First m68k Apple! SE/30, $50 find!

[LittleJackal]

I've been wanting a vintage box for quite a while but I never had the patience to scour eBay for deals. I was pretty sure I'd always end up with an SE/30 so that's all I've ever really searched for, though only half-heartedly.

On a fluke I happened to check Craigslist on Monday and found someone unloading one in what looked to be pristine condition for $50. 

Picked her up today and I could not have been more pleased with the state the SE/30 was in. Absolutely zero scratches, zero dings or nicks. A little sticker residue that a Mr. Clean magic eraser made VERY short work of.

Keyboard and mouse both original and look like they've been hardly used. I baby my personal Apple equipment and I think the keyboard I picked up is even cleaner, somehow. Mouse is flawless, no grime in the ball pit, etc. 

Now it's not ALL great news. I think it definitely needs a re-cap -- no sound, sporadic boot failures, when it does boot it errors on apps often. The case is in awesome shape, but it does need some retrobrite treatment. Yellowed with age. Both were 100% expected though, and I'm really looking forward to restoring it to fully working order!

And last but not least, I'm a UNIX nut so obviously A/UX is in my future >:3

I'm sure I'll be picking your guys' brain for items in the very near future. Really going to enjoy this project

I'll throw up some pics soon. She really is in fantastic shape.

 

[Carboy7]

The SE/30 is a really good machine, but high maintenance.Recap it as soon as you can, and if there is a PRAM battery in it, into the trash it goes. 

 

[Juror22]

Sounds like you have a really nice machine and also a good handle on what to do next.  Carboy7 is right about deep sixing the battery ASAP.  Congrats on your find and getting it at a great price.  I have found Craigslist to be a really great alternative to eBay and the like.  I'm looking forward to your work with putting A/UX on it, so definitely let us know how that goes.

 

[LittleJackal]

Thanks everyone! 

Right now the machine itself is sitting on my coffee table while I find a torx driver long enough to pull the cover. I'm getting antsy thinking about the PRAM battery so that'll definitely be the first thing that goes.

I'll probably also end up doing a few mods to quiet her down. SCSI to SD adapter, maybe a fan swap. But even before that I need to figure out a good way to get data on the SE.. Probably something about running an older OSX VM on my MacBook and picking up a USB Floppy drive. Who knows

 

[just.in.time]

I'm not familiar with A/UX, can it read PC formatted floppies out of the box?

 

[LittleJackal]

I'm not familiar with A/UX, can it read PC formatted floppies out of the box?

Not going to lie, have no idea. I'm going to guess it's unlikely