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An amazing find. . .
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TimmyDee51
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Nov 29, 2007, 03:29 AM
 
I was working in a workshop/warehouse type space the other day when I noticed a Twentieth Anniversary Mac sitting on a bench while poking around during a break. Collecting dust no less! Lots of it! Excited, I talked to the guy in charge, explaining how this treasure was essentially sitting there going to waste (I think I used the analogy "like a copy of the Constitution rotting in your basement" -- a bit overkill, but it got my point across). I asked him who owned it, with the intention of offering them some money to take it off their hands. He says, "Honestly, I don't know whose it is. It's been there since we've taken over the space. It's yours if you want it."

Needless to say, I was more than a little eager to pick it up. I got it home and started to clean it up, blow the dust out, etc. There's a few scratches on the subwoofer and a few blemishes here and there, but nothing major. I was thinking about taking these two stickers that were on it off -- one on the subwoofer and one on the main unit. Before I did, though, I decided to see if the writing on them stood for anything.

Boy, am I glad I did. The first word, "Spartacus", I knew was the code name. Maybe someone else did, too, and just named the computer that (and put a stupid address label on the front to remember or something). The next two, however, I didn't. "EVT - Final".

Yep, this is not just a regular TAM, it's one of final engineering prototypes. Unreal!

It fires up just fine and even has the original System software on it, 7.6.1. It has the speaker buzz a bit, but if you work the power cable insulation back into the plug, it goes away. It's missing a remote, and the keyboard is an engineering prototype, too, so no leather palm rests. The touchpad is a bit wonky, too, at times. All in all, though, I think I made out OK on this deal.
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analogue SPRINKLES
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Nov 29, 2007, 03:40 AM
 
Wow, awesome.
     
moonmonkey
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Nov 29, 2007, 03:41 AM
 
photos please
     
TimmyDee51  (op)
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Nov 29, 2007, 03:44 AM
 
I'll post some when I get the chance tomorrow -- gotta head to bed right now.
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Brien
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Nov 29, 2007, 04:05 AM
 
Wow. That's awesome.
     
Sealobo
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Nov 29, 2007, 04:09 AM
 
nice... have you come across any porn stored in the machine? i guess not, perfection does not exist.
     
torsoboy
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Nov 29, 2007, 04:10 AM
 
So what are you going to do with it? Wont it just collect dust in your room as well? I've never been much of a collector, so I don't really relate to why people would want something like this.
     
MacosNerd
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Nov 29, 2007, 08:47 AM
 
Hey congrats on your find.
     
Chongo
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Nov 29, 2007, 09:22 AM
 
Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Introduced March 20, 1997
Discontinued March 14, 1998
MSRP US $7,499 (!!!!!)
CPU Power PC 603e
CPU speed 250 MHz
L2 Cache 256 KB, max 1 MiB
Bus 50 MHz
RAM 2 slots
32 MB, max 128 MB
Memory Spec 168-pin, 5 V,
60+ ns EDO or FPM DIMMs
VRAM 2 MB
Video 12.1" Active Matrix
800×600 @ 8- or 16-bits
ATI 3D RAGE 2 chip set
Ports 1 ADB
1 Comm Slot 2
2 DIN-8 GeoPorts
DB-25 SCSI
Optical Drive 4× CD-ROM
Hard Drive 2 GB IDE
Initial OS System 7.6.1
Final OS Mac OS 9.1
Weight 6.8 kg (14.9 lb)
Dimensions Metric - 438 × 419 × 254 mm
English - 17.25 × 16.5 × 10 in
45/47
     
Kevin
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Nov 29, 2007, 09:37 AM
 
Yeah it's pretty much a toy now. But back then it was really something.
     
starman
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Nov 29, 2007, 09:43 AM
 
What could you even DO with it now? Much like the Newton, the requirements of the world around it make the device pretty much useless.

800x600 @16-bit?

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Laminar
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Nov 29, 2007, 09:45 AM
 
For what it's worth, that MSRP included a guy in a limo coming to your house and setting it up for you. They actually sold for a lot less.
     
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Nov 29, 2007, 10:01 AM
 
Ebay it? There's got to be a collector out there.
     
shifuimam
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Nov 29, 2007, 10:25 AM
 
Originally Posted by starman View Post
What could you even DO with it now? Much like the Newton, the requirements of the world around it make the device pretty much useless.

800x600 @16-bit?
The requirements of the world really would suffice on any computer that runs a graphical operating system. You don't NEED streaming media or high-end video games or such on your computer. Many home users don't do much more than email, word processing, and the occasional Solitaire game - you could do all that on a 20th Anniversary Mac.

And why not upgrade the LCD? It's been done before on other Macs, so you never know...
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starman
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Nov 29, 2007, 10:28 AM
 
Originally Posted by shifuimam View Post
The requirements of the world really would suffice on any computer that runs a graphical operating system. You don't NEED streaming media or high-end video games or such on your computer. Many home users don't do much more than email, word processing, and the occasional Solitaire game - you could do all that on a 20th Anniversary Mac.

