what can a Performa 6200 be used for?

TheMacOS.com · #1 December 2nd, 2003, 11:14 PM

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.

**btoneill** · #2 December 3rd, 2003, 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMacOS.com

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.

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

Brian

**Giaguara** · #3 December 3rd, 2003, 03:59 AM

what's wrong with using it for arcade, old skool games?

ghostdog · #4 December 3rd, 2003, 06:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Giaguara

what's wrong with using it for arcade, old skool games?

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.

**Cheryl** · #5 December 3rd, 2003, 08:58 AM

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.

GraphicUmp · #6 December 3rd, 2003, 10:22 AM

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

**Giaguara** · #7 December 3rd, 2003, 11:44 AM

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.

GraphicUmp · #8 December 3rd, 2003, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Giaguara

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.

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?