A Performa 200 is the same machine as a ClassicII. It shares case designs with the Classic, but differs internally by way of a 16MHz 68030 processor. There are few ways to upgrade a Performa 200. Some clock accelerators are available, but these introduce possible complications. The system uses an internal 3.5" SCSI hard drive and does contain a "modern" floppy drive. It is technically able to run all systems up to 7.5.5, although 7.1 is probably more tolerable for it. It's modern uses can range from a simple word processor to an e-mail machine or kitchen counter-top database. It's limit of 10MB RAM is still adequate for many such programs. The speed of a Performa 200 is relatively good despite it's 16bit bus, primarily due to it's having only to deal with a 9" monochrome display.
Advantages
Price
The used price of a Performa 200 makes it a good value for light word processing, record keeping, and possible email.
Size
At 16 pounds and rather compact, a Performa 200 uses about as much space as a PowerBook.
Drawbacks
Speed
This unit can easily be overwhelmed. The 80MB hard drive included with this model is quite reliable but not very fast.
Upgradeability
Aside from adding more memory, not much can be safely done to upgrade a Performa 200.
The United Computer Exchange index reflects average sales prices of new and used Macs. For more pricing information on these and other models, visit http://www.uce.com.
