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What would be a decent price to purchase a Color Classic?

BacioiuC

Well-known member
I'm looking to upgrade from my accelerated SE to a Color Classic, but I'm not sure what budget I should set aside. What would a decent price for a Color Classic be? 300-500$? And are they affected by capacitors issues?

 

EvilCapitalist

Well-known member
Given that you're not in the United States you'd be better suited to find a Color Classic II (also sold as the Performa 275).  The low RAM ceiling (10MB) and smaller bus (16 bit) on the Color Classic make it feel like a much slower machine than its specs would suggest.

Yes, you'll have to worry about both motherboard caps and analog board caps, as both are known trouble spots.

I'd say a decent price for a CC that hasn't been recapped but still works would fall right in line with your estimate.  Obviously, you can pick up a better deal if having a super yellowed case doesn't bother you.

 

8tto

Active member
Hi,

last (and only one lately) I’ve seen fore sale in Norway vent for $230. It was realy nice and came with a StyleWriter, though probably not recapped.

I tried to sell my CC Takky for $500, but did not get any offers. It has issues, and I decided to try and fix it instead.

I’m afraid the Colour Classic II also is rather scars in Europe, at least it is in Norway.

 

Brett B.

Well-known member
Just the upgrade to a color screen could make it worthwhile but it depends what you're using it for.  A Color Classic has been near the top of my want list for as long as I've been a Mac user... one just hasn't shown up locally.  Realistically though, for me, my LC550 fills that hole and then some since it has a CD-ROM drive and is capable of higher screen resolutions, and takes up a minimal amount more space comparatively.  The CC just has that cool compact Mac feeling.

I don't know what availability is like in Europe but I would expect $500 to be a "fair" price (in 2020 terms) to pay for a nice one that has been recapped and is in working condition, on the open market.  I'd expect to pay a fair bit less for one that needs work or is beat up.

 

BacioiuC

Well-known member
Using an accelerated SE with a lot of peripherals! Quite happy with it but I would really love color support for the game I'm working on. I'm currently bidding for an SE/30, which would free up a PDS slot for me to use to add an external video card and maybe use it to hook up to a color monitor but I'll see if I can manage to snag it. I like to stay in compact mac territory and not have to go for other ones since space is quite limited in my office (even an external monitor for the mac would be too much but I'll see what I can do). As a bonus point for compact macs, I plan to carry it with me (even have a carry bag for it) to game jams (when the pandemic goes away). Even more reason to go for a color classic over an SE/30, but I'll see what my luck holds.

 

 

cheesestraws

Well-known member
I'm currently bidding for an SE/30


As someone who has used both for this purpose, the SE/30 is an enormously better machine to do development on than the Colour Classic; it's faster, its memory support isn't nerfed, and it's generally less fragile.  The only thing (and I realise it's a biggy) is that it doesn't do colour.  A Colour Classic really is an LC-class machine, and it absolutely shows.

As a bonus point for compact macs, I plan to carry it with me (even have a carry bag for it) to game jams (when the pandemic goes away).


Yes, this is the main thing the CC has going for it, its form factor and its sheer charm.  Don't get me wrong, I love mine and it's a great fun little machine to use, for all its impracticalities, and as a thing to take around and use and have fun with, it's great.  It's a lovely little machine.  It's just... really not a good development workstation, and it was never designed to be.

 

jimbojones

Well-known member
I agree with Cheesestraws on the SE/30. It's the best compact Mac in my opinion. I like it and use it more than my Color Classic. I just put 64MB of RAM in it and it flies.

The other thing to note about the Color Classic is that it's really quite heavy! You won't want to be lugging that around :)  I've also heard stories of this causing more breakages in transit :(

 
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BacioiuC

Well-known member
I agree with Cheesestraws on the SE/30. It's the best compact Mac in my opinion. I like it and use it more than my Color Classic. I just put 64MB of RAM in it and it flies.

The other thing to note about the Color Classic is that it's really quite heavy! You won't want to be lugging that around :)  I've also heard stories of this causing more breakages in transit :(
In that case, maybe a SE/30 with a graphics card and, yuck, external color monitor might be the way to go! Oh well, hope I'll win the bid, still holding strong on that one :)

p.s. I know there's a grayscale mode you can do to the SE/30 but I'm not good with soldering and never worked on a CRT before.

 

aeberbach

Well-known member
Would a SE/30 with an internal color display (and connection for an external) be the ultimate compact Mac? I think so. The only 68k Mac I'd rather have is a IIfx.

As things are I too have looked for a Color Classic but the prices they fetch are ridiculous - at least double and maybe triple the price of a SE/30, condition being equal.

 

Crutch

Well-known member
The other issue with the Color Classic is the borfed internal screen resolution of 512x384.  Almost all vintage color games demand 640x480 (which had been standard for color on the Mac since the earliest Mac II days running on an AppleColor 13” High-Resolution Monitor), so they will either refuse to start on a CC or just assume you have 640x480 and run but with a chunk of the image cut off, rending them unplayable.  I used to have a Color Classic and eventually sold it for that reason... the whole point had been to have a compact Mac that can play circa-1990 color games, but almost none of them actually work on a Color Classic.

In my experience the SE/30 is better for basically every purpose, with an external color display if you care about color.  Nowadays I run an SE/30 for everyday use and a 550c (another great machine!) for when I want to play around with color things.

 
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joshc

Well-known member
If you want a very capable 68k Mac, and if color support is essential for whatever you are intending to do with it, I would opt for an LC 475.

If the compact form factor is a must, I'd say an SE/30 is the way to go for sure.

 

BacioiuC

Well-known member
Then hopefully I get that SE/30 and get a free slot to plug in a graphics card. I'll need to update my desk for sure, for it (using a cardboard/wood compound workbench and it's not going to sustain 2 crt's).

 

BacioiuC

Well-known member
Well, I ended up getting an SE/30 with a Pro Color Server graphics card and a DB15 - VGA adapter. Until I can get my hands on a CRT for it, I'll just use an older, smaller VGA monitor. Think I just scored the whole grail. Compact to carry on the road/to jams and color support for my own stuff at home. As a bonus, freshly recapped.

 

cheesestraws

Well-known member
Well, I ended up getting an SE/30 with a Pro Color Server graphics card and a DB15 - VGA adapter. Until I can get my hands on a CRT for it, I'll just use an older, smaller VGA monitor. Think I just scored the whole grail. Compact to carry on the road/to jams and color support for my own stuff at home. As a bonus, freshly recapped.


That does sound like a really good option for what you want to do.  Nicely done :)

 

BacioiuC

Well-known member
That does sound like a really good option for what you want to do.  Nicely done :)
Well, you helped and convinced me to go down this route, I wouldn't have had considered it otherwise. I was talking with a friend/collector from my country and told him what you said and the guy dropped the mention that he had a color card and an se/30 he was willing to part with. Cost me about 400$ but I think it's worth it, especially knowing that he did the recap and it would be delivered locally instead of long distance shipping. Can't wait to get my hands on it.

Bought this 17" LCD with VGA for about 15$ online. Small enough to not break the workbench and way better than all my other widescreen 24"+ displays I own. Christmas is going to be interesting :)

 
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