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A sorta-kinda introduction to me and my collection ...

Chris Hafner

Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2012
Messages
42
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
I've been here for about a year, so probably too much time to be able to still post a real hello over in the introduction forum, but I'd still like to introduce myself and my collection. So far I've spent most of my time over in the excellent PCs and Clones forum, but I'm hoping to branch out into the others as I expand into other kinds of machines.

My Mom taught neighborhood introductory computer courses when I was a kid, with one Commodore 64 and multiple Vic-20s. At one point she sold those off, and then she and my folks bought an IBM 5150 PC that was our primary machine growing up (lots of MS Decathlon and Flight Simulator). We moved from that into a Gateway 386/33, then I built my own 486DX/100 in college. My roommate was a Mac guy, so I had exposure to the Mac SE and early Power PCs. When I was growing up, though, I *really* wanted a C64 or C128.

Just over a year ago, realizing that collecting old cars is way too expensive and space-consuming, I rekindled my love of old computers and began collecting. It's been pretty amazing to jump in after having been away for so long, particularly with the new hardware and software that has been developed to get software onto these machines. I'm not a hardware or software engineer, but I enjoy trying to be crafty and to extend the capabilities of a machine.

So, here's what I've got:

Machine: Apple //c (primary)
Accessories: Amdek VIDEO-300A Amber monitor, gray Apple carrying case, original system disks.
A friend of mine growing up owned a //c, and even as a kid I thought it was a really cool machine, (translated into adult-ese, it has beautiful industrial design). This one is in pretty good but not perfect cosmetic condition and good working order.

Machine: Apple//c (backup/parts)
Accessories: None
I bought this one out of a parts bin for my daughter as a toy. She wound up falling in love with it. It's sorta-functional - it powers on and works in BASIC, but the drive is both physically broken (disks won't fully insert) and it locks up when I attach a 5.25 drive externally and try to access it through software.

Machine: Apple IIGS ROM1 (primary)
Accessories: Briel 4MB RAM card, Kensington IIGS System Saver, IIGS RGB Monitor, Imagewriter II printer, ADB keyboard and mouse, one 3.5 and one 5.25 drive, null modem cable for ADTPro transfers
This was actually my first machine once I began collecting, and still possibly my favorite. I really lusted after one of these as a kid, and I'm hoping to put in a CFFA3000 and TranswarpGS clone before too long.

Machine: Apple IIGS ROM1 (backup)
Accessories: Mockinboard card, AE Sonic Blaster card, IIGS RGB Monitor (incredibly dim), Imagewriter II printer, ADB keyboard and mouse, one 3.5 and one 5.25 drive
I bought this one recently primarily for the Mockingboard and Sonic Blaster cards, which I plan to install into my primary machine. I'll probably also pull in the extra drives into my primary. Otherwise, this is a backup machine - it smells a bit moldier, and it's not in as good cosmetic condition.

Machine: Apple Macintosh LC
Accessories: None (using monitor and keyboard/mouse on my LCIII+)
I bought this one from a local family, and it's running 7.1. It's nice cosmetically, but a bit slow - I'm considering making it a System 6 machine.

Machine: Apple Macintosh LCIII+
Accessories: SCSI Zip Drive, PDS Ethernet card, 12" monitor, ADB keyboard and mouse
This one is put together from parts, but it's nice cosmetically and quick for a 68K Mac (running System 7.5.3). It's my one vintage machine that's Internet-capable, and I really like this machine.

Machine: Apple Macintosh Performa 460
Accessories: None
This is basically a mechanical clone of the LCIII+. It's yellowed and came with nothing, so it's essentially a parts machine.

Machine: Apple Power Macintosh 6500/300
Accessories: CF/IDE adapter - also borrows the 12" monitor, SCSI Zip Drive, and ADB keyboard/mouse from the LCIII+
I'm considering using this one as a LocalTalk server for the LCIII+, Apple IIGS, and ImagewriterII. It's running System 9.1 and is fun to play with, but for some reason it's not able to create an Ethernet connection online.

Machine: Atari 2600
Accessories: Harmony SD cartridge, original joysticks and paddles
Common, but I loved these growing up and had to have one. The ability to accept removable flash media is a total game-changer for this machine, since all of my cartridges are flaky.

Machine: Commodore VIC-20
Accessories: Brand new 1702 monitor, brand new 1541 drive, Mega-Cart hopefully on the way, dust cover, C2N cassete unit
I bought this machine from the original owners, and the monitor and drive had never been used. The cables were still literally in blister packs, and the peripherals had never been touched. I have a few cartridges, but I've put in a pre-order for the Mega-Cart which I expect to be a game-changer. I also have an XE1541 cable for my C-64, so I may move that over to the VIC so I can use my Win98 PC as a hard drive or at least write some floppies.

