Hey all,
Newcomer here. Do we have a section for getting started?
I've just acquired a IIe platinum with a 655-0101 (Uni/Duo) disk controller and an 80COL/64k expansion card (quite the find!) and while I am already having a blast typing up little programs and games in AppleSoft BASIC as my dad used to, I'm here for any and all suggestion on anything and everything a seasoned fan would have on their to do list.
I have a CRT that is sufficient so far (at least until I find a nice PVM or the original composite display) and am lurking eBay for a reasonably priced DuoDisk.
Help!
The New Apple II User's Guide is a great place to start. It's an up-to-date book that I wrote a few years ago.
Unidisks are a good bit cheaper than Duodisks, and you can daisy chain them. Unless you're after the look of the Duodisk, you could buy one Undisk now, and get a second one later, if it turns out you miss having the second drive. For casual hobbyist use, you might be happy with just one.
You'll also want a means of transferring files to the Apple II. Perhaps BMOW's Floppy Emu or ADTPro.
Aside from ADTPro, which you can use with two aux cables to the cassette ports on the back of the //e, I would recommend going to the Apple ][ Game server: http://asciiexpress.net/gameserver/
They have a bunch of old arcade games there that you can load through the cassette port nearest to the joystick port on your //e with no additional hardware. Unfortunately, Centipede won't work as it requires a 6502 processor and the //e platinum has a 65C02, but there are a ton of other classics that will. Until you have a floppy drive, you will be limited by software, but the game server makes a lot of popular titles available. Also, once you get your floppy drive, the site also hosts a Disk Server with a bunch of disk images (including must-have classics like Oregon Trail, DOS Master 3.4 and even ADTPro) utilizing instadisk loader that you can write to disk without ADTPro over the same cassette ports. http://asciiexpress.net/diskserver/
As for ADTPro, it's a great program that I use all the time, and as I said, it works well with the cassette ports, if a little slow. However, it's a good idea to get a Super Serial Card and a 25 pin to 9 pin serial cable with 9 pin USB to serial adapter, which will allow you to transfer disk images to floppy faster than the cassette ports. This card can also be used to interface with a printer if you like.
For gaming, Joysticks and paddles can be expensive for Apple II's, but it's worth it. There's not much choice when it comes to paddles (Apple or nothing from what I've found), but I would recommend the CH Joysticks over the Apple ones personally.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but I'll see if I can think of anything else.
thank you guys!! shoutout to dog cow for the new user's guide!
I bought 2 ... one signed by the author. That one get's filed away for the kids when they inherit my Apple ][ collection.
The book is well written. I found that it awakened a lot of old memories, particularly in the programming sections.
Great book for those who are starting out with the Apple ][.