what can a Performa 6200 be used for?

T

TheMacOS.com

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does this machine have any use/life left in it???

what can be done with it? its got OS 8.6.... and its a speed demon. 75mhz I think???

lol.
 
TheMacOS.com said:
does this machine have any use/life left in it???

what can be done with it? its got OS 8.6.... and its a speed demon. 75mhz I think???

lol.
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They make very excellent door stops. Another good use is as a boat anchor, depending on the size of your boat.

Brian
 
Giaguara said:
what's wrong with using it for arcade, old skool games? :)
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Ok, I know I'm coming off as really negative here, but this computer model is a serious tragedy when it comes to performance.

The main problem is it's CPU. It's a 75mhz 603, which was the budget CPU of that time. It's actually the slowest existing Mac to date with a PowerPC processor, seriously, it's much slower than the 60mhz 601.

68k emulation is about as fast as a 68030. Back in the days my friend and I were quite surprised to see my LC 475 (a 68LC040) run circles around his Performa 6200 everytime we tried the older games. Sim City 2000 was a prime example as it took several seconds longer for him to create a random map that just zipped by on my pizza-box. Not to mention how some older games won't play sound under emulation.

It's not a totally lost cause though. If it's games you want then I suggest you keep to the first generation of PPC-optimized games like Marathon. Crystal Caliburn, Looney Labyrinth and Command & Conquer comes to mind as do Warcraft 2.

With Arcade, you mean as in MAME, right? It's possible of course, but you are limited to the really old pre-1990 games. Anything more recent from Capcom isn't even playable on a 7500 with a 604 CPU upgrade, which was my mainstay model during high-school. Truth to be told, there already are good (though not arcade-perfect) ports of games like Pac-Man, Defender and Space Invaders for the Mac.

One good thing about the 6200 is the AV model that came with a TV-tuner. You could use it to watch TV while working at the same time! However, the stock VRAM probably needs an upgrade from it's original 512kb (if possible, I don't know). Default it can only show 256 colours in 800*600. If you go down to 640*480 it manages 16-bit colour which is fine for the TV-tuner.

Another is the infra-red port at the front, so techincally it can be used with a remote: even more TV-goodness!

What more, well it has a CD-ROM that's properly connected to the speakers (unlike some other old PPC Macs) so it's possible to use it as a stereo without hassle. It's also small enough to be used as a simple desktop word processor.

I'd like to suggest that noone uses MacOS 9 with the Performa, it's a way too slow for that. You're going to feel like you were running OS X 10.0.0 again... 8.6 is the limit IMHO, but 8.1 would probably be a better choice, performance-wise.

It's got a pretty shell, but there's not THAT much going on under it I'm afraid.
 
Since the max RAM you can install is 64 MB, I suggest upgrading it to OS 8 (or 8.1) That will give you the best performance.
It is still good for word processing, and those older version games. I have one that is running smoothly.

Now if you do decide to get rid of it, I highly suggest you donate it to a school. I'll take it if you can't find some one to give it to. Or go to www.mactreasures.com and see if there is a school in your area that is receiving donations. You get a tax write off if you donate. :)
 
I've got one running 8.6 smoothly (with 64 MB RAM). I was using it as a print server, but I switched it out for a 7300 w/G3 250 upgrade and 96 MB RAM. It's my classic OS machine (for testing and occasional connection to ancient PB) and external floppy drive, too ;)
 
Well, I won't mind trying to learn some more pre-OS 9 system etc and play games with it so I could volunteer to be a home for it too :), or well, thinking better - one of my friends (he lives around Chicago) has 4 kids (1,5-12 y old), he has an iMac, and his kids have only one computer now (an old powermac running 9.2, they can't access his work-iMac), they sure would have use for a second one.
 
Giaguara said:
Well, I won't mind trying to learn some more pre-OS 9 system etc and play games with it so I could volunteer to be a home for it too :), or well, thinking better - one of my friends (he lives around Chicago) has 4 kids (1,5-12 y old), he has an iMac, and his kids have only one computer now (an old powermac running 9.2, they can't access his work-iMac), they sure would have use for a second one.
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Here's the place for old Mac games: http://mac.the-underdogs.org/

I'm sure the kids would enjoy having a second computer to play with - less fighting, perhaps? :D
 
Cheryl... it already has 8.6. 8.1 would be a downgrade.

Old-school games are a good (well, in one sense ;)) use of the machine. You could also use it as a file or web server, though it might be tough finding good software for those purposes or getting it to run well.

You could also turn it into something else, like a bird house, an aquarium, or a punching bag. :)
 
Arden said:
Cheryl... it already has 8.6. 8.1 would be a downgrade.

You could also turn it into something else, like a bird house, an aquarium, or a punching bag. :)
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Oops.... Sorry...

But I think the machine could have a better use than a bird house. The old 12" RGB monitors can become an aquarium. :)
 
If you are anywhere close to chicago (or not too $$ to mail to there), themacos, consider making 4 kids happy .. they can use only ONE computer to do their homework and everything else. Their dad is a geek, and i'm sure they must have big fights on who can use THEir computer now. :)
 
Keep it for your kids, when they'll need a cheap way to hand in their essays in Word format in high school.
 
michaelsanford said:
www.yellowdoglinux.com

I believe the index page even mentions your model...if you have use for an in-house mail server or web server...
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What computers will simply NOT work with Yellow Dog Linux?
**- Any Performa 52xx, 53xx, 61xx, 62xx, and 63xx.

The same goes for NetBSD.
 
I would (and do on my old old perofrma) use it to emulate a roland 303 synth. Rebirth 1.5 will run on that old thing just fine with OS8.6. With an old serial midiman , I now have 2 roland 303's and an 808 in my midi network. Gotta love it.

In my opinion, if it still works, there are always good valid uses for old mac's.
 
Well, as a former owner of a 75 MHz Power Mac Performa 6220CD, I can say that for sequencing music with Master Tracks Pro 6, it was wonderful. For using the Internet and BBSs back in 1996, it was pretty good. Nowadays, it's really only good for the former. It is and always will be too crippled for good Internet use. My 33 MHz Quadra 650 with 112 MB RAM is way more usable on the Internet, and I enjoy using it for Internet and light gaming while my 2-yr. old son is playing his games on his PC. I also recently acquired a Performa 631 CD with an upgraded motherboard, making it a Power Mac 6300 100 MHz. I tried using it for my son, but his games ran rather sluggish compared to what he has now (PII-400, 160 MB RAM). Even my old 5x86 PR133 ran the same games faster! Now that's a shame.

As for Linux support with these machines, it's a yes/no situation. Yes, they are finally supported, albeit in a limited fashion , but no , it's not by default on many of the distros out there. You have to work to get it to run Linux. Not worth the time unless you have time to kill. :D

If you have this model or something similar, give it to someone who doesn't have a computer. Make sure it either has a modem or a NIC. It makes a great first computer for typing papers and some light e-mail and browsing. Does music apps decently (sequencing). Beyond that, I wouldn't bother. :rolleyes:
 
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