Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

OWC: Get the Right Memory for Your Mac Top Quality, Competitive Price, Lifetime Backed Free Expert Support + Installation Videos too! MacBook & mini 8GB, iMac 16GB, Mac Pro up to 32GB. Click here

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Collection Spotlight

My First Mac, a Plus, Shocked Me

- 2007.07.18 - Tip Jar

Popularity:

I'd like to talk about my first Mac.

I remember the experience so well. I was in the 10th grade at the time and had just entered biology. My teacher, Mr. Kline, was in his 60s (I think), and he had a collection of Apple IIes in his classroom. I became fascinated with them, because it was 2003 and these machines hadn't been manufactured for a decade. (Actually, some were about two decades old at the time, but still alive and kicking.) He used these machines to load some data analysis programs, as well as run the original AppleWorks.

Around November or so, after going around and looking at all of the other teachers with their fancy 500 MHz iBooks, I asked him if he had ever used Macs. He said he did (his personal machine was a Power Mac 5500, which I learned about much later) - and then he asked me if I would like one.

Mac Plus He said he had recently saved about half a dozen machines from the dumpster. So I went with him to the Grow Room, and there, sitting in a little box, was a Macintosh Plus with it's keyboard, mouse, and power cable.

He said I could have it for free if I wanted it. I said sure, and I came by at the end of the day to pick it up. When I did, he said he also had another compact Mac for me, a Macintosh SE FDHD. However, this one didn't have a mouse or keyboard, and when I plugged it in, it didn't work. Something was wrong with the CRT, and that machine eventually got parted out.

When I got home, I didn't immediately plug in the Plus. I got on my father's PC and researched the machine to figure out what it had and what it could do. I found out it didn't have a hard drive - I was rather surprised that at one time people ran their operating system, applications, and documents all from a floppy disk!

My Mac Plus didn't come with any software, so I had to find it. I was surprised to find that Apple was offering a lot of it's older operating systems as free, legal downloads. I downloaded System 6.0.8 and found an application to write Mac floppies on the PC.

After I got everything prepared, I ran to the machine and spent 15 minutes setting it up, double checking everything. I flipped the power switch, inserted the floppy disk, and my first Macintosh happily began booting.

Another shock came when it booted from the floppy disk in less than 30 seconds.

I remember spending several hours - as well as the following week - playing with that machine and enjoying the simplicity of System 6.0.8.

I soon began wanting more, so I did some research and found out that the machine could take a hard drive. Not internally, but externally. So, I hopped on eBay and quickly won an Apple HD-20. This was the original 20 MB Apple drive that connected to the floppy port; it was sold for the Mac 128K, 512K, and 512Ke. I didn't know what SCSI was at the time and didn't know it was faster. However, I didn't care - I was just happy to have the space for whatever I needed.

I eventually installed a finely tuned copy of 6.0.8 and a bunch of classic apps, mostly games, on that hard drive.

Over the four years since I acquired this machine, I have learned many things about it, the most important being that it had been upgraded. It still has the stock 1 MB of RAM, but if you look at the front of my Mac Plus, the placement and styling of the Apple logo gives it away - it's an upgraded 128K or 512K. You can tell by looking at the Apple logo - if it's in the corner and raised, it's an upgraded Mac. However, if the Apple logo is silk-screened and lines up with the floppy drive slot, then it's a factory Plus. You can also tell because a factory Plus actually says Macintosh Plus on the front, just right of the Apple logo. My machine only has it on the back cover.

Other bits I've added to this machine include an external floppy drive (FDHD, which I got with the Plus, and it works fine in 800K mode), as well as an Asante EN/SC device, an ethernet adapter that connects to SCSI. I have never gotten the machine online, but I have had it on my home network. I must say, sharing files between a modern machine and a 21-year-old Mac is a pretty sweet concept.

I also found a mouse from an Apple IIc, and it works just fine on the Plus. I like it better than the original mouse because the button is wider and it has less wear than my Plus mouse, which I will only use if I put the machine on display.

So where is my Mac Plus now? As much as it pains me to say it, it's currently sitting in storage. I just don't have the room, and I know it seems sacrilege to pack away your first Mac.

I have thought about digging it out and attempting to get it fully online, perhaps turning it into a dedicated IRC machine. (IRC is another one of my passions, and you can find me on a number of channels any given night, chatting it up.)

