Apple IIc Plus - the rarest and fastest Apple II!

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 พ.ค. 2020
  • Returning to one of my favorite subjects - the Apple II - I decide to finally repair a broken Apple IIc Plus gifted to me a little more than a year ago. This machine was the final true hardware revision to the Apple II line, coming in 1988, and the last standalone machine in the line released. It was also the fastest, with a 4Mhz CPU (vs. 1Mhz in most other Apple II's, and 2.6Mhz in the IIGS).
    But it was a problematic machine for Apple, with a concept that had been watered down to the point of, well, pointlessness. The market wanted it even less than it wanted the original IIc (which was my first computer - the one in the thumbnail is my original machine). Still, it is an interesting computer for its accelerated CPU, and its somewhat anachronistic nature at the time of its launch.
    Please let me know if you happen to have a working Apple 3.5 drive or eject motor for sale! There is contact info on my about page.
    Subscribe to my channel: th-cam.com/users/ModernClassi...
    Support me on Patreon!: / modernclassic
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ความคิดเห็น • 300

  • @ModernClassic
    @ModernClassic  4 ปีที่แล้ว +42

    Hey guys! Couple things: if anyone does have an Apple 3.5 drive (internal or external, doesn't matter) or just the eject motor that you're interested in selling for a reasonable price, please let me know. (You can use the contact info on my about page.) Also, I know there are a couple of errors in this video that I didn't catch until too late - for example, the IIGS is a 2.8Mhz machine, not 2.6Mhz. Such is the danger of speaking off the cuff. Lastly, several people have mentioned that the music in the repair section is louder than my voice - it isn't in Resolve, and it isn't in my exported file, but TH-cam seems to have brickwalled the music but left my voice at the levels I set. This is irritating for all of us, but it is just one of those TH-cam-isms, and once a video is uploaded and published there is nothing to be done about it. We all just have to live with it - sorry!

    • @Nukle0n
      @Nukle0n 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      You can also just get a new gear, it's the gear that has turned yellow and has become brittle, it seems like whatever factory they got specifically that gear from didn't make them right so they've failed on nearly every single drive. That's why you need 3D printed replacements.

    • @staggerwings
      @staggerwings 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      I have a non-functioning 3.5 inch external drive. I recall it wouldn't read disks or eject but I can send it to you for just postage in case either the little eject board or the motor is still good, assuming your drive had the opposite component fail. The motor assembly still has the horizontal gear with the metal engagement pin. If you don't want the whole thing I can send you just the motor and board. Let me know.

    • @RobertBullock
      @RobertBullock 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Also I do have an extra ejector motor with the gear in if the drive is the same mech as Mac/IIgs (A9M0106). Those are 800k but IIRC the ejector motor part is the same on the 1.44 FDHD.

    • @alextirrellRI
      @alextirrellRI 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@Nukle0n Yeah, broken gear was my first thought. Didn't get a good enough look at it in the video to tell.

    • @ModernClassic
      @ModernClassic  4 ปีที่แล้ว

      I show the gear in the video; it's perfectly fine. The motor does not turn on its own (it's not trying to spin the gears), but it does turn by hand, so it's probably not seized. It doesn't even make an attempt to turn.

  • @esra_erimez
    @esra_erimez 4 ปีที่แล้ว +35

    This channel is like visiting a knowledgeable good friend.

  • @vwestlife
    @vwestlife 4 ปีที่แล้ว +18

    I've heard that the inspiration of the Apple IIc Plus was Apple's jealousy of the Laser 128EX, a lower-cost IIc clone with a 3.6 MHz CPU. Laser supposedly even had a 128EX/2 model with a built-in 3.5" diskette drive, also released in 1988, but most of the 128EX/2's I've seen have a 5.25" drive. That one sold for $499 (without a monitor), so even with the IIc Plus's price reduction, the Laser was still the less expensive machine. And your Magnavox monitor should have a button to switch it to green text mode, which would eliminate the rainbow streaking in 80-column mode -- or else you could just turn the color control all the way down.

    • @ModernClassic
      @ModernClassic  4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      The green mode on the Magnavox is not really the same as the Apple monochrome monitor - all it seems to do is block red and blue, so what you get is even uglier than just leaving it in full color mode.

    • @josephbseeley
      @josephbseeley 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @Vwestlife Are you certain they were 128/EX2s? I thought the EXs were 5.25" and EX2 were 3.5" drives. My brother had the EX and it was 5.25" which was actually more handy back then.

