[quote=AN][quote=bearishgurl]”Back in the day,” Macs had Motorola processors (made in the US) and all their components/peripherals were assigned in-line by the owner/user on a SCSI Ultra (50-pin) or Ultra Wide (68 pin) Bus (or maybe both). This technology was very fast and reliable but contributed to Macs’ weight (plus they had heavy cases as you mentioned). I know Macs are more “mass-marketed” now (to better compete with PCs) so are likely made of cheaper materials.
Some early nineties Macs had “superdrives” which could read DOS/Windows floppy disks.
They were the greatest thing since sliced bread! And the matching Sony (Apple) Trinitron Monitor (along with dedicated VRAM installed in the computer) was very sharp and crisp!
With an Apple 2x external CD, the total cost was over $2K (2 bigger SIMMS, 2 VRAM chips and bigger LaCie SCSI HD, etc was another $1K extra)!!
I used this computer at home every day for over 5 years and absolutely loved it :)[/quote] That’s WAAAAY back in the day. FYI, Macs weren’t the only one using SCSI. Actually, if you get any workstation class computer from any major PC OEM, they probably have SCSI in it. SCSI was designed for workstation/server and not for home used, since they’re expensive and tend to be louder, since they spin faster, which gives it the speed advantage over IDE. Also, SCSI drives are tested to have much higher MTBF than IDE. SCSI wasn’t and isn’t ideal for home use, since its advantages weren’t/aren’t being taken advantage of, since people tend to upgrade their computers after a few years, unlike workstation/server which tend to have much longer life span. So, for most users, paying more for SCSI isn’t a smart idea.
When talking about reliability, I don’t think ANYTHING can rival the IBM (now Lenovo) Thinkpad. I have one in 1999 for school. Tossed it around w/out a dedicated laptop bag (just put it in my backpack), and it lasted to this day. The hard drive finally fail recently, but other than that, everything was still working like a charm up until the day the HDD fail. The hinges never falter after 10+ years of use. They might not look as pretty as an Apple, but man, those things are bullet proof.[/quote]
Yes those macs were WAAAAY back in the day, AN! I was happy to accept my (circa 2000) 25-lb “MMX server” from a local firm who was “upgrading” in 2005 (actually downgrading, IMHO) and it is a WORKHOUSE and its hdwre is top notch! I haven’t replaced a thing! I remembered how great SCSI was and already had the (expensive) ultrawide card and cables and told them I’d take it and then bought another 17GB SCSI HD for it at Fry’s for about $160-$170 IIRC, which is, of course, now full. There is a bay for another SCSI drive (I’ve had a SCSI Zip drive in there) but all I have are 2-3 GB HD’s (from macs) which were $330-400 “back in the day.” I’m thinking of throwing a “spare” large IDE in there for file storage. Yes, the fan is fairly loud and I haven’t found an option in CMOS or a switch on the board to get it go to sleep … only hibernate. Any tips for me here, AN? If so, pls pm me 🙂
It is a Dual Pentium III running at 850 MHz. I “tested” it and it WILL run Vista but its specs are on the edge … no Aero available. It currently runs on WIN XP Pro SP3.
Thanks for any help!
I’d still rather have it than a 2011-12 mass-marketed “empty box” weighing <5 lbs.
