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Eric Schwarz
- 2002.05.29 It started about two weeks ago. A friend of mine, who owns a
Power Mac 6400/200, asked me if I
could take a look at their printer, a StyleWriter 2500, because it
wasn't working. To make this story short, the printer was dead (who
knows how it happened), so the fun began. They were looking for a new printer, and in this day and age, a
Mac serial printer can hardly be found new, so more drastic measures
were required. Remembering that a friend who lives in Eugene, OR, takes care of
these old 6360/6400/6500-class
Macs and makes them sing and dance (so to speak), I decided that a
USB printer might be a better bet. I consulted him to find out what
kind of USB card would be best for this task and if this could be
done on the 6400. Even though he suggested a card by Asanté, I couldn't find
one. I called MacWarehouse. They suggested that I not get the $40
Belkin model, but get the $35 Macally one. Following their advice, I
bought the cheaper card and received it about four days later. I told
my friend to go and get a printer at the local office-supply store.
My suggestion was an Epson C60, as I have been quite impressed with
mine and know it is compatible with older hardware. On Saturday, I went over to my friend's house and got started with
the installation. For logic board related tasks, the 6400 is fairly
easy to work on. I just had to undo two screws and slide out the
motherboard. I installed the card in one of the two PCI slots and
closed the Mac back up. I turned it on and found that they were running OS 8.5.1. No good
- the USB software I had (since the card uses the default Apple
software) requires OS 8.6. Next I updated their Mac to 8.6 (much more
stable, too). Then I installed the Epson printer drivers and
restarted the computer. They opened up their very old copy of MS Word and tried printing a
document. It worked, to their delight. If this were a 6 or 7 year old PC, the choice would be clear -
throw it out and buy a new one - but since this is a Mac (probably
one with the best built-in sound system), you simply cannot throw it
away. Upgrading is the only choice. Finally (I meant to mention this last week), my iBook needs a name
(since lots of people like to name their Macs, and the iBook's code
names are kinda lame). If you want to, send any suggestions to me at
.
Eric Schwarz has been using Macs and other computers for a few years. His personal website - dealing with Macs (of course) - is at <http://schwarztech.macweekly.com/>. You can learn more about his current computer setup in Eric Schwarz's
iBook. Recent Power of Mac- TextEdit, a hidden powerhouse that comes free with OS X, 03.26.
Although easily overlooked, TextEdit could be all the word processing software a lot of Mac users ever need.
- Whether you call it AirPort, WiFi, or 802.11 wireless networking, your portable should have it, 03.19.
With more wireless hot spots popping up, there are more reasons to have an AirPort card in your 'Book every day.
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Are low-end Mac users finding happiness with newer low-end Mac?
- Back to school software, 2002 edition, 08.01.
Practical software for students (and others) using Mac OS X.
- More in the Power of Mac index.
Links for the Day- Mac of the Day: 17" iMac G4/800 MHz, July 2002 - The iMac 'grows up' with a 17" 1440 x 900 display.
- Group of the Day: LisaList supports Lisa users.
- November 8 in LEM history: 99: OS 9: I think I like it - 01: The simplified Mac life - Soured on Windows - Flea market Mac - 02: Little room for improvement in new 'Books - Combo drive upgrade for iceBooks - 04: Re-Porter - 05: Fix the old iMac or buy a Mac mini? - Apple's Copland project - 06: MacBook Core 2 - MacBook value equation - Cheap is as cheap does - 07: Problems with Classic mode in Tiger - The G4 Power Mac that won't run Leopard
Recent Content on Low End Mac- Quad-Core CPU Makes Sense in MacBook Pro, OS X 10.6 Causing Overheating, Overseas Power, and More, The 'Book Review, 11.06.
Also Late 2009 MacBook reviewed, how to add RAM to new MacBook, 18.4in Acer notebook used Intel i7, and SanDisk SSD chosen for Sony VAIO X.
- Dumping Macs for Google Apps, SSD in iMac, Late 2009 iMac Performance Problems, and More, Mac News Review, 11.06.
/newsrev/09mnr/1106.html
- WiFi Paranoia, iMac-O-Lantern, Magic Mouse Does Click, Free Clipboard Managers, and More, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.05.
Also strange time stamps, problem with ColorIt on Intel Mac, and the story behind OS X 10.5.4 install discs.
- IDE Is Dead; Long Live SATA!, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 11.04.
SATA has displaced parallel ATA. While IDE hard drives haven't disappeared, the best deals are in SATA hard drives.
- QuickTime X in Snow Leopard Imports, Trims, and Publishes Video Quickly and Easily, Alan Zisman, Zis Mac, 11.04.
The long, slow process of importing video into iMovie to edit it, then render it to another format, is history as QuickTime X does that much more quickly.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals- Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.03.
Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 8-core. $2,299; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.26 8-core, $2,799; 2.93, $4,999.
- Best iPhone Deals, 11.03.
New 8 GB iPhone 3G, $$99; refurb 16 GB 3GS, $149; new, $199; 32 GB, $299.
- Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.03.
Used 867 MHz SperDrive, $348; 1 GHz, $499; 1.33 Combo, $298; SD, $559; 1.5 Combo, $448; SuperDrive, $589.
- Best Power Mac G3 and PCI Video Card Deals, 11.02.
Used beige 300 MHz, $25; G4/366, $49; blue & white 350, $80; 400, $90; 450, $105; PCI video cards from $15; shipping additional.
- Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.02.
Used 400 MHz, $50; 733 MHz, $69; 933 MHz, $209; 1.25 GHz dual, $299.
- Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, 11.02.
Used 2.0 GHz, $800; 2.2, $900; 2.4, $1,000; refurb 2.53, $1,449; 2.66, $1,699; 2.8, $1,949; 3.06, $2,169; new 2.53, $1,579; 2.66, $1,799; more.
- Best Mac mini Deals, 10.30.
Used 1.33 GHz G4 mini, $379; 1.42, $389; 1.5, $419; 1.83 GHz Core Duo, $350; Core 2, $439; new 2.26 GHz nVidia, $580; 2.53 GHz, $770; Server, $990.
- Best G4 iBook Deals, 10.30.
Used 12" 1.07 GHz Combo, $225; 1.33 GHz, $298; 14" 1 GHz, $349; 1.33 GHz, $398; 1.42 GHz SuperDrive, $498.
- Best Classic Mac OS Deals, 10.30.
System 6.0.8 floppies, $10; 7.1, $12; 7.5, $20; 7.5 CD, $4; 7.6 $13; 8.1, $11; 8.5, $20; 8.6, $90; 9.0, $20; 9.2.2, $30.
- More deals in our archive.

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