[Cadeau]

Hi there. I just aquired this Power Macintosh 6500/250. I have never worked on a Mac computer before so I know nothing about them. Even the processor speed to me doesnt make sense. Is this computer equivelent to a Pentium 1 ? How do I turn it on ? There is no power button . And I still can't figure out how to open the case . Any input would be a help !
Here's the specs on it. http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=112406

[VegasACF]

Originally Posted by Cadeau

Hi there. I just aquired this Power Macintosh 6500/250. I have never worked on a Mac computer before so I know nothing about them. Even the processor speed to me doesnt make sense. Is this computer equivelent to a Pentium 1 ?

No. Macs of this era are RISC processors, Pentiums are CISC processors. You cannot compare the CPUs on a cycle-by-cycle basis. That isn't going to be much help to you, but it's the truth.

Originally Posted by Cadeau

How do I turn it on ?

If memory serves, I'd suggest either depressing the translucent LED dome-ish button below the floppy/ZIP drive (I don't honestly recall if this is the case or not--I'm extrapolating more than a little bit from my experience with Macs of similar vintage as far as direct stimulation of AC power). My other suggestion is to get an ADB keyboard (if one is not already accompanying it) and depressing the key in the top right-hand corner with the left-facing triangle on it--this was the power key for this era of Macs, or taking it out for a "date" movie and dinner (preferably moderatley-priced Italian--a bottle of good Chianti won't hurt), and then when you drop it off at it's place suggest a nightcap consisting of either a snifter of decent cognac or a dessert wine from the Boony Doon Vineyard. After this, put on some relaxing, but not coma-inducing, music (not Kenny G, mind you... Macs of this vintage are not expensive, but they do have good taste... I'd go with something guitar-oriented). Start by caressing its front plate, give it a nuzzle around the ADB port, and only if this is met with approbation move to any sort of main I/O port. Whatever you do, don't leave in the middle of the night. These computers can be temperamental, and they will not answer your calls if you aren't there when they wake from sleep.

Originally Posted by Cadeau

There is no power button .

There's got to be. Is there no translucent greenish dome-shaped button on the front panel? That was the norm with this era of Mac models. Is there an included keyboard? The top-right key should do the trick. It's got a left-pointing triangle on it. Or at least it should.

Originally Posted by Cadeau

And I still can't figure out how to open the case . Any input would be a help !
Here's the specs on it. http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=112406

This was (again, if memory serves) the last of the Performa Macs, which means you'll need a sledgehammer to get into the case. It's a pain in the ***. Once you get in there you'll find that there's not a whole lot you can do, other than that consisting of minimal CPU upgrade, a third-party vid card (probably a Voodoo 2 or 3 card at the best) and an ethernet card.

I'm sorry to say it (mind you, I'm a Macficionado), but this computer, at best, is a "quaint" example of what once was. It was decent for its day, but was outshined by its 8500/9500 (and better) brethren, and the G3s that would follow soon after, in CPU, RAM and every other benchmarked standard. Still, though, have fun with it.

[Cadeau]

Vegasacf, thanks for the reply. Here are some pics of it. That translucent button does not push. and I have also pushed the triangle button in the right corner of the keyboard and nothing. But the guy that owned it says it works.
Ps whats the connector for where you would plug in the monitor ?

[VegasACF]

No problem whatsoever.

The translucent button should push in. Does it move when you push it and there's just no effect, or does it not move? (don't press too hard, as I said, I'm extrapolating from my experience with other computers of this era [8500/9500/9600]), and they all had power buttons that were greenish-translucent buttons that didn't appear to be buttons.

The power button on the keyboard should definitely work, even if there's something not connected with the translucent button on the machine itself. This makes me think there's something wrong beyond the power button(s).

The monitor connection is that one you have pictured at the top left of the case. There is some sort of adaptor plugged into it. You might need to remove that for whatever monitor you have, or you might need to reconfigure the dipswitches on the adaptor. A Google search might provide an answer for that.

[Cadeau]

Can a Windows operating system be installed on a Mac ? Can they be formatted like an IBM compatable system ?

[VegasACF]

Not natively. The best analogy I can give you for this is putting diesel in a gas-burning engine. It just won't work. You can install (on this machine a very old version of) Virtual PC, which will run Windows in emulation. Having done this once upon a time, though, I do not recommend it. It's painfully slow, and whatever applications you would have wanted to run on Windows are probably available for Mac. Keep in mind you'll want old versions of anything for this machine. It's about 10 years old, and while newer things might run on it, they'll run so slow it won't be worth your trouble.

You might be able to find a G3 CPU upgrade for it, and that would take you into the realm of three generations ago processors (if that puts things in perspective--that's a lifetime in the computer world).

Hope this helps you in some small way.

[Cadeau]

Ok thanks Vegas. Sounds like this is just an old dinosaur. Like I said before I have never worked on ( or sat in front of) a Mac before. I've sat is front of a big Mac before
It a whole new language .
Thanks !

[VegasACF]

Indeed it is.

But I would caution you not to let your experience with a machine that is four generations old (as far as processor family--more if you consider faster incarnations of that processor) color you perception of the Mac as a viable platform.

If an alien race had come down and visited Earth when Australopithecus was the reigning hominid they might have written off our planet. Or they might have simply conquered it and planted the seed for homo sapiens (heh--like we're that much more evolved than our ancestors [and this is from an arch-conservative, mind you]).

What you have there may be little more than an interesting museum piece, but in its day it was considered a worthwhile machine--I know firsthand of several major LA music studios that are still using Quadra Macs (yours was the last of its kind, the first of the next kind, depending upon your frame of reference) for audio editing (with the addition of mission-specific hardware, mind you--the processor in the computer you have would choke on much more than two tracks of audio [though it'd be one Hell of a MIDI machine]).

Once (if) you get it turned on (I still recommend the dinner/movie/drink combo) you'll find it to be good at what it does, which, admittedly, a decade later won't seem like much. But don't expect it to run Call of Duty 2 (or 1, or Halo, or any of the Quake series beyond, maybe, the first release), or be able to do any kind of movie editing.

Accept it for what it is and you'll be pleased with what it does.