Mac SE (dual 800k) - My first compact!

#1 Thu, 10 Sep 2009 - 23:35

I bought this on eBay a few weeks ago and it arrived yesterday. It's an SE dual 800k (sticker on back says 1MB RAM, but it actually has 4 or 5), that came with a Rodime 20 Plus external hard disk (that thing is LOUD! 8-o ). The drive had OS 7.5.5 on it, which was SLOWWWWW, and it had Microsoft Word and Excel. "Get Info" seems to indicate that this machine was last used sometime around April 2000. The partition was created in 1992. I put System 6.0.8 on it, and it runs very well. My mom kept saying "That thing is so cute!" :lol: Now I have to figure out what I'm going to use it for, and where to put it - right now its next to the fireplace. :-x

So there's the story of my first Compact Mac.

Pic:

#2 Thu, 10 Sep 2009 - 23:37

I have that same Rodime drive on my Plus... it is indeed quite loud.

#3 Thu, 10 Sep 2009 - 23:47

I spotted that auction!

Great job on the conquest!

#4 Fri, 11 Sep 2009 - 00:17

Very nice! There's just something about these compact Macs that you can't describe until you use one. You could get addicted to them. I like how the external fits nicely under the SE.

Speaking of loud drives, I fired up an old Quantum Fireball 5GB IDE drive the other day to surface test and erase it. I could swear it was even louder than the old 9GB WD SCSI disk I have.

#5 Fri, 11 Sep 2009 - 02:17

I would like to have a 1.44 MB floppy, but I think I read somewhere that it would require a logic board upgrade, and then I wouldn't be able to use a second built-in floppy. Can anyone confirm whether this is true? I'm also thinking of upgrading to an SE/30 logic board.

This means I can start posting in the Compact Mac section of the forum.

#6 Fri, 11 Sep 2009 - 03:47

The original SE (4 SIMMs are angled) doesn't have much clearance for the motherboard, a SE30 with the 8 SIMM slots (that stick straight out) will not fit. The difference between a SE and SE FDHD is a chip swap I think for the floppy controller.

I have a SE 800K (1 floppy and 1 HD) and a SE FDHD (dual 1.44MB floppies), they are nice machines for a 68000. My SE case is trashed, but other then that it runs fine.

#7 Fri, 11 Sep 2009 - 05:31

Yeah, the SE FDHD upgrade involved replacing the IWM chip with a SWIM chip, as you said, as well as replacement ROMs.

#8 Fri, 11 Sep 2009 - 09:48

That is indeed a very respectable first conquest. Well done, soldier!

#9 Fri, 11 Sep 2009 - 19:14

Rodime were one of the worst makes of drive back in the day. I believe an early edition of The Macintosh Bible mentions Rodime as an unreliable drive. A simple Google search reveals the following information:

Rodime became unprofitable after 1985, and a financial restructuring package was put in place in 1989. However, in 1991, Rodime ceased manufacturing and was reduced to a holding company which continued to pursue patent litigation against other hard disk manufacturers such as Quantum and Seagate.

The Rodime drive in my IIci makes a loud squealing sound every time it is powered on - definitely on its last legs!