Favorite computer in your collection?

[sigamy]

Well, I just realized that I don't need (read, can't afford) to upgrade my current iMac G4 17" to a new iMac G5 so my current iMac is my favorite Mac. It is a beautiful and functional machine and my plan is to never sell it off.

My favorite machine overall is my NeXTstation Color. The slab. The pizza box.

I don't remember the date but I'll never forget the day I got it. It was some time in 1996 or 1997. I found an ad over on Usenet where a guy less than an hour from me had a few NeXTstations. I drove over with my girlfriend of just 3 months. She thought I was crazy to buy some computer that was 10 years old. But she could see how happy I was. I got the NeXTstation, soundbox, mouse, keyboard and heavy as hell 21" color monitor for $300. I later added a NeXT Laser printer.

I kept the NeXTstation and the girl. We were married in 1999. We now have 2 kids, 3 Macs and one NeXT. And I've even converted my wife a bit--I showed her the Flower Power iMac and she just has to have one for our toddler daughter.

 

[RacerX]

It was some time in 1996 or 1997... She thought I was crazy to buy some computer that was 10 years old.

NeXT started shipping Color NeXTstations about half way through 1991... so the system was only 5 or 6 years old at the time.

Still a really cool system though... and that price was unbelievable for 96/97!

 

[wrldwzrd89]

My favorite old Mac is my PowerMac 7200/75 - the original Ethernet card died and the machine spends the vast majority of its time turned off, but it still works!

 

[mduser63]

It's hard to say, but I like my Timex Sinclair quite a bit. My Commodore 64 is another one that I really like. My favorite Mac would have to be my 12" Powerbook, but if we're talking about old computers, then it would be my Macintosh II running System 6.0.5.

 

[Xtremehkr]

My iMac G5 20". There is nothing like the new iMacs available anywhere else. I have a feeling that the design will become an industry standard. The only shortfall is the lack of upgradeable components. If certain features could be upgraded it would be darn near perfect.

 

[Spock]

Im not sure what Mac I like the best out of my collection I like all of the ones I have, thats why I paid for them!! I do like dusting off the old Mac Classic and Stylewriter II for some work every now and then and the ol Newton 120 is still fun.

 

[Azurael]

I quite like my Amiga 500... And the 1200... But I like the PowerBook 1400/G3 upgraded too, even if it doesn't run OS X. I'm not sure, my PCs are all in pretty modded cases too.

 

[rdas7]

all your wallstreet are belong to us

Ha ha, I've gotta say: awesome thread! Great idea!

My favorite machine has got to be my WallStreet G3. I was at university in California when they came out, and picked up a 233 and 266 for myself and my sister. My 266 went through the war with me: through university, a year down to Australia, and all the way back to London where I currently live. This thing must have been on and RUNNING for something like 3 years non-stop. Mail, music, work, you name it 24/7! I even did a multitrack music studio recording on it! When it came out, there was nothing like it, design-wise. Just so elegant... so BLACK!

This little puppy has never failed me and when my iBook G3 recently got sent back to Apple for repair under their logic board replacement program, I pulled out the WallStreet for one last tour of duty. It's currently my only machine, the machine I work on at home (can you call it work?) with the following WHOPPING spec:

266MHz, 96MB RAM, 2GB hard drive

I've swapped out the parts back and forth between what used to be my sister's machine, and this machine so many times, that I've lost track of which piece belongs to which, but since "one" of them had a power sub-board failure and screen hinges died, I cannablized it to keep at least one fully functioning WallStreet.

My respect to all the designers and developers involved on that project. For all their succeess with iPod, this is what Apple's heritage is about.

 

[Azurael]

Wallstreets are a classic too... I have a 14.1" model with a Sonnet 500MHz G4 in it... Didn't do much for the graphics performance though

 

[Eniregnat]

I pick a favorite of my children. I was heartbroken when my tangerinE iBook died. I love my eMate300, though I don't use it anymore. It's formfactor is the best of any portable computer I ever used. I love my 12" PB which is a great machine, but I wouldn't take it hikeing. For places of danger I take my QuickPad Pro.

I suppose if I could squeeze my PB into my old iBook case I would, perhaps a project for another day.

 

[HardcoreBanjo]

PowerMac

My PowerPC 9600, but of course. It almost seems as if there are no limits to upgrading that thing. 12 RAM slots, pc card slots, SCSI; can't go wrong. It's a great computer. Right now I have 2 hard drives in it and 350+ megs of RAM(that take up all 12 slots ).

 

[cubist]

Well ya know, I really loved my Cube... and I have a G5 and an iBook G4 now... but I also have this Sawtooth which has been kicking around here for years, and you know what? It's had several different hard drives and several different opticals, and it's never had any problem at all. It's easy to open and work on. It's had to play second fiddle to every shiney new computer that came the house, but it never complains. It runs Tiger now, slow of course. So is it my favorite?

Well... like duh, the G5 is more than four times as fast, OK? I mean, how much would you drive a 356B when a Turbo Targa's in the driveway, eh? It's only hardware...

