512k in the house

[MapGuy42]

My dad paid a visit, and rather than just the 8-pin serial cable I asked for, he unexpectedly brought an entire bagged Mac 512k! He has two, you see, and I was hoping to get one a little while ago, but I went ahead and got my Mac Plus anyway. Now I am surprised and delighted to have two compacts in the house. It has an assortment of odds and ends, including an external disk drive (am I correct that even though it says 800 I will still only be able to read 400k disks with the 512k?) and this third-party mouse sled on ball bearings--I've never seen anything like it.

It's fairly dirty, and various components have differing amounts of yellow, but overall it's in good shape, and looks and sounds beautiful.

 

[mcdermd]

am I correct that even though it says 800 I will still only be able to read 400k disks with the 512k

It depends on whether or not the 512k is a 512k or a 512ke. I can't quite see in your screenshot but is there a period after "512k" on the the About the Finder screen? If there is a period, it has the later 512ke ROMs that will support 800k drives. If not, it is a 512k and will only support 400k drives.

Also, a 512ke has a model number of M0001E and the original 512k has a model number of M0001W.

 

[MapGuy42]

Little did I know, there was a disk in the external drive (I hadn't hooked it up before today). It booted up to Finder 5.1, which did show a . after 512K. Yet, the model number is M0001W by all external signs. Maybe somebody upgraded the ROM at some point - I haven't opened it up yet. But I think this is a fortunate turn of events.

Alas, the spring is missing under my left Option key. :'( (You can see it sitting depressed in the picture.) I'm sure I can figure one out to replace it.

I gave the machine a good cleaning with a washrag, and it is very clean indeed, certainly less yellow and dingy than my Plus.

 

[TheIanMan85]

I've got a soft spot the 512k and ke. I like them because they have the look and feel of the original Macintosh, but don't command the collector price. I've got one in the office, a 512k M0001W to be specific. Due to a lack of space it does not have a permanent home on my desk, but every now and then stuff gets moved a bit and I make space for it. I like the fanless operation, the sound of the floppy drive, and the sound of the keyboard. In the beginning of my collecting a beige Plus was my first compact ($50 boxed with all accessories and a boxed ImageWriter II). I used it to type up school papers and play old games.

Of course you can name a model and I can find something to like about it.

 

[Scott Baret]

"You can name a model and I can find something to like about it."

OK--go!!

1. Performa 600

2. Performa 630 series

3. PowerBook 150

4. Power Mac 4400

5. Mainstreet PowerBook

6. Core Solo Mini

 

[TheIanMan85]

Jeez Scott, make it tough on me... OK I'll see what I can do since I love going off topic.

Performa 600: It along with the IIvi and IIvx gave us the first internal CD-ROM drove option, so that's pretty cool. It also marked the beginning of the Performas, along with the 200 and 400, and was the most expensive of the bunch. A Performa 550 was my first Mac so I like Performas for that reason.

Performa 630 Series: Different model numbers based on included software and accessories? Brilliant, Spindler, brilliant. OK, there's a LITTLE sarcasm there. Did we have DOS cards before those? Certainly a small window to the Boot Camp Intel future...kinda.

PowerBook 150: Last of the "real" 100 series with squared lines and a trackball. I think boxy 100s are cool. The 190 doesn't count since I just see it as a 68k 5300. I'm surprised you didn't put the 5300 on the list, but I'd have turned around and told you a 5300cs was my first 'Book.

4400: I like it because it's a metal Mac with the floppy on the wrong side. They were "Thinking A Little Different" then.

Mainstreet PB: The Mainstreet/Wallstreet/Lombard/Pismo basic design is probably my favorite 'Book design. Granted my admiration goes up as you read the list left to right, but I'm still playing that card since looks is about all it has going for it. It gave you a laptop with the cool then-new style without spending the big bucks on the nice ones. From the back or when it was closed nobody knew you were a cheapskate.

Coro Solo Mini: I like that it brought Intel processors to the affordable Mini line.Even though the then higher end Core Duo model smokes it, the Solo was still a bit faster than the G4s it replaced.

There! I did it! )

 

[jsarchibald]

Nice, well done! Don't know how you put a silver lining on each one, but you did!

I'm the same when it comes to those "top 20 Apple fails" blogs. They always note the Newton, Cube, TAM, Portable, etc, but these are among my favourite Macs. They may not have been successful, but they pushed the boundaries and eventually led into something much more successful. I see them as a stepping stone to greatness, and am proud to have them in my collection.

 

[TheIanMan85]

Why thank you!

Can you tell I have years of sales and customer service experience? :lol:

I like having "Road Apples" and "Best of Breed" in my collection, I think they both make the most interesting examples.

 

[MapGuy42]

I've determined that, with the M0001W model number, and the ability to use 800k disks, this 512 had the Macintosh Plus Disk Drive Kit installed at some point. Add in the external drive and the bag, and this thing had a fair amount of dough spent on it. Not bad for free! (It was free to my dad as well; some years ago he spotted it collecting dust at a church, asked about it, and it was his.) I wish it had the original disks in the bag, but no such luck.