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OT:How rare are the Mac clone laptops?

alk

Well-known member
Very rare considering that only two models were ever really released, and one of those was unauthorized (OutBound). The only "authorized" portable was the Vertegri Research ImediaEngine which was based on a Tanzania motherboard with a 604e (barely portable at 14 lbs and not much of a laptop). At that, the machine was introduced in Canada only, and I don't think it really ever shipped.

Just who here claims to own a clone laptop?

Peace,

Drew

 

Franklinstein

Well-known member
I have (most of) an Outbound 2030V. I bought it years ago in great shape and perfect working order, but then its hard drive crapped out and my then-14-year-old self (who didn't have proper tools or replacement parts or experience) shorted out the main board trying to put a new drive in it. Sad, really. I'd like to find a new one, as I still have all of the other parts in good shape. I haven't seen any on eBay in ages, so I doubt there are more than a few remaining.

It took a camcorder lead-acid battery, which I bought new when I picked the computer up from a thrift store. It lasted about an hour and a half before needing a recharge. I'm sure it's long sulfated by now.

The mouse controller on those is neat - it's a weird textured metal rod that rolls for X-axis cursor control, and moves side-to-side for Y-axis control. It had Mac SE ROM, with a 68EC030 processor (no MMU, essentially a lightly speed-bumped '020). Its processor was socketed, there was a coprocessor socket, and the ROMs were socketed on a removable SIMM. It took standard 30-pin SIMM RAM, as well. I'm positive that the included owner's manual said that the hard drive's interface was IDE, not SCSI like is posted on everymac.com. The floppy drive was a custom Epson model. I'm pretty sure it was just a standard PC floppy drive with a special auto-eject mechanism. For what it was, it was an awesome computer.

 
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