Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

The Lite Side

This Old Mac

- 2002.05.14

We're here at the workspace of John Quimble, a Mac SE/30 owner who is seeking to upgrade. The crew of This Old Mac is filming John's renovation of his old computer into a new machine.

Hi John.

Hi Bob.

Why don't you tell us what's going on here.

Well Bob, as you can see we're installing the DVD drive now. We had to knock out some interior space to make room, enlarge this slot here, and run this cable, which starts here and goes through this conduit, around the side, outside the box really, and down into the new CPU we've hidden underneath our patio decking.

Tell us why the CPU is under the deck.

Well basically, it was because it wouldn't fit in the original SE case, especially after the other upgrades.

What other upgrades have you done?

Well we started out with a flat panel monitor upgrade. We knew there weren't any adapters for the new digital screens from Apple, so we mounted a VGA compatible screen on an extensible arm on top of the unit.

That's a Sony, isn't it?

Yes.

What else have you added?

Well, we needed a new video board to run the Sony, and that led us to the lack of color support on the old SE/30 motherboard, so we're using that as a wall hanging in the front hallway and replacing the motherboard with one we pulled from a new iMac flat-panel and hid behind this wall clock.

I thought the motherboard was in the deck?

No, Bob, what's under the deck isn't the motherboard exactly, but in fact it is just the processor card.

Why did you put the processor under the deck?

Because it wouldn't fit behind the wall clock.

Ah.

Users have complained for years about the lack of a second button on the Mac mouse, and we didn't think the beige original fit well with our sparse Japanese decor in the den, so we got one of those new half-size keyboards you type with on one hand.

The Half Keyboard from www.halfkeyboard.com?

Yes. We got one of those, which is black, and mounted it on top of a Microsoft Intellimouse.

With?

Hot glue. And now we have the world's first 120 button-equivalent mouse.

Wow. That's revolutionary. Tell us about the DVD.

Well, actually, it's the only component that fit in the original SE case, except we had to remove the internal framework to mount it, and cut a new hole...

With a band saw?

...yes, a band saw, to accommodate the drive mechanism. Basically the entire front of the device just flops down to allow access.

It kind of looks like it's sticking its tongue out.

We like it.

That's all the time we have. Next week, we'll take a look at how John intends to convert an old SCSI flatbed scanner into a goldfish bowl stand and look at his luggage collection, which consists entirely of hollowed out blue-and-white cases.

Thanks Bob.

Thanks John.

Recent Lite Sides

You Might Be a Computer Geek If..., 06.17. 20 signs that you just might possibly be a computer geek.
What if Apple thought like a PC company?, 11.01. Apple has innovated and blazed its own trail. But what if it had followed the path taken by the PC copycats?
How Microsoft can turn Vista lemons into lemonade, 10.22. How Microsoft could profit by no longer allowing manufacturers to sell new PCs with Windows XP installed.
iPods that never passed beta or focus groups, 09.13. "What most Apple fans don't realize is that there were a few iPod variants that never made it out of beta testing and the focus group stage."
More in the The Lite Side index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: 17" MacBook Pro Core Duo, Apr. 2006 - The top-end MacBook Pro includes a 1680 x 1050, 2.16 GHz Core Duo CPU, and supports Apple 30" Cinema Display.
Group of the Day: G4 List is for those using Power Mac G4s or G4 upgrades.
November 24 in LEM history: 98: Microsoft's heavy hand - 00: Looking at the iMac - 04: The best Mac for the holidays - Picking the right replacement for a dead mouse - Better battery for 15" AlBook
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

Best G4 iMac Deals, 11.24. Used 15" 700 MHz CD-RW, $150; 800 MHz Combo, $229; 1 GHz, $289; 17" 1.25 GHz, $200; 20" 1.25 GHz, $509.
Best MacBook Air Deals, 11.24. Used from $899; refurb from $1,099; new 1.6 GHz/120 HD, $1,150 after rebate; 1.8/64 SSD, $1,150 a/r; 1.86/128 SSD, $1,350 a/r; 2.13/128 SSD, $1,694 a/r.
Best PowerBook G3 Deals, 11.24. Used 233 MHz WallStreet, $75; 266 MHz, $160; 400 MHz Lombard, $199; 400 MHz Pismo, $289; 500 MHz, $350.
Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.23. Used 867 MHz SuperDrive, $348; 1 GHz Combo, $379; SD, $519; 1.33 GHz, $529; 1.5 GHz Combo, $549; SuperDrive, $609.
Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.23. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 4-core. $1,919; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.93 8-core, $4,999; new 2.26 8-core, $2,290.
Best Time Capsule and AirPort Deals, 11.23. Used 802.11g AirPort Extreme, $49; 500 GB Time Capsule, $150; new, $190; 1 TB dual-band, $280; 2 TB, $469; 802.11n AirPort Extreme, $170.
Best eMac Deals, 11.18. Used 1 GHz Combo, $100; SuperDrive, $269; 1.25 GHz Combo, $119; SD, $319; 1.42 GHz Combo, $289; SD, $498.
Best Mac OS X 10.6 and Mac Box Set Deals, 11.18. "Snow Leopard", single user, $25; 5 users, $45; Mac Box Set, single user, $139; 5 users, $180; Server, $414. Shipping included.
Best Xserve Deals, 11.18. Used 1 GHz dual G4, $649; 2.3 dual G5, $795; 3.0 4-core Xeon, $1,899; refurb 2.26 4-core, $2,499; new, $2,888; refurb 8-core, $2,999; new, $3,449; more.
More deals in our archive.

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.