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| Author | 2021: Which mac are you using? (Read 95222 times) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Syntho
64 MB  Posts: 103 System 7 Newcomer! 
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on: February 14, 2021, 11:34
There are some other threads below about which Macs people are using but for 2021 I'll start a new thread  I believe it's in my best interest to buy another old Mac or two that can take over my various, daily computing tasks, so that I can save my 9600 machines for what they excel at: audio production. I'd like a machine to do word processing, simple web browsing and email, perhaps a bit of photo editing, and miscellaneous midi stuff. Nothing too heavy. Which machine that is more readily available for sale would you recommend that I get for daily stuff? |
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Knezzen
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Administrator 512 MB  Posts: 608 Village idiot
Reply #1 on: February 14, 2021, 12:25
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I have a lot of machines here in all possible and impossible configurations, but what I use for System 7 is my PowerBook 540c and PowerMac 5500. I more or less daily these (writing this on the 5500). I think because PowerPC machines compatible with System 7 are getting more and more rare for every day that passes, anything that you can get your hands on that is powerful enough is probably what I would use as a daily driver machine. Heck, the 5500 is pretty rare, but I use it every day. I put a 400mhz G3 in it and now it's more than capable to handle every day tasks with ease 
Last Edit: February 14, 2021, 12:39 by Knezzen
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Bolkonskij
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Administrator 1024 MB Posts: 2023
Reply #2 on: February 14, 2021, 12:33
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Knezzen pretty much sums it up. I'd say it also depends on where you are located. For instance, with your requirements I'd go for a Performa 6400 here. But then there's places where 6400's are considered rare. I see them regularly pop up on the German ebay. Thanks to the "Performa means slow" prejudice, they don't fetch as high prices as e.g. the Power Mac 8600/9600 series. Meanwhile, t hey have a beautiful case design <3 Two more things I'd consider: - Do I have enough space to keep it set up? That's especially true with bigger tower models. Pizzabox Macs (Desktop case) take less place. Powerbooks even less. - How well-versed am I with repairing these things? Your 9600 and my 8600 share the same case and I love it! It's so easy to open it up and e.g. replace the CPU. I personally tend to avoid notebooks for the difficulty of repairing them. (less accessible, more of a hassle etc.) Lastly it also depends whether you're a desktop or laptop guy. I've always preferred to work on desktops but your mileage may vary.
Last Edit: February 14, 2021, 12:36 by Bolkonskij
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Syntho
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64 MB Posts: 103 System 7 Newcomer!
Reply #3 on: February 14, 2021, 13:09
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I always thought it would be cool to have an all-in-one Mac, but there's one problem: I don't know how loud they are. I always keep my computers in another room and run long cables so that I have a dead silent work area. I'm going to take a look and see what I can find. I fear that if I keep using my 9600 on a daily basis that I'll eventually run them into the ground. I've got soldering skills and other parts to run diagnostics, but what I don't have is the knowledge a proper tech would have to efficiently diagnose and repair a failing Mac..
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Knezzen
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Administrator 512 MB Posts: 608 Village idiot
Reply #4 on: February 14, 2021, 13:32
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What usually kills electronics is lack of use though, so I wouldn't worry. Just go for it and repair as it fails so to say.
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Bolkonskij
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Administrator 1024 MB Posts: 2023
Reply #5 on: February 14, 2021, 16:12
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I can only second this. Unless you attempt to kill your power supply by switching your Mac on/off 35 times an hour, there's no additional danger by using it. Rather moldy cool basements or high temperature environments (and don't forget salty sea air) tend to kill it off. If that's your motivation, try to locate another 9600 for parts in case something goes wrong and enjoy using it.
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Europa
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64 MB Posts: 109 she/her
Reply #6 on: February 15, 2021, 16:35
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In terms of System 7-capable machines, I really only have my PowerBook 1400. I really enjoy using it and I wouldn't dream of having another machine as my first System 7 machine.
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Hypnos Project
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8 MB Posts: 12 Woah. Take a chillaxitive man!
Reply #7 on: February 15, 2021, 21:44
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For daily use, I use my 2006 MacBook Pro on OS X 10.9.5, as for System 7 Machines, A Macintosh II with a ClubMac drive.
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Knezzen
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Administrator 512 MB Posts: 608 Village idiot
Reply #8 on: February 15, 2021, 22:31
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Got my “new” SE/30 today, so I will spend tomorrow installing my MacCon network card, DiiMO accelerator (50mhz 68030), 128mb RAM and a 32bit clean ROM. Can’t wait to get it going
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Hypnos Project
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8 MB Posts: 12 Woah. Take a chillaxitive man!
Reply #9 on: February 16, 2021, 03:12
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Oh, the BMOW ROM?
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Knezzen
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Administrator 512 MB Posts: 608 Village idiot
Reply #10 on: February 16, 2021, 08:39
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Yep! Great piece of kit. Just wish I bought the ROM burner as well, so I could create my own boot disk (add the MacCon drivers and such). That way I wouldn't need any boot floppies to do a fresh install etc.
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lilliputian
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64 MB Posts: 68 A Good Apple!
Reply #11 on: February 16, 2021, 10:13
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My main System 7 machine is my LC III, overclocked to a blazing 33Mhz! (Up from a measly 25...). I also have a PowerBook 540c which, with its 68LC040, has a bit more oomph to it than the LC III, even though their clock speeds are the same. I also have a very nice Plus, but unless I get a working hard drive for it (my HD20 refuses to do nearly anything but error out...), it will have to remain just a System 6 machine. Don't have any PPC machines capable of running System 7 of any flavor, sadly, just OS8/9. Which is great, but not quite what we're going for here.  My family had at some point a Performa 6360, which would be a great PPC addition, and runs 7.5.1 natively. I even have the original install CDs for it! But sadly, the machine itself is no longer...
Last Edit: February 16, 2021, 11:01 by lilliputian
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Hypnos Project
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8 MB Posts: 12 Woah. Take a chillaxitive man!
Reply #12 on: February 16, 2021, 22:09
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Oh no, what happened to that poor Mac? Do I not want to know?
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lilliputian
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64 MB Posts: 68 A Good Apple!
Reply #13 on: February 16, 2021, 23:27
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At some point we upgraded to an iMac G3, and the 6360 got relegated to a shelf in the basement, and then I believe it was eventually tossed... As far as I know it was still working, although it was in slightly rough shape cosmetically.
Last Edit: February 16, 2021, 23:29 by lilliputian
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Bolkonskij
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Administrator 1024 MB Posts: 2023
Reply #14 on: February 17, 2021, 11:32
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The sad story of so many beige Macs! To many people old Macs are just junk that "isn't good for anything". Especially now when everyone seems to measure a computer's usefulness by whether it can be used for Facebook, YouTube etc. Usually the old beige Macs were thrown into the trash right away or handed down to an elderly family member (or a younger one). That's when after some time they faced the second danger of being kicked into the trashbin. Only a few made it into the classifieds and that's basically what we're seeing on ebay and in collections these days. I feel sorry for all the great stuff that went into a recycling bin. Oh imagine! All these expansion cards and adapters, gone forever ... As for my setup, I'm using a Power Mac 8600/200 with an ixMicro 128 graphics card and 196 MB RAM running 7.6.1. Gave it a SCSI2SD v.6 though after the old hard disk was on the brink of dying. Missing the "click click click" sound ever since That's my main System 7 machine. For older stuff I also have a IIci setup next to it. It runs System 6.08 & 7.5. It's also kind of a family computer for my kids where they learn computing and play their games (testers for our kids section on S7T ) etc.
Last Edit: February 17, 2021, 11:35 by Bolkonskij
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