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Bonkers SE > Plus downgrade
Posted by: james_w on 2017-01-23 03:52:46
I had to share this - just spotted on eBay what looks a lot like an SE case that has been used to house a Plus in it!

A hole for the keyboard connector has been punched through the front of the case, and the port apertures have been ravaged on the back!

Here it is: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/vintage-apple-macintosh-/201791915145?hash=item2efbbc4489:g:FOMAAOSwopRYhei0

Posted by: BadGoldEagle on 2017-01-23 04:33:04
Please kill it! Mac torture should be illegal!!

Posted by: EvilCapitalist on 2017-01-23 05:56:29
Indeed!

Kill_it_with_Scorpio.gif

I'm wondering if it's got an internal HD though since you see the machine has a SCSI loopback into the case.  Perhaps there are other interesting mods.

Posted by: BadGoldEagle on 2017-01-23 06:02:26
It would make a nice parts machine though.

Posted by: joethezombie on 2017-01-23 06:30:29
"has had some modifications done"

Posted by: EvieSigma on 2017-01-23 07:22:16
I want to do the opposite. SE in a Plus box. Well...front of a Plus, back of a SE.

Posted by: james_w on 2017-01-23 07:43:25
Hahaha it is terrifying isn't it?! 😀

Posted by: Gorgonops on 2017-01-23 10:03:06
Personally I think it's fantastic; someone had some mismatched parts lying around, darn well decided to make themselves a working Macintosh, and lovingly crafted it with their own three hands. A perfectly mint and stock computer is a *boring* computer, or even possibly a neglected, unloved computer. Maybe someone didn't *love* this machine, but clearly they thought it was worth resurrecting it from trash to get a job done.

(Something to consider about every mint-condition original Macintosh 128k that's left out there: that is a computer that someone must have bought, poked at for a while, declared useless, and stuffed in a closet for thirty years. It's the dog-eared former Mac 128ks that have messily soldered memory upgrades and holes chopped in the case for third-party SCSI upgrades that actually tell the story of a *successful* machine.)

Posted by: unity on 2017-01-23 17:17:23
I would be all over that for my "user upgrades" collection. This is one side of computing, hacking hardware. While it may be basic (cant say, its not open) I still like it a lot.

Posted by: just.in.time on 2017-01-23 17:49:36
Haha neat 😀

Posted by: Trash80toHP_Mini on 2017-01-23 19:19:51
Personally I think it's fantastic; someone had some mismatched parts lying around, darn well decided to make themselves a working Macintosh, and lovingly crafted it with their own three hands.
Couldn't agree with you more more on that.

Your observation about the all but useless 128K Closet Queens of the rich, style trending, attention deficient techno wannabes of yesteryear was spot on. Thank heavens they never donated a thing to Goodwill!

My DrexelMac is pristine, but it went through the Plus upgrade, very likely after being 512K'd, and then again it was upgraded with a 16MHz 030 making it a 4MB SE/30 sleeper. Now that puppy was used!

BTW: is that the @$$ end of a SCSI Zip Drive I see?

Posted by: james_w on 2017-01-24 02:42:23
Personally I think it's fantastic; someone had some mismatched parts lying around, darn well decided to make themselves a working Macintosh, and lovingly crafted it with their own three hands
It makes me sad seeing an old Mac butchered... but yes I also love that, like you say, someone hacked something usable back together from what was possibly a couple of dead Macs and may well have had a long and fruitful life!  🙂

One of the things I do find most enjoyable about this habit is the stories you find hidden away in old machinery - their past lives when they got used every day

Posted by: IlikeTech on 2017-01-24 09:00:59
Someone Buy it Quick!

Posted by: Gorgonops on 2017-01-24 09:19:41
My favorite piece of Apple equipment is this Disk II floppy drive, which has been hacked up with a front-mounted speed control knob and a big ridiculous toggle switch for write protect override. It's the opposite of mint, but the mods make it far more interesting than your average run of the mill disk drive. If nothing else it's fun to speculate why someone felt the need to set up the drive this way. For instance, maybe it belonged to a dedicated pirate/cracker who spent a lot of time investigating hard to copy disks...

syscom2-diskii-ugly.jpg

(The drive works fine, BTW.)

Posted by: james_w on 2017-01-25 08:35:37
Now that is awesome! 

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