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: Centris 650, Feb. 1993 - The replacement for the Quadra 700 has room for an internal CD-ROM.
• List of the Day: Old Mac MP covers 604-based multiprocessor Macs and clones.
  
• September 7 in LEM history: 98: Banner exchanges - 00: Tips from the Mac manager - Getting a Mac job - 01: Apple and the gray market - Repositioning the 'Books - 04: Tray loading iMac a good choice for OS X? - Pismo CPU upgrades - 06: Mac mini value equation - Setting up a Mac Classic II - Putting the Intel transition in perspective - 07: Region free DVD viewing, - My Newton - Solving Mac disk and hardware problems - 2 apps every MacBook should have

Recent Content on Low End Mac

• Anticipation: New iPods Now, New Macs Later, Kev Kitchens, Kitchens Sync, 09.05. The season of new iPods is at hand, but new Macs may wait until 2009.
• Buy a MacBook Now or Wait?, MacBook touch Patents, Samsung X360 Takes on MBA, and More, The 'Book Review, 09.05. Also 20 years of portable Macs, data backup and preservation, universal U-Charge battery charger for Mac 'Books, bargain 'Books from $150 to $2,699, and more.
• Listen to Just the Music with the V-Moda Vibe Earbuds, Tommy Thomas, Welcome to Macintosh, 09.05. Well built, the noise canceling earbuds will let you hear all the nuances of your music without letting through background noise.
• Source of iPhone 3G Problems, Army Uses iPods as Field Translators, Gains with Business, and More, iNews Review, 09.05. Also UK bans iPhone ad as 'misleading', iPhone password easy to bypass, GM to offer radios with USB in 2009 models, weather tracking software, and more.
• Macs Gain Ground in August, Consumers Most Likely to Buy Macs, LaCie USB Speakers, and More, Mac News Review, 09.05. Also migrating Time Machine to a new drive and two new keyboards from Logitech.
• Best iPod touch Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.05. Refurb 8 GB, $199; new, $284; refurb 16 GB, $299; new, $370; refurb 32 GB, $399; new, $453.
• Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.05. Used 1.83 GHz Core Duo, $999; 2.16, $1,125; new, 2.2, $1,450 after rebate; refurb 2.4, $1,699; 2.5, $1,999; 2.6 Santa Rosa, $1,849; rebates on new.
• Best iMac G4 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.05. Used 15" 700 MHz CD-RW, $279; 800 Combo, $300; 1 GHz $390; 17" 800 MHz SD, $439; 1.25 GHz, $449; 20", $569.
• Overclocking a Mac mini Got Me Hooked on Souping Up Macs, Adam Geller, My First Mac, 09.04. Stories of hot rodding iBooks, G3 iMacs, and PCI Power Macs on the cheap.
• Apple Will Not Abandon Optical Drives, the Mac Drought, Purposeful Mac Acquisition, and More, Dan Knight, Low End Mac Mailbag, 09.04. Also Mac OS X 10.5 on a G4-upgraded Blue & White G3 and problems using a flat panel display with a Quadra 700.
• Only Leopard Runs Routine Maintenance Tasks after Startup or Waking from Sleep, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 09.04. Mac OS X 10.5 runs routine system maintenance scripts as soon as possible after starting up or waking up your Mac. Earlier versions of OS X do not do this.
• Tomorrow's Solid State Drives and Notebooks, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 09.04. Flash drives are great but have some shortcomings. Some thoughts on building better SSDs and notebooks to use them.
• Best Mac mini Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.04. Used 1.25 GHz G4 SD, $549; 1.42 Combo, $409; new 1.83 Core2 Combo, $569 after rebate; 2.0 SD, $769 after rebate.
• Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.04. Used 867 MHz Combo, no APX, $490; 1 GHz, $550; SuperDrive, $625; 1.5 GHz w/o APX, $660; w/APX, $675.
• Best 17" PowerBook G4 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.04. Used 1 GHz, $779; 1.33 GHz, $799; 1.5 GHz, $859; 1.67 GHz, $910.
• 11 Mac Browsers Compared, Simon Royal, Mac Spectrum, 09.03. The latest versions of Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari, Shiira, iCab, Radon, Firefox, Netscape Navigator, SeaMonkey, Flock, and Camino tested in Leopard.
• Save Internet Radio, USB and Hard Drives, Hardware Manufacturers vs. Linux, and More, Dan Knight, Low End Mac Mailbag, 09.03. Also Mac won't book after cleaning, newer versions of OS X improve wake from sleep, downgrading to OS 8.6, unreadable pages on Low End Mac, and more.
• Another Free POP3 Provider, Recharging a Dead PRAM Battery, Current Kanga Value, and More, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 09.03. GMX email now available in US, Panasonic UJ-841S drive won't burn discs, restoring a dead PRAM battery in a Pismo, and thoughts on Kanga value today.
• Best eMac Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.03. Used 700 MHz Combo, $120; 1.25 GHz SuperDrive, $150; 1.42 GHz, $349.
• Best Mac OS X 10.5 'Leopard' Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.03. Mac OS X 10.5, single user, $99; 5 users, $140; 10.5 Server, 10 users, $395; unlimited, $850.
• Best MacBook Air Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.03. Refurb 1.6 HD, $1,499; new, $1,690 after rebate; refurb 1.8, $1,699; new, $1,919 a/r; refurb 1.6 SSD, $2,099; new, $2,294 a/r; refurb 1.8, $2,299; new, $2,400 a/r.
• Psystar Strikes Back, Countersues Apple, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 09.03. Psystar is trying to paint Apple as a monopoly and force it to license the Mac OS.
• More links 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 ©1997-2008 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, PowerBook, MacBook, 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.

Have a question?
Ask an expert!

Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Best Used Macs
Video Cards
Email Lists
InfoMac's Low
End Mac Forum

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
MacMall
TechRestore
MacResQ
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.