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Classic Macs in the Intel Age

Powerful Classic Macs: Performa 5400 and Blue and White G3

- 2008.06.13 - Tip Jar

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Today it's time to look at my classic desktop Macs.

First off, these Macs can't really be called a part of the Vintage Mac Network, since they use PowerPC processors.

Once again, I picked my two favorites. Let's start with the oldest one.

Performa 5400

The Performa 5400 (also known as the Power Macintosh 5400) is an all-in-one quite similar to the iMac. It's quite heavy - but then it's not a portable.

The Performa series were known for being underpowered editions of the Power Macs strictly for home use. However, this Performa is tiptop and runs great. It has a 120 MHz 603e processor and 32 MB of RAM. It runs System 7.5, which shipped with the machine. I upgraded the hard drive to 4 GB recently.

My Performa 5400 is in absolute pristine condition. It has all the manuals, CDs, and even the original box. The Performa shipped with the awesome Apple Design Keyboard, which I currently use with my Classic II, since its own keyboard broke down. I'll get a replacement shortly.

This Mac has both CD-ROM and a floppy drive, making it easy to install all kinds of software. It also has the good old SCSI port.

Performa 5400 slide-out motherboardFinally, the Performa is quite easy to upgrade. Just remove the back cover and slide out the logic board, similar to Color Classic and Performa 500 series.

In conclusion, a good buy, but eBay-ers outside North America beware. The shipping costs for this machine can be extreme and might exceed the price of the unit itself. I found mine on Craigslist ($30) and arranged for a local pickup, which is way better.

Now let's go a little more modern....

Power Mac G3 (Smurf)

This is a great classic Mac. That's all you need to say - but I will tell you a little more...

Blue and White Power Mac G3Introduced in 1999, the Power Macintosh G3 (Blue and White) took the world by storm, just as the iMac had done the previous year. Never before had a tower computer looked so cool, nor had one been so fast.

I have one of the first 350 MHz models. I upgraded the RAM to 512 MB and added a new DVD drive, but other than those two upgrades, it is completely stock.

It runs Mac OS 8.5 (I really have a thing for Mac OS 8!) and has its original ATI Rage 128 video card - with a whopping 16 MB of memory. I would recommend Mac OS 8.6 for this machine (I'll upgrade shortly), although I have heard of people running 8.1 on it (not recommended!).

The Blue and White is the very last Power Mac to include an ADB port. I guess this was for those who wanted to use a vintage joypad or users who were stuck in the past. (I use my Apple Extended Keyboard II).

Sadly, the original CRT display broke down. I'm now using a rugged old Compaq MV1500 monitor, which works fine with the Mac's VGA port.

Ubuntu Linux on a G3

Due to the recent discussion of PowerPC Linux here on Low End Mac, I figured I'd include a little field report. I have been running Ubuntu 6.10 on this machine with no problems at all. It was very speedy and responsive.

In conclusion, this is a great Classic Mac and a good Linux Mac. Once again, if you buy one Mac with a CRT display, beware of shipping costs. Apple's CRT is heavy (somewhere around 50 lb.), so local pickup or no screen at all is better.

Before I end this article, some sad news: The "surprise article" I promised about the Mac Portable probably won't happen. I haven't gotten it yet, and the guy who is giving it to me hasn't emailed me recently.

Next time (if the Portable doesn't show up) I will live up to the name of this column and talk about Snow Leopard and the eventual dropping of PowerPC support. LEM

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

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