Machine: Commodore 64
Accessories: Ultimate 1541 II, JiffyDOS, 1541 drive, 1702 monitor, XE1541 PC cable
I just received my Ultiimate 1541 II this morning. Can't wait to try it out!

Machine: IBM 5150 PC (primary)
Accessories: Tandy RGB monitor, XT-IDE BIOS for Compact Flash access (not yet fully working), Zip Drive, IBM clicky keyboard, 2 360KB floppies, 640KB of RAM, CGA adapter
This was my machine growing up, and so I'm most familiar with this one. It's a lot of fun, and I still have my original (working) software from the 1980s! It's an early 16-64KB machine, with the black power supply.

Machine: IBM 5150 PC (secondary)
Accessories: IBM 5153 monitor (broken), 640KB of RAM, IBM clicky keyboard (needs cleaning), 2 360KB floppies, CGA adapter
I bought this one first for too much money on eBay. It has some flaky memory but otherwise runs just fine. Unfortunately the 5153 monitor didn't make the trip too well.

Machine: Tandy TRS-80 Model 100
Accessories: DMP-105 printer, hard black carrying case, cassette unit, accoustic couplers
This original laptop was my uncle's when he was on assignment for the Rapid City Journal, and it's one of my favorite machines for this reason. Pretty cool slice of life for a journalist back then.

Machine: Texas Instruments TI-99/4A (primary)
Accessories: Speech Module, joysticks
I bought this one recently since my other machine is flaky. Unfortunately, my cartridges and/or speech module must be really dirty, as not this machine has become flaky as well.

Machine: Texas Instruments TI-99/4A (secondary)
Accessories: All-original documentation
This one came from a friend of mine - it was his machine as a kid. Unfortunately, it's pretty thrashed - won't start a cartridge, and the keyboard needs a cleaning (each keypress drives multiple letters)

Machines I'd be interested in, in an ideal world: Apple iMac G3, Apple Macintosh Plus or SE/30 (can't make up my mind), Atari 800, Atari ST, Coleco Adam, Commodore 128D, Commodore Amiga, Compaq 386/25, Kaypro Portable. I'm sure there's more.
 
An official welcome then :) Nice collection, good representation of vendors. Do you remember much about what she taught on the Commodores? Was it basic typing and this is a floppy disk sorta stuff?
 
Thanks! I think it was just a pretty straightforward introduction to computing for kids and adults. Touch typing, to operate the machines, and a bit of BASIC. She wrote a couple of card games and a driver's test program that were pretty neat.

Cheers,
Chris Hafner
 
Hello Chris. Nice to read about your collection.

... Apple Macintosh Plus or SE/30 (can't make up my mind),...

For me it would always be the Mac SE/30. It is the fastest of the baby macs. I'm sure others will disagree but I've always seen the Mac Plus as a kind of "tweener". A model in the middle of the line. If I was to get a floppy-only Mac I'd rather aim for an original 128k one (In fact I am looking for one).

Incidentally I did see a Mac Plus last year sitting in a pile of e-waste stacked in a foyer in the University where I work. I made a note to return after my meeting was finished to pick it up. However by the time I got back there, the whole pile was gone! Oh well...:)

Tez
 
Are you the same person who runs the Car Lust Blog?

Wow, talk about worlds colliding - as a matter of fact, I am! My obsession with older, unloved cars has extended into older, unloved computers (well, unloved outside this and similar communities).

Your name definitely looks familiar ... :)

Cheers,
Chris Hafner
 
Hello Chris. Nice to read about your collection.

Thanks, Tezza - you and your collections stand as something of a role model for me.


For me it would always be the Mac SE/30. It is the fastest of the baby macs. I'm sure others will disagree but I've always seen the Mac Plus as a kind of "tweener". A model in the middle of the line. If I was to get a floppy-only Mac I'd rather aim for an original 128k one (In fact I am looking for one).

Incidentally I did see a Mac Plus last year sitting in a pile of e-waste stacked in a foyer in the University where I work. I made a note to return after my meeting was finished to pick it up. However by the time I got back there, the whole pile was gone! Oh well...:)

Tez

Isn't that always the way?

Yeah, the Mac SE/30 definitely has a lot of appeal. I love the speed, power, and capability, and I've always been a big fan of the Snow White design language. The Plus has some appeal to me as the most capable and extendable of the original design, and as such it's a more usable icon than the original 128K.

Basically, it'll come down to which one is available when my trigger finger gets itchy. :)

Cheers,
Chris Hafner
 
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