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LC III Box Contents?
Posted by: edd_jedi on 2015-10-01 02:38:35
Hi all, new here but I am a long time vintage computer tinkerer. Have owned many classic Macs and Amiga's over the years.

I have been lucking enough to just pick up a NOS unused Macintosh LC III. It's immaculate like new, no yellowing, and no battery damage (don't worry the first thing I did was remove it.) I will of course post photos when I get round to taking some! But I was wondering if anybody can answer these questions.

Firstly, I am trying to figure out what belongs in the original box. mine has:

1 x main unit

1 x keyboard

1 x mouse

1 x microphone

1 x keyboard cable

2 x power cables

1 x VGA cable

1 x sealed bag of manuals/disks

1 x set of Mac stickers

All of the above is unused and factory tied and bagged apart from one of the two power cables. Would it have come with 2 originally? Both are UK, so it's not like a modern PC that often comes with both UK and US plugs. And also why would it have a VGA cable in the box? I think the VGA cable and one power cable do not belong with the set, but hopefully somebody can confirm. And is anything missing from the above list?

Secondly, was there supposed to be a screw holding the 'pizza box' lid on at the back of the main unit? I can see a hole for a screw but it doesn't look like there's ever been one in there, and I have looked at photos of other units on Google and can't see a screw in any photos.

Any help appreciated!
Posted by: bibilit on 2015-10-01 08:02:01
Secondly, was there supposed to be a screw holding the 'pizza box' lid on at the back of the main unit? I can see a hole for a screw but it doesn't look like there's ever been one in there, and I have looked at photos of other units on Google and can't see a screw in any photos.
Never seen one with a screw fitted.
Posted by: olePigeon on 2015-10-01 08:17:54
I seen a few with a beige, plastic thumb screw.   I don't know if they shipped with a screw or not, or if it was just coincidence that I saw two or three of them with a thumb screw.
Posted by: edd_jedi on 2015-10-02 05:42:14
Thanks guys. Can anybody comment on whether desktop Macs of this era (not necessarily the LC series) came with monitor power and display cables?
Posted by: olePigeon on 2015-10-02 08:33:40
I don't think they did, those usually came with the monitor itself.
Posted by: edd_jedi on 2015-10-02 08:35:55
Yes that would seem logical. I know many Macs of this era had a built in screen eg the Color Classic, so I don't know much about how they packaged desktops.
Posted by: unity on 2015-10-02 09:01:33
I had a brand new, sealed LCII. Sold it, but I did open it up to remove the battery. Luckily I did, it was on the verge of leaking. Anyway, there was not screw in back either. It did come with two power cords which never made sense to me since the power supply is single port, unlike the IIcx for example. By the way, if that is all proper NOS, then there is a packing list in there.
Posted by: edd_jedi on 2015-10-02 09:20:44
Thanks, can't see a packing list so maybe it's missing or didn't come with the LC III (or is in the sealed bag of manuals?) yes all NOS, one of the power cables is untied but doesn't look like it's been used.
Posted by: edd_jedi on 2015-10-07 04:01:13
Finally got time to check it properly and take some photos. There was indeed a packing list in there, it is supposed to come with 2 power cords for some reason, but no VGA cable so that doesn't belong with the set. Here's some photos, hope you enjoy 🙂





















Posted by: edd_jedi on 2015-10-07 04:01:52
Posted by: bibilit on 2015-10-07 05:33:32
Congrats, never seen a LC III so white.
Posted by: unity on 2015-10-07 09:09:21
Nice! Makes me regret selling my NOS LC II! 😀 Very glad the battery did no damage. Which batter was in there? You will also notice the caps are not leaking. I think for them to leak they need usage. None of my NOS items show any signs of cap leakage. Buy my prototypes, which compared to a machine used for years in the wild, do.

By the way, does the processor have a Motorola sticker on it? If so, I dont think I ever saw that before?
Posted by: edd_jedi on 2015-10-07 09:49:29
Yes I've also noticed that unused capacitors tend not to leak, lucky I guess for collectors! Here's the battery that was in it, no signs of leakage. It doesn't have a use by date but it is stamped 1993 on the back 🙂

battery.jpg

Here's a close up of the processor for you, anything interesting about it?

motorola.jpg
Posted by: unity on 2015-10-07 09:52:12
Wonder what is under the sticker.... 🙂  Maybe it was normal, I just never saw something like that. I wonder if the processor was rerated for higher speed or something, hence the label.
Posted by: rsolberg on 2015-10-07 12:01:14
I think the second power cord is due to some monitors only including a power cord with a C14 inlet, designed to daisy chain off of the Mac II/Quadra/Centris power supplies.

I wonder if that sticker is covering up an MC68030FE16 marking on the chip. There was a recent discussion about factory "overclocked" 16MHz parts in the LC III here. Maybe this is another example.
Posted by: edd_jedi on 2015-10-08 01:49:24
Interesting, I don't plan to use it but I imagine overlocking a 16mhz CPU to 33mhz wouldn't be a good idea!
Posted by: unity on 2015-10-08 09:31:55
16 to 25, but its not overclocking its re-rating, very different.

The LCIII+ was 33mhz.
Posted by: edd_jedi on 2015-10-08 11:01:52
Sorry I was referring to the common practice of overclocking the 25mhz CPUs to 33mhz.
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