  • @bobbytheitguy4289
    @bobbytheitguy4289 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I got an Apple IIc for my 12th birthday back in the days. I remember my friends had dual disk drives on their IIe's which I envied, but they would copy and give me some of their games. I also had FS II as well as Wizardry, Ultima IV, and Summer Games (1984). I also had a 300 baud modem that my mom bought me a year later, and used it to surf the very beginnings of the WWW....actually it was Compuserve ...but still a lot of fun. Great times and great machine.

  • @steveh1792
    @steveh1792 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    The //c was my last system documentation project at Apple. We knew the Apple// family was nearing its end, as the Mac was the only future seen my upper management. So I got the full source list of the //c's firmware included in the doc set... Nice if you can find the manual set.

    • @apple2-tor
      @apple2-tor 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Hi Steve. Was it a separate volume as with the //e Monitor ROM?

  • @The_Wandering_Nerd
    @The_Wandering_Nerd 4 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    So the market for the Apple IIc+ was someone who already had a significant investment in Apple II peripherals and software, and who wanted a small boost in productivity software, and who didn't care about games so much, and who weren't swayed by the Apple IIGS's enhanced graphics, sound, and GUI capabilities, and who didn't have the technical knowhow to just install an accelerator card, and didn't mind that they took out the headphone jack, and were willing to pay over $1000 for the privilege when faster, cheaper computers like the IBM, Tandy, Amiga, and Atari ST--or even a used Mac--would have been a much better option? Wow, Apple's contempt for its own customers hasn't really changed much in 30 years, has it?

    • @ModernClassic
      @ModernClassic  4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      I think the problem was really that it started off as a decent idea and was watered down to the point that they shouldn't have released it. It's one of those "you can make a pizza so cheap that no one will eat it" things. Who knows, maybe it's one reason why Apple stopped trying to make budget-priced products.

    • @Apple2gs
      @Apple2gs 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      32 years ago, I was excited to see a (then) brand-new Apple II model on the cover of A+ Magazine. As I started flipping through the pages about the IIc Plus, I remember being very confused... It must have better graphics, right? Better sound? More built-in RAM? Does it share ANYTHING in common with the IIGS, other than a 3.5 drive? Nope, nope, nope and nope!! Just an obsolete Apple IIc in basically a new case...huh? What the heck was Apple doing I thought? Is this a joke, are they just trying to give a middle finger to IIGS users? Honestly, the Apple IIe should have been removed from Apple's price list by early 1987, and the IIc Plus should have been a portable version of IIGS. To this day, it still makes no sense why this was released.

  • @battleangel5595
    @battleangel5595 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I had the original II\c as my first computer. It was a Christmas gift ages ago. My father went bonkers when he bought it. BONKERS. A full setup with the II\c. External floppy, mouse, joystick, color monitor, and color printer. I remember playing Flight Simulator for hours. Even Aztec. Where I blew up the stairs to kill an enemy on the lowest floor only to find the idol and realize what a COMPLETE IDIOT I was for blowing up said stairs...
    The NES came out not long after. Then we had this 80386SX-16 IBM clone I loved...
    But my computing origins began on the II\c. Seeing all those big boxes under the Christmas tree from "Santa" back then... Priceless memories.

    • @freeculture
      @freeculture ปีที่แล้ว

      Aztec was such a fun game, climb over the status to the next level lol. I ended using that very same color monitor for my Chinese Famicom clone (a nes without the stupid lock chip) which conveniently had composite output...

  • @arentol99
    @arentol99 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Lots of good memories here. Got a //c in 1986… launched my lifelong love of IT and my career.

  • @dennisud
    @dennisud ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I bought an Apple IIC way back in 1987 from an IRS worker for $795.00. It was a great tax write off! I used it for work as I was a Middle school teacher and used my very 1st Gradebook program, "Making the Grade" on it. I also made several worksheets for my students as I had 4 Apple IIe's in my classroom for Oegon Trail, Amazon Trail and a few others.
    I eventually bought a Macintosh LC-II and transferred to that and eventually The IIC was donated to an after school program nearby.

  • @apple2-tor
    @apple2-tor 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    The story about Apple limiting the speed of the //gs so that it wouldn't compete with the Macintosh is a canard, a scuttlebutt, and a tired old fable. The truth is that Western Design Center (the maker of the 65816) just didn't have the manufacturing capacity to provide Apple with the quantity of the faster CPUs required for their production, so they went with the slower 2.8Mhz chip. Regardless, this is a good video.

  • @RetroGamesCollector
    @RetroGamesCollector ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I just got hold of a IIGS so really enjoyed learning about one of it's contemporaries. This thing really moves for an Apple ][ !

  • @amann2547
    @amann2547 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I'm still amazed that my (extremely cheap) stepfather bought a IIc Plus when it came out. Fond memories of that PC. So sleek, for its time.

