Getting even more FREE stuff! XD

[Gamer9430]

Just on the brink of most likely not getting my 9 free G4s, the guy who I was getting them from is also a collector. He wants to get rid of some stuff that he doesn't actively use anymore, so he is giving them to me for FREE! As of right now, I am getting a Power Macintosh 8500, 7300, Performa 6360, a PowerBook G3 Wallstreet, an Apple LaserWriter, and a Polaroid and Slide SCSI-based scanner with its original box. This is a huge score for me. As well as these items, there is probably going to be some more besides these because he is looking through his collection to see what he doesn't need anymore. Also, he mentioned that he had some Sonnet upgrade cards, which I said I would gladly take.

My first "installment" is going to be the PowerBook G3 Wallstreet, the LaserWriter, and the SCSI scanner. I'll be getting these on Thursday 2/26. He will also be sending me email updates on his progress of clearing out and transferring his personal stuff and what he can give me.

This is a huge score for me, and of course, I'll be posting about each and every computer and accessory I get.

 

[bse5150]

When one door closes another door opens. Lucky you.

 

[MatthewLTL]

SWEET! Make sure to put up PICS (i had a couple of those pre-G3 Macs years ago that i cannot remember what they were. And if i can see what you have maybe i'll see if its like one i had). I actually feel you about those Macs. When my HS shut down I wanted to get my hands on as many iBook G4s, eMac's and iBook G3 slot loads as i could of gotten my hand one (this would of been about 60 Macs if i were able to get every single one) But I was never able to find out when and if they were ever selling/disposing of them. So i was never able to get any. Sucks but w/e. (My second Mac was from them when they had a garage sale) It was a Preforma series running System 7 and had SCSI drives. That's all I remember.

 

[bunnspecial]

I will look forward to seeing your "haul."

The 8500 a really neat computer(although a pain to work on). As far as I know, all have a bunch of A/V functionality built in(mine does) that could make hooking up a 90s video camera or something of the like a breeze. I've been meaning to get out my Grandfather's old camcorder and try to find some software to see what I can do on it.

If I can make a suggestion-go over to Ebay and get yourself a mac edition PCI Rage 128. It will cost you about $10, and gives you a VGA port(plus is much better than the built in graphics) so you don't have to mess with adapters or the like to plug in an LCD or worry about finding old Apple CRTs.

I have a Polaroid Sprintscan 35+, which I'm guessing might be what you're getting. It's a great scanner. The resolution is a bit limited by current standards(I think it's 2700x2700, which is still plenty for most uses) and, unlike most newer slide scanners like the Nikon Coolscan series, it will actually scan over about a 42mm square area. This means that you can scan 127 format slides and negatives(4cmx4cm, usually) with the correct adapter. It does lack infrared cleaning like newer scanners, which is a huge timesaver on color negatives and most color slides(although is useless on B&W film as well as Kodachrome) but still usually leaves me going into Photoshop to get rid of the worst of the dust spots.

I use mine under OS X Tiger with Vuescan-a 3rd party scanning program that still supports this scanner. Vuescan gives a lot more control over the scanner than most bundled scanning software, and will let you do things like do multipass scanning(more scans=less noise), manual white point correction(it also has color profiles built in for a lot of newer films), and has a very good built-in tool to restore fading on older slides and negatives.

 

[Gamer9430]

I will look forward to seeing your "haul."

The 8500 a really neat computer(although a pain to work on). As far as I know, all have a bunch of A/V functionality built in(mine does) that could make hooking up a 90s video camera or something of the like a breeze. I've been meaning to get out my Grandfather's old camcorder and try to find some software to see what I can do on it.

If I can make a suggestion-go over to Ebay and get yourself a mac edition PCI Rage 128. It will cost you about $10, and gives you a VGA port(plus is much better than the built in graphics) so you don't have to mess with adapters or the like to plug in an LCD or worry about finding old Apple CRTs.

I have a Polaroid Sprintscan 35+, which I'm guessing might be what you're getting. It's a great scanner. The resolution is a bit limited by current standards(I think it's 2700x2700, which is still plenty for most uses) and, unlike most newer slide scanners like the Nikon Coolscan series, it will actually scan over about a 42mm square area. This means that you can scan 127 format slides and negatives(4cmx4cm, usually) with the correct adapter. It does lack infrared cleaning like newer scanners, which is a huge timesaver on color negatives and most color slides(although is useless on B&W film as well as Kodachrome) but still usually leaves me going into Photoshop to get rid of the worst of the dust spots.

I use mine under OS X Tiger with Vuescan-a 3rd party scanning program that still supports this scanner. Vuescan gives a lot more control over the scanner than most bundled scanning software, and will let you do things like do multipass scanning(more scans=less noise), manual white point correction(it also has color profiles built in for a lot of newer films), and has a very good built-in tool to restore fading on older slides and negatives.

