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Second Class Macs & Road Apples
Macintosh Color Classic

Dan Knight - 1998.01.10
Second Class Macs are Apple's somewhat compromised hardware designs. For the most part, they're not really bad - simply designs that didn't meet their full potential. (On our rating scale, the more brown apples, the worse the hardware.)
Proving you can't take a compromised design
too far, Apple recycled the 32-bit CPU on a 16-bit bus architecture of
the LC, LC II,
and Classic II, this time in the
first compact Mac with a color screen - also the first compact Mac
since the SE/30 with an expansion
slot.
Unlike the Classic II, which supported the standard compact Mac 1-bit 512 x 384 monitor, or the LC and LC II, which supported both a 512 x 384 color monitor and a standard 640 x 480 monitor, the Color Classic only supported a 512 x 384 color monitor. This made it incompatible with a fair bit of color software that expected the larger 640 x 480 screen, the same problem LC owners had with Apple's 12" color display. (Some hardware gurus found a way to modify the Color Classic to support 640 x 480 on the internal screen.)
Apple did introduce a few innovations with the Color Classic:
- a built-in microphone
- a readily accessible motherboard - just open the rear panel and slide out the board for upgrades.
One important option, especially for the education market, was the Apple II emulator for the PDS. On the down side, many accelerators for the PDS that work in the LC and/or LC II don't work properly in the Color Classic (for reviews, go to my main Color Classic page).
Still, it wasn't a really bad Mac, just a compromised one. P
Second Class Macs areretty much every one of its
limitations was overcome by the Color
Classic II (unfortunately, never marketed in the United States).
Details
- introduced February 1993 at $1,390; discontinued May 1994
- requires System 7.1 to 7.6.1
- CPU: 16 MHz 68030
- FPU: 68882 (optional)
- performance: 1.7 (relative to SE)
- RAM: 4 MB, expandable to 10 MB using two 100ns 30-pin SIMMs
- VRAM: 256 KB, expandable to 512 KB for 16-bit color
- 10" color screen, 512 x 384 pixels
- ADB: 2 ports for keyboard and mouse
- serial: 2 DIN-8 RS-422 ports on back of computer
- SCSI: DB-25 connector on back of computer
- LC PDS slot
Other Resources
- The 10 worst Macs ever built, Remy Davison, Insanely Great Mac, 2001.08.06
- More details on the Color Classic.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: 17" iMac G4/800 MHz, July 2002 - The iMac 'grows up' with a 17" 1440 x 900 display.
- Group of the Day: LisaList supports Lisa users.
- Support Low End Mac
Recent Content
- Quad-Core CPU Makes Sense in MacBook Pro, OS X 10.6 Causing Overheating, Overseas Power, and More, The 'Book Review, 11.06. Also Late 2009 MacBook reviewed, how to add RAM to new MacBook, 18.4in Acer notebook used Intel i7, and SanDisk SSD chosen for Sony VAIO X.
- Dumping Macs for Google Apps, SSD in iMac, Late 2009 iMac Performance Problems, and More, Mac News Review, 11.06. /newsrev/09mnr/1106.html
- WiFi Paranoia, iMac-O-Lantern, Magic Mouse Does Click, Free Clipboard Managers, and More, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.05. Also strange time stamps, problem with ColorIt on Intel Mac, and the story behind OS X 10.5.4 install discs.
- IDE Is Dead; Long Live SATA!, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 11.04. SATA has displaced parallel ATA. While IDE hard drives haven't disappeared, the best deals are in SATA hard drives.
- QuickTime X in Snow Leopard Imports, Trims, and Publishes Video Quickly and Easily, Alan Zisman, Zis Mac, 11.04. The long, slow process of importing video into iMovie to edit it, then render it to another format, is history as QuickTime X does that much more quickly.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.03. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 8-core. $2,299; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.26 8-core, $2,799; 2.93, $4,999.
- Best iPhone Deals, 11.03. New 8 GB iPhone 3G, $$99; refurb 16 GB 3GS, $149; new, $199; 32 GB, $299.
- Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.03. Used 867 MHz SperDrive, $348; 1 GHz, $499; 1.33 Combo, $298; SD, $559; 1.5 Combo, $448; SuperDrive, $589.
- Best Power Mac G3 and PCI Video Card Deals, 11.02. Used beige 300 MHz, $25; G4/366, $49; blue & white 350, $80; 400, $90; 450, $105; PCI video cards from $15; shipping additional.
- Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.02. Used 400 MHz, $50; 733 MHz, $69; 933 MHz, $209; 1.25 GHz dual, $299.
- Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, 11.02. Used 2.0 GHz, $800; 2.2, $900; 2.4, $1,000; refurb 2.53, $1,449; 2.66, $1,699; 2.8, $1,949; 3.06, $2,169; new 2.53, $1,579; 2.66, $1,799; more.
- Best Mac mini Deals, 10.30. Used 1.33 GHz G4 mini, $379; 1.42, $389; 1.5, $419; 1.83 GHz Core Duo, $350; Core 2, $439; new 2.26 GHz nVidia, $580; 2.53 GHz, $770; Server, $990.
- Best G4 iBook Deals, 10.30. Used 12" 1.07 GHz Combo, $225; 1.33 GHz, $298; 14" 1 GHz, $349; 1.33 GHz, $398; 1.42 GHz SuperDrive, $498.
- Best Classic Mac OS Deals, 10.30. System 6.0.8 floppies, $10; 7.1, $12; 7.5, $20; 7.5 CD, $4; 7.6 $13; 8.1, $11; 8.5, $20; 8.6, $90; 9.0, $20; 9.2.2, $30.
- More deals in our archive.
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