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$15 for a Wallstreet!? Yes!

Maniacintosh

Well-known member
I have to thank my brother for finding a nice PowerBook G3 Wallstreet in the Rice University classifieds and purchasing it for me. I'm going to college in the fall and I had been eyeing Wallstreets on Ebay for a while. When he comes home for the summer with it on Sunday, it will be mine! Here are the specs:

13.3" screen

250 Mhz G3

160 MB RAM

1 MB Backside L2 Cache

ATI Rage LT 4MB

4.0 GB HD

56k Modem

Mac OS 9.2

Windows 98 SE (Virtual PC) - Hooray for Roller Coaster Tycoon!

Two batteries (condition - unknown)

"UFO" AC Adaptor

CompactFlash PC Card adaptor

USB PC Card

Case in great shape with only a few scuffs on the bottom

I can't wait to get it on Sunday!!

I'm aware that the 13.3" screens have a questionable reliability record, but my brother said that this PB's screen has no issues like flickering, blanking out, etc.

 
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iMac600

Well-known member
I've been looking for an OS X capable G3 PowerBook, but they're all in the $100+ mark here. Have any tips to finding $15 G3's? :p

 

gobabushka

Well-known member
sweet dude!!! but id replace the yoyo ac adapter, they are prone to failure, ive had two fail on me!

 

Maniacintosh

Well-known member
I have a BTI adaptor for my 3400c that will also work with it. I have no need to run OS X - I prefer the zippy simplicity of 9.

 

wally

Well-known member
Any tips or tricks I should know about this machine?
The outer shield braid of some of the yo-yo cables is not as ductile as it should be so it shreds itself with the flexing of ordinary use. This can be at the plug end or at the point where the cable goes inside the yo-yo. If you wrap some tape at the plug end to act as a strain relief/bend radius protector, and never unwrap the last turn around the yo-yo the cable will last much longer.

 

The Macster

Well-known member
If you wrap some tape at the plug end to act as a strain relief/bend radius protector, and never unwrap the last turn around the yo-yo the cable will last much longer.
I saw something once before saying that the reason the yo-yos die is that people use them with the cable wrapped around it, which makes them get too hot or something and they burn out, thus they should be used with the cable not wound around it - I had assumed that this was true, but is it not?

 

Maniacintosh

Well-known member
Just got it! It's really in great shape, too. The only issue is that the screen wobbles a little :-( Can this be easily tightened? The screen has two dead pixels, but they're not really noticeable. One battery holds a good 2.5 hrs, one holds 0.

 

Maniacintosh

Well-known member
...and my brother was kind enough to give me the PB for FREE! :) Seriously, my only beef with it is the wobbly hinge, everything else is just perfect. What would be an economical option? Are they possible to repair, or do they require a full replacement? Keep in mind, I'll also be buying a new battery.

 

Quadraman

Well-known member
As with any old computer, I wouldn't expect to get any help from Apple in the way of parts. Any parts you are able to come across will be new-old-stock, used parts or parts pulled from other machines yourself. Being technically inclined or knowing someone who is will be a big help if something you can't live with needs to be repaired. That's part of the reason why so many of us have such huge collections. It's to keep us in parts when things start breaking down.

As to the hinge, it depends on the hinge. If it is held together with screws, they sometimes loosen with use and need tightening. If there is pin holding it together like a door hinge, the pin may be slightly bent from abuse. I don't know exactly what type of hinge holds the Wallstreet together so I really can't say precisely what the problem might be, just give examples of the two hinge types I know of from other brands of laptops. The laptop I am using now has hinges held together with screws and both of them actually loosened up and fell apart while the machine was still under warranty. The biggest problem, I think, is going to be finding disassembly instructions because laptop makers can be diabolical in placing screws and fasteners and the order they have to be loosened to get the case open sometimes. The clamshell iBooks are particularly infamous for being hard to open.

 

wally

Well-known member
If you wrap some tape at the plug end to act as a strain relief/bend radius protector, and never unwrap the last turn around the yo-yo the cable will last much longer.
I saw something once before saying that the reason the yo-yos die is that people use them with the cable wrapped around it, which makes them get too hot or something and they burn out, thus they should be used with the cable not wound around it - I had assumed that this was true, but is it not?
Good question. Usually, for reliable electronics lower temperature is preferred. I do not know what temperature is reached internally and whether this is a significant cause of premature failure. I did make some surface temperature measurements.

Yo-yo top surface center measured temperature rises over ambient, power supply driving one amp into a resistive load box, at a constant 27.0 C room temperature:

fully wound power cord: 16.0 C over ambient (43 C measured surface temp)

one turn remaining: 14.0 C over ambient

fully unwound power cord: 13.8 C over ambient

unwound, paper draped: 18.1 C over ambient (single sheet of laser printer paper on top, simulating my office clutter, 45.1 C measured surface temp)

The cord wrap does make a measurable temperature difference of unknown significance, so always unwrapping all but the last turn (not my original recommendation!) is perhaps a reasonable precautionary strategy given that cord fatigue at the ends is a observed failure mechanism...unless the cord starts breaking along its length faster than the yo-yo fails from temperature! [?] [;)] ]'>

 

MacJunky

Well-known member
The only issue is that the screen wobbles a little :-( Can this be easily tightened?
not without work.
As to the hinge, it depends on the hinge. If it is held together with screws, they sometimes loosen with use and need tightening. If there is pin holding it together like a door hinge, the pin may be slightly bent from abuse.
It is ridges on a pin and in part of the hinge wearing down.I will upload some pics and perhaps a 3D model later.

*Edit

Ok, here are some hinge pics, though without a good hinge I cannot tell if the ridges in the female side or the pin are the issue. I would guess both to some degree though and it does seem that the matte metal is not as strong.

http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/188/10023022cg4.jpg

http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/2379/10023042md3.jpg

Also, if you have your display removed from the base of the PowerBook try moving the hinges with your fingers. If you can then that hinge has issues and should be replaced as there is now more force being exerted on the other hinge that will result in it's more rapid failure. (that is what happened to my PDQ)

*Edit

Just so you know there are a bunch of metal horseshoe shaped ring like things in the large part of the smaller piece (the one with the pin) and they provide friction to hold the display up yet allow the pin to rotate to facilitate movement of the display. The pin should _not_ be rotating on the side with the ridges! It should be rotating on the side with the metal horseshoe like things.

 

Maniacintosh

Well-known member
Would there be any issues involved with simply swapping out the whole display for a nice 14.1" unit with good hinges?

 
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