Keep or Toss? Radius 21″ Greyscale Mac Monitor

November 8th, 2007 by Benj Edwards

I need to clean out my garage. That’s where I keep most of my computer collection. In order to have space for new and exciting things, some of the older, less exciting, and bulkier items must go.

Radius TPD/21E 21\" Greyscale Macintosh Monitor

Up on the block today is this nifty Radius TDP/21E 21″ greyscale monitor. It’s a unique piece of Macintosh history, but it’s huge. It has the peculiar resolution of 1152 x 870, doesn’t support color, and requires a unique NuBus controller card to work (which, incidentally, I have). Honestly, if I had a warehouse to store these things in, I’d definitely keep it. But I recently received it as a donation, and I don’t really have the room for it.

So I thought I’d let you guys decide for me. Is it worth saving, even if it takes up tons of space and I’ll never really use it? On the other hand, I could always toss out something else to make room for it. I’m having trouble deciding, so help me out.



11 Responses to “Keep or Toss? Radius 21″ Greyscale Mac Monitor”

  1. Matt Says:

    I had one of those back in the day. Hooked up to a Mac II. That’s a pretty hefty screen, I remember my desk warping under its weight. If it were color you could at least use it but I wouldn’t keep a greyscale screen.

  2. mrnukem Says:

    If you toss it donate it to your local Goodwill or other thrift type shop. Get a receipt when you donate it and claim real retail value at the time you bought it. You can claim those donations as a tax credit and a collector may see it and get a good deal on it at the thrift shop.

  3. David Rogers Says:

    At the very least, put it on eBay! Someone out there will want it for their collection.

  4. Greg Says:

    The obvious answer is to do what I did with my old Apple Two-Page monitor (I also have a working one in my garage … I can’t bring myself to get rid of it, especially because I have the special card for this one as well).

    Anyway, yeah. Make it into an aquarium! Sure, it’s a pain to clean, but if you outfit it with a matching Mac II base, you’ll get at least 2 or 3 comments. 😉

  5. Benj Edwards Says:

    Sadly, like most bulky obsolete computer equipment, it’s not worth putting on eBay. Mostly because someone will want to pay no more than $1 for it but have to pay $80 shipping. It weighs a billion pounds.

    And that’s an interesting suggestion, Greg. I always wanted to make a MacQuarium since the first one became popular on the Net in the mid 1990s. And I was thinking about getting a bigger aquarium for my green sunfish. Hmm…not sure it’s worth the labor. 🙂

    Looks like you did an awesome job on yours though.

  6. Moondog Says:

    I hate having to throw out something that works,even when I don’t have a use for it! Would it be worth hauling to a hamfest or swap meet?

  7. Benj Edwards Says:

    I know exactly whatcha mean, Moondog. I hate chucking perfectly good equipment too, even if it’s obsolete. Still, I can’t keep everything. That’s why the choice is so hard.

  8. Andrew Says:

    Neat stuff. The aquarium idea sounds cool, if a little work.

    Those things take up so much space though. I don’t think my desk would accommodate CRT monitors now.

  9. jgoreham Says:

    If it must be pitched, please dispose of it responsibly! There’s no need for this to just end up in a landfill (then again, I’m sure that a collector such as yourself would be well versed in electronics recycling). I’d say post around and see if anybody wants to swap it for a piece of kit (of equal-ish value) that you would like that’s easier to store 🙂

  10. Moondog Says:

    Maybe you can find it a new home through Craigslist? There’s gotta be someone in your area looking for a rare boat anchor 🙂

  11. Chris Says:

    I doubt they’d want to pay to have it shipped, but if you happen to be anywhere near the Computer Barn Museum or whatever it’s called, it seems to be the type of thing they’d like to have. We used one of these, exactly the same thing with the NuBus card to do our college newspaper, hooked to a Mac SE, then a Mac II. I totally understand how it’s hard to throw stuff like this out, but unless you can foresee a real use for it in the near future, I’d get rid of it. Incidentally, when we retired those machines, I obtained the SE, but didn’t keep the monitor. Just too bulky and heavy.

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