Thanks for the info. I know from experience that the adapters are a pain to work with, as I have to use one on my 6100/66. Should I buy a card for each computer, or will only certain ones support it?

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SWEET! Make sure to put up PICS (i had a couple of those pre-G3 Macs years ago that i cannot remember what they were. And if i can see what you have maybe i'll see if its like one i had). I actually feel you about those Macs. When my HS shut down I wanted to get my hands on as many iBook G4s, eMac's and iBook G3 slot loads as i could of gotten my hand one (this would of been about 60 Macs if i were able to get every single one) But I was never able to find out when and if they were ever selling/disposing of them. So i was never able to get any. Sucks but w/e. (My second Mac was from them when they had a garage sale) It was a Preforma series running System 7 and had SCSI drives. That's all I remember.

I will definitely post pics. Hopefully it will trigger some memories for you so you can go get one for yourself to add to your collection!

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When one door closes another door opens. Lucky you.

Yeah, got pretty lucky with that.

 

[bunnspecial]

All of the computers you're getting have at least one PCI slot, so should be able to put video cards in all of them.

 

[Gamer9430]

All of the computers you're getting have at least one PCI slot, so should be able to put video cards in all of them.

Ok sounds good. I might buy one and then if I need to, I'll buy the other 2. Do they have the video out that the 6100/66 has? Because then I can just use the adapters I have for that if I need to run 2 of them at the same time, or I get annoyed with removing and reinserting the GFX card.

 

[bunnspecial]

Yes, they should all have DB-15 out like you have at the end of the "dongle" on the 6100.

 

[iModFrenzy]

That sounds awesome!

Need some pics when you get them.

 

[Gamer9430]

That sounds awesome!

Need some pics when you get them.

I'm definitely posting pics on the days I get stuff, you can count on that.

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Yes, they should all have DB-15 out like you have at the end of the "dongle" on the 6100.

Ah ok... Thanks for the clarification. Any reason why apple ever chose those plugs in the first place? I mean no one else used them accept for apple so...

 

[iModFrenzy]

I'm definitely posting pics on the days I get stuff, you can count on that.[QUOTE/]

Ill be counting

 

[wts]

The 8500 and Performa 6360 are great legacy power macs.

In my Pefroma 6360 i have added usb card which makes it extremely easy to increase the storage and transfer data.

In my 8500 i added a Sonnet G4 processor, an IDE internal drive, a USB card and a Firewire card. For an 18 plus old computer to still work is incredible.

Looking forward to reading about your "new" computers.

I still use both computers for OS 9 and OS 8.6 only midi/audio applications.

There are many midi/audio applications that work just fine in OS 9 and OS 8.6 that were never really fully ported to OS X that requires lintel machines.

 

[bunnspecial]

Ah ok... Thanks for the clarification. Any reason why apple ever chose those plugs in the first place? I mean no one else used them accept for apple so...

And there you have your answer

Apple has steadily moved toward more standardized interfaces over the years, but for a long time really did their own thing. Most of the 68K Macs(and some early PPC Macs) had NuBus expansion slots as well as Apple's proprietary PDS slot, where PCs had ISA and then later PCI slots. The RS-422 serial ports that are often associated with old world ROM Macs are "different" from the PC-standard RS-232. ADB really was a great idea(one of Steve Wozniac's last significant contributions to Apple) but really only was seen on Apple and Apple clones. Of course, Apple stuck with using SCSI for a long time, and it was a big deal when the first(low end) computers used IDE for their hard drives.

The first iMac was a huge deal because it eliminated explicit use of all the "legacy" Apple ports(although one didn't have to look hard to find a DB-15 monitor connector and RS-422 serial port on the first generation iMacs when the case bottom was removed) in favor of USB for the keyboard and mouse, as well as no SCSI at all(or floppy drive). The B&W G3 tower that followed mostly continued this trend and switched to a PCI graphics card with a standard VGA port, although did make some legacy concessions as these have an ADB port and of course one can SCSI with the correct expansion card(available as BTO).

 

[catzilla]

The Next computer used ADB, I have a two-button mouse I got a couple of decades ago.

 

[Gamer9430]

The 8500 and Performa 6360 are great legacy power macs.

In my Pefroma 6360 i have added usb card which makes it extremely easy to increase the storage and transfer data.

In my 8500 i added a Sonnet G4 processor, an IDE internal drive, a USB card and a Firewire card. For an 18 plus old computer to still work is incredible.

Looking forward to reading about your "new" computers.

I still use both computers for OS 9 and OS 8.6 only midi/audio applications.

There are many midi/audio applications that work just fine in OS 9 and OS 8.6 that were never really fully ported to OS X that requires lintel machines.

I'm thinking these systems all are going to be extremely useable one way or another. I just downgraded my eMac to OS 9 and it's beautiful. However, my install seems to be corrupt, since I'm missing lots of software and most things don't open.

