Re: How to outfit a "typical" 2gs

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

John King writes ...
> 
> I hope to soon have a stock IIgs with monitor, mouse, 3.5, 5.25, 
> keyboard. I have a couple of open ended questions regarding the 
> outfitting of a stock gs
> ....
>

     You can find some information about your IIgs and recommendations for
upgrades at http://home.swbell.net/rubywand/A2FAQs5MAINHALL.html#013 .

     Something to make sure of first is that you have a ROM-01 or ROM 3
model. If you have a pre-ROM-01 IIgs you will need to upgrade the ROM. (This
stuff is discussed in the above reference.)

 
> What equipment be added (like RAM, HD, accelerator etc .... ) 
> for "typical" use? I was thinking of RAM, and a FOCUS drive. 
> Accelerators, and SCSI cards seem too scarce.
>

     At least for now, SCSI cards are fairly scarce. Since you have a Focus,
you do not need to be concerned about SCSI until you decide it would be nice
to add a CD-ROM drive or a Zip drive.

     The 4MB Expansion Memory RAM recommended by Roy is, today, virtually a
requirement for running the latest System (v6.0.1) and other software
comfortably. Alltech sells a good memory card. (See Vendors at
http://home.swbell.net/rubywand/A2FAQs3VENDORS.html .)

     Now that so many computer shoppers are rediscovering the Apple II,
accelerators, especially IIgs accelerators, are becoming difficult to find.
If you can get a ZipGS or TransWarp for a price you can live with, avoid
being too picky about speed. Most can be upgraded to at least 10MHz.

     Your system description seems to indicate that you are getting one 5.25"
drive and one 3.5" drive. Since you have a Focus hard drive and plan to
expand your RAM, a second 3.5" drive is not critical. Having one is often
convenient, though. A second 5.25" drive is practically a necessity if you
intend to run a lot of 5.25" software, especially games. Steve Buggie sells
nicely refurbished Apple II drives at reasonable prices. (See Vendors at the
URL above.)

     You do not mention a 'stereo card'. Most IIgs music software and many
games utilize two channels, which makes a stereo board very nice to have. You
can find out more about these boards (including directions for making your
own) at http://home.swbell.net/rubywand/Csa2SOUND.html .

 
> Same type of question regarding software. I now have AW3 on a
> FOCUS drive for a file://e. Anyone suggest upgrading?
>

     As Roy suggests, you want Appleworks 5. It's on the Asimov Georgia
mirror at ftp://mirror.apple.asimov.net/images/utility/word_processing/ .
These are disk images. You can use DSK2FILE or ASIMOV to convert these files
to 5.25" diskettes and, then, install Appleworks 5 on your IIgs.

     The v5.1 update for Appleworks 5 is available on GS WorldView at
http://www.grin.net/~cturley/gsezine/GS.WorldView/v1999/Oct/ . This is a
ShrinkIt file. Use ShrinkIt v3.4 or GS-ShrinkIt to unshrink the file.

     For information about the utilities mentioned above and links for
downloading, see http://home.swbell.net/rubywand/Csa2FLUTILS.html . For info
about transferring downloads to your IIgs, see
http://home.swbell.net/rubywand/Csa2T1TCOM.html .

     The A2MG mailgroup is a good place to find out more about Appleworks 5.


> I realize these are sort of fuzzy questions, but there seems to be a whole
> world exclusively for the IIgs and I'm wondering how to take advantage
> of it for a reasonable cost.

     There are still enough IIgs's out there in thrift shops and at garage
sales and swap meets to hope for finding one loaded with juicy Slot cards;
so, if you like treasure hunts, the cost can be kept moderately reasonable.



Rubywand