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Old Computer Dilemma - Which one should I keep

richardallan

richardallan

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 30, 2021
146
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Hi Everyone. I have a bit of a dilemma. I have a few old machines which I have no space for (well at this stage I have space for one!) so I need to decide what to keep and what to move on.

My main machine that I use everyday is an M1 Mac mini which I love. Since getting this machine second hand at the beginning of the year I have already sold two late 2009 Mac minis and two 5,1 2010 Mac Pros. I also have an early 2015 13" MacBook Pro.

The machines I have to decide upon are (in no particular order):

A Digital Audio Dual 500 G4 which is in great condition;

A Mirror Drive Door Dual 1.25 Firewire 800 in reasonable condition;

A PowerBook G3 Pismo 500 which I have owned since new which is in pretty good condition;

A Power Mac 9600 which is in ok condition and is upgraded with a Sonnet G4 800 processor and Radeon Mac Edition graphics among other things.

I also have two Power Mac 7300's which aren't in great condition, one of which is my first ever computer. I could probably make a good one out of the two. I believe one of these has a G3 450 card in it.

So, what are your thoughts? I don't really want to have a museum. Whatever I keep will be used to run some old software but mainly to play my old games on...
 
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If you're not playing games that are too new, just keep the 9600. If you've got that good G4 upgrade and graphics card, and are capable of running OS 9 and X, then it should be capable of doing everything in one. Plus, it's cool!

I'd avoid the MDD, if only for power supply reliability problems in future. I don't think DA G4s came with 500 duals, that sounds more like a Gig Ethernet G4- if so, those are very reliable too.
 
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Ok, thanks. The 9600 is pretty cool. I haven't run it for quite a while so I'll have to start it up and see how it goes. Haven't run the MDD for a while either. I think it was the earlier ones that had more power supply problems. I'm not playing any games that are anywhere near new. Probably nothing newer than 20 years ago! :oops:

The other G4 is a Digital Audio but its a dual 533 not 500, sorry. It runs really well. I have an ATI Radeon 8500 in it which I think is the most powerful card you can run under OS9. It's pretty clean, inside & out. I just installed Sorbet Leopard on it & migrated my stuff over from Tiger on my Pismo. It worked really well. I've got an IDE to SATA adapter coming so I'll see how it goes with a cheap SSD.
 
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Ok, so, an update. I couldn't get the MDD to start up. The power light and the fans come on for about one second then turn off. I thought this was a power supply issue but then I tried the 9600 and it did exactly the same thing but on the third attempt it started. I presume a bad switch which I know can affect these. So, I wonder if the MDD is the same problem. I couldn't find my old ADB keyboard so that doesn't help. I thought this had a USB card in it but it doesn't. Anyway, it starts and runs but no video. If I had a keyboard and could zap the PRAM it might be ok.

Any suggestions on the MDD?
 
richardallan said:
Hi Everyone. I have a bit of a dilemma. I have a few old machines which I have no space for (well at this stage I have space for one!) so I need to decide what to keep and what to move on.

My main machine that I use everyday is an M1 Mac mini which I love. Since getting this machine second hand at the beginning of the year I have already sold two late 2009 Mac minis and two 5,1 2010 Mac Pros. I also have an early 2015 13" MacBook Pro.

The machines I have to decide upon are (in no particular order):

A Digital Audio Dual 500 G4 which is in great condition;

A Mirror Drive Door Dual 1.25 Firewire 800 in reasonable condition;

A PowerBook G3 Pismo 500 which I have owned since new which is in pretty good condition;

A Power Mac 9600 which is in ok condition and is upgraded with a Sonnet G4 800 processor and Radeon Mac Edition graphics among other things.

I also have two Power Mac 7300's which aren't in great condition, one of which is my first ever computer. I could probably make a good one out of the two. I believe one of these has a G3 450 card in it.

So, what are your thoughts? I don't really want to have a museum. Whatever I keep will be used to run some old software but mainly to play my old games on...
Click to expand...

In the end, imagine a year or two from now, with just one of those Macs. Keep the one which you find yourself enjoying (and/or expect to enjoy) to have around the most and would have regretted losing the most.

I don’t know what you like to use your vintage gear for, but the two from your list which would be a shame to lose, were I owning the ones you do and needed to pare down said collection, I’d want to either keep the Pismo (assuming I bought it new in 2000) because I know the system backward and forwards, and/or the 9600, because it was far and beyond the most versatile of the second-gen PPC Macs, and they’re not that easy to come by these days.
 
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Thanks for your reply...

I got the MDD started & as I thought it seems to be a dodgy power button. However, after playing around for a while it just turned off. I opened it up & the heatsink was blazing hot. I reckon the lower fan isn't working - more investigation required. The MDD has an Apple Radeon 9000 Pro & the Digital Audio has a retail ATI Radeon 8500. Am I right in thinking the 8500 is a slightly better card especially if also running Mac OS 9?

