🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <3506@deimos.cis.ksu.edu> paryavi@harris.cis.ksu.edu (Saiid Paryavi) writes:
>Well, since the new Macintosh Portable is going to be just another Mac
>Plus in a slightly different case and slightly faster, with a much
>bigger price tag,

Well, it will be twice as fast, it will fit under an airplane seat,
can come with you to the beach...

>I have decided to use a Mac Plus as my portable Macintosh. 
>
>What I would like to know is if it is possible to put a 3 1/2" hard
>disk inside a Mac Plus.  If so, this would make the Mac Plus almost as
>portable as the upcomming portable (except it could not be powered by
>batteries).  The questions that come to mind right now are:
>
>Does the power supply have enough juice to handle the extra load?

No, you will have to figure out how to run off of 120V.

>Is there room inside the Plus for a hard drive?  

Yes, but the packaging is not trivial.  You *don't* want any of your
additions to work loose, get too close to the high voltage of the CRT,
etc.

>How will the SCSI connection be made?

You will probably want to securely clamp onto the SCSI chip.  It
leaves fewer marks than the alternatives if you ever need to pull out
the addition before sending the Mac in to be repaired.  Apple repair
people don't like to work on machines which have been modified.  You
want to be able to remove your work without obvious marks.

>Does one need special brackets?

Absolutely, you will be on your own.

>Is a fan necessary?

Another absolutely, the Plus gets hot enough as is.

>Is there a company that might sell an installation kit or something?

General Computer Corporation used to sell the internal HyperDrive, and
Apple even sanctioned it, but they had such trouble that they
abandoned it.  This was early on, before the Macintosh Plus, when
disks were low capacity and delicate--I mean worse than now--but they
did give up.  They even changed their name to GCC.

>I'd like to hear your thoughts on this matter.  If there is any
>interest, I will summarize and post the responses to the net.

Open up your Macintosh Plus and look around.  Figure out how you will
mount the drive, and whether it will stay there.  Figure out what
power supply you can find which will fit, and where you will put it.
Figure out how you are going to tap onto the SCSI bus.  Figure out
where and what fan you will use.

If you are up to solving these problems, go for it.  If they seem like
too much or you are not sure about the problems are about, don't do
it.

Would I consider putting an extra 3-1/2 drive into my Plus?  Yes.
Have I actually done anything other than consider it?  No.

Are there better ways?  Well, maybe you want an SE?  Apple already
solved the problems you will face.  Or, seeing as how a Plus doesn't
travel very well without a carrying case, and most carrying cases will
also hold an external disk, it might do as well.  Besides, external
drives are more flexible than internal drives anyway.
-- 
Kent Borg				"You know me, bright ideas 
kent@lloyd.uucp				 just pop into my head!"
or							-Mrs Lovett
...!husc6!lloyd!kent		        (from Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeny Todd")