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Got a few macs 2day

I've found that those new-ish Macs, like the LC-series and early CD-drive models make good kids' computers. That is, if you can load them up with age-appropriate software.

On one hand they aren't vintage, are very common, and lack modern computing capabilities. On the other hand they're reliable and durable, easy to restore and maintain, and easy for youngsters to use.

Good Luck!
 
What is a 6600?

7200's are not very popular and needs a special upgrade for CPU upgrades unlike the rest of the 7500, 8500,9500 systems

The 6100 is ok for a pizza box, depends if it has any upgrades (PC card, G3, etc).
 
I seem to recall I have a 200MHz G3 upgraded 7600 or something lying around with a Voodoo 3 3000 PCI card flashed with a Mac BIOS.

These things are a buttload of fun. I'm pretty sure I have a bunch of spare mainboards for these sorts of things, too, and if I recall correctly, one of them is a 250 MHz non-G3 processor with an onboard ATI Rage2.
 
The PCI powermacs and the Beige G3 powermacs that followed are nice machines and very upgradable.

I have 2x 7500 one with a G3-400, 8500 with G3-400, 8600/300, 9600/350 (6 PCI slot), 9500 (also 6 PCI slot), 3 beige g3 desktops and 1 tower. Plus a 6400 powermac.
 
I have a Power Macintosh 5400/180 that I've spent a fair bit of time screwing around with. I know being an all-in-one machine they're generally not regarded as particularly upgradable. At least, that's what I thought, until I found all those spare Power Mac motherboards lying around at what is essentially a local computer junk shop.

Specifically, I threw in the 200MHz board from what I think was a PM 6400 or something like that. 256k cache + about 128mb of RAM. That board's in and working flawlessly - the extra 20 MHz wasn't a significant upgrade or anything, but it's a little speedier, at least. I was surprised to see that the desktop boards are plug and play with the all in ones.

However, that 250 MHz board from a 6500 I've got really makes me squirm - Each and every time I've tried to put it into the 5400, it WORKS, at least for a while. If you do anything graphics intensive (I was trying to see how the 250MHz CPU + ATI Rage2 would run the original Unreal Tournament demo as a test) the system freezes.

I even tried grafting a larger CPU cooler with fan onto the chip. No such luck. I'm suspecting the issue is overheating, but now I'm thinking less that it's the CPU overheating and more the GPU - perhaps the ventilation in the case isn't good enough compared to the desktop units?

I digress, though, since I've now turned someone's 'check out my sweet new macs' thread into a 'why doesn't my unrelated mac work the way i want to' thread.

Dreamcast270mhz, I would suggest you keep the 7200 and/or the 6600 and sell off the rest, unless you have a particular attachment to them. The 7200 is a robust and versatile machine, and I suspect your 6600 is actually a 6500, since I can't find a 6600 listed anywhere. If I'm wrong...well, I'm curious. The 250MHz processor is in line with the 6500, and I'm betting if you pop the case, you'll see that the CPU's got a cute little fan on it, and a nice ATi stamp on the graphics chip. That computer, if it is a 6500, is worth keeping for sure.

If you can find a G3, or even better a G4, processor daughter card, you're really in business. You might even be able to get an early version of OS X running on it, depending on who you ask and how you go about it.
 
Whenever a "family" of computers like that comes my way, I see what I can do to network them-- even if it's just something simple like file sharing. Most times it proves to be a challenge and I learn a lot. Plus they play games really well.

Appletalk is worth a look.
 
250MHz CPU + ATI Rage2 would run the original Unreal Tournament demo as a test) the system freezes.
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Did you install the ATI extensions when you used that board? I used to run a 6500 mb in a 5200 and had the same trouble until I installed the ATI extensions.
 
The 6500 is awesome. Keep it. You need to really clean up the 6100s to get them to sell on eBay, if that's your plan. The fact that they are the version with the 486 DX2 will probably result in sales.

kvanderlaag said:
If you can find a G3, or even better a G4, processor daughter card, you're really in business. You might even be able to get an early version of OS X running on it, depending on who you ask and how you go about it.
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Running Jaguar on a Mac with a <66 MHz bus is excruciating, but the classic OS with a G3/G4 is sublime. Mac OS 7.6.1 is the way to go if you ask me, but 8.1 and 8.6 will offer better capabilities.
 
