Fom time to time I find another electronic related hobby... and just on 7th July 2002, while attending a local fleamarket, I found my very first Mac, a PowerMac 6100. It attracted my attention among lots of other (PC type) computer gear because of its nice Apple logo.
I have fond memories of my first Apple, a IIc I got back in 1986 (it was my second computer; first one was a Commodore VIC-20, bought in 1984 which, by the way, still have). On that IIc I wrote my first commercial programs and spent lots of time with it. Do you remember Nibble magazine?. I read it from cover to cover each month...
But then, in 1988 I bought my first PC and, since then, all my computing needs were filled with PC type computers... until that 7th July. In just some months I managed to get a nice Mac collection and, what is more interesting, to enjoy them.
It was dirty inside but, after a careful cleaning, it shined like new. I got with it an Apple Keyboard II but no mouse nor monitor. This was my first encounter with the nice HDI-30 connector. Yes, very close to a VGA connector!. So I was just able to reassemble and power it to hear the startup chord, some HD activity and then, after a couple minutes, nothing else. I needed an HDI-30 to VGA adapter so I looked at eBay for one and had it at home in just a week (remember I am in Spain)
Next time I attended the fleamarket I was fortunate enough to buy a 20" ColorSync monitor. It was just 40 Euro but, of course, didn't work fine. But as electronics is my hobby I could fix it (a three hour job to replace a 1 cent part) and it works now really fine. Hooray!
It needed a battery rebuild for both batteries (main and clock). I did both and results were splendid!.
I got a couple Color Stylewriter 2500 printers with it. One works fine and the other one prints only in black and white, regardless of the print cartridge type.
My 1st Mac
As I have told you, first one was a PowerMac 6100/60. I got it with no idea about Macs at all but that same day I converted it in a puzzle:
My 2nd Mac
Meanwhile, I got a nice gift, a Quadra 700 upgraded to 64Mb along a 14" Apple monitor, keyboard, mouse and an unworking Personal Laserwriter NT. In just few days I was starting to get short on space... and this was just the beginning.My 3rd Mac
Soon I realized that I needed a faster Mac... so I looked at eBay and found a seller in UK who sold me a PowerMac 7500/100. It was upgraded to a 180 MHz 604e processor and had 128Mb RAM installed. It took some time but, finally, arrived to Spain. I was delighted!. I found the case very user-friendly and so easy to expand that I couldn't resist to add a Sonnet G3/400/1Mb upgrade card. This is by now my fastest Mac. I have it running Mac OS 9.1 and have added an external 9.1Gb SCSI hard disk.My 4th Mac
Next trip to the fleamarket ended also in a very nice way: I found a lightly used SE 1/20 (1 Mb RAM, 20Mb HD) for just 20 Euro. It worked fine and I found that more recent files where dated 1993... so it was used perhaps three years and then stored for 9 years!. It was so lightly used that it didn't need of an internal cleaning. And it was my first compact Mac.My 5th Mac
I was missing an important Mac type: portables!. So I bought a PowerBook 1400cs/117 with 16Mb RAM and a 750 Mb HD.
My 6th Mac
I got another compact same week, a SE/30. It had a faulty floppy disk unit and the hard disk needed some software put on it. It came with 4 Mb RAM and an small 20 Mb HD.
My 7th and 8th Macs
While looking at Internet for Mac information, I learn about the Duo system. I found it interesting so I bought a Duo 270c and a Duo 210, along a Duodock. It was the beginning of a great Duo collection!My 9th Mac
This time, another Duo found its way to my lab... a Duo 230 along a Duodock, Minidock and some other items.
My 10th Mac
As portables don't use much space, it was a logical step to get another one. I bought a PowerBook 180 (4 Mb RAM, 120 Mb HD).My 11th Mac
I liked the PowerBook 1400cs/117 but wanted to get a TFT model and some more RAM... so I got my next one, a 1400c/166 with 64 Mb RAM and 2 Gb HD. It was in great shape and arrived in a nice Targus.My 12th Mac - NOT ARRIVED YET
In order to fill some gaps, I got a Duo 2300c (along another DuoDock!). It is coming slowly from USA by Surface Mail... I hope it will arrive soon!My 13th Mac
I was hooked... so hooked that when I saw an ad about another compact (this time an Classic), I bought it. It was unworking but, again, was able to fix it. This time, a video amplifier transistor and a diode were bad.
My 14th Mac - NOT ARRIVED YET
What is a Duo collection without a 280c, the only 68040 based Duo?. I hope to receive this one soon.My 15th Mac
I found it for just 10 Euro at the fleamarket. It is an LC475 (20Mb RAM). It had no HD, so the cheap price.
Other Mac items
I have got dozens of Mac related items, as some printers (LaserWriter 12/640 PS (unworking), LaserWriter Select 300 (working), StyleWriter, StyleWriter II (two), StyleWriter 2500 (two)), some extra DuoDocks, spare parts and so on. And list keeps growing!. So I have started to sell some items, as the PowerBook 1400cs/117. I plan to sell some more items soon.
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