Excellent review; I just subbed!! Wozniak should get some kind of accolade for designing this excellent machine, IMO. I'd love to get one, but the only place I've looked is Ebay, and they are insanely priced-and you don't even get the monitor, keyboard, or mouse. I should try Craigslist.
This is a sweet machine! There might not been quite as many games, but the ones it did have were superior looking and sounding in a direct comparison! I still have mine and fire it up occasionally. Oh, and that's another thing... like all of my Apple products, it still works perfectly too!
It was slower and had less 16bit software available, other than that the IIGS was pretty much superior in every possible way including an amazing sound chip that even Amiga users respected. Get a TWGS and upgrade it to 18 mhz and the speed issue would then be with the Atari :)
Compared to the original Atari St? It was better designed, easier to access the mobo, had more expandability, fully backwards compatible with 8-bit software, 3200 colors-on-screen, and of course amazing sound and music synthesis that speak for itself.
I never said Amiga users wished they had a IIGS. I said Amiga users respected the sound chip (which was designed by Bob Yannes, creator of the C64's SID chip). By the way, I personally own an Atari ST 1040 STf and an Amiga 500.
@BrianPicchi Atari ST is pretty neat because you can run PAL games on an NTSC system very easily. All you may need is a 50/60Hz disk if you run into any problems.
This isn't spam but I have an original rom version 00 on ebay right now I came here looking for research, it must be rare because I can't find anything about rom 00
The ROM 00 version is rare because most ROM 00 users back in the day had Apple upgrade their machines to be ROM 01 because ROM 00 were incompatible with most software built in the late 80s and early 90s. I have one ROM 00 mobo inside its original WOZ edition case. I hardly use it, but it's a great collectors item. One thing I would ask the seller (unless the pictures tell you this) is what the manufacturing date is on the mobo. It should be in 1986 or early '87 if its legit.
@BrianPicchi It is made in 1986, and will go from boot up directly to check start up disk with no version displayed at any time. What is really weird is that it isn't even a WOZ edition, so that may make it very rare.
In regards to CPU accelerator products for the Apple IIGS, neither the TransWarp GS or Zip GS cost "thousands of dollars"--not then or even now. The 7 MHz Zip GS was available for as little as $149 back in late 1990 (the TransWarp GS from the previous year was more costly at around $600, and only 6 MHz).
Users quickly discovered how to modify them to run up to and over 15 MHz.
In the day, upgrades such as an accelerator, additional memory and a hard disk breathed new life into the IIGS!
Thanks for the info. I couldn't totally recall what the price was back in the day, I had read somewhere they sold for over $1000 at some point, but again I wasn't sure. What I was sure about was that I've seen them sell on ebay for over $500 within the past year.
Correction: The TransWarp GS retailed for US$399 (according to the April '89 issue of A+ Magazine that reviewed it). And I do remember it gradually dropping in price. Sorry for the misquote, I was thinking of the Canadian price, particularly when the exchange rate on the US dollar was so low back then!
Wow, so the transwarp GS has actually gone up in price since its release. The ZipGS has gone up over 3X the original price. That's nuts! I just assumed that since these things go for around $400-600 nowadays that they would have been more back in the day since virtually all computers and accessories depreciate over time. Thanks for the information!
thanks for the great review, I'm strongly thinking about getting one but I am a bit bummed that it doesnt' seem like there are a lot of top notch IIGS exclusive games. I mean I'm sure back in the day they were. We'll see, it is an awfully pretty computer.
Just had one of these offered as a donation, can't wait until it arrives! It will be my first Apple II-series machine, I cannot freaking wait. Thanks for the review and all the other IIGS videos! Great stuff, looks like an exceptional machine and 100% chick-magnet.
chick magnet. lol!
nannynicky4life 1 month ago
Do you have a Macintosh SE?
BlurDriver25 2 months ago
Excellent review; I just subbed!! Wozniak should get some kind of accolade for designing this excellent machine, IMO. I'd love to get one, but the only place I've looked is Ebay, and they are insanely priced-and you don't even get the monitor, keyboard, or mouse. I should try Craigslist.
dave4shmups 3 months ago
@dave4shmups
Thanks for the sub! And yes you definitely need to try craigslist, I've gotten the vast majority of mine from there.
BrianPicchi 3 months ago
Screw the mac, Apple IIgs could whoop it's ass anyday!
TeamRocketReviews 4 months ago
This is a sweet machine! There might not been quite as many games, but the ones it did have were superior looking and sounding in a direct comparison! I still have mine and fire it up occasionally. Oh, and that's another thing... like all of my Apple products, it still works perfectly too!
GrubGripe 4 months ago
Apple IIGS: Only slightly crappier than an Atari ST.
f0ofyBunny 7 months ago
@f0ofyBunny
It was slower and had less 16bit software available, other than that the IIGS was pretty much superior in every possible way including an amazing sound chip that even Amiga users respected. Get a TWGS and upgrade it to 18 mhz and the speed issue would then be with the Atari :)
BrianPicchi 7 months ago
@BrianPicchi So you mean, it was superior in only one possible way, the sound chip.
