8K chips back in. (If I can find them.)

As usual, the internal 400K floppy drive isn’t reading disks. It’s not even accepting them. So I think it needs some grease and a little TLC. I’ll just have to add it to the growing list of floppy drives that I need to repair. At least it powers on! That’s a start, but with the floppy drive on its back, I couldn't boot it up to see what the switch does.

Memorial Day weekend is coming up. Looks like it’s going to be a dip-a-thon!

 

[cjtmacclassic]

That proto-board looks interesting. I wonder what it is. Maybe a video output? Probably not, though.

 

[Byrd]

Of the handful of 400K drives I've come across, all had seized due to the lubricant drying up. Recall a site which detailed where you needed to clean, but can't find it any more.

I'd consider the 8MB RAM upgraded to be a nice score! At the very least it makes the Mac usable, and it's still a 128K 99.9% of the way.

JB

 

[jsarchibald]

When you said a 128K, I thought you meant it was badged as 128K. But, it's an original Macintosh, before the 128K branding, so an even better score. I would have paid $76 gladly!

 

[trag]

Of the handful of 400K drives I've come across, all had seized due to the lubricant drying up. Recall a site which detailed where you needed to clean, but can't find it any more.

About fifteen years ago I had a pair of 400K drives new in the sealed anti-static bags, which I had bought with a lot from an Apple Service Center. Both of those drives were seized up.

So those drives seize at the drop of a few years or maybe a decade. A little alcohol to clean the old lubricant-turned-to-varnish and a little lithium grease fixed them right up.

I'd consider the 8MB RAM upgraded to be a nice score! At the very least it makes the Mac usable, and it's still a 128K 99.9% of the way.

I don't see how it could possibly be 8MB of RAM. The Mac 128/512/Plus can't address more than 4MB. The address map doesn't support more. Maybe if someone rewrote the ROMs, but I think it more likely that it's a smaller RAM upgrade.

 

[~Coxy]

8 Mbit, perhaps? :b&w:

 

[Solvalou]

I don't see why your so upset, 128k is almost a totally useless amount of RAM. If I got that Mac and found that inside i'd be over the moon! Especially since it looks a well done mod and is quite unique in the sense it's a home made jobbie. Hell, I wouldn't be dissapointed if it was a 512k Mobo inside, who will know unless you open her up? :

 

[theos911]

From a collector's standpoint, I think it is more about having an authentic machine, than having a ratrod'd one..... Irregardless of how neat said ratrodding may be... :

 

[bibilit]

Of the handful of 400K drives I've come across, all had seized due to the lubricant drying up. Recall a site which detailed where you needed to clean, but can't find it any more

I found this one concerning 400K drives, can be helpful.

http://www.vintagemacworld.com/400kflop.html

 

[olePigeon]

Irregardless of how neat said ratrodding may be... :

*twitch*

 

[krye]

I finally got my hands on a working 400K drive. I was able to pop it in the 128K and boot it up. Turns out, it is still a 128K. The little switch that was modded to the main board bumps the RAM up to 512K. Kinda neat. Eventually I'll get a non hacked board for it. But it is nice to see that it is indeed still a 128K. I was really looking forward to using the machine and getting a feel for how much you can do with 128K. Plus, like said before, it's all abut getting an authentic machine.

Booted up in 128K mode:

Flicking the switch on the back and booting it up bumps the RAM up to 512K:

 

[bibilit]

Very nice

And nice mod anyway.

 

[mcdermd]

Coolness. I'm a little jealous but my 128k should be complete by the end of the week. I also had a 128k that was upgraded with a mux board and larger 256 kbyte DRAM chips. I stripped the mux board and put 64kbyte DRAM chips back in. 400k drives and original ROMs will be in by the weekend.

Are you going to leave your board as-is or restore it?

 

[theos911]

Eventually I'll get a non hacked board for it.

I mainly collect the various portables, but have been looking into the compacts lately. If you decide to not keep the board, keep me in mind. :beige: