Ultimate 8mhz 68000 mac: SE vs. Classic

On the internet today many arguments rage, some have been going on for seemingly forever, such as Mac vs. PC vs. UNIX vs. LINUX (read: computer holy wars). Some have flared up recently: AMD vs. Intel, Motorola vs. IBM. But now, at the turn of the century we celebrate the tenth anniversary of another small disagreement. Which is the best 8mhz 6800 mac ever? Some would say the 1990 Mac Classic, introduced as a low-cost macintosh for $1500 (1MB RAM, 1.44MB floppy, 40MB hard drive) takes the crown. Although inexpensive, it still featured a 1.44 megabyte FDHD drive (Floppy Drive High Density), and most importantly the Mac OS. It allowed people to become a member of the Macintosh community for a low cost, something unthinkable just years before. However, the machine has it's drawbacks: namely there is no expansion slot inside the Classic. This effectively makes processor upgrades impossible, and also prohibits the addition of an ethernet/video card. In the opposite corner is another compact mac, with almost identical performance: the Mac SE. It was released in 1987 as the highest end compact mac then produced. It would set you back around $3000 dollars for it's base configuration (1MB RAM, and two 800k 3.5" disk drives*). This money was not thrown out the window though, it bought you a PDS slot (Processor Direct Slot). This slot allows you to add a processor upgrade, which can inexpensively increase your computer's speed many times over, these sometimes include ethernet on board as well! Another option is a PDS video card, which allows the user to graduate from the stock 9" Black and White CRT, this was quite popular. However some opt to install an ethernet card, if this path is taken the SE can be integrated into a larger community of computers, and it's usefulness increases exponentially. Now which one is superior? If you ask a room full of classic mac gurus, you'd probably get a 50/50 split. Out of the box the Classic's 1.44MB disk drive gives it greater compatibility with newer software (although not much recent software comes on disks these days). It also came standard with a hard drive, so it doesn't need to rely on a 93.5" disk for it's storage. Of course, the SE, if it's potential is tapped, can far surpass the Classic. It is almost impossible to find a SE which still lacks a hard drive, most have long ago lost a 800k disk drive in favor of a 80-230MB hard drive(it's also worth mentioning that almost all of the Classics and SEs have been upgraded to their maximum RAM capacity of 4MB). A SE with a 230MB hard drive, 4MBs of RAM, and an 16mhz 68030 accelerator with ethernet runs circles around the Classic with it's 8mhz 68000, 40MB hard drive, and LocalTalk networking. So when it comes down to it, which is superior depends upon how much time/effort the owner ones to spend on it. What's that you ask? Which do I prefer? Well, if you have a spare SE, send it my way.

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