Looking to enrich my life

[Opry99er]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/252478278959

 

 

 

This is the one I want... Beautiful, simple, elegant, and complete.

 

Might even actually have my name written on it somewhere.

 

 

Don't have the scratch right now though. Will have to wait.

[Opry99er]

Wonder if the guy would take $50 installments?

[Keatah]

If you go with a IIe, I'd try to get a CFFA3000. If enough people are interested, he'll make another production run.

http://dreher.net/?c=projects/CFforAppleII/main.php

 

Yes, I 2nd this.

[Keatah]

Wonder if the guy would take $50 installments?

 

Dunno. Ask him and offer $25 extra after you're all done.

[Opry99er]

If it doesn't sell, I will contact him about it.

[Keatah]

I would have been interested but didn't want to wait. I recently bought a Floppy Emu and it's great. It's a bit slower than the CFFA3000 from what I understand but I like that it's external, which makes it easy to hot-swap SD cards. I'd recommend this, and it's available now: http://www.bigmessowires.com/floppy-emu/

 

Opry99er: both of those setups seem too expensive to me. There are some systems on Ebay right now that seem like a better deal even with shipping. I wouldn't buy a ][+ at all at this point, personally. At this stage, I wouldn't buy a IIc either. (I own one, but mine was bought new when price was a factor.) It sounds like you really want a IIe, so I'd get one of the IIe's on Ebay right now over either of those local setups.

 

Yes. I recommend //e Platinum, then Enhanced //e, then IIgs. In that order. It also appears the one you're looking at on fleabay isn't enhanced. It doesn't have the power light "enhanced" sticker. Though maybe it IS upgraded inside.

 

I don't recommend a II or II+. While you can upgrade a II+ it to near //e capabilities, you need to get a lot of extra hardware. You can get lowercase, 80 columns, couple extra MB of memory. But you will never get MouseText of the enhanced //e, the newer firmware, or the 65C02 (outside of an accelerator). No a big hassle to get you a half-assed //e. And the upgrades aren't going to work with all the software all at the same time. So that makes it worse. Get the //e to start with.

 

And just avoid the II, unless you're a collectard purist that has to have date codes and serial numbers in order.

 

I have the II and II+ because that's what I started with. But my enhanced //e and //e Platinum both see monthly usage.

 

Now. 3.5" disks were never all that popular on the II series till the IIgs came to be. Everything else was/is 5.25" @ 143K.. And for the few applications that make use of 3.5", you can substitute a modern day flash solution. And with less hassle.

 

IF you really want 3.5" capability on the //e, you'll need to get a Liron/ASCO interface for about $50-$75. And an 800K drive for about $40-$60. If you want to step up to 3.5" HD at 1440K, you need a superdrive controller, these go anywhere from $100-$500, depends if there is a bidding war. And the 1440K drive moves for about $100 or so.

 

The IIgs can use a standard 800K straight away. No card required. But it will still need the SuperDrive controller to operate at 1440K.

 

I understand there are clones of the SuperDrive controller board for about $150. They are essentially replicas.

 

Personally I'd stick with 2x Disk II drives, or a DuoDisk. The interface controller for these is dirt cheap and they move at 10 bucks more or less. And some say these interface boards are the most elegant circuitry ever made at the time.

 

5.25" disks are what propelled the Apple II series into hi-gear back in the day. Cheap, only $600 for the complete sub-system, with DOS and incredible documentation. And they are the essence of the II, II+, //e, //c. And partly the IIgs, too.

 

A properly cleaned and maintained Apple 5.25" drive, especially the Shugart Disk II mechanisms are reliable and fast. They can copy a disk read/write, well under 30 seconds! Mine have survived numerous journeys to WaRez conferences in my BMX backpack and RadioFlyer Red Wagon. And later, in the dirty trunk of the old rusty Chevy. And then they came home to do AE Line and BBS duty.

 

Still have them, still use them, still love them!

[Opry99er]

Good info, Keatah... Thank you.

 

 

Here is another... Shame it is local pickup only!!!

