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Did anybody here buy the Mac IIfx?

G

generic486

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I'm looking at some Mac II as I see the IIfx. WOW. The specs on that were like way ahead of other computers of that time. It also comes with a nice price tag of a minimum of $9,000. That is a lot of money back in 1990, I don't want to know how much it would be RRP in today's money. But did anybody here actually buy one of these back in the day?
 
Using the US BLS CPI calculator, looks like it's around $15,500 in today's dollars. Even then it was a very expensive computer. IMO, anyone willing to spend that kind of money on a computer would have been crazy not to consider an Amiga 3000, pocket about half the money and would have gotten better performance to boot! ;) Sadly that was probably not the case though. :(
 
geoffm3 said:
Using the US BLS CPI calculator, looks like it's around $15,500 in today's dollars. Even then it was a very expensive computer. IMO, anyone willing to spend that kind of money on a computer would have been crazy not to consider an Amiga 3000, pocket about half the money and would have gotten better performance to boot! ;) Sadly that was probably not the case though. :(
Click to expand...

Situation normal for all macs. All apple products for that matter...
 
geoffm3 said:
Using the US BLS CPI calculator, looks like it's around $15,500 in today's dollars. Even then it was a very expensive computer. IMO, anyone willing to spend that kind of money on a computer would have been crazy not to consider an Amiga 3000, pocket about half the money and would have gotten better performance to boot! ;) Sadly that was probably not the case though. :(
Click to expand...

The Amiga line never had the quality of software the Mac II line did, nor the ability to have multiple monitors at higher then NTSC resolution at that time, plus a much lower RAM ceiling.
 
Unknown_K said:
The Amiga line never had the quality of software the Mac II line did, nor the ability to have multiple monitors at higher then NTSC resolution at that time, plus a much lower RAM ceiling.
Click to expand...

Software yes, multiple monitors yes, higher than NTSC resolutions? Absolutely could do that with some add on 24-bit video cards, which were plentiful at the time this thing was out. GUI was MUCH faster though. Even with an accelerator card and a video card, it would have been significantly cheaper.
 
Should mention too that the Amiga 3000 was a "32-bit clean" design, with real 32-bit expansion capability as well.
 
geoffm3 said:
Software yes, multiple monitors yes, higher than NTSC resolutions? Absolutely could do that with some add on 24-bit video cards, which were plentiful at the time this thing was out. GUI was MUCH faster though. Even with an accelerator card and a video card, it would have been significantly cheaper.
Click to expand...

The IIfx came out in 1990 and was discontinued in 1992. Most Amiga cards came out way after this date and none were very cheap.
Nobody buys a $10K computer for the GUI it is for the software they need for work.

P.S. I own IIfx and Amiga 3000 computers
 
Unknown_K said:
And that meant exactly what to a user in 1990?
Click to expand...

32-bit local memory, 32-bit local bus slots instead of Nubus it was a fast design. Not saying the IIfx isn't a capable computer, I just think that the 3000 was a better deal hardware wise. Software is of course the Amiga's weak point.

Granted you are correct... 1990 predates most of the CPU accelerators available for the Amiga by a year or two...
 
The IIfx was almost purely bought by institutions, government and the scientific field. The average joe had no reason to own a IIfx if they were going to run ClarisWorks and Photoshop if they were prosumer. They would more opt out for a IIx.
 
i planned to buy the IIfx for the office late 1990, but waited for the Quadra 700 with integrated FPU
The Quadra 700 was also expensive, paid a 10K €, and a lot more for displays, software, DMP houston plotter, backup system.

but the Quadra was worth it, and powerful, able to run 3D CAD (ArchiCad 3.4) and expandable

my setup in 1991

b91.jpg


Quadra 700 HD 120MB Ram 20MB, Two-Page B&W monitor, hi-res RGB monitor,
as backup a 650MB RAM disk in a Maxtor case
 
I'm about to start a restoration on my IIfx which has been stored in a box since 1999. I'll probably post some more about it once I get started. It's loaded with cards and a huge 5.25 hard drive.
 
i hope your restoration will make the computer look brand new! i recently got a mac plus (with original box and rare dust cover!) which needs its floppy drive fixed, it is also kind of yellowed. im thinking about making that formula that removes the yellowing form the case. i found the insides to be dust-free and very clean! good luck on your restoration!
 
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I have a working Quadra 700
and IIfx.

Problem is my IIfx had the label on th bottom but it says IIx on the front...
 
Bruh, this thread is six years old. This discussion ended a looong time ago.

To answer your comment though, I've seen quite a few mac II's and IIx's that were restuffed with IIfx boards. It was a discounted upgrade option Apple offered for a while as the cases and power supplies are identical.
 
Apple offered an official upgrade package for the II and IIx. It came with a IIfx board and a new label for the bottom of the computer. Presumably there was an option for one or two FDHD floppy drives if you had a II that wasn't already upgraded to FDHD.
 
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