Coolest 68k Powerbooks to own?

[3lectr1cPPC]

There’s a certain irony here, you have the holy grail of a tunnel vision free 180, but it’s so coveted that it can’t be fully enjoyed for fear of it degrading.

The degredation has nothing to do with use, so use one all you want if you actually do have one.

 

[alectrona6400]

hands down i love the 500 series. the trackpad may not be great (i mean it was the first laptop to use one) but i love my 520 even if its got a grayscale DSTN screen. the 100 series is also nice (i see the 150 in particular has some shortcomings though, and the 190 is a 68k version of the infamous 5300 series), though my 145B was beyond repair and the screen was broken unfortunately. the 500 series i like because it's unique, rather ergonomic, and quite fun to use especially if you rebuilt your battery like i did.

 

[croissantking]

Sorry, my sarcasm to text failed here. My 180 has tunnel vision and as per what most people see its takes some number of minutes for it to affect use. My poor attempt at a joke was if I only use it for 2 minutes I can pretend it does not have tunnel vision. Guess I’m not quitting my day job for comedy!

I did pick up on the humour, but I wasn’t sure. I’m afraid I tend to default to taking things literally, so don’t let the budding comedian in you feel crushed.

 

[christcc2]

My recommendations:

• 140, 145, or 170 for System 6 compatibility and because they're good B&W PowerBooks.
• 165c or 180c for 68030 color and System 7 variations. These have video out with a dongle so they can be used with an external monitor.
• 520c, 540c, or 550c for the top end of the 68K line. These have video out with a dongle so they can be used with an external monitor.

If I were still using a 68K PowerBook as my primary computer, I would go for the active matrix models. The active matrix models are great, but I don't think the passive matrix displays are as bad as most here make them out to be. You can usually get a good condition passive matrix model for a lot less than the active matrix ones, and since I only use my 68K PowerBooks for a few hours each week it isn't necessary for me to spend the extra $.

Concur on the 165c. I have one that I'm mostly done restoring. Need to either recap the display or just fully replace the panel (which works mostly fine once it's warmed up).

 

[christcc2]

...cap leakage issues / other logicboard failures and general unreliability of SE/30s are what keeps me away from them. Not to dis the SE/30 (or 68k PowerBooks) but these old Macs are just that - old - so, routine TLC and preventative maintenance comes with the territory.

For me, my 68k PB faves are my PB 100s [which I've just begun the process of restoring & re-capping - one has already gone to another member here] and my PB 180C - which recently had a screen re-cap and is looking great! A couple photos :

View attachment 73875 View attachment 73889

That 180C shot does not do the screen justice... so here it is close up :

View attachment 73893

What version of System 7 do you prefer to run on yours?

 

[croissantking]

Personally I like to run 7.5.5 across the board.

 

[RetroTechTom]

I've got a panel from a 140 that I'd be willing to sell; it's been recapped but I think it is starting to have a small amount of dead pixels. Last time I checked it still works.

That would be awesome since I wanted to get my 145 working again and I wouldn't mind the dead pixels if they are a minor issue

 

[PB145B]

The 100 series (from 140 on up) are my favorites. I like the look, feel and overall simple design of them. Pretty reliable too aside from some screen and plastic standoff issues, most of which can be fixed fairly easily. I think the keyboards are great despite what some say, and the trackballs are incredible once you get them cleaned and running smooth!

I used to really dig the 190cs, but I got sick of the incredibly brittle plastic on it, so I sold it. I actually sold my 540c too, so the only 68k 'Books I have left are my 145B and 170, both of which need some work, which I will be doing soon. There's a few other 100 series I'd like to get, and I think I will be sticking with them exclusively for 68k PowerBooks going forward.

 

[RetroTechTom]

The 100 series (from 140 on up) are my favorites. I like the look, feel and overall simple design of them. Pretty reliable too aside from some screen and plastic standoff issues, most of which can be fixed fairly easily. I think the keyboards are great despite what some say, and the trackballs are incredible once you get them cleaned and running smooth!

I used to really dig the 190cs, but I got sick of the incredibly brittle plastic on it, so I sold it. I actually sold my 540c too, so the only 68k 'Books I have left are my 145B and 170, both of which need some work, which I will be doing soon. There's a few other 100 series I'd like to get, and I think I will be sticking with them exclusively for 68k PowerBooks going forward.

I always wanted to own a 190cs but since those are way too fragile I never bothered to get one

 

[PB145B]

I always wanted to own a 190cs but since those are way too fragile I never bothered to get one

Yeah, the plastic sucks on them. Very thin and brittle.

 

[Shaddam IV]

I like the 160/165 series Powerbooks. The passive matrix screens are, once recapped, rock solid. There are no dead pixels (as they are passive matrix and have no individual transistors) nor tunnel vision. The display isn't very pretty at anything beyond 1 bit color depth, but the machines have video out for those who need color (or a larger screen).
The batteries are very easy to rebuild with NiCds or NiMHs (2 packs à 5 AA cells) as they sport no electronics. Replacement power supplies are cheap easy to find even on Amazon.
I'm currently testing replacement CCFLs which looks promising.
The original powerbook form factor is aesthetically pleasing (well ok, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder), and I'll take trackball over a microscopic track pad every day.
The machines' only drawback is that they're cumbersome to disassemble - they were very obviously not built for ease of access to the individual parts (modem, hard drive, memory, PRAM battery etc), but that goes for the entire 1xx series (except perhaps the 100 but I haven't run across one of those). Spindler Plastic means that you may need to fix broken nuts and bolts with resin or hot glue.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

The machines' only drawback is that they're cumbersome to disassemble - they were very obviously not built for ease of access to the individual parts (modem, hard drive, memory, PRAM battery etc),

I actually disagree - I need to write up or shoot a video tutorial on how to disassemble these. Not sure if it’s just me, but I find the entire 100 series extremely painless to take apart. Not sure if that’s just a me thing or if other people don’t know the right way to take them apart. Broken plastics aside of course.
Besides that, I 100% agree with your points. 160/165 are great machines.

