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.

Second Class Macs & Road Apples

Macintosh IIsi

one

Dan Knight - 1998.01.12

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.)

It's debatable whether this is really a Second Class Mac. The IIsi was a bit of an odd duck. On the one hand, it was the only Mac II to ship without a NuBus slot. On the other hand, it could be seen as a monitor-less SE/30.

The great compromise was taking a good hardware design and running it at 20 MHz despite the fact that each and every component was capable of running at 25 MHz. (Apple didn't want to cut into sales of the IIci.)

Like the SE/30, the IIsi has a 68030 processor direct slot (PDS). Unlike the SE/30, it runs at 20 MHz, twice the speed of a NuBus slot and 25% faster than the 16 MHz SE/30. Unlike the SE/30, it is possible to put a NuBus adapter in this slot.

Like the IIci, the IIsi uses the first bank of RAM for video. Unlike the IIci, that 1 MB bank of RAM is soldered to the motherboard. This allowed Apple to cut costs by installing only one bank of SIMM sockets. It also limited expansion to 65 MB - pretty good by the standards of the day.

The IIsi was a very competent computer with few compromises. If it had used VRAM like the LC, it would have been a bit faster. If it had run at 25 MHz, that would have been nice. (BTW, the IIsi is frequently chipped to 25-28 MHz, which allows it to reach its full potential.)

With a 68040 PDS accelerator, the IIsi holds its own against a Quadra. However, the IIsi power supply, perfectly adequate for normal use, may be inadequate if you install a different hard drive, a video card, or a PDS card (such as an accelerator). The NuBus slot in the IIsi is rated at just 13.3W, less than many high resolution or 24-bit video cards require. The PDS is rated at just 7W. The normal hard drive draws 6W; if you replace it with a higher-draw drive, power to the NuBus slot or PDS is reduced accordingly.

Not a bad little computer at all, just one held back to 20 MHz to avoid stealing Mac IIci sales.

Details

introduced October 1990 at $3,800; discontinued March 1993
requires System 6.0.6 to 7.6.1
CPU: 20 MHz 68030
FPU: 68882 (optional with NuBus adapter)
performance: 2.9 (relative to SE)
RAM: 1 MB on motherboard, expandable to 65 MB using a 4-SIMM bank of 100ns 30-pin memory; can use 256 KB, 512 KB, 1 MB, 2 MB, and 4 MB SIMMs (you can use 16 MB SIMMs, although Apple does not officially support them)
built-in 8-bit video, supports 512 x 384 and 640 x 480 at 8-bits or portrait monitor (640 x 870) at 4-bits (uses 64-320 KB of RAM for video, not separate VRAM)
L2 cache: none
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
SE/30 PDS slot - can be converted to NuBus with adapter

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: iMac Core Duo, Jan. 2006 - The first Intel-based iMacs ran at 1.83-2.0 GHz, came with 17" and 20" displays.
Group of the Day: Mac Pro List is for those using a Mac Pro.
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

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.
Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, 11.17. Used 1.83 GHz, $750; 2.16, $800; 2.33, $900; refurb 2.4, $1,299; 2.53, $1,449; 2.66, $1,699; 2.8, $1,899; new 2.53, $1,579; 2.66, $1,799; more.
Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.17. Used 400 MHz, $50; 933 MHz, $80; 500 dual, $60; 867 dual, $90; 1 GHz dual, $150; 1.25 GHz dual, $225; 1.42 GHz, $499.
Best Mac OS X 10.5 Deals, 11.17. "Leopard" upgrade, $80; single user license, $135; 5 users, $173; Mac Box Set, 5 users, $230; Server, 10 users, $340; unlimited, $850. Shipping included.
Best Mac mini Deals, 11.16. Used 1.42 GHz G4 mini, $379; 1.66 GHz Core Solo, $419; 2.0 Core 2, $450; new 2.26 GHz nVidia, $580; 2.53 GHz, $769; Server, $990.
Best iBook G4 Deals, 11.16. Used 12" 1.07 GHz Combo, $210; 1.33 GHz, $298; 14" 1.33 GHz, $398; 1.42 GHz, $479; SuperDrive, $498.
Best iPod shuffle Deals, 11.16. Used 1 GB, $35; 4 GB, $65; refurb 1 GB, $39; 2 GB, $59; new 2 GB, $55, 4 GB, $75. New and refurb prices include shipping.
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.