| Description | |
| Manufacturer | Apple Computer Corporation |
| Model | Lisa II |
| Date Announced | 1983 |
| Date Canceled | 1985 |
| Number Produced | Roughly 100,000 |
| Country of Origin | USA |
| Price | $10,000 |
| Current Value | $100 to $3,000 depending on model |
| Specifications | |
| Processor | Motorola 68000 |
| Speed | 5 MHz |
| RAM | 1 MB |
| ROM | Unknown |
| Storage | Built in Floppy Drive (5.25" "Twiggy" drives on the original Lisa, 3.5" drives on the later Lisa 2 and Mac XL), Optional external 3.5" floppies, ProFile Hard Drive |
| Expansion | 3 internal slots |
| Bus | Lisa proprietary |
| Video | 720 x 364 monochrome |
| I/O | Parallel, Serial |
| OS Options | Lisa OS or MacWorks (on the XL) |
| Notes | The Lisa computer was the first Apple machine with a GUI operating system. It pre-dated the original Mac by about a year. There are several variations of the Lisa starting with the Lisa 1 which had two 5.25" "Twiggy" floppy drives. Later versions had 3.5" Mac type floppy drives and, optionally, 5 or 10MB internal hard drives. The latest version of the machine was the Mac XL which was a Lisa 2 running MacWorks which allowed it to be compatible with the Macintosh. |
| Related Items in Collection | Two other Lisas, one a 2/10. One is painted black for some reason (by a prior owner), original Lisa manuals, 7/7 software and a ProFile hard drive |
| Related Items Wanted | Lisa 1 (Twiggy 5.25" drives), original Lisa mice, original Lisa software. |
During the 1970s the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) was an amazingly productive think-tank which conceptualized and created much of the technology that we are familiar with today. Things like the laser printer, for instance, originated at PARC. The Graphical User Interface was also first developed there.
In the early 1980s both Apple and Microsoft toured PARC and were inspired by the GUI technology they saw there. Xerox had produced the Alto and later the Star GUI based computers with little market success. Microsoft borrowed heavily from PARC to create the first version of Windows which was released to the general public late in 1983. Apple entered the GUI marketplace early in the same year with the original Apple Lisa.
Richard Harrington kindly donated these two Apple Lisa machines to my collection. Both are Lisa 2s with 3.5" floppy drives instead of the original Lisa "twiggy" 5.25" drives.
As you can see from the picture they are a little dirty. The one on the left boots to the screen looking for a disk but the screen image is distorted. The one on the right appears to be completely dead but it may just be having trouble with the case interlocks (the machines won't power with the cases open).
I'll be thoroughly cleaning and hopefully restoring at least one of these machines to full operation in the near future.
(Submitted December 14, 2008 15:09:07 by Zane)
Are any of these available for a low price ($100 or under). I would like to buy one
(Submitted September 28, 2008 16:46:29 by gsteemso)
I've got a Lisa II with no internal hard drive, along with a 5MiB Profile HD. It has mouse and keyboard but is dead as a doornail due to corrosion. I intend to restore it when I learn how. Does anyone know if the technical documentation on these systems that Apple's corporate museum donated to Stanford University survived the flood the library there had right afterwards? That's a long way to drive if you can't be sure the info is still available.
(Submitted June 27, 2008 11:45:40 by linuxlove)
If anyonewoul like to part with a Lisa, let me know: www.wildwildbloggingworld.blogspot.com
(Submitted November 19, 2007 22:50:54 by Patrick Castel)
Apple Lisa Model A6S0300 Serial Number A4159020 Original Mouse Original Keyboard Original ProFile Hard Drive Model A9M0005 Serial Number D03539 Original Apple Care Service Source CDs for Lisa computers and Macintoshes Mar 1995 Nov 1995 Feb 1996 Oct 1996 Dec 1996 Feb 1997 Dec 1997 Apr 1998 Jun 1998 Aug 1998 Nov 1998 May 2000 Aug 2000 Nov 2000
FOR SALE BEST OFFER
(Submitted October 18, 2007 19:31:18 by Blair)
My parents bought a Lisa from Sun Remarketing back when I was growing up. At the time, it was an inexpensive way of running Mac software. (Compared to the price of a new Mac Plus at the time) Recently, I came into possesion of five of these machines this past summer. I sold a few of the machines, but kept a nice Lisa 2/5 (with the original box, software, manuals, etc.). I also have a Lisa 2/10 aka Macintosh XL that also happens to have the original box (In very nice condition, I might add). I have both sets of ROMs so I can run the Lisa Office System, or MacWorks if I choose.
