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BlastoiseBlue

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 4, 2012
17
0
Okay, so I'm interning at a store that sells used items, and normally when we get a computer, the store packages it up and ships it to He- I mean Dell to be melted down and turned into new Dell parts. As a collector of old computers, it pains me to see this happen... Among the dead, I've counted several laptops far more modern than my current best, an Apple monitor of an unknown model, (to me at least) at least three Power Mac towers and hundreds of 90's towers. Luckily though, I've never seen an iMac ran through.

Anyways, I got really lucky today. The electronics guy was out, so nothing in the electronics department was processed, and it all just ended up in a large pile next to his workbench for him to look over tomorrow. I was working in the "wares" department (They sell pretty much anything else that's not clothes, books or old VHS tapes) and something caught my eye. Sitting next to one of the TVs, I saw a little grey rectangle. I walked over and looked it over... A Mac Classic? I had spent the last seven years hoping to come across one of these... But employees can't buy from the store itself, so anyways to make a long story short, I talked it over with the managers, and since it's so old (I said Dell wouldn't take it anyways) and they didn't even have the other parts for it, they agreed to sell it to me for a grand total of seven bucks.

So now the meat of this topic.

1: The mouse and keyboard. Where could I get 'em cheap? Preferrably under $10 each, quality isn't an issue so long as they still function their intended purpose.

2: Power supply? They gave me a power supply with the computer, but it's obviously not Apple branded, and I'd assume it's probably just a generic PC wall adapter. Will this work with the Mac, or will it be too much for it to handle?

3: Can you write floppy discs from a late 90's PC running Windows XP SP1 for Mac Classic? I read that it takes system 6, so I was going to get some games for it from the Macintosh garden.

Thanks in advance! :3
 
Oh wow, that's pretty sweet actually! I vaguely remember there being a site dedicated to system 7, so that helps being able to get it free.

Oh, and if the mouse/keyboard can't be had cheap, is there an adapter for normal ones?
 
@Mactech: I'm referring moreso to the power cable, I guess. It has a hole in the back for a normal three pronged cable like you would find on a more modern computer.

@DSchmidt: Oh holy motherload of sweetness, thanks man!

EDIT: Found the keyboard! But I've read the power button is supposed to be on the keyboard...? This one doesn't appear to have one unless it's that triangle in the upper right corner. BTW, it's a 1994 Apple design keyboard.
 
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@Mactech: I'm referring moreso to the power cable, I guess. It has a hole in the back for a normal three pronged cable like you would find on a more modern computer...

Yup, it's a standard IEC cable. Exactly the same as you'll find on modern computers. Some kettles use a high temperature version which you can also use.

EDIT: Found the keyboard! But I've read the power button is supposed to be on the keyboard...? This one doesn't appear to have one unless it's that triangle in the upper right corner. BTW, it's a 1994 Apple design keyboard.

That is the power button, but it only applies to Macs that have a 'soft power-on'. The Mac Classic doesn't have soft power-on so it will turn on when you flick the power switch at the back.
 
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Ahh, sweet! I just tested it out, and it works! Screen's not even bad, but I haven't quite been able to test out the floppy drive (Long story short, my parents locked the trailer I've been storing my stuff in and I lost the key, all my floppies are in there.) and haven't really been able to do much of anything since I don't have a mouse, but I can see it was most likely used as a school computer due to some files that were showing in finder on startup.

So, can the computer be used with just the keyboard? And if not, where could I find a mouse on the cheap?
 
... Huh, well that raises an interesting question. The computer only has one port for those, how am I supposed to connect both at the same time? Or do I just manually switch the two as needed?
 
Nope, none I can see. If it helps any, it's a 1994 AppleDesign keyboard, model M2980. The computer itself is a model number MO430.
 
Nope, none I can see. If it helps any, it's a 1994 AppleDesign keyboard, model M2980. The computer itself is a model number MO430.

I'm guessing that's a bit of a later design, which was designed for Macs that had a built in port for both mouse and keyboard, but that's an uneducated guess. What I do know is I own a Mac Classic with the original keyboard and mouse, and there is a second port on the top (right, I think it is?) side for the mouse to plug in to.
 
Oh, sweet! Thanks guys! Now if I can just find a mouse (and get into the place where my parents locked up all the old floppies and lost the key, derp) I'll finally have a vintage Mac to call my own. :3
 
EDIT: Delete this post please, it turns out it was the power cable that was at fault. And now that I can turn it on again, I've realized the screensaver is the iconic 90's "flying toasters", lol. I couldn't love this computer more unless it had a soda fountain attatched to it. -w- <3
 
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