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The Next computer used ADB, I have a two-button mouse I got a couple of decades ago.

I wonder if you can use it on a Mac from the same time, being that it has 2 buttons.

----------

And there you have your answer

Apple has steadily moved toward more standardized interfaces over the years, but for a long time really did their own thing. Most of the 68K Macs(and some early PPC Macs) had NuBus expansion slots as well as Apple's proprietary PDS slot, where PCs had ISA and then later PCI slots. The RS-422 serial ports that are often associated with old world ROM Macs are "different" from the PC-standard RS-232. ADB really was a great idea(one of Steve Wozniac's last significant contributions to Apple) but really only was seen on Apple and Apple clones. Of course, Apple stuck with using SCSI for a long time, and it was a big deal when the first(low end) computers used IDE for their hard drives.

The first iMac was a huge deal because it eliminated explicit use of all the "legacy" Apple ports(although one didn't have to look hard to find a DB-15 monitor connector and RS-422 serial port on the first generation iMacs when the case bottom was removed) in favor of USB for the keyboard and mouse, as well as no SCSI at all(or floppy drive). The B&W G3 tower that followed mostly continued this trend and switched to a PCI graphics card with a standard VGA port, although did make some legacy concessions as these have an ADB port and of course one can SCSI with the correct expansion card(available as BTO).

Yeah that makes sense. In a similar way, today apple is doing the same thing. They kinda screwed everyone when they switched from the 30-pin to Lightning cable and no accesories would work. Or when apple dropped disk drives from their computers. Some people still use them, but they wanted them gone to make them thinner.

 

[Gamer9430]

Well, I'm not getting 9 Sawtooths, but he noticed I was interested in his dual 1.25 MDD, AND HE IS GIVING IT TO ME NEXT WEEK AS WELL!!!!!!

 

[poiihy]

wow

 

[Gamer9430]

Lol

 

[Ih8reno]

Nice! Enjoy it. I love my 1.42MDD they are great machines. I've owned 4 or 5 different ones (not all 1.42) and only issue is the psu. Just changed the psu on my dual 1.25 the other week.

Well, I'm not getting 9 Sawtooths, but he noticed I was interested in his dual 1.25 MDD, AND HE IS GIVING IT TO ME NEXT WEEK AS WELL!!!!!!

 

[Gamer9430]

Nice! Enjoy it. I love my 1.42MDD they are great machines. I've owned 4 or 5 different ones (not all 1.42) and only issue is the psu. Just changed the psu on my dual 1.25 the other week.

Is a failing PSU common, or did yours just die?

 

[poiihy]

Is a failing PSU common, or did yours just die?

I've heard MDD psus are notorious for failing.

 

[redheeler]

Well, I'm not getting 9 Sawtooths, but he noticed I was interested in his dual 1.25 MDD, AND HE IS GIVING IT TO ME NEXT WEEK AS WELL!!!!!!

Nice score! MDDs do retain some value even today.

My dual 867 MHz MDD was the baseline model in its day, still a nice machine.

 

[Ih8reno]

I've heard yes, had some people who wanted to buy an older mdd I had just for the psu.

Is a failing PSU common, or did yours just die?

 

[Gamer9430]

Ok so here is a quick update. I actually met the guy in person yesterday, and he was extremely nice. He found it awesome that I enjoy taking these computers and putting them to good use. He dropped off the G3 Wallstreet at some point earlier this week, so I'm going to see if I can go grab it today. Tomorrow, I will be getting the rest of the stuff, plus some other stuff that he is giving me in my first installment. The MDD and the LaserWriter will definitely be there, as well as the G3 if I can't get it today. Also, all hope is not lost on the 9 sawtooths, since the teacher, the guy, and the tech coordinator have been discussing it.

I also got my iBook G4 battery yesterday, and of course I get the wrong one than what I ordered. I ordered a 5400 mAh battery, and I got a 4400 mAh battery instead. It gave me about a 2 hour bonus, but I could really use more battery life, and I paid for that bigger battery capacity...

 

[bunnspecial]

I also got my iBook G4 battery yesterday, and of course I get the wrong one than what I ordered. I ordered a 5400 mAh battery, and I got a 4400 mAh battery instead. It gave me about a 2 hour bonus, but I could really use more battery life, and I paid for that bigger battery capacity...

With aftermarket batteries, I've found that to be pretty typical. Most of them advertise 5200 or 5400 mAh, but I've yet to have one actually deliver that. Even worse, I've had some that had dead cells right out of the box, so they would drop from 20% to 2% over the course of a few seconds.

Unfortunately, my experience has been that most of the aftermarket batteries out there are basically junk. The one notable exception is the Newertech NuPower batteries. They perform as well as(if not better than) good OEM Apple batteries, and fit nearly as well also. They are pricey, though-with PowerPC computers in many cases you will pay more for a Newertech battery than you paid for the computer.