Apple Macintosh SE FDHD
I couldn't believe it, I placed a punt bid on this, no-one else bid on it, so I won. I already have the eMac, so this is a nice addition to the collection, but I still don't understand the appeal
It's an Apple Macintosh SE FDHD which originally came out in March 1987, although the FDHD model I have here came out in August 1989. The FDHD (Floppy Disk High Density) is what Apple calls the SuperDrive which can handle the new-fangled 1.44 MB High Density disks
A similar form-factor to previous Macs, this one has the same B&W nine inch CRT with a resolution of 512 x 342, also there are now two drive bays, you can see the SuperDrive, but above that is another bay which contains the 40 MB hard disc. The brightness control is under the CRT on the left
The sides are plain, the Reset and Interrupt buttons are no longer fitted
The top has the carrying handle, the whole unit isn't very heavy at all, and the bottom has four rubber feet
On the rear of the unit is the model and serial number labels, power lead socket and switch
Ports wise it has two ADB (Apple Desktop Bus) sockets, an external disc drive port, SCSI port, and printer, modem, and external speaker sockets
This is the Apple Standard Keyboard, it has a detachable lead, and the mouse plugs into the keyboard, the large button at the top is a power button
The two ADB sockets, one goes to the Mac, the other goes to the mouse
The coiled ADB keyboard lead
The Apple Desktop Bus Mouse, it's a ball mouse with one button
Time to power it up, and it booted into the desktop, although it seems to be impossible to get a picture with the screen on
Getting up close and personal seemed to work
Here is the system information, perhaps this means something to someone
And it shuts down to a prompt to turn off the power, like the good old days of PC's
I got some documentation, but no restore discs
Look, this is a carbon copy form
I need to open this up ASAP and check the battery and caps for leakage
Apple StyleWriter II
This is Apple's 2nd ink jet printer, it's based on a Canon mechanism and was faster than it's predecessor
It has bits that slide out, neat!
The mechanism and power button
The rear and bottom of the machine
This is where it plugs in to the Mac, the cover has broke off, but I have it at least
The power and serial leads
This is the box the documentation and software came in
Documentation
Carrying case
It all came with a Targus carrying case
Pretty straightforward
It has a compartment for the keyboard and mouse
A space for an ID card, and four heavy duty rubber feet
It all fits in nicely, and has several handle options
Battery removal
My Mac Cracker tool arrived, so it's time to open this baby up and check the state of the battery
There are four screws to remove, two are deep within the recesses of the handle, so you need a long T15 Torx screwdriver to access them
The case tends to weld itself together with the heat, but it will separate with some gentle persuasion
Once you've removed the three connectors (floppy, hard disc, and power/video) the board will slide out and rotate down, the power connector has a clip towards the front of the board which needs squeezing
Apart from being dusty, there's no leakage, which is unusual for a machine of this vintage, also, the board looks different to others i've seen
Not many caps at all, I know nothing about Macintosh's, so is this the right board for the machine? Let me know
The machine now doesn't boot, I have a vague memory of some Mac's not booting without a battery fitted
Anyway, here's the unbranded, and still leak-free battery with an expiry date of 1989
For more retro hardware check out my online museum here
