I tore apart my MIL's old Power Mac 6500/225 today so I could pull the 3 GB HD (long story).

Anyway, I think the case was designed by the people who designed the Sherman tank - did they ever use a lot of metal in that thing! The chassis alone must weigh at least 20 pounds. And I practically had to use a crowbar to get the plastic (or is it Kevlar?) skin off the thing.

One thing that was kind of neat was that all of the drives were mounted on little plastic sleds that easily slid out of the main chassis when you depressed a tab. Overall though, a strange and rather unattractive machine.

If it took you that much effort, then you were doing it wrong. About all it take to open is a straight blade screwdriver or two and a phillips. But it definitely uses a good amount of steel, you are not going to break something inside that case because it twisted.

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I agree. The beige DT models take me about 45 seconds to crack open, and that includes the time to unplug stuff.

I can take out a hard drive in my G5 while it's running.

The iBook is a different story.




I've dealt with a beige, pretty easy to open and all, but to get the PSU out, that took a little longer.

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_______________________________________________________________
Security is just a word. The act of being secure is entirely different.
"...but I think that to make your dream a reality, having a dream itself is a mandatory prerequisite"
From A Book: Walking Through The Impossible

Just because it has two clutches, shifts faster, uses a torque converter or has near-infinite gear ratios, requires less driver intervention and is more efficient doesn't make it better in my opinion.
Save The Manual Transmission

Quote
microchip13
I can take out a hard drive in my G5 while it's running.

You da man!

?





Whoops, little premature. Going to have wait for 4 or 5 years for that one

I agree with JoeH, you definitely should've read the 'take-apart' guide.

Not that I would, but I could.



Course, as my friend would say
"Anything is hot swappable", course he's hotswapped everything from RAM to Processor.

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_______________________________________________________________
Security is just a word. The act of being secure is entirely different.
"...but I think that to make your dream a reality, having a dream itself is a mandatory prerequisite"
From A Book: Walking Through The Impossible

Just because it has two clutches, shifts faster, uses a torque converter or has near-infinite gear ratios, requires less driver intervention and is more efficient doesn't make it better in my opinion.
Save The Manual Transmission

I've got 6400 sitting in my basement. It is heavy.

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Grateful11

I had a PM6500. It was a indeed a pain to get to the internals. Not at all like the G4 or G5 case designs that followed. The Graphite G4 Towers were the best case design ever in my opinion.

If ya pull the fan baffle off the G5 case while running the fans go into jet mode though.

the 6400 is heavy because of that humongous subwoofer magnet in the bottom. Which usually failed after a couple of years. But I do agree- lots of sheet metal.

Of course, you want heavy, look at the old IBM PC's.

Now the older macs had that funky foamed plastic with metallic EMI shielding sprayed on em. light, but structural.

I've got a 6500/G3, and while it's tricky to open, it's not that difficult when you know how.

It's heavy, but it's got little to do with the subwoofer. That machine has a ton of metal in it, not counting the shielded plastic panels (metal baffles attached).

The only Mac with more metal would have to be a G5 tower.

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I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

The 6400 and 6500 defied normal "design logic" when you approached the case.

It's been 5 years since I was in one to snatch the mother board because that was all that was working, and I put it in a 5200. I just tossed the 5200 last week. Kept the MoBo - but what use was this giant thing anyway? I hate the 17" CRT I have now, so -- it was time to go.

I did like the sled idea, but simple as the little screw/metal plates for mounting drives in the Smurf++ is, I think that is also a great idea. Nothing to break either.

Beige may have been revolutionary, but I have my share of sheet metal scars from routing ATA cables through the labyrinth of metal. The door was great for access (and the flip down deal on the tower) - but what is truly incredible is how CLOSE they were to the Smurf - QuickSilver design, yet missed it by MILES.

Things as simple as HAVING to unplug the case to get it open, not mounting the motherboard on the door, etc. My only gripe about the entire design is that they didn't give you the simple option of converting that ZIP slot into another optical without modification. That area could hold an HD - but there is already room for FOUR in the case.

btw... never really "heard" the woofer in a 6400/6500. Was it any good? I do remember that case confounding me on getting it open the first time - I recall a big screw head on the rear - but other areas invited you to pry off the plastic, but they weren't necessary to remove. But you WANTED to, because it just seemed logical to do.

I decided to blast, and that took care of it.

I still have my eye on making a G3 Color Classic, although THANKFULLY, that desire fades with every day I delay any such action (which has been delayed for 6 years now). The 6400/6500 board and a G3 upgrade, a few mods and a video harness, and you've got an "SE" package with 128+ of RAM and a G3/300. Not bad for what was a 68000 machine!

Be nice to use the 9" LCD that others have used in the iTunes Jeep, etc. None of this stuff makes any sense - but there is always that "but it can be done!" factor.

Here is a great site about the PM 6400, including installing OSX on it:

[www.zone6400.com]

I agree with those people who think the 6400/6500 case was a bear to open. Most people end up scratching the case when they slip the flathead screwdriver or other device under the front panel. Accessing the motherboard is a snap, but getting to the front mounted drives is a pain. The 7200,7500,7600,7300, and G3 desktop case design was much better and so was the 8600/9600/G3 tower case designs. Heck, even my LC II had a better design.


Nathan

I believe it was MacAddict that described this case design as "Sexy"!

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Grateful11