68kMLA Classic Interface

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Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh - Hail to the king, baby!
Posted by: jsarchibald on 2010-10-15 04:27:06 Well, I finally got my TAM! It was in Customs for almost two weeks... Everything is great, just as I had hoped. Hardly any marks on it, and came with pretty much most of what it originally had. I was able to source a keyboard for it, which will hopefully get here in the next week or two. It's still in its original spec (250MHz PPC, 2GB HDD, 32MB RAM), and even had the original Packing List. The computer was used by a High School Principal in the US, for about a year until he transferred to a different school in a different state. No additional files seem to be on here after this time, so I'm guessing the computer had about a year of basic use and then went into storage. I love backstory on old computers! Anyhoo, here's some pics:
Posted by: Strimkind on 2010-10-15 07:09:44 Lucky you! I can just only hope to get one of those one day.
Posted by: kvanderlaag on 2010-10-15 07:16:11 Find a G3/G4 L2 upgrade for that sucker and get 'er done! Pretty, though.
Posted by: LCGuy on 2010-10-15 13:09:13 Saw it on MacTalk, great score...in great condition, too. 🙂
Posted by: Anonymous Freak on 2010-10-15 14:56:39 That "marble" background seems to be very appropriate for a TAM.
Posted by: Sludgedragon on 2010-10-15 21:23:49 That's beautiful.
Posted by: ClassicHasClass on 2010-10-16 11:28:47 Nice! I wish I had the space to set up my TAM. It's still in the box with the fatback panel and a G3 card. When I get my new place, it will be my bedside Mac.
Posted by: Temetka on 2010-10-17 14:33:49 I have always liked the look of the TAM. Pretty much all I would do to one if I ever got a hold of one would be to upgrade CPU, max the memory and put in a faster / more power efficient HD. Someday I will own one. It will be a perfect machine to keep on functional display and should work just fine for playing music with those wonderful speakers and for running older OS 8/9 programs and occasional crawl through wikipedia (a site on which I have been known to go for a quick look-see and end up spending hours). Congrats on the fine score you got there. Now look over there. /runs of with TAM.
Posted by: jsarchibald on 2010-10-18 06:14:23 Jut got the TAM keyboard for it, so I have a complete system! I aim to ramp up the RAM to the maximum 128MB, and leave it at that. 2GB is more than enough for my plans, so the HDD will be left. And I won't be playing with any G3 upgrades. I'm pretty happy with how it is right now, I am just going to leave it fairly stock.
Posted by: beachycove on 2010-10-18 07:12:59 Though no heavyweight, any 603ev processor with 256k L2 cache is a pretty good performer; my PowerBook 2400c does just fine at 180MHz, running 8.6 and a suitable range of applications from the 90s. Just don't go installing 9.1 and all will be well, as even a 604e-based machine is slow running 9.1. So I wouldn't upgrade a TAM, except for the drive, a brand new one of which might be a good idea after all these years. Any of the really rare machines, and the TAM especially, are best seen as period pieces and left as such. Running the right software, it will be a fast machine, and there is a sort of wisdom that comes from learning to live with limitations rather than trying always to overcome them. And that last point, I suppose, is what this site is largely about. Congratulations — we are all envious. *** PS: There is a patched version of iTunes for 8.6, by the way, and you'd want that on there if you ever got the idea to pop in a large HD and use the machine for audio.
Posted by: jsarchibald on 2010-10-18 14:07:48 I had Audion recommended to me, so I'll give that a go tonight. I don't want to upgrade from 7.6.1, I love System 7, and this is the only one in my collection that has it. Plus, it is the original install, and I love original. I know some people out there will not understand why I wouldn't upgrade, but I want to leave her alone and enjoy her the way she left the factory.
Posted by: Hrududu on 2010-10-18 19:21:55 Wow, excellent addition to any collection!
Posted by: Temetka on 2010-10-19 04:50:08 I had Audion recommended to me, so I'll give that a go tonight. I don't want to upgrade from 7.6.1, I love System 7, and this is the only one in my collection that has it. Plus, it is the original install, and I love original. I know some people out there will not understand why I wouldn't upgrade, but I want to leave her alone and enjoy her the way she left the factory. I understand why you want to leave it pretty stock. I only suggested replacing the hard drive with something newer for reasons such as reliability and speed. Those old hard disks are quite slow. A G3 would be nice, but the 603ev is a good chip. I had one in a 3400 and it never let me down.
Posted by: jsarchibald on 2010-10-19 04:59:04 I would replace it, but it actually seems quite fast! It sure surprised me, but it opens fast, and I'm never waiting on the disk. I think the only limitation is the RAM at the moment, but as soon as I add that, I'm sure there will be something else slowing me down... Got my favourites on there at the moment, After Dark with Lunatic Fringe, Maelstrom, Sim City 2000, and of course, F/A-18 Hornet 2.0, all on System 7. I am 12 all over again!
Posted by: applefreak on 2010-10-19 05:55:34 system 7.6.1 is fine system 8.6 with a patch for iTunes system 9.1 with a sonnet crescendo upgrade if you want to use iTunes on a tam, use the airport express, so you don't have to convert your itunes library to mp3
Posted by: quantumii on 2010-10-26 12:01:24 My TAM has a Sonnet Crescendo G3 upgrade as well as the full 128MB RAM. I also have the ethernet adapter for it, and a PCI USB card. I use mine mainly for display and as a music player via either CD or iTunes, but I also run misc old software (mostly games) on it. I am running OS 9.1 on it. It looks really neat in the living room 🙂
Posted by: Byrd on 2010-10-26 16:01:43 I have to say the TAM is one Mac that if you have one, deserves to be in use and on display, not sitting in a cupboard 🙂 Mind sits under our wall-mounted TV on a small bench, alongside the Wii and iPod. Does it work primarily for music playback and games. JB
Posted by: jsarchibald on 2010-10-26 16:14:59 I moved my all in one printer/fax/scanner on top of a small drawer unit next to my desk, and the TAM went in it's place. I'm like you Byrd, I can't pack this one away. I love walking into my study and seeing the TAM. I've got it connected to the net, and have downloaded all sorts of software for it. But my favourites are Maelstrom and SimCity 2000, it reminds me of my childhood on the family LC575. My favourite game was F/A-18 Hornet 2.0, which I got recently with a Power Mac 5500 acquisition. Haven't played that yet, but I'm loving it. And the Bose system is great!
Posted by: applefreak on 2010-10-27 05:48:21 i use 3 of them on daily base - itunes with airtunes & airport express in the livingroom - radio in the office - ethernet old macs <> tam os 9 <> iMac os X (+ firewire HD = backup of all old mac apps, systems, utilities, ...) in my 'work room' .
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