need help connecting old to new mac stuff

[ubitmeomg]

I'm starting at Temple Medschool in the fall--and my dad made the gift of purchasing a new laptop for me. Temple Med advises us to purchase pc-tablet hybrids for taking notes on powerpoint slides, but I just couldn't get over how shoddy/weak/flimsy the workmanship of the devices felt in the stores. Happily, I was able to convince dad to purchase a 12" powerbook, despite him being adamantly pro-pc eg "you'll suffer compatability issues in this PC world".

I'm really happy with the decision to switch to mac, and i'm looking through the basement to find stuff to take with me to my new apartment, when I stumble upon a whole mess of old macintosh stuff, dating back to the mac quadra from when my dad recieved tele-radiology cases over hospital's system, which was all mac. Is there anyway I can hook up my new 12"pb to the old mac laser printers? They use a cable called "appletalk". Also, I have an old CRT downstairs which has unusual cables. A reply from any old school mac techies with some good advice would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and a final throught/note--is it possible to rig up the old quadra to surf the web/ use iChat? Then I could use the old monitor and printer stock.

 

[Horrortaxi]

After 1998 all the old stuff stopped working with the new stuff. They just don't use the same ports anymore. I don't think there are adaptors--except for the monitors. You can get an adaptor to plug the monitor into a standard VGA port. Keyboards, mice, printers, modems, etc are all going to have to live on the Quadra.

The Quadra should be able to surf the web, but it won't use iChat as that is an OS X app only. You may or may not have ethernet, depending on what model Quadra you have. If you have ethernet, or an external modem, and can get the Quadra to run OS 9.1 then you'll do okay for web/email--it'll make a good word processor too. I think it'll only run up to System 8 though, so internet will sort of suck.

You can connect your Macs with an ethernet cable and share the laser printer connected to the Quadra, but again if you can only run System 8 that's going to be a pain. Besides, you can buy a good USB laser printer for $130--it's worth spending the money to avoid the aggravation.

 

[ubitmeomg]

so Horrortaxi:

If i go into a store like CompUSA how would I refer to the monitor conversion cable? Eg does it have a specific name? Is such a thing available online for delivery? Also, is software for the quadra available for free or would i have to spend $$ on the quadra to get it running reasonably well?

I have an aversion to throwing crap away, which is why i want to get the old printer running again. It's a shame to relegate it to the dumpster--it looks and runs great with the older system.

 

[seamuskrat]

Yes and no.
You CAN get older Appletalk printers to work. But honestly, its not worth it. You will have to get a converter which is special to allow this and use special drivers. Then you are looking at $75 to $150 for this. For that money get the Lexmark or Samsung laser printer. It will be fatser and high resolution than any old Apple Laserwriter.

As for the telemetry, you will need to check the company sites for drivers. There are many USB/Serial convertors, but the DEVICE needs a OS X driver to work. They may exisit, but I suspect you will be out of luck.

In a university setting, many older Mac devices CAN be connected but without OS X software and drivers they are worthless.

The Quadra will work, but not well. Its too old for a 'modern' browser. So, although it will go online, it will be inadequate to handle many Flahs, Java, Javascript, CCS, etc. sites.It might be fun to relive the old days, but all in all, its not worth it.

The monitor is the Old Style Apple connector. Kinda like ADC, its Apple only. THey make adaptor for VGA to work with these old Macs, but you would have to check Ebay for the reverse to make the monitor work with a VGA card.

Best bet, leave it in the basement or sell it on Ebay and invest in an external modern monitor.

I'm starting at Temple Medschool in the fall--and my dad made the gift of purchasing a new laptop for me. Temple Med advises us to purchase pc-tablet hybrids for taking notes on powerpoint slides, but I just couldn't get over how shoddy/weak/flimsy the workmanship of the devices felt in the stores. Happily, I was able to convince dad to purchase a 12" powerbook, despite him being adamantly pro-pc eg "you'll suffer compatability issues in this PC world".

I'm really happy with the decision to switch to mac, and i'm looking through the basement to find stuff to take with me to my new apartment, when I stumble upon a whole mess of old macintosh stuff, dating back to the mac quadra from when my dad recieved tele-radiology cases over hospital's system, which was all mac. Is there anyway I can hook up my new 12"pb to the old mac laser printers? They use a cable called "appletalk". Also, I have an old CRT downstairs which has unusual cables. A reply from any old school mac techies with some good advice would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and a final throught/note--is it possible to rig up the old quadra to surf the web/ use iChat? Then I could use the old monitor and printer stock.

 

[Horrortaxi]

I just bought one of these and now I can't remember what they're called exactly. DB 15 to VGA or something like that. Don't go to Comp USA though. The one they have is made by Belkin and I'm sure it's a good product, but it's $70. I got mine on Ebay for $4-$5. It's not a cable though--it's a hard connector similar to the ones that come with USB mice to connect them to PS/2 ports on a PC.

I think free or cheap are your only options for software that will run on the Quadra. Is there by chance a box of software sitting next to it? That'll be your best resource. Versiontracker.com and Ebay are the next best things. What kinds of things do you want to do with it?

I have to agree with the other poster though--this is a project that you do for bragging rights, nostalgia, or something like that. If you like to dress up and pretend it's 1994 it's the perfect setup for you. It could be educational though.

 

[ubitmeomg]

ok. From what i have gathered so far, the quadra will sadly have to lay and rott. I am over the printer too--i can get rid of it w/o any issues. That leaves finding the cable/converter on ebay...the monitor is a big crt and would nicely supplement the powerbook's small screen.