LC Opinions

[equant]

I'm tired of using my iBook to develop 68k/Newton code on, I'd like something that doesn't tip over backwards, and can use a nicer monitor, and of course I like vintage, so I'm thinking about getting an LC.

The three candidates right now are LCII LCIII and LC 475. I picked those because they seem easy to get cheap. I like the LCII Because it can run system 6. Has anyone gotten system 6 running on an LCIII?

Is the LCII or LCIII expansion slot anything to worry about? I definitely want a nic, so if it's hard to find, that'd be a good reason to nix a particular unit.

Anyway, just looking for opinions/musings on my choices and options.

Thanks,

Nathan

 

[chris]

1) I love my LC2. Great box, but I wouldn't advise buying one for more than about $10.

2)NICs are quite easy to find and work on either the LC2 or LC3, and probably the 475.

I'd say get whatever's cheapest, but if you're thinking about high RAM apps then get a LC3 or 475, because they can support a LOT more RAM than the LC2's 10mb.

 

[pee-air]

I have an LC and an LC III. I like my LC III, but my LC is fairly useless. A 16 MHz 68020 processor is quite a dog as far as doing anything practical with it. The LC III runs quite nicely. Load it up with BBedit Lite and it makes a nice little development system if you're a coder.

I like the form factor of the pizza box Macs. I think they look rather charming with a 14" Apple monitor and Apple standard keyboard. I gotta get me a Quadra 605 someday though.

PDS ethernet cards are a dime a dozen for these machines. They're quite abundant, easy to source, and cheap to buy. I probably have about nine of them kicking around here. The Farallon NICs I find to be about the best. They don't choke on autosensing switches like the Asante and Dayna cards. At least, that has been my experience.

If you can find a Farallon Etherwave card for your future LC, grab it up. It has two RJ45 ports and other machines that you may have that use Asante or Dayna cards can be connected in series, thus eliminating the need for a hub.

 

[gobabushka]

if i were u, id go for the 475, i had one a long itme ago, and its a pretty powerful machine!

 

[aftermac]

Without a doubt the 475. If you ever get the chance to pick up a Quadra 605, then use that. Best. Pizza box. Ever.

 

[luddite]

My 475 has 36 Megs of RAM and a 7200 rpm internal HDD and it runs 7.5 like a champ... ethernet cards are quite common too.

 

[equant]

Are the 475's taller than the LCIII or LCII?

 

[aftermac]

They are about the same height.

 

[LCGuy]

They are exactly the same height, as they use the exact same case. I have an LCII, LCIII and LC475, and although my LCII uses the older auto-inject style case, they all have the exact same external dimensions.

Personally, i'd go with the LC475 myself...they're easy enough to find, offer great performance, and take well to upgrades. My 475 has a full '040, 36MB RAM, a 1 GB HDD and runs OS 8.1. Goes like the clappers, too, it does.

 

[bluekatt]

ill just chime in with the rest

go for the lc 475 its the pinnacle of the lc design and what the orginal lc and lc 2 should have been right from the start

 

[Quadraman]

It really depends on what you can find and how much the asking price is, but I wouldn't get anything older than an LC III. Those early models were really poor performers given the hardware specs.

 

[equill]

Why not advance your aspirations towards a Q605, and cut out the intermediary step of trying and tiring of an LC. Apart from the fact that it can take a full 040, the Quadra can also take, with care, a 128MB RAM card. They can still be found, as can 64MB cards that work.

And a Q605 has feets!

Mine can still do a cold boot into OS 8.1 in 2m10s, most of which time is used for the 132MB (total) RAM check

de

 

[madmax_2069]

i would opt to get a LC475/P475/Q605, they are much better and more expandable than a LC II or LC III

my Performa 475 has a full 040, 132mb ram, 1mb vram a 1.2gb hdd and a ethernet card and runs system 7.6.1, it does run great. they are a nice expandable system, and once upgraded they are quite powerful.

I love my P 475, with the 128mb stick it does take a bit longer to boot. but once it does its ready to rock. its even fairly good at crawling the web if you have to get something. (if i can ever get it clocked to 33mhz or up to 40mhz it will even be that much better)

what are you coding for 68k/newton

 

[joshc]

What do you code in? Pascal I assume... Any other languages/platforms ?

 

[equant]

Why not advance your aspirations towards a Q605, and cut out the intermediary step of trying and tiring of an LC. Apart from the fact that it can take a full 040, the Quadra can also take, with care, a 128MB RAM card. They can still be found, as can 64MB cards that work.

It was my understanding that a LC 475 and a Quadra 605 were the same computer, and as such, the LC could take a full 040. Is this not the case? What are the differences between the macines? Rom?

And a Q605 has feets!

I don't have any idea what this means. I see it on the 68kmla merch, so I suppose I need to know.

 

[equant]

what are you coding for 68k/newton

I haven't coded for the Newton in years, but I used to code simple apps. I wrote a pinhole camera timer, and some other simple utilities like that. I started a pic programer, but gave up. I'm getting ready to start coding an mpd client for the newton, which is what I'm coding right now for the 68k. I was hoping to have 1.0 released today, because I'm going to Hawaii tomorrow, but it looks like I'll have to wait until I get back.

Nathan

 

[equant]

What do you code in? Pascal I assume... Any other languages/platforms ?

A little of everything I guess. I was a software engineer for 10 years before I gave it up to throw bags at an airport. C, pascal, newtonscript, perl, php, etc. Mac, Newton, Linux. My true love is assembly language for embedded hardware. Mostly I've used Pic Microconrtollers, but also some experience with Atmel; although I never did any of that professionaly (likely while I still like it).

I actually don't like pascal too much, but that's what I used to program 68k macs with in the past, and it's what I have compiler-wise. After I finish my current mac project, I'm going to start fooling around with Think C and see if I get inspired.

you?

 

[aftermac]

And a Q605 has feets!

I don't have any idea what this means. I see it on the 68kmla merch, so I suppose I need to know.

Here's where you can learn about feets.

http://danamania.com/605/design.html

 

[equill]

It was my understanding that a LC 475 and a Quadra 605 were the same computer, and as such, the LC could take a full 040. Is this not the case? What are the differences between the macines? Rom? ...

True that the Performa and LC 475 used the same board as the Quadra 605, but the Macs differed according to their intended markets. Most obviously in their cases, wrongly shown in this instance, which does not show The Feets. You have probably caught up with feets by now, and appreciate that it is an iconic and affectionate shared joke in this Army.

One can get all the benefits of a Q605 by putting its board into an LC II case. I have one such, also with 132MB of RAM, but the paving-stone ('pizza-box') form of the LC II has much less appeal than the classical curve of the Q605.

de