The search is on now for an ADB keyboard. I have 5 ADB mice! :oops:
 
There is always room for one more laptop. Keep the Pismo (I have one) and a desktop. Unless speed is an issue, just keep the most reliable desktop, especially if it is to be used only occasionally.
 
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Some interesting ideas…

I have confirmed that the lower fan is shagged. Any recommendations for a replacement? I was watching a YouTube video by Action Retro upgrading an MDD. He was going to put a Noctua fan in it but there was a pop up on the screen that it didn’t make a difference but no elaboration.
 
500MHz Pismo is one of the best laptops ever made and you've owned it from new! That's irreplaceable in my book, you must keep that one. Running 9.2.2 they are one of the nicest computers ever. Distraction free, I'm guessing Office 98 will still work well, BBEdit for web dev (obviously web browsing is a no no)
 
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hopfenholz said:
500MHz Pismo is one of the best laptops ever made and you've owned it from new! That's irreplaceable in my book, you must keep that one. Running 9.2.2 they are one of the nicest computers ever. Distraction free, I'm guessing Office 98 will still work well, BBEdit for web dev (obviously web browsing is a no no)
Click to expand...

Heck, everything from 9.2.2, up through 10.4.11, will work, as designed, on the 500MHz Pismo. With MR community optimizations, you can get Tiger to work even faster. :)

I use the slightly less peripheral-robust 466MHz iBook G3 clamshell with a retrofitted XGA display (same resolution as the Pismo, though two diagonal inches smaller), but your Pismo has up to a gig of RAM, a PCMCIA expansion slot, an external VGA port, and one additional USB and FireWire port over what mine has. Heck, if you wanted to be be really crafty, you could even replace the DVD-ROM with a DVD-R drive with similar fittings (as I did with the iBook).

The Pismo is a versatile workhorse deserving of all credit due. Moreover, the late G3 chips, from 1999 to 2003, are arguably some of the most stable CPUs — PowerPC or Intel — in existence, as they are still being fitted as radiation-hardened processors on current NASA missions.

I’ve never owned a Pismo, but they were really a pinnacle of laptop design and durability before Apple’s radical shift toward a continuing paradigm of exposed metal cases.

EDIT to add: I completely forgot how the Pismo can be processor-upgraded with a daughtercard — with up to a 1GHz G3 or a 550MHz G4. Of those, the 1GHz G3 would probably be the one to get, and it would handily up the zip in processor performance — if not by double, then pretty close thereto. That, plus a PCMCIA USB 2.0/FW800 card, and suddenly you’ve a Pismo which has leapt forward by three years.
 
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Personally of the list you are deciding on. I’d keep the following.

7300: the one which was your first computer. Due to the sentimental value. With original CPU and G3 card on the side.

9600: One of the most upgradable Macs ever. The G4 card is a nice piece. In general this is just a good collectors Mac with a huge range of macOS options.

Pismo: Mainly due to being a good old collector’s laptop. It doesn’t take much space.

If you can only keep one desktop I’d keep the 7300 and toss the G4 card from the 9600 into it. Even though the 9600 is better. They are all too old to really be useful. So, sentiment trumps ugradeability. There’s enough upgrade slots for a GPU, SATA and USB cards.
 
B S Magnet said:
I’ve never owned a Pismo, but they were really a pinnacle of laptop design and durability before Apple’s radical shift toward a continuing paradigm of exposed metal cases.
Click to expand...
I had one in 2017 - awaiting it's arrival was the most excited I'd been about a tech item in years (and since) and I wasn't disappointed.

forums.macrumors.com

Powerbook G3 Pismo

I've finally got my hands on a Powerbook G3 Pismo at a decent price - it's the 400Mhz model, 576MB RAM, 40GB drive, Airport and best of all, a battery with 4 hours life in it! I'm amazed how capable it is - that 1MB L2 cache really makes a difference, it's good for Spotify, online radio, DVDs...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
 
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Dronecatcher said:
I had one in 2017 - awaiting it's arrival was the most excited I'd been about a tech item in years (and since) and I wasn't disappointed.

forums.macrumors.com

Powerbook G3 Pismo

I've finally got my hands on a Powerbook G3 Pismo at a decent price - it's the 400Mhz model, 576MB RAM, 40GB drive, Airport and best of all, a battery with 4 hours life in it! I'm amazed how capable it is - that 1MB L2 cache really makes a difference, it's good for Spotify, online radio, DVDs...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
Click to expand...

I noticed you spoke of it in past tense. What became of it?
 
All I would add is... my first Mac was a Mac Classic, and I lament not having it now. :) One day, I am sure I'll "have" to buy another one. (After all, there's nothing like playing Dark Castle on a 9" monochrome display.)

Actually - what I'd say to you is - which machines bring you joy? My own small collection are all machines that have special relevance to me. Doesn't matter what someone else may say is a good machine - what do YOU like. Even better is if you can come up with a practical use for them... like my Cube which ahhh one day when I fix it up, will be a great sound system with its Harmon Kardon Soundsticks...
 
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