  • @Lion_McLionhead
    @Lion_McLionhead 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The dreams of the IIC in View to a Kill being some kind of wonder computer have been dashed by this series.

    • @steveh1792
      @steveh1792 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      The //c also showed up near the beginning of "2010" with Roy Scheider computing on vacation at the beach. It was connected to an LCD display that we at Apple had been working on that didn't manage to make production when the //c was introduced.

  • @photolabguy
    @photolabguy 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Awesome to see this kind of content again! I hope you and your family are doing well!

  • @csabasanta5696
    @csabasanta5696 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Glad to see you back! Great content as always. Keep it up!

  • @hawkeye454
    @hawkeye454 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Your videos are so good, I always look forward to seeing the next notification from your channel. Thanks for taking the time to make videos like this Apple repair. Cheers!

  • @pbloo574
    @pbloo574 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This was a cool video. I randomly found a IIc Plus with a monitor for $60 at a flea market a few years ago and Immediately bought it because I had always wanted a vintage Apple computer of some kind. This videos makes me want to get it out of storage and mess around with it again.

  • @alexandermirdzveli3200
    @alexandermirdzveli3200 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Another marvelous review from Modern Classic! True delight.

  • @matthewplehn4271
    @matthewplehn4271 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    good to see content still coming from this channel

  • @gallgreg
    @gallgreg 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Great video and awesome machine!
    Glad you got it working!!
    Wish I had a IIc Plus in my collection!

  • @mcrazza
    @mcrazza 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    15:47
    I had Flight Simulator II for the Atari XEGS back in the day. As a kid I had absolutely no idea how to play the game. It was an absolute slideshow. Wasn't much a fan of simulators from the era. GATO was the exception.

    • @freeculture
      @freeculture ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I played lots of GATO with the //c. Of course its a wireframe slideshow like everything else with that platform 🙂
      Like you i had no idea what to do with in Flight Simulator II. But when you are a kid and have nothing else to do, you start touching and trying everything and writing it down. Because, "ahem", no manual... And i eventually learned to take off and land without crashing and going places. When i moved to the PC and tried FS3, felt right at home except things looked much better and smooth.

  • @dgordon2991
    @dgordon2991 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Had two of them, one with the microsoft cp/m os card and //c lcd display, other with the //c monitor. They were fun little alternatives to the //e.

  • @maxheadrom3088
    @maxheadrom3088 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Dude, thanks! I bought a IIc plus from Hong Kong and it was shipped to Brazil. It has several problems and I'll have lots of fun repairing it - fun now that I found your video.

  • @chrisjamesr77
    @chrisjamesr77 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    I used to have one of these! Somehow the sound of those keys clicking at 10:00 just brings it all back, lol

  • @paulmuaddib451
    @paulmuaddib451 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Good to see ya back!

  • @esseferio
    @esseferio 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    I missed these kind of videos :) Thank you :)

  • @elfenmagix8173
    @elfenmagix8173 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I have the Laser128 and a Apple IIc with the 5MHz RocketChip. They both kicked the IIc+ ass though the IIc+ had better expandability than the IIc I have with the RocketChip. The Laser128 had 2 Apple slots to expand from- one internal and 1 external.

    • @gallgreg
      @gallgreg 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      The Laser 128 was a very cool machine! Still have one in my collection!

  • @jdrukman
    @jdrukman 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    My first job out of college was developing educational software on a IIc+. Nice trip down memory lane.

  • @BrianOfAteionas
    @BrianOfAteionas 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    I wish I still had my IIGS. It was already outdated at the time I got one used from a friend for 20 bucks(late 90s), but it was so cool to be like 12 years old and and play these mysterious games that came with the computer. It can still remember that distinct old electronics and cigarette smell that just enriched the experience for me.

  • @hopper1
    @hopper1 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    That print ad near the end of the video really threw me back into my youth. I suffered with a VIC 20 (with a cassette drive) until I got into high school when I was able to purchase a Lazer 128EX from a store in a strip mall. I only ever used Apple Works on it, but it served me well throughout high school.

  • @mentalhealthnetwork
    @mentalhealthnetwork 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I remember these in my computer lab in high school. Teacher was a hardcore Apple guy.

  • @xWindreaderx
    @xWindreaderx 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I kick myself for not jumping on this system when I had the opportunity about a year ago! I had seen a listing on Craigslist of a guy discounting his listings for both an Apple IIe Enhanced and an Apple IIc Plus, with the IIc Plus being only $30! I waited too long to contact the guy as he’d already sold it and really do regret it to this day considering the prices these go for.

