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PowerPCs: Power Mac 8200
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History
Little more than a PowerMac 7200 mounted inside a mini-tower case, the 8200 only ever saw the light of days in the European market. With a slight speed bump the 8200 had a slight edge over its older sibling but given that it was released 8 months later, a mere 10MHz (for the most basic model) was hardly anything to get excited about.
Elsewhere it was hardly party time either as the 8200 made use of the almost universally loathed Quadra 800 case. While fine in principle, the 'clever' clips holding the motherboard in place could now annoy a whole new generation of users. The case still offered decent expansion options though and this saved the 8200 from being a nightmare. What was more annoying for buyers though was the lack of an upgrade path. As per usual upgrades were promised but it would take four years until Sonnet could develop a CPU upgrade card and most users instead opted to use the motherboard from an 8500 and add a daughter card.
Performance was decent (if unremarkable) and the 8200 was, sadly, indicative of Apple at the time - decent but not outstanding.
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Specifications
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Machine |
Power Macintosh 8200 |
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Introduced |
22/04/1996 |
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Retired |
1997 |
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Cost |
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System |
7.5.3-9.0.4 |
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Code Name(s) |
Catalyst |
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CPU/Speed |
Motorola PPC 601 @ 100MHz-120MHz |
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RAM Min/Max |
8Mb/512Mb (70ns - 4x168 pin DIMM slot) |
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ROM (Size) |
4Mb |
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Floppy Drive |
1xSuperdrive |
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Hard Drive |
750Mb-1.2Gb SCSI |
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CD Drive |
4x-8x CD-ROM |
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Drive Bay(s) |
1x3.5" Half-height, 2x5.25" Half-height |
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Network |
LocalTalk, Ethernet (AAUI and RJ-45) |
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Audio |
16 bit stereo, stereo in |
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Video |
2Mb (expandable to 4Mb) |
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Resolution(s) |
512x384, 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, 1152x870 (8 bit), 1280x1024 (16 bit - 4Mb VRAM) |
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Ports |
2xSerial, SCSI(25 pin), 1xADB, 1xAAUI, 1xRJ-45 |
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Expansion Slot |
3xPCI |
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Dimensions |
7.7" x 14" x 15.75" |
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Weight |
25 lb |
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From Experience...
 
Being UK based I never realised that the 8200 was a Europe-only 'special' as they regularly appeared on eBay. Not that I really paid too much attention to 8200's as that awful Quadra 800 case had once more been resurrected. Yes it's another PC-style steel case that feels a little too cold and impersonal - not the end of the world but not overly friendly (and I won't even go into the crimes inside the case, suffice to say that Apple didn't bother re-engineering it).
My machine served a dual purpose - firstly it was a hole in the collection, and secondly I wanted to try some PC emulation (specifically Virtual PC v2) and at £5(!?!?!?) there really wasn't any thought needed. Now I knew that at 120MHz this thing was never going to break any speed records but the 8200 is actually a very usable machine even when emulating Windows 95 (boo). The obligatory OS re-install stripped the machine back to OS 8.1 but it's more than happy running this and with 128Mb of RAM onboard, my machine certainly wasn't lacking in the speed stakes.
Performance wise it's pretty good, looks wise it's OK (there are worse I suppose) and if you allow for its age and don't try to do too much, it's a decent little piece of kit.
Note: In case you were wondering, I was dabbling with Virtual PC to see whether a Mac running emulation software could handle two PC only apps (Delphi and Paint Shop Pro). If it could then my next desktop purchase might once and for all banish the dreaded Windows machine once and for all. Then of course the MacTels were announced and the whole question became kind of irrelevant =;)
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Links
LowEndMac.com - Looking for Apple info? Always start here
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