 

 

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/172283624559

[Keatah]

I've talked about this before:

 

My "real hardware" classic activities revolve around Apple II series, a real 486 DX2/50, and some TI-59 and TRS-80 Pocket Computer stuff.

 

Then there is a modern PC to pick up everything else through emulation, covering all sorts of older systems like Atari 400/800, Apple II, Commodore 64 & Vic-20, VCS, Intellivision, Astrocade, Colecovision, Arcade, DosBox, and many many more. I would not dream of having it any other way, because, the childhood fantasy of having one box "do-it-all" is right here on my desk! A goddamned fucking miracle I tell you. A fucking miracle!!

 

And the adaptability of a standard PC truly adds wonders and great versatility to almost any classic computing experience. Goddamn what I wouldn't have done for this back in the day! Hi-Speed emulation. Copious storage capacity for disk images - practically a futuristic storage device with its own display and management tools. A virtual bookshelf of reference material and PDFs. Big-ass library. Debugger and trace facilities. Hi-Speed telecommunications. What a toolkit!

 

When going to "users groups" meetings we'd joking say it would be cool if we could bring our entire library of stuff with. And we even theorized ways of making thousands of floppies available instantly. Being able to find one single game out of hundreds would have been a sight to behold!

Edited August 1, 2016 by Keatah

[Opry99er]

I agree about emulation and use it to a point. That said, I currntly have my TI, Intellivision, 4 switch woody, and my Genesis hooked up and played regularly. Emulation is great but, for me, nothing beats the real thing.

 

EXCEPT for development. I love my emulators for game and program development!!! The point, though, is to get my developed stuff over to my hardware for testing. Otherwise it is a completely useless hobby to me.

 

That is probably the main reason why I need my new computer soon... I want to do a joint development project on my TI and Apple //e, and I need some hardware for testing.

 

Looking for the best OFFLINE Apple emulator right now. The browser one is cool, but it doesnt lend itself to much but simple game-playing.

 

[carlsson]

No man is complete without at least a dozen different vintage computer or gaming systems.

[Keatah]

I agree about emulation and use it to a point. That said, I currntly have my TI, Intellivision, 4 switch woody, and my Genesis hooked up and played regularly. Emulation is great but, for me, nothing beats the real thing.

 

I'd recommend AppleWin, Ciderpress, and ADTpro to start your toolkit. But..

 

AppleWin has 1990's logic in how the user interface operates. It's a good tool once you get over the tacky quirks. Applewin will let you play thousands of games and productivity/utility stuff via drag-n-drop. Once you learn the in's and out's. it's pretty good.

 

Ciderpress is a PC-side file manager and disk image utility. It's rather detailed and comprehensive and a must-have tool for pushing files and disk images around. And yet, incomplete. Like Applewin, it's stuck in the 1990's.

 

ADTpro is a util to get disk images from your PC to Apple via a serial card or cassette connection cable. Even eithernet is supported. It's relatively polished bit of work and little remains to be done.

 

 

http://a2ciderpress.com/

https://github.com/fadden/ciderpress/

https://github.com/AppleWin/AppleWin

https://github.com/AppleWin/AppleWin/releases

http://adtpro.sourceforge.net/

[JamesD]

I had a pretty good sized collection before my house fire. 30+ machines, most different computer lines except CoCo and Apple.
There are no plans to rebuild it now though.
I'll get some sort of FPGA based machine like MIST or use emulators mostly.
There are a few machines I'd still like to get, but it's not a priority.
I still have a IIe, TI-99/4a, CoCo 1, NEC Trek, C128D, TS-1000, and a non-working VZ-200 I'm trying to fix.

Opry99er, if you were still in Denver I'd give you a Franklin Ace 1000 with some discoloration due to smoke.
It does work but there are no cards.
It's like a II+ with on board language card, upper and lower case, a bigger power supply, and an extended keyboard. The keyboard feels more like a typewriter though.

Edited August 1, 2016 by JamesD

[JamesD]

 

I'd recommend AppleWin, Ciderpress, and ADTpro to start your toolkit. But..

