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

Poker Mac 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.

Mac Daniel's Advice

How Can I Upgrade a Classic II or LC II?

Dan Knight - 1998.12.18

What Are My Classic II Upgrade Options?

SE writes: While looking up info on old Macs, I came across your site. I have a Classic II. Would you advise me on the wisdom of any upgrading possible. I'd like email capability at the least, but don't necessarily need speed. Is Net access a possibility? Is this machine worth upgrading, because I surely like it even though it's 5 or 6 years old now. Can you help me out with this? Thanks very much.

Mac Daniel responds: The Classic II was a competent little computer - and I've even heard of people surfing the World Wide Web with them.

Significant drawbacks include the small black-and-white (no grays) screen and 10 MB memory ceiling, meaning you can't run browsers that eat up a lot of screen space or need a lot of memory. That said, Netscape 2 will probably do the job for you.

The 68030 processor is up to handling the Internet, although not with great speed. If you've considered using Open Transport networking, don't. It chews up about 500 KB of memory and is much slower on a 68030-based Mac than classic networking.

A good Internet service provider can set you up with Mac TCP and everything else (except the modem) that you'll need for email and Internet access. You may need to look for a Mac-friendly service provider, but they do exist. (There's even a national Mac-only ISP, MacOnLine <http://www.macol.com/> that may be a good alternative to local providers.)

And if you haven't already boosted memory to 10 MB, I suggest you do so. ramseeker is currently showing 4 MB SIMMs (you'll need 2) at under US$10 each. [Update: The site no longer tracks prices of 30-pin SIMMs.]

How Far Can I Upgrade My LC II?

AU writes: I have an LC II with an upgrade to 512K (we used a daughter board). I cannot seem to access AOL very quickly or efficiently now that the upgrade is complete. Can I get any more memory onto my poor old computer?

Mac Daniel responds: The LC II can handle no more than 10 MB of memory, but with a poky old 16 MHz processor, your problem is computer speed more than memory. (I'm assuming the 512K upgrade was video RAM.)

That memory shouldn't set you back more than $30-40, but if you want to use the Internet, I suggest you look into a more powerful Mac - preferably something with at least a 68040.

On the other hand, if your particularly fond of your LC II, consider the Sonnet Presto Plus card mentioned above.

Not sure if you should upgrade your old Mac or replace it? Check the Mac Daniel index to see if we've already addressed your problem.

Recent Mac Daniel columns

Links for the Day

Recent Content on Low End Mac

Recent Deals

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.

Custom Search

Amazon.com

Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Video Cards
Email Lists

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
B&H
MacMall
TechRestore
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.