Power Mac 8100/80

>I have a Power Mac 8100/80 (1994-95). I know it's an old machine...
>but greatly appreciated as I have programs and files I cannot do
>without (i.e., Quark, Page, etc.)... and no longer have the original
>loads. My questions are: 1) Can I use a wireless network printer
>(like connecting to a HP 1220):

Dicey. I don't see any mention of Appletalk in that printer's
description, but it does say that it supports OS 8.6 - 9. You may be
able to print over IP, which does work in OS 9.

> 2)Can I connect the ethernet to a wireless bridge of some sort to
>connect to my wireless DSL line?

Yes, but the last time I shopped for one, they weren't as cheap as I
thought they would be. Look in a video gaming store or on eBay. These
boxes are popular with people who want to put their PS2 or XBOX
online.

> 3) Can I somehow connect USB ports to this old machine?

No. The 8100 has NuBus rather than PCI slots, right? So, no way, no how.

> and finally, 4) Will any of the Microsoft office products, like
>2004 MS Office for MAC, operate with the slow processor, etc.?

Look for a copy of Office 98. (I may still have a boxed copy in my
office...) It's file format compatible with Office 97 (for Windows)
through Office '04. It will run like a champ on your 8100.

>
>Greatly appreciate any answers and help. Maybe I should just upgrade
>and find a way to move the files to the newer machine..

That is inevitable. Best start planning for it now.

Greg Sigman

Gregory Sigman wrote:
>> I have a Power Mac 8100/80 (1994-95). I know it's an old machine...
>> but greatly appreciated as I have programs and files I cannot do
>> without (i.e., Quark, Page, etc.)... and no longer have the original
>> loads. My questions are: 1) Can I use a wireless network printer
>> (like connecting to a HP 1220):

[Details of how to do things sinped>

>> Greatly appreciate any answers and help. Maybe I should just upgrade
>> and find a way to move the files to the newer machine..
>
> That is inevitable. Best start planning for it now.

Getting a MacMini refurbed from Apple should cost well under $800 after memory upgrades and taxes and such.

As to transferring the files I did this recently with a 6300(?) for someone. We just turned on file sharing on the new machine, mounted the share point on the old machine, and dumped the entire hard drive of the old machine into the share point.

David

>As to transferring the files I did this recently with a 6300(?) for
>someone. We just turned on file sharing on the new machine, mounted
>the share point on the old machine, and dumped the entire hard drive
>of the old machine into the share point.

David: what is a "share point"

Bob

At 3:29 AM -0700 4/17/08, Bruce Pehrson wrote:
>I have a Power Mac 8100/80 (1994-95). I know it's an old machine...

First...wow! That's a 13 year old mac! Excellent job of avoiding
unnecessary upgrades.

> but greatly appreciated as I have programs and files I cannot do
>without (i.e., Quark, Page, etc.)... and no longer have the original
>loads.

The problem is going to be software, much more than hardware. Even if
you had the original disks, the installers wouldn't even run a modern
mac, to say nothing of the applications themselves.

> My questions are: 1) Can I use a wireless network printer (like
>connecting to a HP 1220):

I would think that that would depend on what version of the operating
system you are running. The more recent, the better. It would also
depend on the printer.

> 2)Can I connect the ethernet to a wireless bridge of some sort to
>connect to my wireless DSL line?

This has nothing to do with your computer. If the wired ethernet is
bridged to wireless, your computer won't know or care. Bridge away,
pal.

> 3) Can I somehow connect USB ports to this old machine?

Not likely, these days. Your computer is so old that buying any kind
of parts with which to upgrade it is not going to be easy. You'd have
to get used parts, most likely, and old ones at that. I don't know
that there was ever a USB NuBus card, or even if such a thing were
possible.

>and finally, 4) Will any of the Microsoft office products, like 2004
>MS Office for MAC, operate with the slow processor, etc.?

Older versions of office will run, but not v.X, 2004 or 2008. So,
you'll need Office 1998. This is an operating system issue, but OS X
won't run on your computer anyway, not even the oldest versions of
it.)

>Greatly appreciate any answers and help. Maybe I should just upgrade
>and find a way to move the files to the newer machine.. but they
>probably would not run with the newer OS.

Yeah, you should. You'll need new software, but today's consumer
software might well do everything that you older advanced software is
capable of. For example, Apple's Pages (part of the cheap iWork
suite) might do everything that you need Quark and PageMaker for.

You'll also need to figure out how to convert your old data files to
formats that modern software can read. DataViz's MacLinkPLus should
definitely be on your shopping list.

<http://www.dataviz.com/products/maclinkplus/mlp_xlators.html>

*************

Think about it this way: You saved a lot of money, not buying a new
computer for over a decade. You've got to take some of those savings
and spend them, now.

--
=Alex Hoffman

Robert A. (Bob) Hall wrote:
>> As to transferring the files I did this recently with a 6300(?) for
>> someone. We just turned on file sharing on the new machine, mounted
>> the share point on the old machine, and dumped the entire hard drive
>> of the old machine into the share point.
>
> David: what is a "share point"

When one computer shares some or all of it's storage the "share point" is what others see. (In very simplified terms.) The sharing computer might share an entire partition or just a folder but to the computers accessing this shared item, it is just a share point.

David

On 17-Apr-2008, at 11:13, David Ross wrote:
> Gregory Sigman wrote:
>>> I have a Power Mac 8100/80 (1994-95). I know it's an old machine...
>>> but greatly appreciated as I have programs and files I cannot do
>>> without (i.e., Quark, Page, etc.)... and no longer have the original
>>> loads. My questions are: 1) Can I use a wireless network printer
>>> (like connecting to a HP 1220):
>
> [Details of how to do things sinped>
>
>>> Greatly appreciate any answers and help. Maybe I should just upgrade
>>> and find a way to move the files to the newer machine..
>>
>> That is inevitable. Best start planning for it now.
>
> Getting a MacMini refurbed from Apple should cost well under $800
> after memory upgrades and taxes and such.

Although I would seriously work to wait on a mini until June or so.
All indications are it is either getting a serious make-ovr or getting
EOLed. Either way, waiting is the best course.

> As to transferring the files I did this recently with a 6300(?) for
> someone. We just turned on file sharing on the new machine, mounted
> the share point on the old machine, and dumped the entire hard drive
> of the old machine into the share point.

Yep, moving files with an ethernet Mac is painless.

>>David: what is a "share point"
>
>When one computer shares some or all of it's storage the "share
>point" is what others see. (In very simplified terms.) The sharing
>computer might share an entire partition or just a folder but to the
>computers accessing this shared item, it is just a share point.

thanks

Relevant to old machines in general (but not the 8100), yesterday's
computer club meeting contained two discussions:

One about an old (Windows) machine running slowly and one about a
gentleman about to discard the old, old machine (that is, the machine
replaced by the machine he just recently replaced).

I suggested he offer his RAM to the owner of the other machine, in
case it is compatible. The ages are about right, but of course the
RAM may not be.

   --John (whose Apple ][ started at 12K and grew to 48K plus language
card, at higher cost than 2 gig or so these days)