I don't think anyone who owned an Amiga wished that they had a IIGS.
f0ofyBunny 7 months ago
@f0ofyBunny
Compared to the original Atari St? It was better designed, easier to access the mobo, had more expandability, fully backwards compatible with 8-bit software, 3200 colors-on-screen, and of course amazing sound and music synthesis that speak for itself.
I never said Amiga users wished they had a IIGS. I said Amiga users respected the sound chip (which was designed by Bob Yannes, creator of the C64's SID chip). By the way, I personally own an Atari ST 1040 STf and an Amiga 500.
BrianPicchi 7 months ago
@BrianPicchi Atari ST is pretty neat because you can run PAL games on an NTSC system very easily. All you may need is a 50/60Hz disk if you run into any problems.
TeamRocketReviews 5 months ago
make me an offer on my apple II gs rom 00 and I might consider it thanks:)
Goblues1980 7 months ago
@BrianPicchi How hard is it to find on eBay? Are the great games (Defender Of The Crown, Zany Golf, Rastan, etc.) rare on eBay?
TeamRocketReviews 8 months ago
What a great computer! I might get one of these someday. Classic
TeamRocketReviews 8 months ago
@TeamRocketReviews
You definitely should. It's an awesome computer!
BrianPicchi 8 months ago
This isn't spam but I have an original rom version 00 on ebay right now I came here looking for research, it must be rare because I can't find anything about rom 00
Goblues1980 8 months ago
@Goblues1980
The ROM 00 version is rare because most ROM 00 users back in the day had Apple upgrade their machines to be ROM 01 because ROM 00 were incompatible with most software built in the late 80s and early 90s. I have one ROM 00 mobo inside its original WOZ edition case. I hardly use it, but it's a great collectors item. One thing I would ask the seller (unless the pictures tell you this) is what the manufacturing date is on the mobo. It should be in 1986 or early '87 if its legit.
BrianPicchi 8 months ago
@BrianPicchi It is made in 1986, and will go from boot up directly to check start up disk with no version displayed at any time. What is really weird is that it isn't even a WOZ edition, so that may make it very rare.
Goblues1980 8 months ago
In regards to CPU accelerator products for the Apple IIGS, neither the TransWarp GS or Zip GS cost "thousands of dollars"--not then or even now. The 7 MHz Zip GS was available for as little as $149 back in late 1990 (the TransWarp GS from the previous year was more costly at around $600, and only 6 MHz).
Users quickly discovered how to modify them to run up to and over 15 MHz.
In the day, upgrades such as an accelerator, additional memory and a hard disk breathed new life into the IIGS!
Apple2gs 1 year ago
@Apple2gs
Thanks for the info. I couldn't totally recall what the price was back in the day, I had read somewhere they sold for over $1000 at some point, but again I wasn't sure. What I was sure about was that I've seen them sell on ebay for over $500 within the past year.
BrianPicchi 1 year ago
Correction: The TransWarp GS retailed for US$399 (according to the April '89 issue of A+ Magazine that reviewed it). And I do remember it gradually dropping in price. Sorry for the misquote, I was thinking of the Canadian price, particularly when the exchange rate on the US dollar was so low back then!
Apple2gs 10 months ago
@Apple2gs
Wow, so the transwarp GS has actually gone up in price since its release. The ZipGS has gone up over 3X the original price. That's nuts! I just assumed that since these things go for around $400-600 nowadays that they would have been more back in the day since virtually all computers and accessories depreciate over time. Thanks for the information!
BrianPicchi 10 months ago
this is an awesome review
jumpnslash 1 year ago
It was a good computer.
But still I loved the mighty COMMODORE 64. I loved the SID chip better, there is just something about the SID chip that sounded so awesome.
I had both but my apt got busted into and it got stolen.
snake2006 1 year ago
@snake2006 Did you know that Bob Yannes, the creator of the SID chip also had a hand in the design of the Ensoniq 5503DOC used in the IIgs?
NJRoadfan 10 months ago
thanks for the great review, I'm strongly thinking about getting one but I am a bit bummed that it doesnt' seem like there are a lot of top notch IIGS exclusive games. I mean I'm sure back in the day they were. We'll see, it is an awfully pretty computer.
panzeroceania 1 year ago
Love the Silpheed music in the background at the start...but it's not the IIGS version! :-)
HelixNRG 1 year ago
@HelixNRG
Very true, it's from a NEC PC-8801. Good ear! I'm surprised anyone even recognized it.
BrianPicchi 1 year ago
Just had one of these offered as a donation, can't wait until it arrives! It will be my first Apple II-series machine, I cannot freaking wait. Thanks for the review and all the other IIGS videos! Great stuff, looks like an exceptional machine and 100% chick-magnet.
phreakindee 1 year ago 2
Thank you Brian.
Mauro
oraclemasterit 1 year ago