And why not upgrade the LCD? It's been done before on other Macs, so you never know...
The web sites my kids go to require 1024x768 (webkinz, etc.). It would be impossible to handle today's web sites on a machine like that, not to mention the inability to run Flash properly.

As for the screen, who would do something as silly as that?

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design219
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Nov 29, 2007, 10:29 AM
 
Oh man, don't modify anything. It's value is that it is original.
__________________________________________________

My stupid iPhone game: Nesen Probe, it's rather old, annoying and pointless, but it's free.
Was free. Now it's gone. Never to be seen again.
Off to join its brother and sister apps that could not
keep up with the ever updating iOS. RIP Nesen Probe.
     
andi*pandi
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Nov 29, 2007, 10:59 AM
 
nifty!
     
cjrivera
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Nov 29, 2007, 12:00 PM
 
I think there was a 400(?) G3 upgrade for it at one time made by Sonnet.
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TimmyDee51  (op)
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Nov 29, 2007, 12:43 PM
 
There was a 400 MHz G3 upgrade by Sonnet out there, and ironically enough, I have one. It was laying around at my old job and was going to be thrown out. Thinking I would sell it on Craigslist, I nabbed it but never got around to it. Unfortunately, I don't have all the parts to make it work since the TAM is a prototype (never came with the extra cover to use the expansion slot, etc.). Oh, well.

As for plans, I'm going to hang on to it for now. I've got some old Classic software that I want to run that won't run on my Mac Pro. Sheep Shaver is another solution, but I haven't gotten sound working well. As you all know, the TAM has great sound on the other hand.

Here's another wrinkle -- I think this one was originally in Europe. Under one of the speaker panels it says "Euro-2", and the TV app was set to Ireland instead of USA for the region.

Pics to come.
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starman
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Nov 29, 2007, 12:46 PM
 
Dude, put After Dark and Marathon on that puppy.

And maybe Shufflepuck Cafe (if it'll work).

Ha! And maybe MacAmp

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Dakarʒ
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Nov 29, 2007, 12:48 PM
 
After Dark: Star Trek Edition kicks ass.
     
starman
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Nov 29, 2007, 12:52 PM
 
Originally Posted by Dakarʒ View Post
After Dark: Star Trek Edition kicks ass.
I had that. I still might somewhere.

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Gankdawg
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Nov 29, 2007, 12:57 PM
 
RAM and Speed Doubler.
     
TimmyDee51  (op)
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Nov 29, 2007, 01:04 PM
 
Oh, man. MacAMP! I actually bought a license of that. What a mistake. One release and it was dead in the water. At least I could install it and be legal!
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moonmonkey
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Nov 29, 2007, 01:12 PM
 
Everyone from my neighborhood would gather round for shufflepuck, beating the flat headed monster got you a lot of respect in those days.

These young ones don't know they were born.
     
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Nov 29, 2007, 01:46 PM
 
See how much a museum wants for it, you maybe sitting on a gold mine.
Signature depreciated.
     
Laminar
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Nov 29, 2007, 01:53 PM
 
Originally Posted by moonmonkey View Post
Everyone from my neighborhood would gather round for shufflepuck, beating the flat headed monster got you a lot of respect in those days.

These young ones don't know they were born.
At school, one of the teachers had an LC520 that he let us play with...we played Shufflepuck, Mars Rising, Tetris, and I can't even remember what else. Until one kid that got pissed off grabbed a pair of scissors and cut up the wires inside when we weren't around.
     
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Nov 29, 2007, 01:59 PM
 
Originally Posted by Laminar View Post
Until one kid that got pissed off grabbed a pair of scissors and cut up the wires inside when we weren't around.
I hope he got in trouble for destruction of property.

Even if it was an old computer it wasn't his to destroy.
     
Dakarʒ
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Nov 29, 2007, 02:01 PM
 
Originally Posted by Person Man View Post
I hope he got in trouble for destruction of property.

Even if it was an old computer it wasn't his to destroy.
Ok, mom.

I couldn't resist.
     
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Nov 29, 2007, 02:06 PM
 
Originally Posted by C.A.T.S. CEO View Post
See how much a museum wants for it, you maybe sitting on a gold mine.
Most museums are non-profit especially the computer one and that means cash is tight.

Add in the fact that most computer museums probably already have means that there's little demand.

Look on ebay and there you'll see the potential feeding frenzy.

I saw what was purported to be a sealed/boxed mac512k. I have no idea if that was true but the price for that "pristine/boxed" mac512k was (if memory serves me) more then what you'd pay for a macpro. The same can be said for some auctions for Apple's Macintosh predecessor - Lisa.