  • @The-Weekend-Warrior
    @The-Weekend-Warrior ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Oh my, oh my... what a drive on memory lane... My first ever computer was an Apple IIc and I miss it sooooooooo much ever since it died on me and had not enough knowledge back then to repair it or have it repaired (and wanted an Atari ST badly anyways). Nice to see, thanks!

  • @zorinlynx
    @zorinlynx 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Bank Street Writer had slow-ish scrolling because it used graphics mode to implement text display. This allowed more flexibility in what could be displayed at a cost of performance. Other productivity software like AppleWorks used native text mode and as a result were MUCH faster, even at 1MHz!

  • @misterkiji
    @misterkiji 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I had one of these as a child. It was great. Still had to sit and load discs to play games

  • @JimLeonard
    @JimLeonard 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Sound issues aside, this was an excellent overview of the IIc Plus. Your upgrade to 4k was also very appreciated. I'm glad you're able to still pursue your hobby despite your drastic career change and training.

  • @davidorama6690
    @davidorama6690 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Apple //c was a fantastic computer. I longed to buy one back in the day.

  • @adriansdigitalbasement
    @adriansdigitalbasement 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Couple tidbits. I swear I have seen that lock slot on the original Macs too. (128k and And on) I might be mistaken. Also, some original IIc machines had the alps keyboards like I guess all IIc+ machines did. :-)

    • @ModernClassic
      @ModernClassic  4 ปีที่แล้ว

      It is possible the original Macs also had that lock slot. I am not a fan of the Mac so I don't have one to check :)

  • @bhstone1
    @bhstone1 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    My left ear loved your MIDI music. My right ear felt very felt out.

    • @noop9k
      @noop9k 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Where’s MIDI in this video?

  • @musiclabmn
    @musiclabmn 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Makes me a bit sad. I had one in fantastic condition, with the box and all accessories that I sold on eBay back in January. It's the ONE time I didn't fully insure it and FedEx lost it. I still think it was stolen somehow, but I have no way to prove it and they paid me $100 for my 'trouble'. Thanks for keeping another one of these rare guys kicking!

  • @adriansdigitalbasement
    @adriansdigitalbasement 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Great video! I remember using one at school (I had a IIgs at the time) and thought it was such a stupid machine. It is neat now though :-)

    • @gamedoutgamer
      @gamedoutgamer 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Yes the stupid machines BITD are often cool to own and even use.

    • @theonecalledstein
      @theonecalledstein 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      I also had a IIgs at the time, but still wanted one of these for the portability.

    • @travis1240
      @travis1240 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I remember being impressed at the 2gs graphics and sound, which was good for the time.

  • @pentiummmx2294
    @pentiummmx2294 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    The original II, the Bell and Howell II Plus, and the IIc Plus, along with the apple iii, Lisa, Color Classic, TV, and 20th anniversary mac are rare apple relics.

  • @retropuffer2986
    @retropuffer2986 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I remember the Compute! Magazine reviews which seem to focus on how you could get 16 bit era computer for the same money. They did note that for parents the large number of software packages, especially educational, were a benefit to this system. If you recall the first couple years of 16 bit era computers (other than PC) had a tiny software base. Software base was a factor for buyers back then.
    I would imagine Apple Works would fly on this system and Apple Works was probably one of the best 8 bit era productivity software packages.

  • @Meatpipeify
    @Meatpipeify 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    This guy sounds just like This Old Tony. Great video!

  • @ww21943
    @ww21943 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Will pressing the OA key and Control start the self test on a IIGS? I think I have a bad onboard RAM chip

  • @Psychlist1972
    @Psychlist1972 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Love the chiptune music, but it's so much louder than your voice, so it blew me out of my chair :P.

    • @ModernClassic
      @ModernClassic  4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Please read the pinned comment.

  • @lcdrugo
    @lcdrugo 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I have that exact same monitor, (although it's Commodore-branded). If you push the last button on the right it switches from RGB to a green monochrome. That should sharpen up the text nicely.

    • @ModernClassic
      @ModernClassic  4 ปีที่แล้ว

      I know about that; all it seems to do is filter out red and green, which means you end up with even lower resolution. It's not the same as a proper monochrome monitor.

  • @kloakovalimonada
    @kloakovalimonada 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Gorgeous machines.

  • @Nukle0n
    @Nukle0n 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I think Adrian Black talked about how the later manufactured IIcs also got rid of the mechanical Alps keyboard. Also that SmartPort support is just a function of the ROM, so you can burn a new rom for the IIc and put it in there (You have to open a close some jumpers on the board as well) and that will add that functionality, plus the self-test.

