Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!udel!burdvax!dave
From: dave@PRC.Unisys.COM (David Lee Matuszek)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
Subject: Is there life after II+?
Message-ID: <13304@burdvax.PRC.Unisys.COM>
Date: 28 Mar 90 15:27:21 GMT
Sender: news@PRC.Unisys.COM
Organization: Unisys Corporation, Paoli Research Center; Paoli, PA
Lines: 47
References:

My Apple II+ is pretty old and occasionally flaky, and I'd sort of
like to replace it, probably (but not necessarily) with a IIGS.  I
have a lot of nice software, mostly games, that I'd like to keep and
put back into service.

The main thing stopping me from buying a replacement is that I don't
know what I'm doing, and neither do my local Apple dealers.

1.  I have an old but still very nice composite color monitor.  Can I
use it with the IIGS?  Would I be sorry if I did?

2.  My family and I have gotten very used to the convenience of having
everything readily available on the hard disk (of our Mac+).  The lack
of same on the Apple II+ greatly reduces the amount it is used.  Is
there a way to put our assorted games onto a hard disk, instead of
having to turn off the machine and reboot every time?

3.  If the answer to #2 is Yes, then I have an Apple HD20 hard drive
on my Mac+ that I can donate; is there any way to use it?  My local
Apple dealers both said Yes, just buy a SCSI card.  When I pointed out
to the dealers that the HD20 is not a SCSI device (the Mac+ treats it
like a floppy), one of them had no idea what to do, and the other
thought the SCSI card would do the job anyway (!).

4.  If it is possible to copy old software onto a hard drive, can I
plug my Apple II+ 5.25" floppy drives into the IIGS?  (These are the
original Apple floppy drives--single sided, I think they hold about
140K--anyway, that's the format all my old games are in.)  If not, how
much for a drive that can plug into the IIGS and read these disks?

5.  Is there good software available to deprotect some of my copy
protected games?  (I used to have Nibbles Away, but the disk got
trashed.)  No flames, please, I am NOT a software pirate--but having
gotten used to a hard disk, I no longer buy (and hardly ever use)
software that I can't put on the hard disk.

I would very like to hear from anyone with any facts, experience, or
even just opinions on these matters.  (I'm hoping to get better advice
here than from my Apple dealers!)  Please e-mail responses directly to
me, since I think the topic won't be of general interest.

  Thanks.

-- Dave Matuszek (dave@prc.unisys.com)
-- Unisys Corp. / Paoli Research Center / PO Box 517 / Paoli PA  19301
-- Any resemblance between my opinions and those of my employer is improbable.
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