(Submitted September 25, 2007 14:29:47 by Midknite)
I have a Lisa... I'm guessing it's a lisa 2 by the 3.5 floppy. I have been trying to find info on the date of manufacture and exactly which model it is. I am interested in selling it. It's in great working condition. I also have an external floppy and an Image Writer II (the heavy one)
(Submitted September 18, 2007 15:26:37 by rob)
I have a perfectly functional Mac XL. Is it worth more or less than the Lisa 2?
(Submitted September 12, 2007 04:36:18 by roberto)
I am looking for a good Lisa, if anybody has one to sell, trade or else please email me. thank you
(Submitted September 10, 2007 15:45:31 by Tosh )
I would buy a Apple Lisa ASAP if you have the original reciept!
(Submitted August 21, 2007 05:37:42 by ppp)
If somebody sell the Lisa. Please let me know.
I like to buy it.
Thanks, PAT
(Submitted February 27, 2007 09:56:29 by Alexander)
Anyone willing to part with a Lisa ?
(Submitted January 10, 2007 17:43:04 by James Begun)
1/2007 My original Lisa (XL with 1 meg) still works fine. Just like it did when I purchased it new in 1985.
(Submitted August 17, 2006 13:21:10 by Andrea)
I am looking for a good Lisa in Europe, if anybody has one to sell, trade or else please email me.
(Submitted July 17, 2006 14:50:57 by Franz)
I used to have a lisa around, i ended up throwing it out along time ago because it had a problem and i couldnt get a replacment part. Are there not many apple lisa around theese days? I look on ebay and saw no listings meaning it must be prety rare anymore.
(Submitted May 17, 2006 13:20:21 by Kyle Kusek)
Can i buy this computer from you???
(Submitted May 17, 2006 13:20:13 by Kyle Kusek)
Can i buy this computer from you???
(Submitted April 11, 2006 02:22:32 by Necesito_Dinero)
BTW, this comes with ALL the original software and manuals for the Lisa II. ;-)
(Submitted April 7, 2006 07:48:40 by Necesito_Dinero)
One is for sale on eBay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?
ViewItem&item=9709474139&ru=http%3A%2F%
2Fsearch.ebay.com%3A80%2Fsearch%2Fsearch.dll%
3Ffrom%3DR40%26satitle%3D9709474139%26fvi%3D1
(Submitted April 5, 2006 00:17:23 by dreddnott)
E-mail me, I have your Lisa mouse.
(Submitted January 7, 2006 00:53:52 by ben)
oh yea, if anyone has a spare working 1.2Amp power supply for a lisa i would be interseted in it, please email me.
(Submitted January 7, 2006 00:50:37 by Ben)
Hey, can someone help me. were mac XL's only made from the lisa 2/10 format computers or could you make a Mac XL from a Lisa 2/5 with a 1.2Amp PSU
(Submitted December 11, 2005 11:53:27 by camtho)
whats an apple gothic?, does it exist?
(Submitted July 18, 2005 19:20:26 by brad)
omg! i want a apple lisa so bad!
(Submitted December 26, 2004 06:50:51 by (a href=mailto:)Katherine Waters(/a))
Xerox (Alto and Star) and Lisa (and, for that matter, Macintosh) GUIs had *nothing* to do with X11. The previous poster is advised to check his/her facts straight.
(Submitted December 15, 2004 15:12:24 by Linux Gamer Person)
the LISA OS was actually built on a public release of the X11 Subsystem that gave the ALTO a GUI.
(Submitted October 15, 2004 06:11:17 by Cornelius Maass)
I am from South Africa and have the following Lisa equipment: Is it worth something, what can I do with it. I am not sure if they are working but plans to power them up and find out. 2 Apple Lisa 2,s with keyboards, mice, screens. Extra spares still in original packing, eg. a Spare motherboard, spare power supply,spare IO card, spare floppy drive, spare CRT etc. Various software with manuals, eg. pascal, database program, spreadsheet, wordprocessing, etc. that came with the original lisa. User manuals, etc. I am NOT shure but I think schematics as well. Apple daisywheel printer.