 

[mikes-macs]

My PowerBook 520c runs cool, I’ve never felt it getting too hot.

 

[PB145B]

I like the 160/165 series Powerbooks. The passive matrix screens are, once recapped, rock solid. There are no dead pixels (as they are passive matrix and have no individual transistors) nor tunnel vision. The display isn't very pretty at anything beyond 1 bit color depth, but the machines have video out for those who need color (or a larger screen).
The batteries are very easy to rebuild with NiCds or NiMHs (2 packs à 5 AA cells) as they sport no electronics. Replacement power supplies are cheap easy to find even on Amazon.
I'm currently testing replacement CCFLs which looks promising.
The original powerbook form factor is aesthetically pleasing (well ok, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder), and I'll take trackball over a microscopic track pad every day.
The machines' only drawback is that they're cumbersome to disassemble - they were very obviously not built for ease of access to the individual parts (modem, hard drive, memory, PRAM battery etc), but that goes for the entire 1xx series (except perhaps the 100 but I haven't run across one of those). Spindler Plastic means that you may need to fix broken nuts and bolts with resin or hot glue.

Fully agree aside from the fact that I think these are very easy to work on! I’ve always found the design to be dead simple and I love it.

Yeah, the 160/165s are so cool, I’m probably going to get one pretty soon. Would complement my passive 145B nicely! The passive displays are great on these machines once recapped.

I actually disagree - I need to write up or shoot a video tutorial on how to disassemble these. Not sure if it’s just me, but I find the entire 100 series extremely painless to take apart. Not sure if that’s just a me thing or if other people don’t know the right way to take them apart. Broken plastics aside of course.
Besides that, I 100% agree with your points. 160/165 are great machines.

Yeah, I think they are very easy! I love the way the entire bottom comes off with all of the major components on it. I think that’s really nifty.

Once you repair whatever standoffs are broken these really are solid machines. Parts are really easy to find also.

 

[croissantking]

I think these are very easy to work on!

I do beg to differ, this form factor has given me a lot of headaches…

 

[PB145B]

I do beg to differ, this form factor has given me a lot of headaches…

You’re certainly entitled to your opinion! But out of all the laptops I have worked on, these are quite simply designed in my opinion.

 

[desertrout]

You’re certainly entitled to your opinion! But out of all the laptops I have worked on, these are quite simply designed in my opinion.

I do beg to differ, this form factor has given me a lot of headaches…

I actually disagree - I need to write up or shoot a video tutorial on how to disassemble these. Not sure if it’s just me, but I find the entire 100 series extremely painless to take apart. Not sure if that’s just a me thing or if other people don’t know the right way to take them apart. Broken plastics aside of course.

Especially compared to most other laptops, I agree the 1xx series is very easy to work on. The only finicky part for me is disconnecting / reconnecting the interconnect (I have pretty large hands), but relatively speaking it's not really difficult.
I'd be curious to see how others do it, but for me positioning the machine on its side solves most issues I hear about.

 

[Shaddam IV]

Well, say you want to change the hard drive. Apart from dealing with the finicky interconnect board, you have to
- unmount any memory on the daughter card so as to get at the screw underneath
- unmount the daughter card
- unmount the metal holder that holds the floppy and hard drives in place (which is a pain to do where a metal tongue needs to be pressed in real hard, close to the hard drive)
- carefully unmount the ribbon cable from the drive as its glued (!) to that metal holder.
Compared to the 5xx series where memory and drives are quickly accessible from underneath the keyboard, that's pretty complex. Compared to modern Macs, of course, it's great. I have no experience with other laptops of the early nineties.

 

[RetroTechTom]

Yeah, the plastic sucks on them. Very thin and brittle.

Even my old 5300cs that I used to have did fell apart and I parted it out and recycled it

 

[just.in.time]

The best machine w/re any given hobby is the one in your hands.

This is very true right here.

I had one each of the PowerBook 500 series, excluding the 550c, never got that one. Got my first one very early 2000s, and then sold all of them off a few years ago. I will say, the 540 and 540c both had absolutely amazing displays, especially considering their age. Also nice was all of them had some upgraded ram, from 8MB to 36MB.

In the end, I decided to get rid of the 520, 520c, 540, and 540c because all 4 of mine were in good operational condition and physical condition. No working batteries though. Decided to get rid of them before things started to fall apart. Even the power supply had way more complexity than any before or after that series, making aftermarket replacements a more complex search.

Just last week I picked up my first 68k ‘Book since I sold the 540c a few years back. It’s a PowerBook 165c. Like has already been mentioned, decided to go for it due to price ($30), super simple power supply (compared to 500 series), simple easy to repair batteries, and supposed ease of disassembly and repair. I got lucky that mine came with the RAM maxed at 14MB.

I’d be open to a PowerBook 180c though. No doubt the display would be way better quality than the 165c panel (if the 520c vs 540c is any good indicator). And pretty sure my RAM could be transferred between the two computers.

So for authentic, neat factor I’d say best is 180c, followed by 165c or any of the passive matrix grayscale models. Due to tunnel vision issue I personally wouldn’t take an active matrix grayscale 100 series unless it’s free.

However, for most capable, I’d agree with someone else in this thread that mentioned the 190cs WITH the 5300c display swap. Assuming you can find one with decent condition plastics.