Re: Help with Lisa thrift store find

[mattb@dino.gi.alaska.edu (MattB)]

In article <1995May19.055935.3639@sfov1.verifone.com>,
bob_s2@sfov1.verifone.com wrote:

> I was in a thrift store and they had an Apple Lisa for 12.00.  Mail unit 
> keyboard, separate box that looked like a data storage unit and a bunch of 
> operating system and some other Apple software all in original binders.  
> Maybe some other stuff too.  I would have gotten it, but I have no room.  
> Does anybody know anything about this unit?  How can I test it in the 
> store?  I moght still get if I can figure out a place for it or if someone 
> else wants and and will pay shipping and a few bucks for my trouble I could 
> get it for someone else.
> 
> Is there a modem built in?  How much to add one if not?  Is there a good 
> freeware/shareware terminal program available?  I am thinking of using it 
> to connect to the local freenet.  A working terminal for $12 is kind of 
> hard to pass up.  Of course if it doesn't work, a $12 paperweight/doorstop 
> is not quite so attractive.


It really depends on what comes with it.  I personally would buy it for $12

The drives are probably 400k (if they are 3.5"), if they are 5.25" forget
trying to find disk for it.  I forget the name for that drive, but it had
two heads, but not one over the other.   The disk looked like a standard
5.25" floppy disk, except that it had another opening for the head on the
other side:

 ____________________
|          _         |
 ]        | |        |
|         | |        |
|         |_|        |
|          _         |
|         |_|        |
|          _         |
|         | |        |
|         | |        |
|         |_|       [ 
|____________________|


Something like that.   I really doubt you'll be able to find any software
on that format.

Anyway, if it does have the 3.5" 400k floppy.  You can treat the Lisa just
like a Mac 512k, but it really does multitasking (really!).   You will
need the Lisa software to get it to emulate a Mac, but it will do it just
as fast as a Mac 512k (actually a little faster).  If it has an internal
HD, you've scored.  It may already have the Lisa 7/7 software on it which
will include a Terminal program (later called MacTerminal).

I would not be suprized, however, if there were some Lisa users in the Mac areas