    • @ModernClassic
      @ModernClassic  4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Yeah I just don't have really any experience with later IIc's. I remember being surprised at the time when I looked in magazines and saw that you could upgrade the RAM. (This was one of the drawbacks of the IIc that I remember weighing when I chose it.) I opened mine up one day and there was no slot for it. That was my first inkling that Apple was making changes to the IIc on the fly.

    • @freeculture
      @freeculture ปีที่แล้ว

      Yes, i definitely had one of those with the better keyboard. A friend had the other one. His also became yellow very quickly while mine remained white much longer...

  • @dronejunglistplatoon
    @dronejunglistplatoon 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    i want one! Great vid as always.

  • @NathanDavisVideos
    @NathanDavisVideos ปีที่แล้ว +1

    5:02 - Looks like I found where the ol' saying "Take the L" came from! 😂

  • @williamogilvie6909
    @williamogilvie6909 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Very interesting. I worked in an Apple store (not owned by Apple) and sold several IIe's, an Apple 3, etc. I own what is absolutely the rarest Apple. It was called the Euro-Apple. It was designed for PAL-Secam video. I bought the board, populated with TTL and a 6502, in 1982. People tried to find a way to make them work with NTSC monitors. I was successful, and was able to buy a set of genuine Apple II ROM chips. FYI: That synthesized music is horrible.

    • @freeculture
      @freeculture ปีที่แล้ว

      Its the old trick also used with PC clones, to make the beeper produce something resembling low bit pcm playback. Very CPU intensive, often pauses the game. No SID chip here...

  • @sub-jec-tiv
    @sub-jec-tiv 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    ][c plus is a beautiful design.

  • @jinchoung
    @jinchoung 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    holy crap ms. pacman on apple 2 was freakin amazing!

  • @jrherita
    @jrherita 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    The IIC+ is the sort of upgrade I really wish Atari had given their 8bit. (3.5” disk support and higher frequency).

    • @jetfrog4574
      @jetfrog4574 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Yes!!!

  • @rager1969
    @rager1969 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The Apple II Color (composite) monitors are amazingly sharp. I don't know if it automatically puts itself into monochrome mode for text but there is no NTSC artifacting on 80 column text. I'd recommend acquiring one.

    • @jrmcferren
      @jrmcferren 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      I'm not sure, some Apples may have killed the chroma circuit, but I don't think they all did. Apple color monitors had a color/mono switch. The Apple IIgs I think simulated the chroma artifacts too, the Apple IIgs RGB monitors also had the color/mono switch. I have also experienced an Apple IIe system on a pro video monitor which told me when the chroma was disabled.

  • @SuburbanDon
    @SuburbanDon ปีที่แล้ว +1

    That original Flight Sim was BRUTAL !!!

    • @freeculture
      @freeculture ปีที่แล้ว +1

      And in fact would run a bit slower than real time. With accel the clock is going too fast, without it, it runs slightly slower (at least in the //c).

  • @Bonpu
    @Bonpu 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Am I really the only one thinking the Apple IIC - Hartmut Esslingens first design project for Apple - is the most beautiful personal computer ever built? To this day I am kicking myself for not snatching one when it became obsolete and hence affordable even in Europe.

  • @3Dparallax
    @3Dparallax 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Even used the garamond font, nice touch.

  • @tomladdus9264
    @tomladdus9264 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I am amazed I don't remember this model at all. I was a big apple ii fan.

    • @henkholdingastate
      @henkholdingastate ปีที่แล้ว +1

      What a huge difference from the absolute junk keyboards of modern laptops (Totally no feedback)

  • @RustBunny
    @RustBunny 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Late to the party, but glad I stumbled across this nonetheless. I have a IIc Plus that I've had since I was in high school. I had no software for it then, have nothing for it now. I should put mine through the paces some day and see if it even still works, along with the other older Apples and Macs I have sitting around (couple PowerBooks, a IIgs, a few others).

  • @WelcomeToMarkintosh
    @WelcomeToMarkintosh หลายเดือนก่อน

    Awesome video-thank you! Could you tell me what model that Magnavox monitor is?

    • @ModernClassic
      @ModernClassic  หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      It's the RGB Monitor 40. (Not to be mistaken with the Color Monitor 40, which is a different monitor that only has composite, if I remember right.) There is also an RGB Monitor 80, which has a finer dot pitch (one is meant for 40 columns, the other 80 columns). They're both a little hard to find but if you can find either one, I'd grab it. They are great monitors in that they can take almost any retro source, even CGA. The 80 is obviously a bit more desirable with its finer dot pitch.

