bmartin@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (Brian Martin) (03/04/91)
My wife just bought a Mac IILC, and is very pleased with it. She bought it for $2,450, at the local university, and got the IILC with 2MB RAM/40MB disk, 13" RGB monitor, and monitor stand. She bought it because she was tired of competing with me for time on my IIci. I added two 1MB SIMMS to its 2 SIMM slots (left over after adding 4 4MB SIMMS to my IIci). Performance is slow but acceptable. The big performance hit seems to come from the internal disk drive, a slow Conner 40MB. The system is a lot peppier when it boots from my external HP-650 drive. Of course, I could always go to a third-party 68040 upgrade card if performance becomes a real problem. There are several areas where Apple cut costs that have proven to be a real annoyance. 1. There is no power connector for the monitor on the back of the IILC. Because of this, we've inadvertently left the monitor on for long periods of time, not knowing that it was on and wasting lots of electricity. Perhaps Apple didn't realize this, but omitting the power connector is an anti-environmental decision. Now I have to buy a third party hardware device to help us save electricity. 2. The shutdown menu item doesn't turn the IILC off. You have to physically turn the power switch in the back of the machine to the off position. That's real annoying, especially for someone who has only worked with Mac II series computers. I've heard that Apple isn't positioning the IILC as a mac II, but that's not apparent from the name (mac IILC) nor from its configuration. 3. Expensive VRAM kit. They're asking a lot of $$ for 256K of VRAM. Is it really that expensive? Are there any third party manufacturers with plans to bring out VRAM upgrade kits? 4. 40MB is way too small. I'm planning to replace it with a larger 120MB drive from APS. Apple really should have give us an option for a larger internal drive in the IILC. --- Brian K. Martin, M.D. Martin Information Systems, Ltd. Honolulu, Hawaii Please send replies to martin@medix.pegasus.com
rsarin@aix01.aix.rpi.edu (Raman K. Sarin) (03/04/91)
I may be really mistaken here, but I don't believe that the MAC LC is referred to as a //lc anywhere at all! In fact, *I'm looking at a picture of one right now, and low and behold the case does only say Macintosh LC on it, no II anywhere!!! The new II is the IIsi, there is no such thing as a IILC. Now for my second comment, is System Seven really here? -Raman Sarin
russotto@eng.umd.edu (Matthew T. Russotto) (03/04/91)
In article <11745@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu> bmartin@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (Brian Martin) writes: >My wife just bought a Mac IILC, and is very pleased with it. She bought >it for $2,450, at the local university, and got the IILC with 2MB It's not called a IILC. Just a Mac LC. This is not a quibble. >There are several areas where Apple cut costs that have proven to be a >real annoyance. > >1. There is no power connector for the monitor on the back of the >IILC. Because of this, we've inadvertently left the monitor on for long >periods of time, not knowing that it was on and wasting lots of >electricity. Perhaps Apple didn't realize this, but omitting the power >connector is an anti-environmental decision. Now I have to buy a third >party hardware device to help us save electricity. Well, if you remember to turn it off, it is a pro-environmental decision because no relay has been produced, and no connector is made.... That aside, the LC is not a II-- only the II series gets niceties like that. >2. The shutdown menu item doesn't turn the IILC off. You have to >physically turn the power switch in the back of the machine to the off >position. That's real annoying, especially for someone who has only >worked with Mac II series computers. I've heard that Apple isn't >positioning the IILC as a mac II, but that's not apparent from the name >(mac IILC) nor from its configuration. My price list has it as an LC, not a IILC. >3. Expensive VRAM kit. They're asking a lot of $$ for 256K of VRAM. Is >it really that expensive? Are there any third party manufacturers with >plans to bring out VRAM upgrade kits? Probably. I've seen ads (in Macworld) for VRAM for the original video boards at $25-- those companies probably have VRAM for the LC. >4. 40MB is way too small. I'm planning to replace it with a larger >120MB drive from APS. Apple really should have give us an option for a >larger internal drive in the IILC. IMO, you probably should have gotten the IIsi. [BTW, if the previous version of this article got out, sorry-- this modem has an annoying habit of dumping old data at random times.] -- Matthew T. Russotto russotto@eng.umd.edu russotto@wam.umd.edu .sig under construction, like the rest of this campus. I mine 600 wells, and whaddo I get? Another day older and deeper in debt! --- Saddam Hussein.
