A Tale of Three Platinums

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jsa
jsa's picture
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A Tale of Three Platinums

I've recently been restoring some Apple //e Platinum machines, and I ran into something curious. I've read in the past that these machines went on sale in January 1987, and there was essentially one release of the motherboard, the final Apple //e.

You guys probably already knew this, but just in case anyone ever is researching this in the future, I've found two distinct motherboard revisions, amongst some other nuances. I'm curious what the forensic experts here have to say on the Platinum //e's.

The first of my three platinums has a board marked as manufactured in 1986, and "D" stamped in the revision:

IMAGE(http://imageshack.us/a/img856/6288/g44s.jpg)
IMAGE(http://imageshack.us/a/img202/3371/v5c9.jpg)
IMAGE(http://imageshack.us/a/img856/2570/iwxh.jpg)
IMAGE(http://imageshack.us/a/img163/5825/0lyf.jpg)

The second has a board marked manufactured in 1987 and "E" stamped in the revision:

IMAGE(http://imageshack.us/a/img713/4254/qxvh.jpg)
IMAGE(http://imageshack.us/a/img823/8518/4pjp.jpg)
IMAGE(http://imageshack.us/a/img837/1396/rssc.jpg)
IMAGE(http://imageshack.us/a/img20/3602/06ue.jpg)

The third has a board marked manufactured in 1988 and "E" stamped in the revision:

IMAGE(http://imageshack.us/a/img23/2075/nnzg.jpg)
IMAGE(http://imageshack.us/a/img42/4378/scqc.jpg)
IMAGE(http://imageshack.us/a/img826/8987/8b4p.jpg)
IMAGE(http://imageshack.us/a/img542/3677/f6pm.jpg)

Does this jibe with what is known out there? What's the difference between the Rev D and Rev E motherboards? Also, did these things really not sell until 1987? Seems like a manufacturing run was going prior to that time.

Dog Cow's picture
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Re: A Tale of Three Platinums

The company wants to have the product available to sell at the time it starts selling, so it starts manufacturing earlier.

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Re: A Tale of Three Platinums

jsa,

From my perspective, I have never really looked that hard at the Platinum IIe's.
I have one set up on the bench that I use as my primary Apple II unit,
although I have not looked at the differences.
I have spent most of my time looking at the II's and II Plus units.

Now, the best place to go (in my opinion) would be Here:

http://apple2history.org/

and look up the section on the Platinum units.

Whichis what I plan on doing this evening.

Steven Smile

jsa
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Re: A Tale of Three Platinums

Yes, I've viewed these sites, including the apple2history site. Unless I'm missing it, I'm not finding references to two revisions of the Platinum motherboard.

I could take photos of both, I suppose, and do a compare/contrast... but there must be a better way. Smile

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Re: A Tale of Three Platinums

There are no major differences in the 'platinum' //e motherboards - I have D, K, Y - I keep hoping I'll find an O, N and an E so I can truthfully say I have a DONKEY load of motherboards. The '86 run was the initial batch, then came the 1987 update with a minor engineering tweek.

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