Performa 6400

[joshc]

What should I use it for :?:

 

[Gil]

Word processing?

HTTP server?

The possibilities are endless. :-/

 

[Franklinstein]

Their internal subwoofer is actually fairly decent, so with a good set of speakers it can make a nice little audio station. Plus, since it can accept IDE hard drives, a drive spacious enough to store your entire MP3 collection can be installed without issue.

With the TV Tuner card, and a VCR or something (since normal broadcast TV will soon disappear), they can also be used for light video duties; kids usually don't complain about watching The Brave Little Toaster on a smaller-than-60" display.

They're fairly competent machines under OS 8.6 (which can run the earliest versions of iTunes), though hard-core gaming is kind of out of the question. StarCraft and Diablo play decently on them, though.

 

[Rodus]

^^seconded, use it as a jukebox/retro games machine. Max out the RAM and stick in an ATI 128.

 

[joshc]

Well I found a use for it...BeOS!

Installed it last night with no problems at all. It runs very well. As for using it as a jukebox, at the moment it has no Ethernet so it's not too easy to get MP3s on there. I will agree that the subwoofer does seem quite powerful (it certainly echoes the startup chime throughout the house). :lol:

 

[tmtomh]

Well I found a use for it...BeOS!
Installed it last night with no problems at all. It runs very well. As for using it as a jukebox, at the moment it has no Ethernet so it's not too easy to get MP3s on there. I will agree that the subwoofer does seem quite powerful (it certainly echoes the startup chime throughout the house). :lol:

Nice! BeOS is really fun - and it's gotta be the quickest, simplest install around.

It is a drag, though, that there are so few Mac ethernet drivers for BeOS. Built-in ethernet is supported on the 7300-9600 series, but not the Apple (or anyone else's) CSII cards on the 6400/6500 series unfortunately.

It's been years since I ran BeOS on my PM 6500-based PPC Color Classic, but there is a PCI ethernet card (Farallon or Realtek - one of the major brands) that's natively supported by BeOS.

NetPositive (the browser) lacks a lot of modern CSS and javascript abilities, but it's amazing how fast it still is.

Overall, I can see why Apple was thinking of buying Be for their new OS in '97 - it's sort of like a cross between Rhapsody and OS 9.

M