"Build
Your Own Macintosh and Save a Bundle"Mainly Neat Stuff --> Vintage Macintosh --> Build Your Own Macintosh and Save a Bundle (Review)
"Build
Your Own Macintosh and Save a Bundle"
Bob Brant
Windcrest Books, 1991
Cover price: $17.95 (US)
The blurb on the back cover summarises the book accurately: "Users of DOS-based computers know that no matter what a PC manufacturer does, it's always possible to get lower-priced components and add-on peripherals from third-party vendors. Now Mac-lovers can put together the same low-cost homebuilts that have been available to the IBM world for years. Build Your Own Macintosh and Save a Bundle contains all the information you need to assemble your very own "CAT Mac" -- a Macintosh made up entirely of easy-to-obtain mail order catalog parts."
Well it's an interesting idea -- buy various Mac bits, some from Apple and some from third-party vendors, and assemble the system of your dreams. Brant discusses systems and upgrades based on the 128, 512, 512Ke, Plus, SE, SE/30, II, IIx, IIcx, IIci and, for the speed hungry, IIfx.
The procedures are a lot less dramatic than, for example, contemporary SE/30 and Colour Classic hacks. And if you weren't too bothered about having an ugly beige box on your desk (and your labour is cheap), the resulting computer would almost certainly work. But for most of us, a Mac is more than a box than runs Macintosh system software. Does anyone collect PowerMac 4400s for their aesthetic merits?
I bought my copy of this book for £3.50 from a local second hand bookshop; I wouldn't recommend paying much more for it. For a computer historian, there is some interesting stuff on prices and dealers but most (all?) of the technical information is available on the internet in one form or another.
Introduction
An explanation of what all old Mac hackers know: Anyone with modest technical skills and the ability to read a manual can assemble the right components into a usable Mac that is faster or more capable than a standard machine.
Chapter 1: Why build your own Macintosh
Brant's argument is simple: it's cheaper. The computer illustrated on the front cover is pretty hideous, of course.
Chapter 2: How much can you save
An interesting comparison of prices for used Macs, new Mac prices and upgrades. Recommended and not recommended "CAT Macs" are discussed. Some of the third party options that he discusses are now much more desirable (ie expensive) nowadays than an early Power Mac.
Chapter 3: Atari, Mac clones, Mac portables
I wish that this chapter were longer as it contains some interesting stuff about the Atari MEGA 2 as well as Mac portables from Colby Systems, Daynamac Computer Products and Outbound Systems. Clones from Powder Blue Computers and Akkord Technologies get an even briefer mention. Apart from the Outbound, do any of examples of these exist in the wild today?
Chapter 4: Logic board, memory, upgrades
This chapter describes Apple motherboards used in then-current Mac models and their possible use in a "CAT Mac". It's familiar stuff to old Mac hands but would be a good primer for someone new to compacts and the Mac II family.
Chapter 5: Accelerator boards
Brant's comprehensive list of then-current accelerators is included below.