 

[5300cs]

My PowerPC 9600, but of course. ... Right now I have 2 hard drives in it and 350+ megs of RAM(that take up all 12 slots ).

You win

 

[0098386]

i gave away my fave machine to my girlfriend. had a brilliant IBM R91 (i think it was). 14" of love. but now my Powerbook is my best friend. although im spending a lot of time on my other old laptop (gave to parents) at the moment because im working on a game

 

[peterparker]

iMac G4 17"

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Hmm...it seems a fair number of us have 17" iMac G4s. Not all of us consider that iMac our favorite, though. This sounds like a perfect opportunity for Doctor Q to use those statistical analysis skills.

 

[Apple]

I love my blue imac G3. Its awesome because I sometimes have to use it for word processing and it is only running 10.0

 

[Pierre Films]

My Powerbook 2400c (used to belong to Patmian212) is my favorite mac. It goes everywhere with me and does all of my multimedia stuff perfectly. With 80mb of ram and a 20gb hard drive running Mac OS 9.1, I use Photoshop 5, Illustrator 9, Flash 5, QuickTimeVR Studio, Bryce 4, Office 2001, and tons of other apps to do my daily work. I have a soft spot for my old SE/30, which i sold recently, but my Powerbook 2400c is my favorite.

Pierre Films

 

[5300cs]

My Powerbook 2400c (used to belong to Patmian212) is my favorite mac. It goes everywhere with me and does all of my multimedia stuff perfectly. With 80mb of ram and a 20gb hard drive running Mac OS 9.1, I use Photoshop 5, Illustrator 9, Flash 5, QuickTimeVR Studio, Bryce 4, Office 2001, and tons of other apps to do my daily work. I have a soft spot for my old SE/30, which i sold recently, but my Powerbook 2400c is my favorite.

I like hearing stories about how people keep using "obsolete" (in some people's opinions) machines.

I would like to use my 2400 as a main machine, but the battery is pretty much toast, the screen flickers sometimes, I need to change the HD (taking the 2400 apart is not fun) and I cannot use USB with it (not CardBus compliant)

 

[LimeiBook86]

My favorite Apple collectibles:

Apple PowerCD - Never got the working base part but, it was so cool before my iPod

Lime iBook FW/SE/DVD/466mhz - My first GOOD laptop, I love that thing!

PowerBook G4 12" 867z/RevA - It let's me do what I need to do and is pretty quick about it too!

 

[5300cs]

... Lime iBook ... PowerBook G4 12" 867z/RevA

I didn't used to think much about the original iBooks until getting one. I love my Tangerine one. The keyboard on it is outstanding.

I have that same 12" PB and the fan is on constantly. It's also heats up a lot, but it is a mobile powerhouse

I suppose I could narrow down my favorites to:

Tangerine iBook
Pismo
TiBook
17" PB
12" PB
G3 iBook (cursed logic board model)

 

[LimeiBook86]

I didn't used to think much about the original iBooks until getting one. I love my Tangerine one. The keyboard on it is outstanding.

I have that same 12" PB and the fan is on constantly. It's also heats up a lot, but it is a mobile powerhouse

I suppose I could narrow down my favorites to:

Tangerine iBook
Pismo
TiBook
17" PB
12" PB
G3 iBook (cursed logic board model)

My poor little Lime iBook's AC socket is broken ... seems like I'll have to order a replacement since soldering it only was a short-term solution. Sure after going through countless AC adapters the socket is busted...btw not to get too off topic but there is a court case going on about the G3 iBook/PowerBook Yo-Yo AC Adapters...I think you can get some cash back for them if the case goes through.

 

[5300cs]

My poor little Lime iBook's AC socket is broken ...

Always sucks when a favorite machine become unusable. "You never know what you have until it's gone."

...btw not to get too off topic but there is a court case going on about the G3 iBook/PowerBook Yo-Yo AC Adapters...I think you can get some cash back for them if the case goes through.

OFF TOPIC: Does that include the original white iBook (500Mhz) too? I went through 2 AC adapters, and the little pin in the middle ended up breaking off into the socket! Even if I had gotten another AC adapter, it wouldn't have worked anymore That was my first Mac and my favorite /OFF TOPIC

 

[840quadra]

I like hearing stories about how people keep using "obsolete" (in some people's opinions) machines.

Same here.. I still like to use my 68k Quadra quite often. It is powered on 90% more often then my newer 6500/275 Powermac. I intend on using the 275 more often after I get a G3 Upgrade card for it. The Cable TV and Video card in the 275 is quite fun though.

 

[pubwvj]

#1 Exidy Sorcerer. Not a Mac - predated it by a bit.

#2 PDP-11/70 - yup, got one when my university was cleaning the closet!

#3 Mac128K upgraded to 512K upgraded to MacPlus hand upgraded the RAM added a Radius accellerator, internal fan, internal harddrive (whopping 5MB!!!!) replaced the power board capacitors (toasty!) replaced the tube replaced the floppy drive but its still got the original case with the signatures!