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My First Mac
My StarMax FrankenMac
Louis van Lammeren - 2001.08.16
My son already had a Mac for a while, but I was still hanging on to my Atari ST: after all, it was only a hobby. Then, in the fall of '97, he told me that there were Mac clones going cheap because Apple was yanking the license. I ended up with a Motorola StarMax 3000 tower, with a 240 MHz 603e processor for less than half the price of a comparable Mac. It came with a 15" SVGA monitor, a 2-button Macally mouse, Mac OS 7.6 installed, Mac OS 8.0 bundled, a SCSI CD-ROM, a floppy, a Zip drive, 10Base-T ethernet, five PCI slots, and a five year warranty. Along with the SCSI port, it has the regular Apple ADB, modem, and printer ports. It also has ports for a PS/2 keyboard and mouse, which I must try someday.
It has now turned into a bit of a FrankenMac with a second monitor on an ATI 128 card, a 300 MHz G3 upgrade card, an ATA 66 MHz hard drive host card - about 40 GB storage on three hard drives and room for two more, a Umax SCSI scanner, an Epson Photo Stylus (6 colour) printer, a Yamaha 8824 CD-RW, a woofer, and speakers that look like little iMacs. I've got an old 14.4 modem plugged in just for the odd web site where you can only order by phone.
The only thing that ever quit was the Zip drive, which developed the dreaded click of death. I'm after Iomega for a replacement. The StarMac has been the 8.1, 8.5, 8.5.1, 8.6, 9.0, 9.0.4 route, and is now running OS 9.1 - very stable.
I burn CDs for nieces and nephews from Napster downloads, fiddle with family pictures in Photoshop, do some email, and surf a bit. I did my wife's reunion pictures on the Epson. I've even been able to help out on a StarMax list. When I retire, I'm going to set up a family history web site, a kind of living family tree, with "cousins by the dozens."
This computer has been more fun than I would ever have thought! I learned to take it apart to install all the stuff, and I'm quite proud of it and of myself. One of these days somebody will write the kernels to let me boot OS X, and then it will be a long time indeed before there is a second Mac!
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: Mac mini Core Solo, Feb. 2006 - The only Mac to use a Core Solo CPU, this model ran at 1.5 GHz, has integrated graphics, and includes a Combo drive
- Group of the Day: SuperMacs is for those using Umax SuperMac clones.
- Support Low End Mac
Recent Content
- Pismo WiFi Networking Issue Finally Solved?, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.24. It turns out the problems wasn't the Pismo, the Buffalo WiFi card, or Mac OS X 10.4. It was the Wireless G router - Linksys to the rescue!
- Mini VGA to S-video Adapter a No Go for eMacs, Dan Bashur, Apple, Tech, and Gaming, 11.24. You might think that Apple's Mini VGA S-video adapter is a cheap way to connect your eMac or G4 iMac to your TV. You would be wrong.
- Google Calendar with iPhone or iTouch Is Great for Scheduling, John Hatchett, Recycled Computing, 11.24. Web-based Google Calendar allows access and updates from any computing platform, including Mac, Windows, Linux, and iPhone OS.
- Why Spaces is My Favorite Leopard (and Snow Leopard) Feature, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.23. Spaces, a feature introduced with OS X 10.5, is like having several monitors on your Mac without the cost and space of using multiple displays.
- i5 iMac Benchmarked, Mac mini 'Shouldn't Be Overlooked', Twitter Client for Classic Mac OS, and More, Mac News Review, 11.20. Also why Apple leaves the low end to others, 10.6.2 fixes video playback problem in 27" iMac, 3D Leopard and Snow Leopard performance, and more.
- Apple's Tablet an End Run Beyond Netbooks, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 11.20. Whatever Apple has planned will leverage existing technologies while going beyond what its competitors can offer.
- Apple #4 in Reliability, Apple Tablet a Gadget for All?, HP's i7 Notebook Outdoes Mac Rivals, and More, The 'Book Review, 11.20. Also Flash 10.1 improves video on Hackintosh netbooks, thin-and-light notebooks impress, Windows XP finally on the way out, and more.
- NASA Chemical Sensor for iPhone, Smartphone Death Match, iPhone Earrings, and More, Ian R Campbell, 11.20. Also mobile phone dangers, new apps, GPS solution for iPod touch, new iPod and iPhone cases, and more.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best G4 iMac Deals, 11.24. Used 15" 700 MHz CD-RW, $150; 800 MHz Combo, $229; 1 GHz, $289; 17" 1.25 GHz, $200; 20" 1.25 GHz, $509.
- Best MacBook Air Deals, 11.24. Used from $899; refurb from $1,099; new 1.6 GHz/120 HD, $1,150 after rebate; 1.8/64 SSD, $1,150 a/r; 1.86/128 SSD, $1,350 a/r; 2.13/128 SSD, $1,694 a/r.
- Best PowerBook G3 Deals, 11.24. Used 233 MHz WallStreet, $75; 266 MHz, $160; 400 MHz Lombard, $199; 400 MHz Pismo, $289; 500 MHz, $350.
- Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.23. Used 867 MHz SuperDrive, $348; 1 GHz Combo, $379; SD, $519; 1.33 GHz, $529; 1.5 GHz Combo, $549; SuperDrive, $609.
- Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.23. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 4-core. $1,919; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.93 8-core, $4,999; new 2.26 8-core, $2,290.
- Best Time Capsule and AirPort Deals, 11.23. Used 802.11g AirPort Extreme, $49; 500 GB Time Capsule, $150; new, $190; 1 TB dual-band, $280; 2 TB, $469; 802.11n AirPort Extreme, $170.
- Best eMac Deals, 11.18. Used 1 GHz Combo, $100; SuperDrive, $269; 1.25 GHz Combo, $119; SD, $319; 1.42 GHz Combo, $289; SD, $498.
- Best Mac OS X 10.6 and Mac Box Set Deals, 11.18. "Snow Leopard", single user, $25; 5 users, $45; Mac Box Set, single user, $139; 5 users, $180; Server, $414. Shipping included.
- Best Xserve Deals, 11.18. Used 1 GHz dual G4, $649; 2.3 dual G5, $795; 3.0 4-core Xeon, $1,899; refurb 2.26 4-core, $2,499; new, $2,888; refurb 8-core, $2,999; new, $3,449; more.
- More deals in our archive.
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ramseeker
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the pickle's Low-End
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