  • @TheSulross
    @TheSulross 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Another problem was that neither the 6502 or 65816 were enabled in their designs to be able to run high level languages (very well) that require a call stack, such as C. By the mid 80s, business software had shifted to using C instead of assembly language (Intel did intentionally design the 8086 - way back in 1977 - to be able to run high level, call stack based languages). Yes, the early great software for the PC, like Lotus 123, was written in assembly language, but the C compilers quickly go better and improved their code generation - and memory became cheaper. So the industry around personal computers shifted to using high level, compiled languages. Even products like Turbo Pascal and Turbo C enabled this for the masses. If you look today you will see that there are C compilers for the 6502, but they generate bloated software and essentially implement a hack (establish a call stack off to the side of the 6502 default stack). There are no dedicated registers and instructions for using this stack - so the code is verbose and inefficient. There is a lot of retro activity to write games for the old 8-bit 6502 computers (like the Commodore 64) but people really have to learn assembly language to do that with much success (and ability to turn out games that have any appeal). But in commercial software for business purposes, high level compiled languages like C were a significant economic leverage. So in the latter half of the 80s, a new computer unable to facilitate this high level language economic leverage were at a great disadvantage - who would want to bother targeting such a computer if it meant having to return to writing business applications in assembly language? Yeah, nobody wanted to do that. And this is also part of the reason the IIgs failed - its 65816 still failed to add sufficient improvements to support high level languages like C. The call stack could be bigger but it was still pinned down in the special zero 64K block and there were still no special registers and instructions added for manipulating a call stack that makes high level language code generation more efficient (i.e., practical). The 6502 doomed itself because even with the 65816 it failed to sufficiently innovate forward. It was forever stuck in the late 70s, early 80s era of personal computing.

  • @rmcdudmk212
    @rmcdudmk212 9 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Love the look of the IIC. Been looking for a busted one with a decent case so i can gut it and put in modern hardwere like a SBC or sothing like an Intel Nuc. 👍

  • @uwtitanfan
    @uwtitanfan 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I complied your basic program line for line on PDS 7.1 and ran it on my PS/2 30 8086 8mhz. TIme to run was 4.2 seconds.

  • @Energyone
    @Energyone 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    I got one when my parents bought it as a combo with a television sale. Naturally we had to get a 5.25 floppy drive for it as nothing was on the smaller discs really. Also came with an amber monitor which was a bit annoying. Used it a ton until I got an Amiga 500 later on.

  • @LajitasRain
    @LajitasRain 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    The Apple IIC was my first computer. I purchased at a Computer Craft store in Dallas, Texas on Memorial Day 1986 ($1,495 w/color composite monitor & Imagewriter II printer). So exactly 34 years ago.

  • @hippodackl1521
    @hippodackl1521 ปีที่แล้ว

    Great video, really

  • @Mikeywil0003
    @Mikeywil0003 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    That is an interesting machine, but you are right about the cost to performance. In 1988, you could get a bargain model Tandy 1000, like an EX, with a monitor for the same price, and it would run circles around a 2C+.

  • @Trusteft
    @Trusteft 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    This was a cool Sunday morning video to watch. Thank you for sharing.
    I wouldn't swap my then Atari ST for this machine, but I wouldn't be disappointed either if it was all I had at the time. Especially since I was/am mostly a strategy/rpg guy.

    • @ModernClassic
      @ModernClassic  4 ปีที่แล้ว

      I had an Atari ST until a little while ago. Unfortunately mine was one of the very early ones without an internal drive, so no way to use a floppy emulator internally, and the drive I had to go with it had the less common interface that wouldn't work with any floppy emulator without building a special cable. I never got around to doing that, so eventually just sold it. Not before taking the machine apart and cleaning and retrobrighting all the individual parts, though; it was beautiful by the time I sold it.

    • @Trusteft
      @Trusteft 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@ModernClassic Two reasons why I don't buy one (or any other similar age computer), I am worried of its condition, and I am not talking about requiring cleaning or retrobrighting. If I could find someone selling them 100% repaired/refurbished, I would...The second reason is money which right now is too tight. But one day perhaps I will. I am not good with actual proper repairs, I have an iMac (sunflower) which I bought as non working few years ago, but I am too worried I will do more damage than good if I open it.

    • @maxxdahl6062
      @maxxdahl6062 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@Trusteft I bought a breadbin c64 a while back to get back into an old machine I wanted to play, then looked at what it would cost for me to get it going (PSU, floppy drive, etc.) and said to hell with it, bought a c64 mini for general use and will keep the breadbin for collection.

  • @Christopher-N
    @Christopher-N 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    (17:13) "I'm gonna throw up right now ..." not on this flight, mister. :P
    "... some footage of _Flight Simulator_ running on the IBM P70 ..."

  • @mikann1379
    @mikann1379 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    the last new, my favorite apple ii

  • @knyazhefilms2154
    @knyazhefilms2154 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Oh I see those days Control was in a right place. Interesting ...

