Where to read more
MacIntosh System 7.5
The older Macs are still good machines for many users. My 10-year-old daughter
has a Mac IIcx, and my wife most often uses a Mac LC. We also recently
have refurbished a couple of Mac LC III's (bought for $100 at online auctions)
for the use of friends with limited money. Here are some hints for a tune-up.
What's good about the Mac ?
When you consider that you can buy a new PC with more power than you need
for about $500, including CD-ROM, modem, 2GB of hard disk and a 14" monitor,
it seems kind of silly to spend at least half that much for a 4-5 year
old Mac. But the Mac still has a lot going for it:
- It is easy to use. Windows 98 is almost as easy - because it has adopted
most of what the Mac has had all along. But I still find it easier to explain
the Mac than Windows to a beginner.
- The older Macs tend to come with older, tighter version of the
applications; bloat came to MacOS later than to Windows.
Thus, when you give them all the memory they can take (which is
cheap these days) they run better than when they were new.
- Many well-equipped machines are sold inexpensively because their owners
have decided they are old and obsolete.
Which models are good ?
Let's face it: Every computer today will need to run a WWW browser. That
means you need to have 8MB of RAM, and a color display. This rules out
the old "compact Mac" models. Apple
has an online database of specifications for older machines; it's a
bit hard to find, and it's quite technical, so the following pre-digested
assessments of common models may be helpful.
- Too old:
- Original Mac, Mac512K, Mac Plus, Mac SE, SE/30 and Classic
All of these have the 9-inch screen, which is too small for a browser,
and are black and white which makes them unsuitable for looking at pictures.
With the exception of the SE/30, they also cannot accept enough memory
to run System 7, which is required for the QuickTime extension needed by
the browsers.
-
Borderline:
-
Mac LC
No virtual memory, which limits it to 8MB of memory. (When you plug in
2 30-pin 4MB SIMMs, it will have 10 MB, but it can only use 8.) Cute microphone.
Fairly compact, and good looking. Cannot run any system newer than 7.5.3.
Consider running7.1 which uses less memory than 7.5.
-
Mac IIcx
This would be a great machine, except that the EPROM (the hardwired part
of the system code) is not 32-bit clean, so it requires a special system
extension, named MODE32,
before it can run in 32-bit virtual memory mode and use memory above 8
MB. With MODE32 it can use up to 32MB (8 30-pin 4MB SIMMs). Cannot run
any system newer than 7.5.3.
-
Good:
-
Mac LC III
Same compact good looks as the LC, but fully capable of running 32-bit
virtual. Memory slot is a single 72-pin SIMM slot which can accept up to
128MB of Fast Page Mode RAM. Give it 16MB or 32MB and it will be very happy.
Video up to 832 x 624 in 8-bit mode. Can run system up to 7.6.1.
-
Mac IIvx a.k.a. Performa 600
68030 can support 32-bit virtual memory. Built-in video limited to 640
x 480, but can take a NuBus video card. System 7.6.1.
-
Quadra 650, 700
High-performance system supported by System 8 software. Video up to 1152
x 870 (requires 1MB VRAM expansion).
Where to buy
The best sources I have found are:
- eBay auctions
- they usually have a good selection of both computers and
printers (H-P DeskWriter models)
- NexComp - systems as well as spare
parts (replacement boards, power supplies etc)
- Fry's Electronics - for memory, cables, disk drives etc
Here are some recent (1999-09-20) offers from NexComp:
- PowerBook Duo 280c, 24MB RAM / 320 MB HD ........ $225
(Color display, 68LC040 @ 33MHz)
- Same, with Duo Dock, 13" monitor, ext kbd ....... $490
- LC III (68030 @ 25MHz) 12 MB RAM / 200 MB HD .... $115
- Same, with ext kbd, mouse, 13" color monitor .... $199
- PowerMac 6100/60 (PPC 601 @ 60 MHz) 24 MB/1GB ... $219
- Same, with ext kbd, mouse, 13" monitor .......... $379
- PowerMac 6100/60CD with Ethernet, 4x CD-ROM ..... $259
Tune-Up Tips
So now you have an old Mac on your desk ... what should you do to it ?
- Memory. At least 8 MB, 16MB if it will take it.
- Update your SCSI disk device drivers on non-Apple disk drives. With System
7.5, Apple changed the specifications for the disk drivers. Apple's HD
SC Setup 7.5.3 program must be patched to allow it to recognize non-apple
drives (see this
article): Use ResEdit to change the singe byte in resource "wfwr:67"
from 00 to FF. Without this, the system will crash it shutdown!
- System 7.5.3 - Apple still sells the 7.5.3 CD for about $100. Get it while
you can. This is a very stable system with lots of good features, including
PC floppy mounter and a choice of MacTCP or OpenTransport networking.
- MODE32 if your Mac is a IIcx.
- V.34 modem (33.6 kbps)
- Netscape 3.0 is a good compromise for a browser.
- If you are lucky, your used Mac came with MS Word 4.0, which is fast and
compact. Word 6.0 is bloated and slow.
- H-P Deskwriter 560C or 660C color printer
Where to read more
Revision history:
$Log: macos7.htm,v $
Revision 1.5 2001/01/05 07:07:29 lars
Added links to AS/400
Revision 1.4 1999/09/20 23:49:24 lars
Latest deals added.
Revision 1.3 1999/09/07 04:20:41 lars
Added encryption page.
Added more detail in historical sections.
Improved index page organization.
Revision 1.2 1999/06/26 22:17:44 lars
Site re-organization.
Updated by Lars Poulsen on 1999-03-21