 

AppleWin has 1990's logic in how the user interface operates. It's a good tool once you get over the tacky quirks. Applewin will let you play thousands of games and productivity/utility stuff via drag-n-drop. Once you learn the in's and out's. it's pretty good.

 

Ciderpress is a PC-side file manager and disk image utility. It's rather detailed and comprehensive and a must-have tool for pushing files and disk images around. And yet, incomplete. Like Applewin, it's stuck in the 1990's.

 

ADTpro is a util to get disk images from your PC to Apple via a serial card or cassette connection cable. Even eithernet is supported. It's relatively polished bit of work and little remains to be done.

 

 

http://a2ciderpress.com/

https://github.com/fadden/ciderpress/

https://github.com/AppleWin/AppleWin

https://github.com/AppleWin/AppleWin/releases

http://adtpro.sourceforge.net/

There's also appletools which is a command line driven program for transferring files to/from disk images.

The 32 bit version is on some Apple II ftp site, I recompiled it for 64 bit and posted the file on the applefritter forum. It needs the mvc runtime library (dll) or something like that.

These are nice if you are using cross compilers. A make file can rebuild your program and build the disk image all in one shot.

[Keatah]

I agree about emulation and use it to a point. That said, I currntly have my TI, Intellivision, 4 switch woody, and my Genesis hooked up and played regularly. Emulation is great but, for me, nothing beats the real thing.

 

All my old Apple II paraphernalia holds great sentimental value. Emulation isn't a replacement, but instead an enhancement. I could not imagine doing classic computing today strictly on original hardware, it has to be a mix of old and new.

 

And like when I got the Apple II back in the 70's. I couldn't have then imagined keeping it to the present, let alone buying new hardware cards made today! And this likely applies to other micros.

[spacecadet]

Emulation isn't a replacement, but instead an enhancement. I could not imagine doing classic computing today strictly on original hardware, it has to be a mix of old and new.

 

I dabble in emulation myself but somehow I don't find computer emulators as satisfying as straight console or arcade game emulators. I do use "old and new" but for me that means using something like the Floppy Emu in conjunction with real disk drives. (I still like to use the disk drives sometimes; I just like the feel of it.) Or transferring files from my PC to my Apple II through ADT Pro. The first time I got bootstrapping working, it was like magic to me. Actually running a real program on my Apple II *from* my PC - these two computers an entire human generation apart talking to each other, one literally programming the other in real-time!

 

Computers are so much more about look and feel than consoles or even arcade machines. Unlike a game console where you're actually just staring at your TV most of the time, with a computer you're looking at the computer and touching the computer itself pretty much all the time. So I feel like I'm really missing something with computer emulators, especially with machines I personally remember from those days. (It's a little different trying out a machine I never used before via emulation.)

[Osgeld]

I don't mind emulation till there's something oddball like the keyboard on a c64 its hard to map all that petscii to a model m

[MarkO]

I am kind of a keyboard snob as well, though you may just need a better keyboard for your PC

So am I.... A good feeling Keyboard, leads to a positive Typing Experience...

 

I actually used an IBM Model M on my desktop until very recently and still have it sitting next to my desk for the day it inevitably returns as my main source of input. I'm currently using a Corsair mechanical gaming keyboard, which is different but still nice (and quite a bit smaller than the IBM) but it is amazing how a little thing like the double-sized keys requiring more force to press (because of their stabilizers) can drive me nuts for actual typing. Luckily I don't do much actual typing on that machine anymore; I mostly use my laptop and reserve the desktop for gaming.

I have a dozen IBM Type M Keyboards.. A few have some Issues, but 6 of them work great, and I use 3-4 all the time, including this one that I am typing on right now.. The IBM Type Ms have just the right feel...

 

I have used a TI 99/4A but it was literally one or two times at a family friend's house, and probably 35 years ago. I unfortunately can't remember the keyboard feel or what machines might be similar (or better). But I know in those days it was really rare for keyboards to have anything but a linear actuation (where the keys go down smoothly until bottoming out). The IBM was the only early 80's computer I personally know of with a click in the middle of a keypress, and that eventually became sort of standard until some of the linear mechanical keyboards we have today. Ironically those can feel pretty close to some of the non-IBM classic computers.

