IIc ROM Upgrade - why not?

No reason on a //c to worry about originality.  Apple made a whole lot of them.  They aren't rare or particularly valuable.  They are not likely to become so in any of our lifetimes.  So I see no reason not to go with the ROM upgrade.  It isn't like you are tearing up some preoious antique or anything.

I didn't want to have to cut the hourglass pad on my 255, as it's my childhood IIc. It has a ton of sentimental value to me.

Yeah, I know it's easy enough to reverse and bridge that point again.  But I just couldn't bring myself to cut into the board.

But to each their own. 

You still need to do the mod, but then you could use the ROMXc to gain access to all of the ROM versions instantly. Plus lots more..

nick3092 wrote:

I didn't want to have to cut the hourglass pad on my 255, as it's my childhood IIc. It has a ton of sentimental value to me.

 

 

Yeah, I know it's easy enough to reverse and bridge that point again.  But I just couldn't bring myself to cut into the board.

 

 

But to each their own. 

Philosophically there's nothing wrong with cutting that trace on your childhood IIc.

It's something that you could just as easily done in your early years to add functionality (like smartport capability) to the machine at the time.

So there's nothing wrong with doing it now.

There's a similar school of thought in the vintage automotive restoration world called "day 1 mods", that is, reversible modifications that could have been done in the era by a car buyer - like mag wheel upgrades or Holley Double-Pumper carburetors.  Day-1 mods don't de-value the car by as much as one would expect vs a "factory" example.

Tbe automotive example is a fairly good one...  But a //c...  It's like a later (post 1973) C3 Corvette.  Sure, it isn't worth nothing.  But they made a lot of them.  They aren't rare now.  They aren't that valuable now (with minor exceptions like the //c+ being worth a little more like a Pace Car edition).  But none of these things are ever really going to be worth much in our lifetimes.  So like removing all the smog devices and putting on some aftermarket parts won't make a bit of difference in the value of say, a 1979 Corvette, it might even improve it because it can make it a much more driveable car.  Hell, even putting in a modern stereo system will usually help, not hurt even though it isn't parts available during the vintage era (aftermarket stereos back then were crap compared to what is out there now).  Upgrading the ROM on a //c makes it a much more usable machine, like as you mentioned, smartport capability).  But sentimental issues are based on emotion, not logic...  so I get that someone might want to preserve something just as it was.

I upgraded mine years ago but kept the original ROM in case I ever found a reason to go back. Never did.

For me, maybe because I'm used to ROM 255, I find it quite convenient. The only reason is probably habit.       dinosaur game

softwarejanitor wrote:

Tbe automotive example is a fairly good one...  But a //c...  It's like a later (post 1973) C3 Corvette.  Sure, it isn't worth nothing.  But they made a lot of them.  They aren't rare now.  They aren't that valuable now (with minor exceptions like the //c+ being worth a little more like a Pace Car edition).  But none of these things are ever really going to be

I really disagree with this on the IIc+. There were from 400,000 to 700,000 IIc computers sold. But, there are no solid numbers on the IIc+.  They only lasted 2 years. They were wildly unpopular, only ones buying these were the home market. Mostly because they were supplied wth a 3.5 drive instead of a 5.25, so most software would not boot the original disks without purchasing a separate external 5.25 drive and then they booted into accelerated mode. I would estimate only about 50,000-75,000 of them were sold, possibly less.

Even now there are lots of pre Apple IIe systems for sale on ebay and only a very few IIc+ machines.  I think the IIc+ has potential to go up quicker now, mostly because of how few there are and the built in speed bump. 

Just my .02

icecruncher wrote:

Even now there are lots of pre Apple IIe systems for sale on ebay and only a very few IIc+ machines.  I think the IIc+ has potential to go up quicker now, mostly because of how few there are and the built in speed bump.

 

The IIc+ has been selling on eBay for about $400-$650 for the past 3-4 years, and has actually been selling on the lower end of that scale recently.

Sure, it's a desirable machine for the Apple afficionado, but as you say it wasn't very well known, and the prices are not really rising as you say.  Maybe lately people have run out of money or are deciding to go travelling instead of collecting with their disposable incomes.

With a few upgrades, though - my own IIc+ has the ROM5X and a 1MB expansion card/clock from A2Heaven - it is a very capable little machine, especially with a Floppy Emu or Unisdisk Air in smartport hard drive mode.

Heck it even has an internal modem port (for which nothing was ever made) that I wired to an internally mounted ESP8266 based WiFi modem.  It truly is the finest eight bit Apple II ever made.

baldrick wrote:It truly is the finest eight bit Apple II ever made. 

Couldn't agree more! Although I have the ROMXc+ in mine ;)