Apple IIe suggestion

[Justin Payne]

Yes, I know. This is an Atari forum but I think there are many old computer enthusiests here that could offer their two cents.

 

I have the opportunity to purchase two Apple IIe's tonight (and an 800). Why two? Well, at this time the seller has two available. I really only need one for my collection so it's possible I might be able to pick the best one out of the two. The question is, other than cosmetics issues, functioning keyboard, cards, etc, what else should I try to look out for? I can't tell if this is an enhanced IIe from the photo so I'm assuming it's either a revision A or B. I haven't been able to find exact info on how to determine this since some people say look for serial numbers > 10K but then another person said they had one that was in the 11K range. I do want to use these systems but I also would like to choose it based on rarity, for historical preservation, of course. So, I'd probably want the Rev B to use and an A for rarity, but is the rarity really all that important?
The person also said they have more Apple stuff to sell but they haven't provided me with a list yet. I'm hoping they have a monitor(Color or monochrome) since I'm assuming the Apple won't run off a TV, and besides, who wants to run historic computer off a TV.

Any help would be most appreciated.

[Tempest]

It really doesn't matter if it's an Enhanced IIe or not unless you're planning on doing productivity stuff or things that require the special mousetext characters (no games did). Make sure you get a disk controller card, two disk drives, a memory/80-column card (in the aux slot) and you should be fine. A IIe Composite monitor is recommended as well although not 100% required as the IIe has composite out and will run on a TV (although it's not the best).

 

If he has extra cards for sale look for a Super Serial Card as those are useful for doing stuff like transferring programs to your Apple. A Mockingboard would be really nice, but those are pretty rare and not many games supported it. A IIe mouse card and mouse can be fun to play with, but not many games supported that either (mostly apps).

[Justin Payne]

Awesome info! I'll see what they have. There wasn't a list but I've requested one. They haven't been very good with the sales pitch on this one but I'm willing to make the trip to at least see what they have.

[JamesD]

The enhanced IIe has black letters on the keyboard. The unenhanced has white letters.

IIe's that were upgraded from unenhanced didn't get a new keyboard so that's not 100% true.

The enhanced IIe supports double hi-res graphics but I think the unenhanced does not so that's reason enough to get an enhanced IIe.

[The Usotsuki]

Early unenhanceds don't have DHGR, right, though I think it's a simple mod.

 

I think it's more the 65C02 and the patched firmware that matter in practice.

[Justin Payne]

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate your help with this.

I had to say no to the deal. It was a local Craigslist ad and something just didn't seem right about it. I'd asked straightforward questions and they just wouldn't give me straightforward answers so I told them I wasn't interested. It was hard. They had a about 3 800s, 3 apple ][e's, a Apple ][gs, a C64, and a bunch of other hardware and software for $120.

I just checked and the posting has been taken down. I'm sure I'll get a collection like this eventually. If this were a real thing I just hope it goes to someone who will appreciate it.

 

Keep history alive! :-)