daveh@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (David H. Huang) (03/05/91)
In article <11745@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu> bmartin@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (Brian Martin) writes: [stuff deleted] >2. The shutdown menu item doesn't turn the IILC off. You have to >physically turn the power switch in the back of the machine to the off >position. That's real annoying, especially for someone who has only >worked with Mac II series computers. I've heard that Apple isn't >positioning the IILC as a mac II, but that's not apparent from the name >(mac IILC) nor from its configuration. Ah... but it's a Mac LC, not a Mac IILC! It is not a Mac II, and Apple isn't intending it to be a Mac II, and it's name does not suggest that it's a Mac II. [more stuff deleted] >--- >Brian K. Martin, M.D. >Martin Information Systems, Ltd. >Honolulu, Hawaii >Please send replies to martin@medix.pegasus.com -- David Huang | Internet: daveh@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu | "Slight accidents with funny rays UUCP: ...!ut-emx!ccwf.cc.utexas.edu!daveh | can have serious consequences" America Online: DrWho29 |
sukenick@sci.ccny.cuny.edu (SYG) (03/05/91)
>My wife just bought a Mac IILC, and is very pleased with it. She bought >1. There is no power connector for the monitor on the back of the >IILC. Because of this, we've inadvertently left the monitor on for long >periods of time, not knowing that it was on and wasting lots of >party hardware device to help us save electricity. Well, if you're serious about keeping your Mac alive, and saving electricity, you should get a surge supressor power strip. (at the very least) The prices range anywhere from $8 and up up up. I have one which is a console with lighted switches for each connector in it's back, along with a master switch. It cost $15...it's not wonderful, but it did solve some strange data problems in the PC that it is also connected to. Select "Power Off" in the menu, and when all is clear, turn off the power at the strip. Otherwise, even with the Mac II's turn off, the computer is still connected to the line. If there is a surge, it is better for the equipment to be completely switched off. At one extreme, I know of an EE who unplugs his equipment (now thats really getting paranoid :-)) If you want a really good unit, you can pay about $200 for a line regulator transformer with a host of protection :-) >3. Expensive VRAM kit. They're asking a lot of $$ for 256K of VRAM. Is >it really that expensive? Are there any third party manufacturers with >plans to bring out VRAM upgrade kits? Just find out the chip #. >4. 40MB is way too small. I'm planning to replace it with a larger >120MB drive from APS. Apple really should have give us an option for a >larger internal drive in the IILC. Why replace and not add? then you'll have 40 MB more at a price differential of about $100 (i.e. $100 is the usual diff for an external) Also, when you replace, you have to worry about the power supply...
john@newave.UUCP (John A. Weeks III) (03/06/91)
In article <JR6-VN?@rpi.edu> rsarin@aix01.aix.rpi.edu (Raman K. Sarin) writes: > Now for my second comment, is System Seven really here? For upwards of 20,000 developers, yes. For users, no. It will be rolled out to the dealers some time in mid-May (according to MacWeek) unless some major problem is found. -john- -- =============================================================================== John A. Weeks III (612) 942-6969 john@newave.mn.org NeWave Communications ...uunet!rosevax!tcnet!wd0gol!newave!john ===============================================================================
gillies@m.cs.uiuc.edu (Don Gillies) (03/07/91)
To my surprise, my 1987 Mac II draws nearly .1 amps while it is turned off! So your "off" Mac II's may be sucking down as much as 12 watts! Count your blessings that the Mac LC has no power-on switch. It is saving you some money (about $5/yr at 8c/kilowatt-hr). Don Gillies | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign gillies@cs.uiuc.edu | Digital Computer Lab, 1304 W. Springfield, Urbana IL ---------------------+------------------------------------------------------ "UGH! WAR! ... What is it GOOD FOR? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!" - the song "WAR" by Edwin Starr, circa 1971 --
dan@hpnmdla.hp.com (Dan Pleasant) (03/08/91)
In comp.sys.mac.hardware, john@newave.UUCP (John A. Weeks III) writes: >In article <JR6-VN?@rpi.edu> rsarin@aix01.aix.rpi.edu (Raman K. Sarin) writes: >> Now for my second comment, is System Seven really here? > >For upwards of 20,000 developers, yes. For users, no. It will be >rolled out to the dealers some time in mid-May (according to MacWeek) >unless some major problem is found. > >-john- Well, maybe only for upwards of 19,999 developers. It still hasn't arrived here :-( Dan Pleasant