Are the Classic and Classic II worth buying?

[BadGoldEagle]

If you follow your heart and go for a 2x800k SE, keep in mind that you can still add a hard drive/scsi2sd on top of the second floppy drive.

I plan on sticking a SCSI2SD to my 2x800k SE so I get the best of both worlds.

[Unknown_K]

Compacts looks cool with the external zero footprint SCSI drives as well.

[EvieSigma]

I did end up getting a 2x 800k SE, I'd like to put dual 1.44 floppies in it.

 

I thought a hard drive needed special brackets to fit a dual floppy SE though.

[just.in.time]

Keep in mind you will definitely have to swap the ROM chips, and maybe the IWM chip as well to use the higher capacity floppy drives... Or you can literally swap the whole logic board from an SE FDHD/SuperDrive model.  There was a NOS boxed logic board on eBay the other day for the SE FDHD.  Those logic boards (at least mine) still has two floppy drive ports on it.

 

You can fix up a bracket of sorts yourself if you really needed to for a hard drive in there.  Or the SCSI2SD isn't heavy at all and can just be fixed to the top of the floppy drive sled.  Just make sure there is something keeping the pins on the bottom of it from touching the metal of the floppy drives/sled below it.

[EvieSigma]

Would the 3D printed mount work for that too, I wonder?

[Scott Baret]

I have seen two different models of SE mounting bracket for dual floppy models with hard drives.

 

The first is simple and goes on top of the second floppy drive.

 

The other is a vertical mount that goes where the expansion slot is. I once came across an SE with two internal hard drives: one mounted in the regular slot and the other mounted vertically!

[EvieSigma]

Wow, that's insanity!

[Unknown_K]

The dual floppy with HD on top was fore those thinner 80MB Apple ROM drives.

[EvieSigma]

Okay, so just out of curiosity, how do I tell a non-FDHD/SuperDrive board from a FDHD/SuperDrive board?

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Macintosh-SE-Logic-Board-8MHz-0MB-New-Batt-820-0176-B-Vintage-Apple-Motherboard-/132008539669?hash=item1ebc527615:g:KYAAAOSwux5YMKiG

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-Macintosh-SE-661-0526-Motherboard-/122097278184?hash=item1c6d909ce8:g:pkQAAOSwhOVXfrQD

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-Macintosh-SE-Motherboard-PCB-Vintage-/322342194773?hash=item4b0d178e55:g:5JsAAOSw5cNYO5Qu

 

Aside from some differences in the PRAM battery, these three boards all look exactly the same to me.

[just.in.time]

Okay, taking a couple swings here (and assuming that the ROMs haven't already been swapped out at some point):

 

I'm guessing the first link is for 800k drives

 

Second one maybe for 800k drives

 

Third link may be an SE FDHD 1.44mb board... that desperately needs that ticking time bomb of a Maxell lithium battery tossed out.

 

Again, these are just my guesses based of some quick googling from some of the numbers in the photos.  I could be wrong., or I could be right, but someone else swapped ROMs off of them at some point in the past 25 years. No guarantees.

[BlueBoy]

You are going to have to verify the part numbers on the ROMs and floppy controller chip (IWM - Integrated Woz Machine for 800 KB drives, SWIM - Super Woz Integrated Machine for 1.44 MB drives).

 

See the details at the excellent Mac SE Support Pages: http://www.ccadams.org/se/super.html

 

From what I can see the first two you linked are 800 K roms/iwm. The 3rd has the 1.44 MB ROMs/SWIM.

 

Again, verify the pics on the board yourself before you buy. I just saw at least one board on eBay being sold as a FDHD board that has the 800k ROM part numbers in the photo...

 

Hope this helps!

 

I recently purchased an SE myself. It was a Frankenstein-SE with the 800k roms, an internal hard disk, and two internal floppy drives, one 800 k with a broken head, the other surprisingly was a 1.4 MB drive that works well after a cleaning. I also bought a board with the SuperDrive roms and a drive cage with LED which (after 3D printing a drive slot cover) looks somewhat decent and now has a working high density drive. Anyway, good luck to you on you SE.

[EvieSigma]

Thanks!

 

I plan on making it sort of the ultimate 68000 Mac, like how the SE/30 is the ultimate 030 compact when loaded up with RAM and fun stuff.

[Scott Baret]

Generally, yes, the PRAM battery is removable on a SuperDrive board. Older boards have them soldered in, but some added battery holders later. (I have a non-SuperDrive SE I'd like to do this with once its original Varta battery finally bites the dust).

 

Regarding the "machines to skip", I wouldn't necessarily stick the Plus there as long as you find one with a keyboard and an external hard drive. It's the last model that gives the feel and overall experience (silent operation) of the original Mac, but it's actually just as usable as the SE aside from the lack of an internal HD.

[bibilit]

 

I recently purchased an SE myself. It was a Frankenstein-SE with the 800k roms, an internal hard disk, and two internal floppy drives, one 800 k with a broken head, the other surprisingly was a 1.4 MB drive that works well after a cleaning.

 

Well, the 1.44 Mb will fit the SE (even the Plus) and will work fine with 800 k disks, but will not work with the HD ones.

 

So not unusual.

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I plan on making it sort of the ultimate 68000 Mac, like how the SE/30 is the ultimate 030 compact when loaded up with RAM and fun stuff.

 

That title's already taken by any maxed out PowerBook 100, but the ultimate Compact Mac title is open. ]'>

[Cory5412]

If you already have an SE, I recommend you pass these up and either buy accessories and connecting infrastructure for all of your Macs, or some parts for the SE or another system that has been needing it.

 

EDIT: Either the PB100 or the Portable is probably the ultimate '000 Mac. They shipped at 16MHz and support more than just 4M of RAM.

[bibilit]

 

Either the PB100 or the Portable is probably the ultimate '000 Mac

 

I agree, my favorite being the 100, the Portable being too bulky for me.

[EvieSigma]

The 100 is a neat machine, but their fragility makes me nervous.

 

As for not buying a Classic over a SE, well, I bought a SE instead of a Classic so...

Edited December 3, 2016 by itsvince725

[Challenger 1983]

I would rather buy an se/30 than a classic but I'm stuck with a classic

[EvieSigma]

Take it from me, you need to have a lot of cash set aside for a SE/30. Either you'll need to pay for capacitor replacement like I did or buy the tools and learn how to do it yourself.

[IlikeTech]

From what I've heard, no. They seem like a pain, because of leaky caps, and leaky batteries.

[techknight]

ive got a very yellowed albeit restored SE/30 that ill be dumping on the market soon enough. 

[Scott Baret]

One thing to consider regarding Classics...their power consumption is much lower than that of the SE, yet they provide the benefit of the internal hard drive.

 

100W for the SEs vs. 76W for the Classics. (Of course, a Plus is only 60W, but those power supplies can't run a hard drive and are barely adequate as-is).

 

The extra 24W may not seem like much, but if you use multiples of these, it's worth noting in case you have concerns about your electrical system or just want to save a little energy.

 

Energy Star wasn't a thing yet when these computers came out, but the Classic II would be my candidate to wear the badge since it gives full 030 power with a hard drive and CRT for just 76W.

[Unknown_K]

76 to 100W is not that big of a difference.

[EvieSigma]

I usually only run one of my old Macs at a time so power consumption doesn't worry me at all.