|
Manufacturer/accelerator |
Logic board |
CPU speed |
List price (1991) |
|
Accelerators Using 68000 CPUs |
|||
|
AOX Double Time 16 |
SE |
16 |
395 |
|
Irwin Excelerator XL |
SE |
16 |
495 |
|
Newer MacSelerator |
SE |
16 |
345 |
|
Siclone Turbo SE |
512, Plus, SE |
16 |
398 |
|
Super Mac Speed Card |
SE |
16 |
399 |
|
Accelerators Using 68020 CPUs |
|||
|
Computer System Assoc FasTrack |
Plus, SE |
8 |
599 |
|
Dove Marathon 020 |
SE |
16 |
699 |
|
GCC Hypercharger 020 |
SE |
16 |
549 |
|
Irwin Excelerator XL 20 |
SE |
20 |
995 |
|
Irwin Excelerator XL 25 |
SE |
25 |
1695 |
|
MacProducts USA Railgun 020 Plus |
128, 512, Plus, SE |
16 |
549 |
|
Microtech 68020 Accelerator |
Plus, SE |
12 |
599 |
|
Novy Mac 20 MX/16 |
512, Plus, SE |
16 |
895 |
|
Novy Mac 20 MX/25 |
512, Plus, SE |
25 |
1595 |
|
Orchid Mac Sprint II |
Mac II |
16 |
299 |
|
Radius Accelerator 16 |
Plus |
16 |
795 |
|
Radius Accelerator 25 |
SE |
25 |
1395 |
|
Spectra Micro Development Proboard |
128, 512, Plus, SE |
16 |
995 |
|
Total Systems Gemini 020 |
128, 512, Plus, SE |
16 |
995 |
|
Accelerators Using 68030 CPUs |
|||
|
Daystar Power East Cache IIci |
Mac Ilci |
N/A |
995 |
|
Daystar Power Card 16/030 |
Mac II, IIx IIcx |
16 |
1495 |
|
Daystar Power Card 33/030 |
Mac II, IIx, IIcx |
33 |
1995 |
|
Daystar Power Card 40/030 |
Mac II, IIx, JIcx |
40 |
2495 |
|
Daystar Power Card 50/030 |
Mac II, IIx, IIcx |
50 |
2995 |
|
Dove Marathon 030 |
Plus, SE, Mac II |
16 |
699 |
|
Dove Marathon 030 |
SE, SE 30, Mac II, IIx |
32 |
1599 |
|
MacProducts USA Railgun 030 Plus |
128, 512, Plus, SE |
25 |
995 |
|
Microtech 33/68882 Accelerator |
Mac II |
33 |
1799 |
|
Newbridge Ultramax NM 030 MX |
512, Plus, SE |
25 |
1595 |
|
Siclone SI3033 |
Mac II |
33 |
3995 |
|
Siclone S13050 |
Mac II, IIx, IIcx |
50 |
5495 |
|
Total Systems Gemini 030 |
SE |
16 |
1395 |
|
Total Systems Voyager 33 |
Mac II |
33 |
4195 |
Chapter 6: Hard disks
The information about SCSI options for early compacts is interesting but this chapter is pretty much irrelevant now. Even the cheap hard disk prices seem scary today.
Chapter 7: Floppy disk
A useful primer on Apple 400K, 800K and 1.4Mb floppy drives. Brant also discusses a third party 800K drive from Fujitsu and two 1.4Mb drives, the Kennect Drive 2.4 and PLI TurboFloppy 1.4. The DaynaFILE PC compatibility drives get a brief mention. Presumably, the Applied Engineering FDHD drives had not been released at the time of publication.
Chapter 8: Video display
This chapter is disappointingly short of detail -- the third party Mac display/video card market was thriving by this time but few options are mentioned. A kit for building a TTL adapter for 128 and 512 Macs (made by a company called ATS and presumably the same as the adapter mentioned in Larry Pina's book) and the Power R cable/adapter for compacts are discussed briefly. There is a reference to a series of "Hackintosh" articles in Computer Shopper, a US magazine, on homebrew TTL video adapter and monitor options -- does anyone have copies?.
Chapter 9: Keyboard and mouse
Some interesting stuff on cordless mice manufacturers can be found here.
Chapter 10: Chassis and wiring
A theoretical guide to installing a Mac logic board in a PC case (heresy!), this chapter contains some useful information on pinouts.
Chapter 11: Putting it all together
The title says it all. Novice assemblers are provided with lots of pictures and diagrams on how a "CAT Mac" is assembled.
Chapter 12: The end of the beginning
Peripherals such as printers, modems and CD ROMs get a mention here.
Appendix: The world of Macintosh
Details of companies and user groups who no longer exist.
Copyright information: If you wish to use any images on these pages, please contact the author, Phil Beesley on beesley@mandrake.demon.co.uk.