[comp.sys.mac] To upgrade a Mac SE or not to upgrade, THAT is the question!

jlc@atux01.UUCP (J. Collymore) (03/22/89)

Well, I've been reading a lot about the virtues of a MAC SE/30, and now
the new IIcx.  If I were to spend $1700 on a new 68030 logic board, and another
$700 on a SuperDrive to upgrade my SE, WOULD IT REALLY BE WORTH IT?  I mean,
the way Apple is changing its hardware so frequently, will I just have wasted
my money on things that I'll be able to get in the 1992 Macintosh for about
the same price?

Aside from giving in to childlike "I want this new red wagon 'cause it's
REDDER than the red wagon I've got now!" behavior, could anyone tell me what
advantages I can really expect to have from upgrading my current SE, or buying
an SE/30?  I should add that the only thing I use my MAC SE for currently for
is doing HyperCard stack development, using WriteNow 2.0 and SuperPaint 2.0,
and sometimes playing "Colony."  

Is this really worth it for a Mac user such as me?  Please post your responses
since I think there are a lot of other people in this newsgroup who are in the
same position as myself.

Thanks for your feedback.


						Jim Collymore

lauri@svax.cs.cornell.edu (Georges Lauri) (03/22/89)

In article <1042@atux01.UUCP> jlc@atux01.UUCP (J. Collymore) writes:
>Well, I've been reading a lot about the virtues of a MAC SE/30, and now
>the new IIcx.  If I were to spend $1700 on a new 68030 logic board, and another
>$700 on a SuperDrive to upgrade my SE, WOULD IT REALLY BE WORTH IT?  I mean,
>[...]
>Aside from giving in to childlike "I want this new red wagon 'cause it's
>REDDER than the red wagon I've got now!" behavior, could anyone tell me what
>advantages I can really expect to have from upgrading my current SE, or buying
>an SE/30?  I should add that the only thing I use my MAC SE for currently for
>is doing HyperCard stack development, using WriteNow 2.0 and SuperPaint 2.0,
>and sometimes playing "Colony."  
     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
>						Jim Collymore

I don't know about the others, but a 020-030 machine sure makes Colony a lot 
better!

						Georges Lauri
						lauri@cs.cornell.edu

merchant@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Peter Merchant) (03/22/89)

In article <1042@atux01.UUCP> jlc@atux01.UUCP (J. Collymore) writes:
>Well, I've been reading a lot about the virtues of a MAC SE/30, and now
>the new IIcx.  If I were to spend $1700 on a new 68030 logic board, and another
>$700 on a SuperDrive to upgrade my SE, WOULD IT REALLY BE WORTH IT?  I mean,
>the way Apple is changing its hardware so frequently, will I just have wasted
>my money on things that I'll be able to get in the 1992 Macintosh for about
>the same price?

Excluding memory shortages :^), prices on computer equipment tend to drop as
time goes on, especially when you consider power vs. price.  If you wait two
years, you'll be able to buy an SE/30 for nothing.  But, of course, you'll
want the SE/40.

Here's what I do: I look at what I'm doing and I decide whether the time that
I save on having the more powerful computer is worth the money.  If I don't
find my current Macintosh to be "slow", I probably don't care.  On the other
hand, if I find my productivity being hindered by having to "wait around" for
my computer, than I probably will find it worthwhile.  (In the case of the
SuperDrive, if I find myself being hindered by having to convert MS-DOS/Apple
II disks to the Mac all the time, or find my floppy disks just don't store as
much as I'd like...)

You have to decide whether the cost/benefit is worth it to you.  If you ask me
to decide, I'll tell you that you should do it because I just love spending
other people's money--that's why I work for The Government!  :^)
---
"Should I do it?"                       Peter Merchant (merchant@eleazar.UUCP)
                                              (Peter.G.Merchant@dartmouth.EDU)