Upgraded Plus?

[bunnspecial]

A very dear colleague has been promising to bring me one of her husband's computers all week, and she came in today with a Plus along with an HD20 and external 800K drive.

This is the second Plus(and second HD20) that this colleague has given me. She has given me a LOT of other Mac stuff as well, and in addition to PPC Macs there was the PowerBook 170, graphics tab and trackball for an M0001 Mac, two of the early scanners designed to fit an Imagewriter, and quite a bit of other stuff.

In any case, both the Plusses habe me scratching my head a bit. I have an early "Picasso" plastic box with a bunch of disks that I think would have been original to a 128K or 512K.

On both computers, there is NO writing on the front. I have a third plus that said "Macintosh Plus" next to the Apple, but both of these just have the inset Apple on the front.

Unfortunately, the original owner(a retired colleague) is in no condition to ask as he has late stage Alzheimers, but I'm wondering if both of these computers were upgraded from their original configuration.

Both say "Macintosh Plus 1MB" on the back sticker, but like I said I have a lot of reason to believe that they were both originally 128Ks or 512Ks.

Are there any sure-fire ways to tell if they are upgrades, and if so is it possible to tell what the original computer was?

 

[MacTech68]

They fit the criteria for Apple Upgraded Mac128 or 512Ks. The Apple kit included new rear casing and labeling thereon.

If you check the serial number under the front edge just below the screen and plug it into http://myoldmac.net/FAQ/Mac-Serialnumber-decoder-e.php , it should tell you at least what model machine the front panel came from.

Since these are over 30 years old now, it's hard to say if the rear casing was swapped or is an original Apple Upgrade kit fitted at the time they were available/popular.

 

[bunnspecial]

Looks like I do indeed have an upgrade.

Specifically, the SN reports as the 41st week of 1984-since this was a few weeks after the launch of the 512K, I'm guessing it would have been badged as a 128K and not a "Macintosh." In any case, at least I have a 1984 CRT, analog board, and front case.

I need to check the SN on my other plus that came from this same person-it wouldn't surprise me if both computers were upgraded at the same time. A while back, this same source provided a plastic "Picasso" box full of a bunch of early system disks along with various other odds and ends(including two audio cassettes with Picasso labels on using the Mac, one still shrink wrapped).

I mentioned that I know the original owner, although he's in no state now to give me any history of the computer. Knowing what I know about him, though, I think chances are high that he had these "officially" converted.

BTW, another box I dug up also contained 8 256K RAM sticks along with two long hex handled screwdrivers. The other Plus I have had 2mb of RAM.

One last thing-this one came with an HD20 and an 800K external. This is the SECOND HD20 that this source has given me-the first has been on my 512Ke, although I'm guessing it was used with the other Plus I have. I also have an external SuperDrive from the same source. The HD20 on the recently received computer has a lot of school work from the original owner's daughter. As part of the "deal" I'm going to go through and print all of it to give to him.