If you want to cash in on something a museum is not the place to go. A private collector who lives and breaths the stuff. He's willing to pay top dollar especially if he's competing for it in an auction.
     
PacHead
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Nov 29, 2007, 02:26 PM
 
There's probably not much practical use for a toy like that today, try to sell it on ebay to a crazy mac collector or something, if you can get a decent price.

     
KeriVit
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Nov 29, 2007, 05:33 PM
 
I would just keep it cuz it's cool and neato.
     
imitchellg5
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Nov 29, 2007, 05:56 PM
 
I agree with KeriVit. I wish I had the OP's luck
     
TimmyDee51  (op)
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Nov 29, 2007, 06:29 PM
 
I'm leaning towards KeriVit and imitchellg5's position.

Man this thing is cool.
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0157988944
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Nov 29, 2007, 08:17 PM
 
I just played shufflepuck thanks to this thread. It remains fun to this day, especially when played on a B&W 500mumble pixel screen
     
- - e r i k - -
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Nov 29, 2007, 08:55 PM
 
Originally Posted by TimmyDee51 View Post
Here's another wrinkle -- I think this one was originally in Europe. Under one of the speaker panels it says "Euro-2", and the TV app was set to Ireland instead of USA for the region.
Makes sense considering Apple's factory is in Cork, Ireland.

Awesome find! Very jealous! I've only seen one in person once (when they were new).

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TimmyDee51  (op)
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Nov 30, 2007, 03:07 AM
 
Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - View Post
Makes sense considering Apple's factory is in Cork, Ireland.

Awesome find! Very jealous! I've only seen one in person once (when they were new).
Those were my thoughts, too. How it got to the States, though, is beyond me.

As an update to the photos, I didn't get a chance to take them today. I don't have it set up permanently (have to find room amongst my other computers), so it's just hiding out safely in my closet for now. I should be able to get some tomorrow evening, though, at which point I'll post them.
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TimmyDee51  (op)
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Dec 3, 2007, 03:59 AM
 
Sorry for the delay. Here's the photo!

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brassplayersrock²
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Dec 3, 2007, 04:46 AM
 
awesome. congrats!

sorta off topic.
I wish that Apple would make a modern trackpad/keyboard combo for those that have less space (with full keyboard of course) The new wireless keyboard reminds me of the one for the TAM - the trackpad of course
     
- - e r i k - -
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Dec 3, 2007, 07:27 PM
 
Very cool. A genuine prototype of one of the most expensive home computers ever sold.

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JoshuaZ
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Dec 3, 2007, 08:27 PM
 
Crazy good find! Break out the battle chess and have at it! When in doubt you could always ebay that puppy.

(Though I, personally, would rathe have a G4 Cube! Just because....)
     
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Dec 3, 2007, 08:47 PM
 
I have a cube, while I haven't fired it up lately, its was and still is a great computer.
     
finboy
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Dec 4, 2007, 12:10 AM
 
Originally Posted by design219 View Post
Oh man, don't modify anything. It's value is that it is original.
I agree. Find someone who WANTS to set it up as a display piece. It is a work of art, really. Sell it on Ebay if you must, but please don't mess it up!
     
QuadG5Man
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Dec 4, 2007, 01:02 AM
 
I read the TAM has a different boot chime that's different than the regular mac 'gong' but I couldn't find an audio link.
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brassplayersrock²
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Dec 4, 2007, 01:06 AM
 
^ 14 seconds in

YouTube - Mac startup and crash sounds

not an individual sound, but the sounds there for your listening pleasure
     
CollinG3G4
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Dec 4, 2007, 01:06 AM
 
Originally Posted by TimmyDee51 View Post
Sorry for the delay. Here's the photo!
Better warn the neighbors, you're gona be hella rockin' the bass with that monster of a sub.
     
Laminar
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Dec 4, 2007, 01:25 AM
 
Originally Posted by brassplayersrock² View Post
^ 14 seconds in

YouTube - Mac startup and crash sounds

not an individual sound, but the sounds there for your listening pleasure
I think the sound at 18 seconds is wrong. The iMacs of that generation had the current startup sound, the one they played reminds me of the older Macs for some reason.

Ah...here's a better one: YouTube - Macintosh Startup sounds and death Sounds 2
     
brassplayersrock²
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Dec 4, 2007, 02:07 AM
 
yeah, that one is better. good job
     
QuadG5Man
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Dec 4, 2007, 02:44 AM
 
Thanks, I just discovered Mactracker, very cool...
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TimmyDee51  (op)
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Dec 4, 2007, 02:45 AM
 
Originally Posted by QuadG5Man View Post
I read the TAM has a different boot chime that's different than the regular mac 'gong' but I couldn't find an audio link.
It does. It's one of the most unique startup sounds I've ever heard (I really like it). If you want to hear it, download Mactracker. They've got the startup sounds for just about every Mac (and a number of the death chimes, too).
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