coxc0011@ucselx.sdsu.edu (David Tse) (11/06/90)
I hope someone knows about this subject. I have a friend who recently purchased a Mac 512K and an Imagewriter II without any upgrade being done (not that I can see), but for only U.S.$ 400. The owner will have another $200 to $400 to spend on an upgrade. Is there a software to make the Mac 512K do HFS and also work on an external 800K drive (and get 800K)? if yes, which brand drive will work? and where can I find that software (commercial or PD)? How much memory can I add/change the Mac 512K to? what kind of memory chips do I need? I can do soldering well, but not too familiar with the inside of the Mac. The Apple logic upgrade kit for the Mac 512K to Mac Plus is avail. at our school computer store, but is quite expensive (compare to UCLA is now dumping Mac Plus for $500). What is the extra advantage of that kit ? (I believe ROM version is newer 128K vs. 64K) What is a good solution to add a harddisk? there are some third party SCSI board thru the battery cover. Price may be more important than performance. so I want to know how much to fit my friend's budget. What is a good word processing software for that system? (before and after upgrade), my friend uses it to type papers (grad. student in Linguistics Dept.). Is WriteNow best? and won't run out of memory? which version? (MacWrite 4.5 is being used, seems ok on a small document). Further tips on the Mac 512K is appreciated. Please reply by E-mail if possible. Thanks a lot in advanced! I'm going to buy a IIsi soon myself, with the AppleColor 13" RGB. Is the extended keyboard important for running SoftPC, for function keys,etc? Does SoftPC run on a 68030 acclerated Mac Plus (hypothetical :-) ? thanks a lot again! /*****************************************************************************/ /* David Tse Internet: coxc0011@ucselx.sdsu.edu (expire 12/31/90) */ /* U.S. Mail: P.O. Box 15634, San Diego, CA 92175-0634, USA */ /* Organisation: San Diego State University, California, USA */ /*****************************************************************************/ -- /*****************************************************************************/ /* David Tse Internet: coxc0011@ucselx.sdsu.edu (expire 12/31/90) */ /* U.S. Mail: P.O. Box 15634, San Diego, CA 92175-0634, USA */ /* Organisation: San Diego State University, California, USA */
jfr@locus.com (Jon Rosen) (11/07/90)
In article <1990Nov6.080233.19912@ucselx.sdsu.edu> coxc0011@ucselx.sdsu.edu (David Tse) writes: > > I hope someone knows about this subject. I have a friend who >recently purchased a Mac 512K and an Imagewriter II without any upgrade >being done (not that I can see), but for only U.S.$ 400. The owner will >have another $200 to $400 to spend on an upgrade. > > Is there a software to make the Mac 512K do HFS and also work >on an external 800K drive (and get 800K)? if yes, which brand drive will >work? and where can I find that software (commercial or PD)? > The standard upgrade from Apple for the 512KE includes the new 800K drive (they take away your old 400K one), the "new" (at that time) 128K Rom and the system software. This usually costs $299 (which is the list price for the upgrade and almost NOBODY discounts it)... This upgrade does NOT include more memory... Best bet there is to add a MacSnap or Dove board for 2M which mail orders for about $300... You may find it for less now... I havent looked in a while... You will also need a SCSI if you want to add any reasonable hard drive whch you can usually get them to add while doing the Apple upgrade for about $50... All told to get to two meg or so with the latest Plus stuff you need to spend about $600+ .... Unfortunately, you could get a brand new Plus for about the same and a Classic is only a couple hundred bucks more... Of course you now have the Image writer, so thats a positive... > How much memory can I add/change the Mac 512K to? what kind of >memory chips do I need? I can do soldering well, but not too familiar >with the inside of the Mac. > See above paragraph on memory... soldering AIN't recommended... get the MacSnap or Dove boards which clip on... > The Apple logic upgrade kit for the Mac 512K to Mac Plus is avail. >at our school computer store, but is quite expensive (compare to UCLA is >now dumping Mac Plus for $500). What is the extra advantage of that kit >? (I believe ROM version is newer 128K vs. 64K) The Apple upgrade to a Plus is outrageous (always was)... All you get is the extra memory and the SCSI (the 128K Rom is already inbcluded in the relatively cheap 800K disk drive upgrade)... get your own memory and SCSI as noted above and you save about $500... Of course, it would be INSANE to get the Apple upgrade for a Plus now since it costs more than a new Plus or Classic... > > What is a good solution to add a harddisk? there are some third >party SCSI board thru the battery cover. Price may be more important >than performance. so I want to know how much to fit my friend's budget. > Once you add a cheap SCSI, any old hard drive will dooo. Jasmine sells a 20M for about $399 which is pretty good (not quite PC prices, but a lot better than the $799 I spent two years ago...) > What is a good word processing software for that system? (before >and after upgrade), my friend uses it to type papers (grad. student in >Linguistics Dept.). Is WriteNow best? and won't run out of memory? which >version? (MacWrite 4.5 is being used, seems ok on a small document). I use Microsoft Word... You might find someone with a *legitimate* copy of 3.0.1 who will sell it to you for cheap... 4.0 probably won't run on the stated machine unless it is REALLY upgraded with more memory... Good luck... Jon Rosen
Loopy@cup.portal.com (Justin Randall Padawer) (11/07/90)
David, Including the old HD20 driver, from Apple, in the system folder will allow a 512K, with 400K internal, to drive an 800K external in HFS mode. I ran the same set-up for several years. This greatly adds to the function of the 512K. This is the driver that shipped with the non-SCSI Apple 20-meg hard drive. It is simply a ROM patch that allows for the HFS to be read. Your Apple dealer should be willing to provide this free of charge. If your dealer can not locate this driver, Email me. I still have a copy of the original disk that came with my 800K external. Hope this helps, Paul Hopkins Loopy@cup.portal.com