The RasterOps ColorBoard 264/SE30 is a very nice add-on for your Macintosh SE/30. It will give you the possiblility to attach a second monitor to your compact Mac. The card is able to give you 24-bit color on the attached display, with a 640x480 resolution. The colordepth can be changed in a range from 1-bit to 24-bit.
Pros:
24-bit Color on your Compact Mac.
Adds 640x480 pixels to your workspace.
Works without expensive RasterOps display software; color settings can be configured through the monitors control panel.
Cons:
Your Compact Mac isn't that compact anymore.
The card needs a display with a fixed resolution of 640x480.
If you do not have the software for the card, you need to buy it.
Installation:
The installation of the ColorBoard is very simple once you manage to open the case of the SE/30. The card consists of 3 parts; the main card, a cable and a small card which forms the connector on the back side of the SE/30. It is not necessary to install the part is a particular order, though installing the connector first, with the cable attached to it seems to easiest way.
Compatibility
I have tested the card with Mac OS 7.5.5. That works fine. I tried it as well with a System 6.0.8 startup floppy, but the screen attached to the ColorBoard stayed grey. I was not possible to move icons or other stuff to that screen. So I think it was not working at all. System 7.1 works well with the ColorBoard.
I tested it with two different monitors. One was a Apple Color Display and the other was a SONY Multiscan 420GS. The ACD is only capable of a 640x480 resolution so this makes it very suitable for connecting it to the ColorBoard.
The SONY is a multiple scan monitor. This makes it not suitable for this setup. However, you need a Mac/PC adapter anyway to connect this display to an older Mac. If you buy such an adaptor, buy one with dipswitches. With those switches you can fix the screen resolution of any multiple scan monitor at 640x480 pixels and make it work in a setup like this.
