Ok guys, I just wanted to say glad to be back!
I have a Bell and Howell apple II Plus. It was given to me in its plastic and in its box, along with the matching b&h drives. I have seen quite a few bell and Howell systems in my time. Most with the backpack feature, side ports, and the fcc compliance to turn off without the lid on the top. Many of these systems have high serial numbers compared to mine (I believe it's a 11,000 off the top of my head).
Well my system does not come with the backpack. It looks brand new not a scratch on it, the original sticker on the keyboard reading 148k is still fresh, and not worn. The machine looks flawless. It was given to me from a farmer out of his farm house packed in its box for years.
Well my system I believe is a very early version of this class room fcc compliant version. It runs without its lid, doesn't have the backpack on the back, and also is not missing so don't say it was taken out, the side port is flat, they never attempted to put it in.
If I get some interest in this post I'll add pictures, I want to see if I have other active II+ model and more specifically bell and Howell II plus owner. I would like to cross reference serial numbers and other thoughts that may come to mind.
Thanks
Sam
--my bell and Howell is not a displayed piece, I love it as one of my favorite vintage apple pieces
Sam,
I have several Vader's sitting in the closet right now just patiently waiting for me to pull them out once more and get them running.
Not that they are not operational...they are. lol
A couple with pack packs, a couple without.
They are beautiful Apple's aren't they?
Steven
They are beautiful machines. Steven, I am more interested if you have units without the backpack that happens to have a combo like no side port, and a backpack etc, and serial numbers. Possibly get a good vader reference going. I can pull mine out and post some photos later tonight.
-Mine came like it did from the factory, not a spec of dirt on the cliché old farmers house. It's quite awesome.
I would love to see some photos...
Someday I hope to acquire a "Darth Vader"... In the mean time, I enjoy everyone elses Apple ]['s..
MarkO
here are some pictures. In sorry for the outside link, it was just easier than figuring out how to do it via forum.
What is interesting is that in the upper corner it says 835, on my apple iies that corner is used for year and week production, but in this case I'm unsure. Any ideas?
Like I said, this was my easiest way to upload. Let me know if you have any issues seeing it
Pictures
Samm,
That is a very nice unit.
Yes indeed.
Steven
Thanks Steven, but still, can you shed any light on the variants of units, many people desire the backpack unit, but in my opinion I desire the odd ball ones.
And the upper corned is stamped 835, which the time frame doesn't make sense,unless it's not the year/week production, since that was apple iie stomping grounds. I'm going to get it out again tomorrow, I want to check revisions numbers and other various oddities of the board. But this board copywritten 1979 looks a lot nicer and "newer" than any of my iie machines, if it wasn't for me turning on the system and booting it, I would say the system was never out of its box but only to show me it.
Samm
If someone wants a Darth Vader, it's right here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Bell-Howell-Black-Apple-II-Plus-48k-Model-A2S3-Darth-Vader-Computer-/191659747373?hash=item2c9fcfa82d
A very excellent looking machine...
MarkO