Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Vintage Mac Living

Five Ways to Use Your Old Compact Mac

- 2005.11.09

A lot of people tell me that a compact Mac (Plus, SE, SE/30, Classic, Classic II) isn't good for anything anymore.

I am here to tell you that is simply not the case.

As a matter of fact, I am writing this article on my trusty SE/30, which has 8 MB of RAM and a 40 MB hard drive.

I do all of most of my serious work on these vintage machines. The screens are tack sharp, the interface is simple, and I don't think anything is nearly as responsive as an SE/30 running System 6.0.8 and ClarisWorks 1.0.

Anyway here are 5 ideas on what you can do with your compact Mac:

1. Use your compact Mac to keep a personal log using Note Pad or SimpleText.

2. Use your compact Mac to keep your schedule. This works best if you have an old copy of Now Up-to-Date or something similar.

3. Use you compact Mac to play games! There are also over 800 abandonware games on the Macintosh Garden (link below), and quite a few of them will work on compact Macs.

4. Use your compact Mac to get online. Yes, it is possible to get online with these dinosaurs!

For a basic email system, you'll need the following:

Mac Plus or later with 1 MB RAM and a 800K drive
System 6.0.8
MacTCP (Control Panel)
ConfigPPP (Control Panel)
PPP (Extension)
Eudora Lite 1.3.1

For a basic web browsing system, you'll need the following:

Mac Plus or later with 4 MB RAM and a 20 MB hard drive (I recommend at least a 40 MB drive)
System 7.1
MacTCP (Control Panel)
ConfigPPP (Control Panel
PPP (Extension)
MacLynx, a text web browser for 68000-based machines, or WannaBe (a text web browser for 68020-based machines and up (requires drag manager and thread manager to be installed if you are running System 7.1)
GIFwatcher DA (image viewer)
GIFConverter (converts GIFs to PICTs and PICTs to GIFs)
Fetch 4 or earlier (FTP client)

You can download most all of this from Jag's House or using the links at the end of this article.

How to set up MacTCP:

Open the MacTCP control panel.

Select PPP and then click the more button near the bottom of the screen.

Under the Obtain Address field select Server.

The following is how the IP Address Field should look:

Class: A Address: 0.0.0.0

Subnet Mask: 255.0.0.0

Net | Subnet | Node

Bits: 8 0 24

Net: 0

Subnet: 0

Node: 0

You will also need your ISP's DNS numbers in order to get online.

How to set up Config PPP:

Open the Config PPP Control Panel

Select Modem Port next to Port Name if the modem is connected to the modem port.
Click on the Config button at the bottom left corner of the ConfigPPP window.

Select the modem's speed next to Port Speed and type the phone number in the Phone Num dialog box.
Use AT&F1 under Modem Init.

If you want Config PPP to save you username and password, click on the Authentication button and a window will come up asking you to enter your username and password, then click the OK button.
Then click on the Done button, that should take you back to the ConfigPPP window.

To Connect, click Open, when you do that the computer will start to connect. If you do not want ConfigPPP to save your username and password, you will have to type in both each time you connect.

Once you do that you should have no problems getting online with your compact Mac!

5. It's fun to watch a compact Mac run the Randomizer module (Randomizer runs a different screen saver at an interval you select) in After Dark 2.0.

Well, there you go - five ideas for what to do with your compact Mac.

You'll never know just how much you can really do with your compact Mac unless you try. So what are you waiting for? Dust it off and see what that old puppy can really do!

Link: Macintosh Garden
Link: Archived versions of Eudora
Link: Download MacLynx 2.7.1
Link: WannaBe
Link: Download GIFwatcher DA
Link: GIFConverter, Macshare.com
Link: Fetch">Fetch

Recent Vintage Mac Living articles

If a Mac Plus can run System 7.5.5, why can't an 800 MHz G4 run Leopard?, 10.19. Apple supported the Mac Plus for over 10 years after its introduction. Why should Leopard cut off support for Macs released 4-6 years ago?
60 Mac models left behind: The ridiculously high cost of Leopard, 10.17. Mac OS X 10.5 officially doesn't support any G3 Macs, most G4 Power Macs, most titanium PowerBooks, half the G4 iMacs, early eMacs, or the first 12" G4 iBook.
What a waste! Some schools would rather store old computers than put them to use, 09.12. Denver Public Schools is one example of a school district so ready to buy new computers that it has tens of thousands of old, usable computers sitting in storage.
Why I don't want an iPhone - and really want an iPod touch, 09.06. The iPhone offers a lot of capabilities, but at too high a cost for someone who doesn't need a mobile phone or doesn't want to change carriers. The iPod touch is nearly perfect.
More in the Vintage Mac Living index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: Power Mac G5/2.7 GHz, Apr. 2005 - The fastest G5 CPU Apple ever used, this model included a 16x SuperDrive and shipped with 'Tiger' (OS X 10.4).
Group of the Day: MacBook List for those using a MacBook or MacBook Pro.
March 12 in LEM history: 01: When should I replace my Mac? - 02: Who stole my domain? - Happiness is a new Power Mac - 03: USB for wireless networking - 04: PowerBooks have some room for improvement - 07: 11 ways to optimize Mac performance - Finding older software for Macs - Booting PowerPC Macs from USB - Installing Leopard from an Intel Mac
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

Best iPod classic Deals, 03.12. Used 20 GB, $119; 40 GB, $139; 60 GB, $159; 30 GB video, $129; 60 GB, $159; 80 GB, $169; refurb 120 GB, $189; new, $214; 160 GB, $228 shipped.
Best G3 iBook and AirPort Card Deals, 03.12. 366 MHz 12" clamshell, $89; 466, $125; 500 white CD, $100; 600, $199; 800 Combo, $239; 14" 900, $225.
Best Xserve Deals, 03.12. Used 1 GHz dual G4, $499; 2.0 dual G5, $599; 2.3, $749; refurb 2.26 4-core Nehalem, $2,499; new, $2,699; 8-core, $3,449; refurb 2.66, $4,299; new, $4,799; more.
Best iPod touch Deals, 03.11. Refurb 8 GB, $149; 16 GB, $199; 32 GB, $249; 64 GB, $339; new 3G/8 GB, $184; close-out 2G/16 GB, $229; 3G/32, $270; 64, $355. Shipping included.
Best Mac OS X 10.5 Deals, 03.11. "Leopard" one user, $180; upgrade from 10.4, $150; 5 users, $400; Server, 10 users, $493; unlimited users, $600.
Best 17" MacBook Pro Deals, 03.11. Used 2.33 GHz, $1,099; 2.5, $1,349; refurb 2.66, $1,949; 2.93, $2,199; new 2.8, $2,249 after rebate; 3.06, $2,749.
Best iPod nano Deals, 03.10. Refurb 4G/8 GB, $99; 16 GB, $119; 4G/8 GB, $129; 16 GB, $139; new 5G/8 GB, $134; 16 GB, $160. Shipping included.
Best 15" PowerBook G4 Deals, 03.10. 1 GHz Combo, $400; 1.25 GHz, $460; 1.33 GHz SuperDrive, $539; 1.5 GHz, $550; 1.67 GHz, $589; hi-res, $800.
Best iPod shuffle Deals, 03.10. New 3G/2 GB, pink, $53; other, $55, 4 GB, blue, $71; other, $73. Shipping included.
More deals in our archive.

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Vintage Mac Living articles copyright ©2005-07 by Ted Hodges. Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2010 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.