  • @dave4shmups
    @dave4shmups ปีที่แล้ว

    Great video on the IIc+! Aside from consumers not buying 8-bit computers anymore, I think Apple’s other problem was the lack of a 5.25” built in floppy drive. You can find an episode of The Computer Chronicles where Stuart asks a lady who worked for Apple about that, and, of course, she said that Apple had a lot of software vendors lined up to make software on 3.25” disks for the IIc+. I don’t know how many software titles were released on that format, but it would be interesting to know.

  • @dank1837
    @dank1837 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I believe my Apple to JPlus is rarer. The Japanese version but I love the video!!!

  • @iStormUK
    @iStormUK 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    I longed for this when it launched - I had only a ZX81 at the time, and was soooo tired of crappy keyboards and tape drives. This looked like the perfect replacement - but you know, we weren't rich enough to get new computers, and I ended up with a 2nd hand Acorn Electron instead. Woo Life of Repton gaming! :p

  • @rhodaborrocks1654
    @rhodaborrocks1654 ปีที่แล้ว

    I still have my Apple ][ Europlus, with 9" black and white monitor and single floppy, it taught me so much and was the key to a long career as a software developer, I could never part with it.

  • @timlocke3159
    @timlocke3159 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Your "I'll be right back" music is much louder than your voice. Perhaps lower it some.

    • @ModernClassic
      @ModernClassic  4 ปีที่แล้ว

      It's the same volume. I set all the levels to be equal.

    • @timlocke3159
      @timlocke3159 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@ModernClassic Perhaps the volumes of the source files are different. It sure sounds a lot louder. I have to turn it down.

  • @ilexgarodan
    @ilexgarodan 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Honestly, I'd go for the IIgs, if only because of how unique its architecture was!

  • @chloedevereaux1801
    @chloedevereaux1801 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    is that magnavox monitor a rebadged commodore 1081 or 1084?

    • @telocho
      @telocho 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      No, it’s made by Philips for their MSX line of computers.

  • @andyk939
    @andyk939 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I have one of these in my garage somewhere...

  • @MrGeorgeGary
    @MrGeorgeGary 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Gosh it's 6.6.22. I feel as though I am showing up really late for this party. Where can one purchase the MG ROM 5x. I would dearly love upgrading my IIc Plus with this improvement. Thanks! 😋

  • @freeculture
    @freeculture ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I had a later Apple //c without the awful keyboard. It wasn't a //c+ but a regular //c in Spanish. I know how the other keyboard feels because a friend had it. You tried capturing in sound... When you press the key, about halfway you get extra resistance you have to overcome so it reaches the bottom. Its a bit annoying. Mine didn't had that problem for all the years i used it. I had the Apple color monitor shown in the magazine, it had a button to kill the chroma and you would get crisp B&W when needed. I also had the Imagewritter II. oddly enough, with the platinum color, while my //c, color monitor and even the external 3 1/2" drive were snowwhite. Yes i had the opposite, an external 3 1/2, its probably the same the + has inside. Just like you, i switched to a PC clone around 1990, first XT, then 286, 386, etc. Never touched Macs, dreamed with the GS but was short lived. Would have loved a compact GS, stupid bean counters, no doubt the same people who ordered the GS being intentionally crippled down. Woz was the man. C64 was nice, but try loading a floppy with the 1641 or whatever that was vs the Apple... is literally minutes vs seconds, same game: Skyfox. One thing i remember slowing down into a crawl after a while was the Prodos tools, always wondered if it was a bug, or a ram/cpu issue. I also had a gui newsletter publishing software that may benefit from the acceleration (yeah i had a mouse, almost nothing used it). Also spent countless hours with that flightsim...

  • @KapiteinKrentebol
    @KapiteinKrentebol 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    2:00 InCider......brilliant! 😂

  • @pmheart6
    @pmheart6 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    My Mac plus had the security slot. And looking of Google the 512 did too

  • @InnoVintage
    @InnoVintage 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Did your IIc de yellow?

  • @brianh2771
    @brianh2771 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    You’re not alone. My IIc Plus came with the exact same problem. I had a spare motherboard, which simplified the troubleshooting. Then got a new ROM so I’d have two working motherboards. I also overclocked to 8 MHz.

    • @gregorymalchuk272
      @gregorymalchuk272 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      How do you overclock an apple iic plus?

    • @brianh2771
      @brianh2771 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@gregorymalchuk272 It's simple. Just swap out the crystal oscillator with a faster one. I added a socket too. My machine works reliably with a 40 MHz crystal, which gives 8 MHz CPU speed.

