performa 6320

My advice is that you can do better finding an older mac and OS, than spending time and money on a 6320. I believe the RAM in this model maxes out at 64 megs. Running OS 9 and playing games on this will be painfully slow.

You can find older Macs including an installed OS for very little money. (The catch is paying for shipping a big weight.) Here's one example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Mac-Beige-G3-300-mhz-with-Firewire-USB-and-SCSI_W0QQitemZ190 150458418QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item190150458418

(This is not a recommendation or an advertisement, it is only for your information.)

An older Apple CRT monitor can be connected directly to the DB-15 video port. A PC monitor would require a Mac-VGA adapter (usually, with a set of switches); you should be able to find one online. Please note that the number of resolutions is limited; see the Performa 6320CD technical specifications.

If necessary, a manual can be found here.

BTW, a free System 7.5.3 is available for download from Apple (e.g. the US version).

Old games can be found via the Info-Mac archives (for example, here).

Jan

The prices of used Macs are about as low as they have ever been. For example a G4 with AGP card and 512 megs RAM recently sold for $65.00. It really is just a question of deciding how much you want to spend (if you want a newer model than the 6320). The central issue with the 6320 is the 64 meg RAM limit. After the OS takes a chunk of it a memory hungry game will have a hard time running at all.

dan,

I assist a client who has played solitare on his 630 for over a decade. He is perfectly happy even though his wife has had a PC, a B&W and a Mac Mini in the interum. Another friend is perfectly content with the 5400 we gave him. That was an upgrade from an LC II.

The key is to find software that runs well on older machines and not to try and upgrade them. Adapters that cost $30 on the web can be found for $.50 at surplus stores in the Seattle area. Trade a little time looking and a lot of fun tinkering and you can still enjoy the older Macs.

Ji˜m

Dan,

The PowerPC name was given to the 6100/7100/8100 and newer computers as an attempt to sound more mainstream. If the Mac does not say "Dos Compatible," it will only run Mac software. Spending money to use PC software on a Mac using emulation software is totally academic in today's market. Today we dismantled several Pentium 4 computers because they are now out of date. Find a cheap PC and put it by the Mac for gaming.

Mac model numbers with three digits are 68040 based computers. Those with four digits are PPC chips 601, 603, etc.. If you are spending more than $10, make sure to buy a G3 to get the most capable computer.

Ji˜m

For a quick overview of models and specs I rely on the information on this site:
http://www.apple-history.com/

You can sort the models by release date, by family or by processor, to compare.

The G4 models that included Firewire 800 cannot boot into OS 9. All the other G4's can.