OT: paging MAC expert(s) --- What's a Performa?

If you boot it, you will probably find a copy of Apple System Profiler in the Apple menu. That will tell you what you have installed. The stock 630 series is actually a fairly useful machine. It used 72pin SIMMS (FPM, but EDO work just fine), there is only one RAM slot, so it will max out the machine at 36mb (32mb chip + 4 on board). The VRAM is non upgradable. As a stock machine, they are good workstations (pending you use non PPC only software, since it is a 33mhz LC040.. the LC040 is a 68040 without the FPU built into the chip). I have a 630 running right now as a mail server, keeps up with everything I give it no problems (runs Mac OS 8.1, with Stalker Internet Mail Server... hosts a few domains and a few thousand emails a day, with a few hundred accounts... never even hiccups). The HD is IDE, which makes it cheap and easy to upgrade. Other things of interest. It may have an ethernet card, but if you said it came with a modem, I doubt it has ethernet (was the modem internal? You could get an internal 14.4 geoport fax/modem in the Comm Slot... the GeoPort modem is similar to those WinModems that use the processor to handle all the modem functions, and the modem acts pretty much as an AD/DA converter. HOWEVER, you may have one of the modems that was made by global village... THOSE modems are real modems, and VERY VERY good, with supurb fax software). If the modem is external, then you might have an ethernet card in the Comm slot (look at the back for an RJ45 connector). If you have a Global Village external modem (common performa modem), the bronze (probably the one you have) is 2400 fax. It is a VERY good fax modem, with excellent software... not so good of a regular modem (some extension conflicts with the modem control software). There is also a Gold version that was 28.8 fax... much better regular modem (newer software, cured most of the extension conflicts) Also, your docs indicate that it has the DOS card installed. However, the 630 didn't ship with a dos card... that was the 640 (upgraded version of the 630, the 640 came stock with a DOS card... IIRC it was available for the 630 as a 3rd party add in by Reply, so it may have been added). The quickest way to tell if a dos card is installed is look at the back of the machine. You will see an expansion slot. If there is a fairly densely pinned DB connector in the expansion slot, you have a DOS card. There should be a dongle cable for it that will connect between the DOS card, and the Mac's video out. The cable will then provide a RGB connector, and a Midi/Joystick connector. If you don't have that cable, the DOS card is useless... good luck finding a replacement cable. Finally, the 630 supports Video In/Out and a TV Tuner. Again, look at the back of the machine, if you see RCA connectors for video, left and right audio (Yellow, Red and White, RCAs), you have the video In/Out card. If you ALSO see a RF Coax screw on connector, you have the TV Tuner... if you have these... contact me, I would be interested in possibly buying/trading them with you (I have a need for the TV Tuner card, but will take them as a pair). If you have the TV Tuner card, you should also have a remote control. It will either be a skinny black remote, or a little credit card sized remote. Failure to have the remote will not prevent the card from working, it just means you have to do all the controls on the computer. (The Video Player software supports all the remote functions directly, the remote was just a nicity). What else... If the DOS card is not present, then the 630 has an LC PDS slot, there are a few cards available for it (network, video, accelerators, odds and ends). I think that is pretty much it. The 630 series is a very good 040 machine, and can still be used for a number of things. -chris <http://www.mythtech.net> .