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| Author | Latest retro hardware acquisitions (Read 96973 times) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ShinobiKenobi
256 MB  Posts: 362 System 7 fan 
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on: October 24, 2025, 00:19
Today I just received a parallel iomega Zip 250 drive, along with the original db-25 parallel cable and power supply. I also have an iomega usb floppy and memory card drive, and an iomega 6 zip disk tray on the way. I've wanted an actual Zip drive forever. I can't wait to try it out. It supposedly works  What are your latest retro hardware acquisitions? Share them with us! |
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eelco
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32 MB Posts: 41 System 7 Newcomer!
Reply #1 on: October 27, 2025, 23:47
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Congratulations! The ZIP drives fascinate me. My high school friend had one and I thought it was magical. I only acquired mine many years later (an external SCSI model, no less). Are you sure yours is a parallel version? IF so it will have a printer icon next to one of the connectors on the back. If it says SCSI, then you are one lucky guy.
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snes1423
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256 MB Posts: 458 A Man born of Mechina
Reply #2 on: October 28, 2025, 10:10
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i have a few of them and a few dozen zip/250 disks in purple iomega coasters
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ShinobiKenobi
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256 MB Posts: 362 System 7 fan
Reply #3 on: October 28, 2025, 21:34
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It works, so I'm quite happy. This will be much quicker and easier to transport files and back them up on my older computers. eelco Not sure if you're joking (I almost laughed), but yes, I know what parallel and SCSI are  I'm sure the SCSI Zip drives are even more handy for those old SCSI computers.
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ShinobiKenobi
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256 MB Posts: 362 System 7 fan
Reply #4 on: January 28, 2026, 02:21
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I just bought an Apple Performa Plus Display M9102LL/D CRT monitor on ebay yesterday. I'm pretty excited to try it out. I haven't decided if I'll use it with the LC III or my 7200. Although, the monitor I really want is the M9102LL/B. It looks like the B has a flip-down control panel in the front. I remember it from my high school's keyboarding/programming lab. I'm not sure why the picture on a lot of Apple CRTs don't extend to the edges, which really bothers me. I looked up multiple pictures of the M9102LL/D before I bought it, and most of them showed that it extended pretty close to the edge. I also received my package of phone line connectors, and I already made myself a terminator for PhoneNet. I also bought a CD-ROM for my spare 7200. Eventually I'd like to get another SCSI hard disk for it and my Macintosh SE.
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ShinobiKenobi
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256 MB Posts: 362 System 7 fan
Reply #5 on: January 29, 2026, 17:24
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While I was going through and testing my RAM modules, I found some 128 MB modules that I must have forgotten about, to my pleasant surprise. With the three extra RAM slots provided by the Crescendo, that brings my total of physical RAM to 320 MB!  I don't know how I could have forgotten about and put away the two 128 MB modules haha. It's such a joy to use now, more than it was before
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Bolkonskij
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Administrator 1024 MB  Posts: 2023
Reply #6 on: January 31, 2026, 07:12
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wow, I think these 128 MB RAM modules are worth their weight in gold now, at least close when I checked last time Seriously though, why so much RAM? Unless you plan on doing video editing on your 7200, you'll likely never need as much even if you give your browsers a lot of room to breath? I've basically always found 32 MB to be fine for faster 68k machines and 96-128 MB for beige PPCs. Everything above that just adds unneccesary startup time. At least for my liking As for the monitor, they probably need some adjusting after those years. A good time to grab the manual :-) congrats on your acquisitions, post a photo of your setup if you can, always interested in seeing other people's System 7 setups :-) And let us know how using the CRT feels for you. You may have seen my post on my experience some weeks ago ...
Last Edit: January 31, 2026, 07:43 by Bolkonskij
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eelco
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32 MB Posts: 41 System 7 Newcomer!
Reply #7 on: January 31, 2026, 07:38
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Quote from: ShinobiKenobi I also bought a CD-ROM for my spare 7200. Eventually I'd like to get another SCSI hard disk for Have you considered a BlueSCSI? Or are you going for the full auditive experience of spinning disks?
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ShinobiKenobi
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256 MB Posts: 362 System 7 fan
Reply #8 on: January 31, 2026, 14:01
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@Bolkonskij The 7200 is the only computer I have that they work in, so I might as well use them haha. I don't care about longer startup time. I'm sure it's not noticeable, for me at least. System 7.5.5 and 7.6.1 take a couple minutes to start up for me anyway, with the Crescendo in it. IIRC, that didn't happen with 7.5.3, which is why I think I put off upgrading for so long. But it's so quick now. If I had other Macs that used the same kind of RAM, I would definitely put one of the 128s in that, also. As it is right now, my "spare" 7200 has no working CD-ROM, hard drive, or floppy disk drive. I also have nowhere to put it, so it resides in my closet. I think I bought the 128 modules in the mid-to-late 2000s. Probably back then they were more common and less expensive. I'd NEVER pay what they're listed at now. Sellers can set whatever prices they want, but it doesn't mean they'll sell, which just screws over everyone else. I seriously hate greed. It's one of the worst qualities in people. With the three extra slots on the Crescendo, the maximum for RAM in that computer is 768 MB. But I don't care about maxing that out. @eelco I have thought about BlueSCSI, and I also bought a SCSI controller chip last year so that I could experiment and see if I could either make my own version of a SCSI adapter, or put it on a homebrew computer that I'd like to make so that it can use SCSI for period correctness. Sure, convenience is nice, but what's the point of using old tech if you just replace it with modern tech? I usually prefer authenticity. I had been using a CRT up until early this month, until it broke down. I prefer CRTs for vintage computers for several reasons: A) because they usually can't take advantage of widescreen displays anyway B) I prefer the bright, vivid colors of a CRT over less bright flat screens, for maximum color vividness. C) it just looks and feels right for me. It's pretty cool to have completely period correct setups. The thing that bothers me the most about CRTs is low refresh rate. CRTs flicker much more than flat screens do. But I put up with it for so long in the past that it still feels somewhat normal. However, it may have contributed to headaches. Those are not uncommon for me, unfortunately 
Last Edit: January 31, 2026, 14:09 by ShinobiKenobi
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