Apple 800K External Drive

[dcr]

Is the Apple 800k External Drive the same as the Macintosh 800k External Drive?  Wikipedia only has a little information on it and there's no mention of the Apple 800k External Drive, only the Macintosh 800k External Drive and doesn't have a photo of the bottom.  So I'm wondering if they are the same.  I would sort of expect it to have Macintosh on the label but maybe not.

 

[Dog Cow]

Is the Apple 800k External Drive the same as the Macintosh 800k External Drive?

No, it's better. A lot better. This article explains more: Using an External 800K Disk Drive with Mac 512K

 

[olePigeon]

In fact, you can swap in a 1.44 MB SuperDrive inside it and turn it into an FDHD drive.

 

[dcr]

The one I have is Model No. M0131.

 

[CC_333]

Yeah, they both use the same mechanism, but the Apple 800k drive has extra smarts in it so it can talk to the Apple II drive interface. I think it also has a passthrough port on it for daisychaining another drive (it's disabled when the drive is used with a Mac, I think).

c

 

[Dog Cow]

 I think it also has a passthrough port on it for daisychaining another drive

Yes, it does.

 

[olePigeon]

@dcr M0131 is the "bad" one.

 

[dcr]

Okay, so M0131 is called the Macintosh 800k External Drive but does not have "Macintosh" anywhere on the drive or label?

 

[bibilit]

"M" (M0130 / M0131) is for Macintosh

"A" (A2M2053...) for Apple II series

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_External_Disk_Drive

 

[NJRoadfan]

https://web.archive.org/web/20160115045328/http://www.vintagemacworld.com/drives.html

Does Phil post here? His site is down!

 

[dcr]

From what I can gather, the Macintosh 800k External Drive (M0131) was released in January 1986 along with the Macintosh Plus.  In September 1986, Apple released the Apple 800k External Drive.  Did they continue producing the M0131 after that or did the Apple 800k drive replace it?

The Macintosh 800k drive I have appears to be the platinum version (the cable appears gray) so either Apple produced some platinum M0131s prior to releasing the Apple 800k drive or they were making both drives after the switch to the platinum color scheme.

I have not found a discontinued date for the M0131.

 

[olePigeon]

They may have sold both at one point, but the Apple 800k drive was just a much better drive.  It was also compatible with both Apple IIs and Macintosh computers.  I could imagine Apple selling the Macintosh 800k as the "low cost" version just for Macintosh computers, with an option to "upgrade" to an Apple 800k if you worked in a mixed environment of Apple IIs and Macs like at a school.

 

[dcr]

It's too bad there aren't better records for this stuff.  I think we've been spoiled by the Internet where lots of things can be looked up.

This one will probably end up primarily being used on my Mac Plus once I get its display working again.  Trying to get everything era-appropriate as possible.  I think the Mac Plus is a beige model which places it in 1986 (most likely).  The drive is questionable since it appears to be platinum.  Of course, I have no idea when the Kensington System Saver came out (whether it was sold in 1986 or not) so I may be messing up the era-appropriateness with it.

 

[Dog Cow]

It's too bad there aren't better records for this stuff.  I think we've been spoiled by the Internet where lots of things can be looked up.

There are better records for this stuff. You need to think about it. Where was all this stuff published? In the magazines.

Check Macworld or MacUser.

 

[dcr]

There are better records for this stuff. You need to think about it. Where was all this stuff published? In the magazines.

Check Macworld or MacUser.

Good point.

Too bad TidBits didn't start until April of 1990.  That was my source of Mac news for a long time in the 90s and they have an easily searchable archive.  Here's one I found on the discontinuation of the Mac Plus: https://tidbits.com/1991/08/19/adios-mac-plus/

 

[NJRoadfan]

The Apple 3.5" Drive likely superseded the Macintosh 800k drive after it was released. Going by the number of drives out there today, the Macintosh 800k drive wasn't sold that long. At that point Apple had several machines with differing DB-19 pinouts and the logic on the daisy chain board in the new drive was designed to accommodate it, thus making it "universal". There was also a push within Apple to make all their peripherals compatible with both the Apple II and Macintosh.

 

[dcr]

I looked a little while ago and my Mac Plus is a 1987 model.  A least, the copyright date is 1987.  I don't know that they would have changed the copyright date every year unless they had copyright-able changes, so I am guessing that could mean this Mac Plus was made anytime between 1987 and 1991.  So my setup won't be completely accurate to 1986 anyway.  I suppose that also means this is a platinum Mac Plus whose age has made it look beige.

 

[Dog Cow]

I looked a little while ago and my Mac Plus is a 1987 model.  A least, the copyright date is 1987. ... so I am guessing that could mean this Mac Plus was made anytime between 1987 and 1991.   I suppose that also means this is a platinum Mac Plus whose age has made it look beige.

I'd say the copyright date of 1987 marks the switch to Platinum. You could check the barcode on the bottom of the case; it should have the manufacturing date code there.

 

[tanaquil]

There are better records for this stuff. You need to think about it. Where was all this stuff published? In the magazines.

Check Macworld or MacUser.

Magazines are great and I comb through MW and  MU regularly, but with a roughly three month lead time from “press time” to the date on the cover, tracking down precise dates can be really frustrating. Usenet articles are better for the moment to moment stuff.