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What's a reasonable price for a HyperDrive 20?

olePigeon

68040
Just as the title says.  What's a reasonable price for a HyperDrive 20?  Just wondering.  I know some of you have gotten really lucky with some $50 machines.

Thanks.

 
As the normal saying goes, it's whatever value you place on it and to be totally honest, this one does have a wide range of opinions.  

This particular machine has polarized views because purists believe this to be a desecrated Macintosh 512k (or 128k) and value it less than a normal 512k.  Some, (like me) feel it's actually pretty cool because it is one early example of Apple needing to make an exception to their policy on unauthorized upgrades to their computers.  I've read that some at Apple even used them internally before they allowed this upgrade to be accepted and supported.  It also appears to be actually rare because I can count on one hand the number of working HyperDrives there are here (that I've been able to find).   That said, to me it's no where near $900 (like in a particular auction at the moment) or even half that for a Mac 512k.  A HyperDrive Mac 128k?  I don't know what the 512k upgrade that is included with the HyperDrive looks like but if the original Mac 128 board is not touched, it could be near that price for someone.  

With that said, if you are in the purist's camp, I did take one of these 512K's apart, as noted in my recent thread, and moved it to another 512k and it is totally reversible without any hint that it was there (there are two solder points to the analog board).  The only issue will be the lack of uniform yellowing underneath the extra HyperDrive labels :)

The HyperDrive upgrade is an oddity.  You either love them or hate them.  Hope this helps a little. 

 
Well, I'm tempted to buy a HyperDrive.  Not sure if I want to gamble, even though it payed off really well for you. :)

I think I can get the whole thing for around $300, but wanted some opinions from the Hyperdrive fans out there.  I'd have to sell a few of my things before I commit to a buy, so I wanted to make double sure before selling off some of my stuff to invest in a Hyperdrive.

Was thinking of getting a beater 128k or 512k, then cutting open the case with the CNC router and making a replica Hyperdrive display Mac like this one:

e2884ea13487d4effcdd16f04fdb6e19.jpeg.778f46314a6aa6a7e0b844a184f07580.jpeg


Personally, I like the Hyperdrive.  It's a non-destructive upgrade (well, except for THAT one :lol: ), and it shows to the ingenuity of the earlier 3rd party providers.  Sometimes Apple even licensed and used the 3rd party solutions (like video cards, CPU upgrades, etc.)

 
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I completely agree with you.  And I've seen that picture a thousand times while researching these.  That display HyperDrive case is awesome.

he eBay one was definitely a gamble but the first one I bought from Craigslist (the HyperDrive 10) was from the original owner who had the upgrade done at great expense originally.  It actually came with all of the Mac 512k manuals and original floppies plus the keyboard, mouse and the plastic Macintosh box that the docs came in save for the fact that it was not in great condition and further disintegrated in shipping.  I had to throw it away.  Sadly, the HyperDrive manual was not among the manuals but the warranty cards were :)  

If you make one of those cases, I'd love if you could make an extra set of the plexiglass inserts.  I'll cut the case manually, if I have to.  You're only touching the rear bucket so it's not too bad to build.  The funny part of those cases pictured is that you have to look closely but they don't actually have a HyperDrive in them nor any of the parts (at least in the closer one) :)

 
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