 

The way you describe the TI keyboard does sound like a pretty good match for the Apple IIe, though. I'm not sure if there's a difference between the IIe and IIe Platinum keyboard (it's the original IIe that I have experience with), but if I were buying a IIe, I'd probably look for a Platinum for other reasons.

The early Apple ][es, with the White Keys have a different Key Mechanism than the later Black Key boards.. The one Platinum I have feels like the Black Key Apple ][es. I have always found the Apple ][s keyboards have a Good Feel.. I am "partial" to the White Key Apple ][e, but that was my first Apple Computer, and the Keyboard on the Sinclair ZX-81 leaves a Lot to be Desired..

 

Edit: Here's a video of a guy programming BASIC on his IIe; you can maybe get a little feel for what typing is like on it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEDVjg5y0Hg

Very Nice..

 

MarkO

[Opry99er]

If this doesnt interest and inspire you, I don't know what will.

 

http://youtu.be/Pl2attaDg64

[Keatah]

Real engineering!

 

It's no secret Apple killed the II in favor of the Mac.

And it's too bad that Woz crashed his airplane and lost the ability to do technical work like he once did..

Edited August 2, 2016 by Keatah

[Keatah]

 

I dabble in emulation myself but somehow I don't find computer emulators as satisfying as straight console or arcade game emulators. I do use "old and new" but for me that means using something like the Floppy Emu in conjunction with real disk drives. (I still like to use the disk drives sometimes; I just like the feel of it.) Or transferring files from my PC to my Apple II through ADT Pro. The first time I got bootstrapping working, it was like magic to me. Actually running a real program on my Apple II *from* my PC - these two computers an entire human generation apart talking to each other, one literally programming the other in real-time!

 

Computers are so much more about look and feel than consoles or even arcade machines. Unlike a game console where you're actually just staring at your TV most of the time, with a computer you're looking at the computer and touching the computer itself pretty much all the time. So I feel like I'm really missing something with computer emulators, especially with machines I personally remember from those days. (It's a little different trying out a machine I never used before via emulation.)

 

Yes mostly that.

 

I use emulation to cut down on wear and tear on my original Apple hardware. Currently I do 90% of the stuff through emulation, and 10% on my //e. Mostly for speed and convenience.

 

But I would never ever ever transfer that remaining 10% to emulation.

[MarkO]

What about a nice standard //e with a DuoDisk, monochrome monitor, and all hookups?

 

 

 

And how flexible is the //e with drive configuration? Could external 3.5" drives be used? 5.25" floppies are getting expensive these days!!

You can go Solid State... With the CFFA3000 or Floppy Emu.

 

Otherwise you will need the Liron or Superdrive controller to add a 3.5" drive to the ][e..

 

 

MarkO

[Opry99er]

Thanks!! May go with the cffa3000... If there are any for sale when I get my system.

[Keatah]

There's likely going to be a wait till enough orders come in. And then the standard delays while production ramps up. But you can trust Mr. Dreher. I purchased several boards over the last decade and my infrequent questions were always answered.

 

You can also go ebay, but be prepared to pay $50-$150 more unless you get lucky. Or just get a FloppyEmu.

 

Either device is worth whatever wait is involved. And while you're waiting, it wouldn't hurt to do things the old school way and learn the finer points of how the Apple II operates. And ADTPro fits right in here. After all, that's what classic computing is all about? Doing it old-school style! (I almost typed doggy style!!) Then you will have an appreciation for the newer expansion options made today.

 

The skills and concepts I learned on the early micros are still valuable and useful today, believe it or not.

Edited August 2, 2016 by Keatah

[Opry99er]

Yes, I still use 5.25" and 3.5" floppies on my /4A daily.

 

And you're right... There is something to be said for kickin' it old school.

[Omega-TI]

If you are looking to enrich your life... ... check them all!