Keeping Those Old Macs Useful

- 2007.12.10

My Turn is Low End Mac's column for reader-submitted articles. It's your turn to share your thoughts on all things Mac (or iPhone, iPod, etc.) and write for the Mac web. Email your submission to Dan Knight .

I recently "kluged" a battery (two actually) for an old PowerBook 190CS. I tore apart the old battery case and stuffed it with 12 AA NiMH batteries I bought at a local CVS pharmacy. I included the old overheating sensors, etc. I also had to build up a replacement PRAM battery (that center-tapped 6V lithium rechargeable) with four AAA NiMH cells in a case (the PRAM apparently doesn't care about the difference between 5.4 and 6 volts). It hangs on the side of the battery slide. (Actually I found that 8 of the original slightly oversize AA NiMH were still okay and rechargeable.)

The machine operates pretty well; however, it has to be kept plugged into the AC adapter. The batteries tend to self discharge and won't start up the system if I leave it unplugged for more than a day or so - even when shut down. The sleep mode works okay.

Macintosh SE/30

I still have a Mac SE/30 that has a bad internal hard drive, but also an outboard external one that works. I will have to start it up someday.

Keeping Old Macs Running

I used to be (still am, actually) in charge of the Prescott, Arizona Macintosh User Group recycling project, so I saw a lot of older Macs come through, and we usually got them working again. We gave them to organizations like Big Brother/Sister and individuals that needed them.

Most were easy to work on. A Performa 6400 with a TV tuner made a great TV/cable set, among other things. I still use a Power Mac 6100/60 AV as a monitor for a VHS recorder. A couple models were a real pain (the 6500 and 8500 come to mind - you have to disconnect mother board cables to even expand memory; they ended up at the computer abbatoire).

Recently I received a Blue iMac G3 with 1 GB memory. To my surprise I found it could run Tiger (Mac OS X 10.4) very well. I put a library program into it for use at a local church. Note that the slot-loading iMacs that have a FireWire port and the little door in the bottom to get at memory/AirPort board/battery (if you have small fingers) are desirable older machines. The older tray-loading iMacs are seriously limited.

Third-Party Peripherals

My biggest gripe about Apple Inc. and Apple dealers is that they have never made an attempt to reconcile the many devices available through such outlets as Staples, Best Buy, etc. as to Mac compatibility. For example, wireless routers and links are all specified for Windows. The "Wizard" on the disk that comes with them is for Windows. Buried on the disk is a PDF user guide which usually on one line somewhere mentions that they can be used with Macs, but you have to set them up manually. (This was true for a Linksys Router which I bought from a Macintosh retailer in the area. No one ever bothers to write up a one- or two-page outline of what information there is applicable.)

David (also sometimes referred to as General Lud)

PS: I'm writing this on a Beige G3/266 MHz with 288 MB RAM running Mac OS X 10.2.8.

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Recent My Turn articles

Back to Mac OS 9 Because It's All I Need, 2011.01.26. Sebastian Patting sold his Intel Macs and went back to PowerPC Macs and Mac OS 9. Here's why.
Using Low End Macs for Internet Radio, 2008.08.18. When the local public radio station moved classical music to HD radio, it was time to find another way to listen. An old iMac with iTunes solved the problem.
'That's Not a Computer', 2008.07.30. Salvaging a broken PowerBook by turning it into a desktop computer.
More in the My Turn index.

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