The 6100 PC compatible needs that funky video adapter PLUS the cable from the PC card to the video adapter to be usefull. if you have just the machine and no cables don't expect to get that much.

The 6500 is an oddball kind of rig. I have a 6400 with a 6500 motherboard and find it a little limited in the RAM department to 128MB. The IDE is very slow with no DMA. There are a bunch of upgrades for it (TV tuner, video out, video in, ethernet, scsi ZIP drive for the top, remote control for on/off TV and sound functions) that are kind of cool. You will notice that the start up bong is a deeper then normal sound because of the built in subwoofer on the bottom.

PS. Don't even think of running OSX on that 6500, the early versions you can rig IF you have a rare G3 card are not worth bothering with.
 
barythrin said:
From what I can tell (searching, not knowing) the 6100 isn't guaranteed to have that dos compatible card installed.

http://lowendmac.com/ppc/power-macintosh-6100.html

If it does though that's certainly a selling point. I would think it'd be easy to sell to the vintage gaming market if it runs at all good.
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The 6100 with 486 has a silkscreened "PC Compatible" on the front, but that doesn't mean the card is still installed, or that a normal 6100 cannot have the card installed.
 
Dreamcast270mhz said:
It's a 6500, sorry. The 6100 are PC-compatible,a nd was planning to sell anyways
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Well, from a 'historical computer' standpoint, the 6100's have some history to them; as they are from the generation of the very first PowerPC Macs. And if they are "/60" instead of "/66", then they are from the first few months, using the older 60 MHz PowerPC 601 chip instead of the later 66 MHz model. It also means that those models are capable of running Mac System 7.1.2. The models after the 'speed bump' run System 7.5 or higher only. (Even the original /60 is capable of running up to Mac OS 9.1, just like the slightly later models, though.)

And as was mentioned, just because they say they are "DOS Compatible" doesn't necessarily mean that it still has the "PC Compatibility Card" installed. It was just a standard Apple card for that form-factor computer that came pre-installed on the "DOS Compatible" model. For example, my "DOS Compatible" 6100 did *NOT* come with the card; but a 'plain' 6100 I acquired a few years later had the card in it. (Needless to say, I transplanted it to the properly labeled system.)

So, from a 'collectible' point of view, I'd definitely keep one of the 6100s. The others aren't really 'significant' models, nor especially powerful and/or upgradeable. Unless you have a real use for the 6500 (running old software, for example,) it's just an oddball machine.
 
I dissected both the 6100s and they have the card installed. I'm keeping the 7200 but the 6500 is probably gonna be sold. I am looking to get a g4 card for the 7200 and get 9.1 on it. I may also look for other OSes to install (OSX,BeOS, Linux)
 
Dreamcast270mhz said:
I dissected both the 6100s and they have the card installed. I'm keeping the 7200 but the 6500 is probably gonna be sold. I am looking to get a g4 card for the 7200 and get 9.1 on it. I may also look for other OSes to install (OSX,BeOS, Linux)
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Are you sure they both have PC cards installed? It was much more common to have a PDS video card installed in that slot then a 486 card.
 
:) Sounds cool. Now your duty as a concerned e-citizen is to post em on the fantastical vintage computer and gaming marketplace if you're gonna sell 'em ;-)

Actually I wish I had a bit more spare money to play with. A 6100 with a PC emulation card sounds pretty fun.
 
barythrin said:
:) Sounds cool. Now your duty as a concerned e-citizen is to post em on the fantastical vintage computer and gaming marketplace if you're gonna sell 'em ;-)

Actually I wish I had a bit more spare money to play with. A 6100 with a PC emulation card sounds pretty fun.
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Its ok. I like my Orange Micro Nubus x86 cards for older 68K macs. I have a 486/133 unit in my Quadra 950, and a nice 486/66 unit with PCMCIA slot in my IIfx (you can run Windows 3.1/95/NT with wifi in a 68030 mac). Also have some 386 versions as well that run in a window on the mac desktop (later ones took over the monitor with a key combo).
 
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