Help Me Identify a Macintosh Computer
February 24, 2014 4:43 AM Subscribe
I am looking for help identifying a Macintosh computer I used in the late 90s (details inside...no pictures).
Greetings all.
After my most recent MacBook Air purchase, it got me thinking of the first Macintosh computer that I used. Simply for curiosity sake, I would like to know. Here are the details:
- I took my first job out of university in May 1998.
- The company I worked for was Mac-based so we all had Macintosh desktops.
- Based on knowing the company that I worked for, there is a good chance that the computers were not purchased that year - we could have been using desktops that were 2 or 3 years old (or older).
- They were not like these.
- It was more like this - as in my computer had a separate monitor that sat on the hard drive (that was horizontal) and had a one button mouse with a cord.
Anyone have any idea what Macintosh desktops were kicking around from 1996-1998ish (again, it could be even earlier) that would meet these requirements?
I am just curious as to what Mac I was using back then and what the Specs were (operating system, memory, etc). Hope someone can help.
Thanks again.
Greetings all.
After my most recent MacBook Air purchase, it got me thinking of the first Macintosh computer that I used. Simply for curiosity sake, I would like to know. Here are the details:
- I took my first job out of university in May 1998.
- The company I worked for was Mac-based so we all had Macintosh desktops.
- Based on knowing the company that I worked for, there is a good chance that the computers were not purchased that year - we could have been using desktops that were 2 or 3 years old (or older).
- They were not like these.
- It was more like this - as in my computer had a separate monitor that sat on the hard drive (that was horizontal) and had a one button mouse with a cord.
Anyone have any idea what Macintosh desktops were kicking around from 1996-1998ish (again, it could be even earlier) that would meet these requirements?
I am just curious as to what Mac I was using back then and what the Specs were (operating system, memory, etc). Hope someone can help.
Thanks again.
Have you tried digging through Low End Mac?
My suspicion is that it's towards the bottom (LC or later) of this page, though that skews a little earlier than your time frame. If that fails, try the pre-G3 models, but they seem to be mostly towers or monitor-and-computer-in-one (I don't remember enough of those models to know if there were exceptions).
posted by hoyland at 4:57 AM on February 24, 2014
My suspicion is that it's towards the bottom (LC or later) of this page, though that skews a little earlier than your time frame. If that fails, try the pre-G3 models, but they seem to be mostly towers or monitor-and-computer-in-one (I don't remember enough of those models to know if there were exceptions).
posted by hoyland at 4:57 AM on February 24, 2014
Best answer: Here's a photo timeline.
Could be a performa, LC, Quadra, Centris.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 4:57 AM on February 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Could be a performa, LC, Quadra, Centris.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 4:57 AM on February 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: I think it might have been a Quadras or a Performa!
Thanks all!
posted by dbirchum at 6:16 AM on February 24, 2014
Thanks all!
posted by dbirchum at 6:16 AM on February 24, 2014
This is a good visual guide to Macs. It could really have been anything from a Quadra to a 1st-generation G3 desktop (I had one of those)
posted by furiousthought at 9:33 AM on February 24, 2014
posted by furiousthought at 9:33 AM on February 24, 2014
What kind of work did you do on that Mac? That could narrow down how old the Mac might've been. I have a hard time believing a company would make its employees work on Quadras or Performas in 1998.
I'm betting it was a PowerMac, probably one of the 6x00 or 7x00 series. See EveryMac for complete details on all the pre-G3 PowerMacs.
It could have also been a PowerMac G3 Desktop if it was newer than you suspect.
There's also the chance it was one of the many Mac clones of that era. I personally had a Umax SuperMac at that time, and my school had a lab full of Motorola StarMax clones.
posted by WasabiFlux at 12:45 PM on February 24, 2014
I'm betting it was a PowerMac, probably one of the 6x00 or 7x00 series. See EveryMac for complete details on all the pre-G3 PowerMacs.
It could have also been a PowerMac G3 Desktop if it was newer than you suspect.
There's also the chance it was one of the many Mac clones of that era. I personally had a Umax SuperMac at that time, and my school had a lab full of Motorola StarMax clones.
posted by WasabiFlux at 12:45 PM on February 24, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
Use this: as a guide
posted by chasles at 4:55 AM on February 24, 2014 [1 favorite]