Check out my Mac plus

[The MAC MANIAC!]

I got this Mac-Plus on ebay a few years back for around 200$. It came with the manual, an Imagewriter II, and a Hard drive, and basically everything you would need. . It came with 1MB of memory but I upgraded it to 4MB after the memory failed. Although it had no issues I replaced all the capacitors myself seeing how this nugget is getting older every day. I'm fairly young around 17 so I have spent a little money on different parts like rominator, which I failed to put together, this is just a learning experience right? Let me know what you think of this wonderful machine.

 

[TRyanPA]

That's a great setup! I have an Imagewriter II too and people love when I print them one of those terrible folded cards from Print Shop. It takes them back to a louder, simpler time.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Always nice to see a fellow younger person among the ranks here. We're the people who will keep the hobby going in a few decades from now...
Nice plus too!

 

[cheesestraws]

The Plus is a really good machine to play about with because they're so solid. I really like them: easy to maintain, difficult to break. You've got a nice one there.

 

[Skate323k137]

Very nice!

I have tons of extra / leftover parts for the original ROMINATOR, enough to build several of them I'm sure. If you want a fresh PCB, perhaps with the SMD chip already done, or whatever else you might need to get that back on track, I'm happy to send you one to help you along.

 

[volvo242gt]

Nice setup.

Interestingly enough, I was your age when I got my first Mac. A Plus, like yours, but, instead of a hard drive, it came with an A9M0106 Apple 3.5 Drive and a Kensington TurboMouse 3.0, as well as the carrying cases for both the computer and the printer. Paid a bit more, around $575 for the system. Granted, that was back in 1993, when the computer was only six years old.

I would recommend sticking with System 6.0.x on it. It'll run System 7, but the machine will feel very slow. My last 68000 Mac was an SE SuperDrive. Had 7.5.1 on its hard drive. Downgraded to 6.0.8. Became useable again.

 

[avadondragon]

It is SO awesome to see young people interested in this stuff! I've continually been impressed with @3lectr1cPPC 's knowledge.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Hah, thanks. I'm just a guy who's watched a lot of YouTube and read a lot of forum threads. But hey, that's generally how people get started in hobbies. It's been fun being here these past couple years.

 

[werdna]

Seconding 6.0.8. There are plenty of extensions out there to spruce it up and make life easier. Even after installing a bunch, the ram usage is a fraction of System 7’s.

 

[olePigeon]

Grab yourself a copy of Dark Castle and Beyond Dark Castle. Two of the best games that can run on that Machine.

 

[dramirez]

Grab yourself a copy of Dark Castle and Beyond Dark Castle. Two of the best games that can run on that Machine.

I second this!

 

[The MAC MANIAC!]

Grab yourself a copy of Dark Castle and Beyond Dark Castle. Two of the best games that can run on that Machine.

Will do! I recently tried getting it to run Mac web but for some reason I couldn’t getting my raspberry pi to properly receive the income serial connection from the rs232 to usb adaptor I was using. If I had to guess it’s either the adaptor or the version of raspian I wasn’t very supportive of the SLiRP package. Either way I plan to pick up on it more in the future.

 

[The MAC MANIAC!]

Seconding 6.0.8. There are plenty of extensions out there to spruce it up and make life easier. Even after installing a bunch, the ram usage is a fraction of System 7’s.

I actually tried system 7.5.5 to try running Mac web. Will admit system 6.0.8 is a lot faster but it does lack support for some programs I wanted to run.

 

[The MAC MANIAC!]

Nice setup.

Interestingly enough, I was your age when I got my first Mac. A Plus, like yours, but, instead of a hard drive, it came with an A9M0106 Apple 3.5 Drive and a Kensington TurboMouse 3.0, as well as the carrying cases for both the computer and the printer. Paid a bit more, around $575 for the system. Granted, that was back in 1993, when the computer was only six years old.

I would recommend sticking with System 6.0.x on it. It'll run System 7, but the machine will feel very slow. My last 68000 Mac was an SE SuperDrive. Had 7.5.1 on its hard drive. Downgraded to 6.0.8. Became useable again.

