Keeping Those Old Macs Useful
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My Turn is Low End Mac's column for reader-submitted articles. It's your turn to share your thoughts on all things Mac (or iPhone, iPod, etc.) and write for the Mac web. Email your submission to Dan Knight .
- 2007.12.10
Bookmark in del.icio.usI recently "kluged" a battery (two actually) for an old PowerBook 190CS. I tore apart the old battery case and stuffed it with 12 AA NiMH batteries I bought at a local CVS pharmacy. I included the old overheating sensors, etc. I also had to build up a replacement PRAM battery (that center-tapped 6V lithium rechargeable) with four AAA NiMH cells in a case (the PRAM apparently doesn't care about the difference between 5.4 and 6 volts). It hangs on the side of the battery slide. (Actually I found that 8 of the original slightly oversize AA NiMH were still okay and rechargeable.)
The machine operates pretty well; however, it has to be kept plugged into the AC adapter. The batteries tend to self discharge and won't start up the system if I leave it unplugged for more than a day or so - even when shut down. The sleep mode works okay.
I still have a Mac SE/30 that has a bad internal hard drive, but also an outboard external one that works. I will have to start it up someday.
Keeping Old Macs Running
I used to be (still am, actually) in charge of the Prescott, Arizona Macintosh User Group recycling project, so I saw a lot of older Macs come through, and we usually got them working again. We gave them to organizations like Big Brother/Sister and individuals that needed them.
Most were easy to work on. A Performa 6400 with a TV tuner made a great TV/cable set, among other things. I still use a Power Mac 6100/60 AV as a monitor for a VHS recorder. A couple models were a real pain (the 6500 and 8500 come to mind - you have to disconnect mother board cables to even expand memory; they ended up at the computer abbatoire).
Recently I received a Blue iMac G3 with 1 GB
memory. To my surprise I found it could run Tiger (Mac OS X 10.4) very
well. I put a library program into it for use at a local church. Note
that the slot-loading iMacs that
have a FireWire port and the little door in the bottom to get at
memory/AirPort board/battery (if you have small fingers) are desirable
older machines. The older tray-loading iMacs are seriously
limited.
Third-Party Peripherals
My biggest gripe about Apple Inc. and Apple dealers is that they have never made an attempt to reconcile the many devices available through such outlets as Staples, Best Buy, etc. as to Mac compatibility. For example, wireless routers and links are all specified for Windows. The "Wizard" on the disk that comes with them is for Windows. Buried on the disk is a PDF user guide which usually on one line somewhere mentions that they can be used with Macs, but you have to set them up manually. (This was true for a Linksys Router which I bought from a Macintosh retailer in the area. No one ever bothers to write up a one- or two-page outline of what information there is applicable.)
David (also sometimes referred to as General Lud)
PS: I'm writing this on a Beige G3/266 MHz with 288 MB RAM running Mac OS X 10.2.8.
Share your perspective on the Mac by emailing with "My Turn" as your subject.
Recent My Turn articles
- Using Low End Macs for Internet Radio, 08.18. When the local public radio station moved classical music to HD radio, it was time to find another way to listen. An old iMac with iTunes solved the problem.
- 'That's Not a Computer', 07.30. Salvaging a broken PowerBook by turning it into a desktop computer.
- Upgrading a Digital Audio G4 to work better in Leopard, 06.02. In its original configuration, the dual 533 MHz Power Mac G4 was slow with Mac OS X 10.5, but add the right upgrades, and it runs Leopard quite nicely.
- My 4 favorite PowerBooks, 05.28. The PowerBook 150 has a big screen for a vintage PowerBook, the 165c has color, the 100 is diminutive, and Lombard has USB and a great keyboard.
- More in the My Turn 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
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- 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.
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- 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.
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