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Brought to you by Macs Only!
Copyright 1997, 1998 by Bill Fox
Last Updated: February 2, 1998
The Performa Problem & Solutions Page is for those having problems with Performa 52xx, 53xx, 62xx and 63xx models. There is also an extended repair program for them and 5300/190 PowerBooks.
If you have questions on any of Apple's products, try Apple's Support Page, especially Tech Exchange Online and the Technical Information Library.
If you are a new/novice on Macintoshes, see Macs Only!'s Consultation Page.
If you are having unusually frustrating problems and are not a Mac novice, try Ted Landau's excellent MacFixIt archives.
The current players, i.e. with computers available in the U.S.A., are:
- Apple Computer's Macintosh;
- MacTell;
- UMAX's SuperMac.
Present Clone Situation: Unfortunately, PowerComputing and Motorola decided that they would not extend their Mac OS licenses to version 8 under the terms required by Apple, including Apple not certifying clones using PC-740/750 CPUs or Common Hardware Reference Platform (CHRP) standards at this time. PowerComputing's Mac assets, including its existing license, were purchased by Apple as announced on 9/2/97. PowerComputing will sell out its inventory through 12/31/97 but will continue to provide warranty and hardware service while Apple will provide software service support. Motorola just quit a week later and sold out its inventory through 12/31/97, honoring its 5-year warranty and extending its free phone service from 90 days to one year. Genesis went out of business as did APS and POWERtools. UMAX extended its Mac OS license to version 8 so UMAXand Mactell, a sub-licensee from UMAX, are the only two Mac cloners still in business in the US.
Try the Apple Specialist Program. Are you frustrated with poor local Mac support, sales or service? You can call 1-800-538-9696 to find a dealer in your area that has an Apple "certified" specialist on staff. If you try it, please let me know how it works out, giving me the city/state/dealer.
CPU Upgrades: PowerLogix, Sonnet Technologies, Total Impact and NewerTECH produce 604e and G3 (PowerPC 750) CPU upgrade cards for the PCI PowerMacs that are upgradable, i.e. 7500, 8500, 9500, 7300, 7600, 8600 and 9600 and the similar clones. Sonnet produces 604 CPU cards for the Performa 611x and PowerMac6100. In addition, NewerTECH and Sonnet have announced 604e and G3 CPU upgrade cards for the earlier NuBus PowerMacs, i.e. 611x, 6100, 7100 and 8100, that use the processor direct slot (PDS). These cards are supposed to be available during February or March 1998.
MicroMac was working on some useful products. Their PowerBoy would allow PowerMac 6100, 7100 and 8100 upgrades to a PPC 604 or 604e CPU for ~$500 (132 MHz) to $1500 (225 MHz). You may also upgrade your 68040 computer (Centris, Quadra, LC, Performa) to a PowerMac PPC 601 ($400-500) or PPC 604 CPU (no price quoted) with a Mac2PPC card. These products have been delayed several more months according to the web site.(7/5/97) Unfortunately, they may never see daylight even though a web presence is still maintained. (9/21/97)
Accelerate Your Mac tests and reports on speedware for your Mac.
BareFeats has a lot of interesting performance data on various Mac models and graphics cards.(4/28)
NEWS.COM reports that Motorola's Viper, an open standards computer, running at 300MHz will be available later this year, maybe September. It will also include a high speed system bus of up to 100MHz--the current rates are 40-60Mhz.(1/10) This product is dead for now -- I leave the note here to illustrate what's possible for Macs with current technology.
Henry Norr has a super article in MacWEEK on what makes a Mac (or MacClone) run fast. The article covers every aspect of hardware that affects the speed at which a Mac runs--it's not just the CPU that matters.
CNET has a new comparison of 33.6Kpbs modems. The winner? U.S. Robotics Courier V.Everything/V.34.
Visit Apple's Mac OS Software and Hardware Guide.
In case you didn't know it, Apple has web sites dedicated to its principal markets: education, small business, enterprise, science, engineering and design and PowerBooks.
Check out MacUser's Mac Ratings chart.
RAM, how low can it go? RAM is relatively cheap these days--check out RAMWatch. I recommend loading up since operating systems and applications are becoming more RAM-hungry all the time. From personal experience, I highly recommend The Chip Merchant in San Diego, CA (1-800-426-6375) for RAM--please mention that you saw the recommendation on Macs Only!. The Apple Memory Guide will help you install the RAM.
Copyright © 1997, 1998 by Bill
Fox
All rights reserved--no commercial use permitted without my expressed permission.
Of course . . . 
. . . and I am proud to be an Evangelista! . . . 
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