Quadra 950 - worth $100?

[jpolster2009]

A lady on craigslist responded to my beckoning for old macs with the offer for me to purchase a Quadra 950 from her. She is including a boatload of software including system 7.5.3 floppies and Mac os 8.0 on CD. The quadra includes also an external SCSI yamaha CD Burner and ZIP Drive as well as an apple cd 300. I need to know if anyone else here would pay $100 for q950. I have pics of it working. No monitor but she mentioned its loaded with nubus cards including a video in card and possibly a DOS card but she isnt sure. Without knowing exactly what cards are there or the amount of ram, is it worth 100

 

[trag]

I think that only you can answer that question for yourself. If it was me, I would feel ambivalent. I feel like a Q950 might be worth about $50 to me, if I did not already have some PM9150s. However, the NuBus cards could easily add another $50 or even $150 of value, or none at all. It's a gamble. A Q950 is the kind of machine that might have received some really sweet NuBus upgrades from its original owner. Or it might be full of whatever junk so subsequent owner had laying around.

Also, keep in mind that the Q950 uses 30 pin SIMMs. It has sockets for sixteen of them, but high capacity 30 pin memory is not so easy to find nor as cheap as, e.g., 72 pin SIMMs.

If you really mean, "Will I be able to get my $100 back out of this if I buy it?" The answer is probably 'no'. Shipping charges make it difficult to sell these beasts for substantial amounts, because the buyer knows he's also going to be paying ~$50 to ship the thing.

On the other hand, if the thing has four sets of 16MB SIMMs (256MB total) then that would be worth about $100 all by itself.

 

[jpolster2009]

I guess im asking "will i receive $100 worth of excitement out of this machine" and "is this machine as rare as say, a 128k or lisa or iifx

 

[LC_575]

I've invested $120 so far in my Powerbook 1400c. I'd be willing to spend more for a Q950.

Look at it this way. If you don't like it, you can probably upgrade it and resell it at a profit. Considering all the equipment you get, it sounds like it'll be fun.

 

[Bunsen]

I think you'd get more fun out of a digital camera myself.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I wound up with two 950's. but I've never played very much with them, preferring my IIfx, Radius 81/110 and my Pile-o-Books, which take up a lot less space and are more fun to hack.

As for the NuBus goodness, if a Q950 has Video Capture, I'd figure there's a good-great Video Card and a NIC in there. I'd buy it for $100 just on the off chance that there's a SCSI 2 card in a machine that's possibly set up for VidCap and has several NuBus Cards on board!

Ask her if you can bring a monitor over to test it and let her know you can run it off a CD with a clean install of an appropriate OS and something like SlotInfo or TechTool on it to find out what Cards & RAM are in it before you buy! If she demurs, let her know that a listing of the Card/RAM specs from your appraisal could help her get a better or more reasonable asking price for it, even if you pass! }

 

[jpolster2009]

Bunsen that comment was not necessary.

 

[Gorgonops]

Bunsen that comment was not necessary.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Amen, EudiG! [] ]'>

It was only unnecessary if he KNEW that you already had a digital camera, if not, he's very likely right! [] ]'>

If there's more going on here than meets the eye, take it outside or I'm going to whip out the SawedOffPoolNoodl . . . oops, I forgot! :I . . .

. . . make that the:

of silliness abatement™ to use on BOTH of you! [}] ]'>

mode>

)

 

[jpolster2009]

bunsen is referring to the fact that if i have a hundred dollars i should get a digital camera to prove i have a lisa instead of a q950

 

[MacJunky]

Bunsen that comment was not necessary.

Bunsen is completely correct. You already have a bunch of old Mac hardware but you say that you do not have any form of camera at all. The glaring hole in your hardware-goodies lineup is a digital camera and they are useful in multiple areas of your life, not just computers.
So I also suggest that you get a digital camera.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

If you haven't got any camera at all, definitely go for a decent (at least 5 MPixel, or so, with Macro & Zoom) used digital camera over any more Macs, NuBus goodness inside or not!

There's lots more fun & excitement to be had if you go that way, IMHO, of course. )

 

[Concorde1993]

So I also suggest that you get a digital camera.

Get a Quicktake 200. It will be an added complement to your vintage Mac collection.

 

[jpolster2009]

it ended up being a crappy old 700

 

[Aoresteen]

I'd get the Q950. Put it in storage and drag it out when you have the time to play with it.