    • @MRB16th
      @MRB16th 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@brianh2771 Your IIc Plus sounds cool. Huge speed boost by the way.

  • @backman60205
    @backman60205 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Do you remember the logos computer writing program?

  • @LonSeidman
    @LonSeidman 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Bank Street Writer! My word processor of choice.

  • @AureliusR
    @AureliusR 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Hey, some sound advice (get it?): You should run the audio on your videos through a compressor, with a fairly high knee but high ratio. The music comes in waaay too loud.

    • @ModernClassic
      @ModernClassic  4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Yup, it went through a compressor. I do it every time.

  • @MagesGuild
    @MagesGuild ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I still use my //c Plus. For games it works best for turn based stuff such as Peek A Boo Poker; so yes contemporary arcade ports are as broken as a ZIP/Transwarp II or //e or //gs. it rocked AppleWorks and was grad for dev/compiling. MouseDesk was a dream on it.

    • @freeculture
      @freeculture ปีที่แล้ว

      So i imagine wargames from SSI would benefit a lot.

    • @derklempner
      @derklempner 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Best games I played on my ][c+ were Ultima IV and Ultima V!

  • @RobertBullock
    @RobertBullock 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    I own a IIgs for nostalgia but never had one back in the day. I was using a 520ST by then and I had a dealer license so I got it at wholesale. Wildly better and cheaper and faster.

    • @Apple2gs
      @Apple2gs 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I'm the reverse. Had a IIGS back in the day, but only in recent times picked up a 520ST and two 1040ST out of my fondness for vintage computers. I have to say the IIGS was overall better--vastly superior graphics, sound, operating system and GUI, and best of all, expandability with 8 internal card slots! CPU speed was about on par when comparing the 65xx vs 68xxx, but the ST had the upper hand when it came to price and support! The IIGS cost a small fortune, yet Apple, and in turn most companies, ignored it for software support. I used to drool over all the arcade games I saw in magazine for the Amiga and Atari ST got, while IIGS got left out.

  • @almerian
    @almerian 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Perhaps try the green switch on the monitor for better 80 column text? Although it might be a 40 column monitor with not enough resolution. I have several 80 column Philips versions of this monitor with RGB. They have a very sharp picture on 80 column text.

    • @telocho
      @telocho 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Philips made two models, with different crt’s. One with normal dot pitch, like a color tv, and one with much finer dot pitch, usually with an NMS logo on the door. I do see them much more in antracite than in white casing.

  • @thedopplereffect00
    @thedopplereffect00 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Did the sound really take more CPU at 4Mhz? Wouldn't it be likely the CPU was waiting for the sound to play or for some interrupt to complete? Really fascinating behavior though.

  • @flounder31
    @flounder31 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    I would have answered your initial question with - the Bell + Howell "Vader" IIe. Never even heard of the IIc+ - nice video!

    • @flounder31
      @flounder31 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Also - RIP Meigs Field, Chicago

    • @gallgreg
      @gallgreg 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      The B&H black Apple is actually a II Plus rather than a IIe...

    • @A2Central
      @A2Central 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@gallgreg there are beige Bell and Howell //e units, complete with a beige version of the backpack. It's still badged as an Apple product though, so @Chris McDaniel it's not really a seperate model.

  • @winstonsmith478
    @winstonsmith478 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    I would have removed the ROM, cleaned the pins if oxidized, put some contact cleaner on the socket, then reseated the original ROM before buying a new ROM. Or did the original troubleshooter do that or did they just get the bad ROM idea from the self-test?

    • @ModernClassic
      @ModernClassic  4 ปีที่แล้ว

      The original owner did that, and I did it too a year ago. We both cleaned and re-seated all the socketed chips. I probably should have mentioned that but it just didn't occur to me. I wanted a new ROM regardless, since I'd read extensively about the original ROM and the various ways people had tried to force it to stay in non-accelerated mode. These ROM chips are $10, so it was a no-brainer.

  • @Kaiju3301
    @Kaiju3301 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Lol computer science in grade school? We weren’t slowed to use computers in high school because the principal thought we would become hackers… I graduated in 2008.

  • @cathrynm
    @cathrynm 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Oops, yeah. All the 3.5" disk software was for 2GS.

  • @FrancisFjordCupola
    @FrancisFjordCupola 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    1988 was also a single year after Acorn introduced the 32-bit Archimedes range featuring 8Mhz ARM2 chips. The ARM1 chip was used on prototype/development boards... a computer that would roughly be 10x as fast as a 4Mhz 6502 CPU.

  • @juliomaldonado7979
    @juliomaldonado7979 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    hey dude I reed youre coment on Briana's video and glad you enjoy her work, thank you for youre suport , she appreciated it ;)