Re: Apple //c+ questions...

[CHRIS MORSE <chris@invalid.net>]

On Mon, 31 Mar 2003 16:28:18 -0800, "Paul Grammens" <grammens@svn.net>
wrote:

>
>"Jeff Thomas" <a2forever@usa.net> wrote in message
>3E88D88A.9280247@usa.net">news:3E88D88A.9280247@usa.net...
>> I own an Apple //c personal computer, and I am wondering if //c+ would
>> be worthwhile getting, considering the lack of software on 3.5" disk?
>> Living downunder, I never seen one here, was it ever released outside
>> the United States? Can somebody provide some technical information? Does
>> it support the older 5.25" disk drives or only 3.5" disk drives?
>>
>
>Yes, it's worth getting.   In addition to the internal 3.5" 800K drive it
>can support two external 5.25" drives and a second 3.5" drive.   It has a
>built-in accellerator, so it's faster than the other stock 8 bit Apple II's.
>The 800K  of space on a 3.5" drive feels like a  hard disk compared with the
>space on a 5.25" drive! I believe it can access it faster than the IIc too,
>because it doesn't need the slower 3.5" Unidrive which the IIc requires.

Yes, if I recall correctly, standard DOS 3.3 on a 5.25" disk reads
about 1K/sec.  ProntoDOS (not ProDOS) improves on that.

The Apple //c+ reads about 8k/sec, which is a lot faster.  Even if you
boot it up and switch to the 1MHz mode (holding ESC), the 3.5" disk
access still triggers the //c+ into 4MHz speed during those
operations.

>I also like the compactness of it, which makes it easy to pull out, set up,
>and use.
>Another good choice would be a Mac Color Classic, or Color Classic II, which
>I understand is available downunder.  Those can take a IIe card, which gives
>you  an accellerated 8 bit Apple II, which can use the internal 3.5" drive
>and a couple of 32 meg partitions on the hard disk.  The Mac gets thrown in
>for free. ;-)
>-Paul
>

I'm working on that myself.  I just picked up a Mac Performa 450 on
eBay for $25.  I have an Apple //c card (and software/docs/cable) that
I am itching to plug in.  Only thing is, I'm not a Mac person.. Went
from a 1MHz Apple //e to a 20MHz Compaq Portable/386 PC in 1988.

But when I saw the FAQ for the Apple //e card, which is here:
http://www.mandrake.demon.co.uk/Apple/lc_card_faq.html

I said "I have got to get me one of these!".. Picked one up for about
$20 on eBay and now a Mac Performa for another $25.  I'll have the Mac
in my hands this weekend.  But I am going to have to seek help on
how/where to get and install the Mac OS from scratch.  I'd like to be
able to rebuild the Mac OS on demand (like when swapping in a new SCSI
hard drive.)

I have an Apple //c and a //c+.  I'll probably get a IIgs later this
year, after I'm settled into my new house.  In the meantime I'll play
around with the Apple //e card on the Mac and my //c+ system.  I'll be
writing communications software for the Apple // to PC (and maybe Mac,
if I can find a development system - but I'm pretty new to the Mac
world and I figure my future with it will be only with OLD systems.)

You can usually find a //c+ system on eBay on any given week.  I don't
know if USA power requirements are different than Australia's, though.
Perhaps you can get an adapter.  But the //c+ was only released in the
USA ; there are no international versions.

// CHRIS