Re: IIGS question

[sirius@spirit.com.au (Michael Hickey)]

In article <31AB8631.2640@inlink.com>, "Doug S." <dougs@inlink.com> wrote:

> I am looking to buy an Apple IIGS.  I have found one that appears to be 
> in very good condition, but the display says 512K.  Am I correct to 
> assume this will be a ROM 01 with an extra 256K added?  If so, is it a 
> problem to add memory to it?  If it is, how usefully is it with 256K and 
> are the any other major drawbacks to a ROM 01 machine?  

IMHO The 512k IIgs makes for an excellent IIe computer, but isn't much
good for latter-day, or even modern software.

My ROM 01 gs came with a short card with (fully populated) with only 256k
on it, but you may have a 1mb-capable RAM card which you could consider
fully populating with 256k chips to give you a "full" 1.25 Mb. Enough to
be useful, but there's no elbow room for hungry programs.

Some games such as Battle Chess, Zany Golf and Silent Service will run in
512k, but if you want to enjoy anywhere near the full amenity of the IIgs
you should consider 3 things, a 4-8mb RAM card (buying 1mb just isn't
worth the bother of tracking it down), a SCSI Hard disk of 40mb min and an
accelerator card.  These purchases needn't be expensive either!

If you had to buy just _one_ of these things, I'd go for 4Mb RAM, since
you _can_ set up a minimum boot system 6.0.1 on a 1.5mb RAM disk, leaving
2.75 RAM as regular memory.

There are some drawbacks to the ROM 01.  
-the 01 motherboard is "noisier" than the ROM 03 making sound digitising a
pain,   and limiting accelerator speeds to <12.5MHz (?).
- the 01 has only 256k on the motherboard, vs 1.125 Mb on the 03.
-the way the built-in ports are handled on the 01, means that when you set
a slot to "your card" you usually disable the corresponding built-in port.
-probably other things too....

BUT None of these things are an excuse to drop a bargain 01 tho'.

-- 
                 Michael Hickey, Canberra, Australia
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