Once I get this machine up and running again, I plan on writing a bit more about it. It was such a technological breakthrough for Apple, and amazingly they sold it basically unchanged for almost five years. I have an Apple VHS tape from 1990, and in it they prominently display the Macintosh Plus being used in a business environment.

Even in storage, this machine lives on in one way: It's dumped ROM (in a file) is the key player in my Mini vMac setup on almost all of the machines (Mac and PC) I own. So I guess you can say that I am using the machine, only in a different capacity.

If you find Leo's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.

Recent Collection Spotlight Columns

PowerBook 180 Reincarnated, 09.01. The dead PB 180 had once been king of the PowerBook line. Thanks to a PowerBook 165 and some part swaps, it was brought back to life.
Apple's Largely Forgotten QuickTake 150 Digital Camera, 08.10. Apple was the first to market with a sub-$1,000 digital camera, the fixed focus, VGA resolution, Mac- and PC-compatible QuickTake line.
Beige Power Mac G3: Maximum Power Then, Great Value Now, 08.03. The world's most powerful personal computer when it was introduced in November 1997, the beige G3 still has a lot to offer anyone looking for a very low cost, powerful Mac.
The Enduring Value of the Pismo PowerBook, 07.27. The most expandable G3 PowerBook ever is nearly 10 years old, yet it remains a great value for someone looking for an affordable field computer.
More in the Collection Spotlight index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: iMac Core Duo, Jan. 2006 - The first Intel-based iMacs ran at 1.83-2.0 GHz, came with 17" and 20" displays.
Group of the Day: Mac Pro List is for those using a Mac Pro.
November 23 in LEM history: 99: Should I buy a USB card? - 01: Can a low-end Mac be an only Mac? - Palm Desktop without a PDA - CyberDog saves the day - 05: How Consumer Reports could compare Macs fairly - Speakers for your Mac - Living with the hi-res 15" PowerBook - Birth of the PowerBook - Daystar 1.9 GHz iMac G4 upgrade - 1.92 GHz PowerBook upgrade
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

Best eMac Deals, 11.18. Used 1 GHz Combo, $100; SuperDrive, $269; 1.25 GHz Combo, $119; SD, $319; 1.42 GHz Combo, $289; SD, $498.
Best Mac OS X 10.6 and Mac Box Set Deals, 11.18. "Snow Leopard", single user, $25; 5 users, $45; Mac Box Set, single user, $139; 5 users, $180; Server, $414. Shipping included.
Best Xserve Deals, 11.18. Used 1 GHz dual G4, $649; 2.3 dual G5, $795; 3.0 4-core Xeon, $1,899; refurb 2.26 4-core, $2,499; new, $2,888; refurb 8-core, $2,999; new, $3,449; more.
Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, 11.17. Used 1.83 GHz, $750; 2.16, $800; 2.33, $900; refurb 2.4, $1,299; 2.53, $1,449; 2.66, $1,699; 2.8, $1,899; new 2.53, $1,579; 2.66, $1,799; more.
Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.17. Used 400 MHz, $50; 933 MHz, $80; 500 dual, $60; 867 dual, $90; 1 GHz dual, $150; 1.25 GHz dual, $225; 1.42 GHz, $499.
Best Mac OS X 10.5 Deals, 11.17. "Leopard" upgrade, $80; single user license, $135; 5 users, $173; Mac Box Set, 5 users, $230; Server, 10 users, $340; unlimited, $850. Shipping included.
Best Mac mini Deals, 11.16. Used 1.42 GHz G4 mini, $379; 1.66 GHz Core Solo, $419; 2.0 Core 2, $450; new 2.26 GHz nVidia, $580; 2.53 GHz, $769; Server, $990.
Best iBook G4 Deals, 11.16. Used 12" 1.07 GHz Combo, $210; 1.33 GHz, $298; 14" 1.33 GHz, $398; 1.42 GHz, $479; SuperDrive, $498.
Best iPod shuffle Deals, 11.16. Used 1 GB, $35; 4 GB, $65; refurb 1 GB, $39; 2 GB, $59; new 2 GB, $55, 4 GB, $75. New and refurb prices include shipping.
More deals in our archive.

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.