The IIvx was one of Apple's many crippled data bus computers of the 1990s. It has a 32MHz processor but is on a 16-bit data bus, making it slower than a IIci (25MHz). There were Quadras out when it was released, but more Quadras came out about six months later. At the same time, Apple cut the IIvx's price significantly, which is why those who bought a new Mac, only to see it become outdated/reduced in price shortly thereafter have been IIvx-ed. (I've been IIvx-ed three times--got my LC right when the LCII came out, my tangerine clamshell less than a month before the FireWire models were introduced--although I'm glad I got it when I did since I wanted tangerine--and an iBook G4 less than two weeks before they were speedbumped; I also have a Santa Rosa MacBook, which everyone got IIvx-ed on since it was only out for a few months before the Penyrn architecture was adopted).
The whole deal with the 16-bit bus seemed to have been done to avoid stealing sales of other Macs. The IIci, although three years old, was still on the market when the IIvx came out, and was being marketed to the professional crowd along with the Quadras. If the IIvx was running on a proper bus, it would have been somewhere between the IIci and IIfx in terms of performance and would have killed IIci sales. The IIci itself was pretty much replaced by the Centris line (entry-level Quadras) in 1993.
It almost seems as though the IIvx was designed to be a prosumer model instead of a professional computer even though Apple had just introduced its consumer Macs, one of which was the Performa 600. The IIvx and IIsi clearly fit somewhere between the Classic II/LC II low-end models and the IIci/Quadra 700/Quadra 950. I guess Apple wanted the IIci, always a professional model, to remain there rather than fall down to that spot alongside the IIsi.
Of course, the bigger question--why not just replace the IIci? It was ancient at that time and didn't even have audio-in, something even the lowest-end models from Fall 1992 had.
To answer your other question--yes, the IIvx introduced that metal case that the C650 later used.
To get back on subject about the haul, I'm opening Beater SE up this morning--don't have to work until the afternoon today so I figured I'd get the other SE up and running so I can work with it tonight.
The whole deal with the 16-bit bus seemed to have been done to avoid stealing sales of other Macs. The IIci, although three years old, was still on the market when the IIvx came out, and was being marketed to the professional crowd along with the Quadras. If the IIvx was running on a proper bus, it would have been somewhere between the IIci and IIfx in terms of performance and would have killed IIci sales. The IIci itself was pretty much replaced by the Centris line (entry-level Quadras) in 1993.
It almost seems as though the IIvx was designed to be a prosumer model instead of a professional computer even though Apple had just introduced its consumer Macs, one of which was the Performa 600. The IIvx and IIsi clearly fit somewhere between the Classic II/LC II low-end models and the IIci/Quadra 700/Quadra 950. I guess Apple wanted the IIci, always a professional model, to remain there rather than fall down to that spot alongside the IIsi.
Of course, the bigger question--why not just replace the IIci? It was ancient at that time and didn't even have audio-in, something even the lowest-end models from Fall 1992 had.
To answer your other question--yes, the IIvx introduced that metal case that the C650 later used.
To get back on subject about the haul, I'm opening Beater SE up this morning--don't have to work until the afternoon today so I figured I'd get the other SE up and running so I can work with it tonight.