Its a great discussion piece, but I feel like the 90s didn’t treat these macs that well. Computers basically sort of exploded into a new era of GUIs and high performance, part of which was caused by the Mac. It left those who paid the hefty price for these things in the dust as they quickly were seen as far less capable not long later. Not to mention Steve leaving Apple basically almost set the company for its doom in the late 90s. Thankfully it came full circle in the 2000s tho right? I mean people often forget Apple almost died in the 90s trying to compete against Microsoft.

 

[The MAC MANIAC!]

Very nice!

I have tons of extra / leftover parts for the original ROMINATOR, enough to build several of them I'm sure. If you want a fresh PCB, perhaps with the SMD chip already done, or whatever else you might need to get that back on track, I'm happy to send you one to help you along.

Really it was my poor soldering skills, I neglected to buy solder braid and the solder iron I was using was too hefty for what I was trying to do. It got the job done on the analog board but made the precise work on the dominator a nightmare. I don’t understand why you can pay like an extra $50-100 for a spare set of ROMS and some other stuff but can’t pay extra for it to come assembled. One thing I failed to mention is that I bought a whole analog board because I thought the issue I faced with it not booting was on the board. It turned out to be ram related which is why I upgraded to 4MBin the first place.

 

[The MAC MANIAC!]

Always nice to see a fellow younger person among the ranks here. We're the people who will keep the hobby going in a few decades from now...
Nice plus too!

Always nice to see a fellow younger person among the ranks here. We're the people who will keep the hobby going in a few decades from now...
Nice plus too!

I actually have a Apple IIe with a monitor. No disk drives or card so I can’t even connect my floppy emu to it. So all I’ve ever done with it is mess around in basic.

 

[68kPlus]

Awesome Plus! I have one too, which I got back in 2020.
I'm actually a similar age to you, but a little younger. It really is cool to see like minded people around here!
I'd also suggest Shufflepuck Cafe, it's good fun!

 

[LaPorta]

That is a very nice example you have there. The Plus is my absolute favorite simply because it was the first machine that my family ever had. Your interpretation of the 90s events are somewhat correct in my mind. Each generation of computer blew away the next. However, what was acceptable to use also varied greatly. For instance, until the internet really became a big thing, I'd say the late 90s, people would use a Plus from the late 80s right beside a II or Quadra series Mac. The reason is the same that you can use a now ten-year old iMac next to a new one: the key, core functions are the same. Computers were used for their more pedestrian functions that we now take for granted: word processing, spreadsheets, page layouts. Throughout the 90s, it was perfectly acceptable to, say, have a printed sheet that was made on a Plus in black and white. That is akin to today a machine being able to connect to and reasonably search the internet: as long as it can do that, no one really bats an eye at how old it is. Now, the guy trying to do 3D modeling and the like back then would scoff at a Quadra and only want the newest Power Mac...just the same as someone who needs a Mac Pro today would not use a Mac Mini for their work. But, the vast majority of people used the Plus, Classic, etc, for years upon years. Another reason for that was cost: computers were a lot more expensive comparatively than they are now.

Just my view having grown up through that time. I find it very satisfying to have started as a kid with a Mac Plus, and by the time I was 18, the G4s were out, the iMac was big, and so much had changed in such a little time. A "magical" experience if I say so.

 

[The MAC MANIAC!]

Awesome Plus! I have one too, which I got back in 2020.
I'm actually a similar age to you, but a little younger. It really is cool to see like minded people around here!
I'd also suggest Shufflepuck Cafe, it's good fun!

Heres are some more photos.

 

[Skate323k137]

Really it was my poor soldering skills, I neglected to buy solder braid and the solder iron I was using was too hefty for what I was trying to do. It got the job done on the analog board but made the precise work on the dominator a nightmare. I don’t understand why you can pay like an extra $50-100 for a spare set of ROMS and some other stuff but can’t pay extra for it to come assembled. One thing I failed to mention is that I bought a whole analog board because I thought the issue I faced with it not booting was on the board. It turned out to be ram related which is why I upgraded to 4MBin the first place.

If you need one assembled I would probably be willing to solder one up. I get the frustration if you're not used to it.