Retro Computing

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Sun Mar 07, 2010 2:37 pm

So, I thought I'd treat myself to one thing after tax season, with the rest of the funds going to debt.

I've narrowed it down to a retro computer I've always wanted.

Does anyone have opinions about the Macintosh Plus?

The pros are that I love the tiny monitor in a computer thing. It'd look nice next to the Vectrex. And in theory, I'd be able to play a Mac Infocom game on it.

The negatives is that I know absolutely nothing about them.

Here's one on Ebay for $100. Is there something obviously broken with them? What did they normally boot to?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vinatage-Macintosh- ... 254wt_1267

NihilVulture · Post by **NihilVulture** » Sun Mar 07, 2010 3:03 pm

It's a good idea to ask for proof of it's condition, and to see a picture of it... And be sure you have a copy of what they say to the t, if they trick you or something, you have proof... Sometimes if it's a supplier I trust, I just ask for the condition... Normally when they say working, or cosmetic defects, it is less then mint... But still, if you are just collecting for playing the old games, then it's in your court... Also if they say as is... Chances are, they never checked it or it doesn't work.... Somesay for spare parts as well....

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Sun Mar 07, 2010 8:55 pm

$100? Wow. Maybe I'm out of touch, but about 5 years ago I bought one at a thrift store for a buck. Actually it was 50% off Tuesday, so it only cost me fifty cents. It worked, too. Eventually the monitor died and we ended up using it as a door stop in my old server room.

I have several Macs that are old but not that old -- things like LC III's and stuff. If you want one of those, just say the word.

The real problem with old stuff is getting disks for them.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 7:23 am

Flack has helped me see the way and I did scans for Macintosh Classic, instead of whatever I was looking for. I literally couldn't find a black and white Mac, but now I am the proud owner of one with a hard drive.

Well, soon. It's coming from Rhode Island. Sorry, bottle of scotch / roomba! You'll have to wait for next tax season!

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 7:31 am

NihilVulture wrote:Chances are, they never checked it or it doesn't work.... Somesay for spare parts as well....

Yeah, with eBay, I pretty much treat "as-is" as broken. In fact, they could do a complete word exchange for it, and that would be fine. Like banana here. It automatically goes yellow!

eBay sellers generally make me sick. You know what, asshole (I'm speaking to eBay sellers now, not you, Nihil): if you can't verify that the thing works, then don't sell it. Or sell it as "broken." eBay is the biggest collection of poor desperate fuckers in one place since Auschwitz.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 4:36 pm

In the arcade world, there are only two types of auctions: "untested", which means "definitely broken", and "working", which means "you got a 50/50 chance".

Congrats on the purchase -- you'll have to start a new thread documenting your gaming adventures on it!

NihilVulture · Post by **NihilVulture** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 3:50 pm

banana

hey it works for me too ^.^

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 4:40 pm

n!33r banana!

bruce · Post by **bruce** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 9:50 pm

I can testify that it does look nice next to a Vectrex.

Also that $100 is too much.

Bruce

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 12:42 am

I'm gonna have questions when the thing shows up. Here's... a starter question.

The guy put something called "OS 7.0.1" on it. I don't know what that is, but how on earth do I determine if a video game I get off eBay might work on it? I mean, I know the 3.5" disk will be bad, so that's fine, but I've only ever noticed games for MacIntosh, not OS.

I assume otherwise, it's like PCs and Windows: nobody really cares what kind of PC (Mac) you own, just what OS it is running. And they are on OS X now, right? Which is built off BSD, I think? The "X" means ten? So this thing has an OS 3 revs out of date? Or did they skip some, or add a bunch Street Fighter II style?

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 12:43 am

Flack wrote:In the arcade world, there are only two types of auctions: "untested", which means "definitely broken", and "working", which means "you got a 50/50 chance".

This is the truest statement ever. L. Ron Hubbard should have started a religion around this.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 1:32 pm

Well, it arrived.

I turned it on.

The hard drive made noises like it was possessed.

I turned it on a few more times.

It doesn't work.

It didn't come with a mouse or keyboard.

This has been.... retro computing, the thread!

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 1:33 pm

(Actually, there is a "secret" boot menu you can access in ROM by holding down buttons on the keyboard. I bought a keyboard and mouse for it just now. So I'll see if it's just the HD. I don't get anything at all out of the monitor though, so I am worried that there's more wrong with it.)

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 1:08 am

I wanted to open it up. IT STOPPED ME. It uses torx screws, which is... okay, whatever, but two of the four torx screws are so far recessed that anything I have to plug my three sets of torx screws into is too wide. It won't fit.

So I have to go buy a #15 torx screwdriver tomorrow, if one is EVEN around.

Don't believe anything you ever read about the design of an Apple product automatically being better than the PC world. They make just as many mistakes as we did!

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 9:29 pm

Nobody local had the 15 torx screwdriver, so I've been reduced to ordering it from Sears.com. Sears, the website, takes Paypal! Lookit Sears being miles above the competition when it comes to the Internet over something.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Sun Mar 21, 2010 4:36 am

I'm making a claim against the USPS for the poor manner in which they handled my Mac Classic. I guess I'm also going to try buying a new one over the Internet.

I'm making a claim against the poor way the post office shipped my computer, but really, it's a protest against health care. SO ANGRY

Worm · Post by **Worm** » Sun Mar 21, 2010 1:11 pm

Now I'm feeling like a douche for only asking for 50 dollars for that Saturn.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Sun Mar 21, 2010 7:05 pm

Why is that? Answer me, you filth.

AArdvark · Post by **AArdvark** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 3:22 am

I wanted to open it up. IT STOPPED ME. It uses torx screws, which is... okay, whatever, but two of the four torx screws are so far recessed that anything I have to plug my three sets of torx screws into is too wide. It won't fit.

from Neil Stephenson's 'In the beginning was the command line'

Apple has always insisted on having a hardware monopoly, except for a brief period in the mid-1990s when they allowed clone-makers to compete with them, before subsequently putting them out of business. Macintosh hardware was, consequently, expensive. You didn't open it up and fool around with it because doing so would void the warranty. In fact the first Mac was specifically designed to be difficult to open--you needed a kit of exotic tools, which you could buy through little ads that began to appear in the back pages of magazines a few months after the Mac came out on the market. These ads always had a certain disreputable air about them, like pitches for lock-picking tools in the backs of lurid detective magazines.

Retro Computing

Retro Computing

a good idea

Re: a good idea