So some background Info: Seller Want's $200 for a yellowed macintosh 512k. keyboard and mouse included, nothing else. The machine powers on. However, It has a sad mac pop up. The seller says it's ram issues, trhough he hasn't checked the internals in a long time. I've a novice at this stuff, so I if I buy it I might just remove the batteries and leave it until I get better practice on things I don't care about. I don't know If I should pick this up. Where I live, these machines are rare, and I've been checking all the local classfied ads, and everything else is way over the 200 mark. Should i pick this up? Thanks for reading this!
Anonymous
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Probably, but repairing these boards requires professional desoldering equipment. The 4-layer board can be a bear to work with if you're not experienced at desoldering.
I use a Pace unit but still have to be careful. Best bet for those without pro desoldering equipment is to use flush cutters to remove the IC, (cut the legs one at a time) then pull the chip legs from the holes with a good hot soldering pencil using ceramic tweezers, then desolder the holes. That way, the 4-layer via isn't damaged or has it's best chance.
I see good motherboards for sale for around $100 on eBay, so that's an alternative.
Or, look for a good Mac for around $300 - $350. Shouldn't be too hard to find.
My 2 cents.... Good luck with your choices.
Alright, I'll think about it, there is another guy listing a Mac SE, with a lot more stuff for 300, figure can knock it down to 200, Will update once I made a purchase!
The SE's are better but make sure it's not a SE/30, those caps are a pain to replace and leak to the point of destoying the mb. The SE usually has the better caps that don't require replacement and don't leak the the 30.
Gary
I agree here. I also advise that you avoid the Classic line, for the same reasons. The SE, Plus, 512Ke, 512, and 128 tend to all be long life reliable if they were not abused. The SE is frankly the best of all worlds. Try to get an SE-FDHD if you can.
So After talking to the seller, It seems the SE works, and Although he wouldn't budge on the price, I convinced him to through some stuff in there. Thanks to you all, I'll be a happy mac se user!. I'll update probably once I get it home,do a system check
Here's the SE lot with all the goodies:
se.JPG
I would of asked him to fire it up and take a screenshot of the boot up screen. Looks as though the system was sitting in the attic in the heat and yellowed it quite a bit. The Imagewritter and the External HD are nice go withs but even so at $300 is probably at the upper limit.
Alas you'll need some elbow grease, you'll need to load Afterdark starry night, sit back and enjoy!
Hope it all works out!
Gary
Starry Night.jpg
Personally, if you are going the all in one boxy Mac look with 9" BW screen, I am partial to the Mac SE/30.
It was my first Mac back in the late 1980s; (although I did buy a Mac 512K for my parents business when General Computer Corp was successful at putting their 10MB Hyperdrive inside (prior to SCSI)).
It is just that you will get SO much more flexibility out of the SE/30 in terms of what software will run on it and its internal PDS slot allows for more hardware flexibility.
YES: you must make sure that its battery did not explode and immediately take it out and get a fresh replacement.
I found one with 4MB RAM, 40MB internal hard drive and RECAPPED by the seller on eBay for $440 and being only 80 miles away, I picked it up instead of having him ship it.
He also kindly added and installed at my expense:
• 64MB RAM from OWC
• a fresh battery (he had removed the old one and just left it battery-less)
• the Big Mess O'Wires ("BMOW") ROMinator II board and the separate 3D printed clips that keep it on tightly in the SE/30
I have been having much nostalgia times running it and finding software online to run on it.
Ask me more questions if interested.
Yeah I have my doubts about the beige SE. I have a feeling it's not going to work. There are 2 more SE FDHD's , both confirmed working and boots into operating system One's 95 bucks but that one's and hour and a half away, the other is 195 , maybe can bargin, both of them don't include keyboards/mouse.
The 2 in question:
195
se1.JPG
95
Se2.JPG
This is my first time buying a macintosh, so this is why I'm'm asking, sorry for coming off so franctic , I have powerbooks, it's just this a this a much more larger investment you know?
I would hold out for a better package with keyboard and mouse. Don't rush, like my first girlfriend there are plenty of fish in the sea. ;-)
This one is a common one on sale right now that I see often out on the bay. Good setup, lots of software and games to get you going, 20mb hd, WinWord, MacPaint and loaded and 6.0.8 latest OS +manuals. Shipping is not bad dependent on your location. Anyway this would be the setup to look for.
Gary
Alright, that seems to be a good idea, I generally find posting wanted ads on the website I'm using seems to get you fairly good deals
The $95 SE might be worth your while if you're good at electronics and arduinos, you can go with this apdater. Good blog reading anyway.
Gary
Ahh that link above is for the older 512's This one will take care of your mouse and keyboard for the SE.
Hi, so update: I managed to find a guy who has fully working, clean MAC SE, dual 800k floppy drive version, that comes with an keyord, mouse and an rare-ish apple 40 SC external Hard drive all for 300 and is close to where I live. I am satisfied with this deal. Thank you all for the advice, will run that Afterdark starry night program soon as I get it home and get everything sorted out. Thanks! (If you have any recommendations on a permenant internal battery replacement, please link me to that)
Here it is:
chloe mac 4.jpg
mac chloe 1.jpg
Nice score! You have to see what the battery holder has, some are soldered in, other are in holders. I suspect yours might have the replaceable 1/2 AA size, Amazon has them on the cheap. You'll also need a 18" T-15 driver to get tot the deep screws under the handle.
There are hazards to be adhered to opening these cases. Stay clear of the CRT, in fact you should discharge the CRT berfore doing anything like pulling the mainboard to replace the battery.
I would take time to enjoy your treasure and read up on all the ins and outs. There is a whole new world ahead having these machines. My SE is a treasure and no one is going to take it from me, they'll have to pull it from my dead hands if they want it.
Cheers,
Gary
Something to note, is that the FHHD version is a mainboard difference, in addition to the drives, and dual 800K means both that you do not have HD 3.5 diskette as an option, and that you won't have an internal HDD. This was, in fact, the lowest end model of SE.
You will make up the cost difference in raw diskette media as HD diskettes are plentiful and cheap, 800K diskettes are not.
You can of course buy an SE FDHD mainboard, but you will still need SONY 75W drive mechs, and these can be costly.
I can give a big double thumbs up to that trackball. I used the same one, in 1989-99.
P.S. I happen to love the SE/30, and I used to use them, but they are not a solid, reliable machine, as the SE was, and I do not suggest the, to first time compact mac owners, or people w/o the technical skill to repair them. The Classic and Classic II, I would avoid entirely. The SE is simply a better system than either of those.
yeah, that is true. I plan to solve thaty problem with a floppy emu. I have an 200 GB SD card, and can partion that as an external hard drive/800k software loader. I might try to find an FDHD later on, but for now I just have to find creative ways around the problem, which I think, is half the fun of these computers.
Look for the FDHD mainboard. If/when you need the drie, I can suggest a source. The stock SE also cannot read 1440k diskette mages on a FloppyEmu, so keep that in mind.
FWIW, I do not advise running System 7 on a Mac SE. Run 6.0.8 with MultiFinder.
iIf you want to run Sys 7, buy an LC series machine, an 030 or 040 laptop, or a Quadra (best). I used a Quadra 605 for a very long time as my personal home System 7 Max next to an SE running 6.0.8.
Perhaps one day I will find a Colour Classic.