Looking at a PowerBook 1400

[benjgvps]

As my PowerBook 150 has bitten the dust I no longer have a portable computer. I have been reading Wikipidia articles and websites about the PowerBook 1400.

I am used to the cruddy screen on my 150 and love a color screen when I see one so the passive matrix wouldn't be a deal breaker. I would love PC Card slots so that I can expand it cheaply, CD-ROM drives would be a life saver to avoid booting from a floppy and transferring a mounted image over a network.

What I haven't found in any article is if the power plug issue that occurs on the 3400c carries on to the 1400 series. I also haven't found a picture of the ports on the rear.

Should I go on a hunt for one?

 

[Franklinstein]

The "plug issues" typically plague only the 190/5300-series, mostly because of the tiny plug (which could break easily) and receptacle (whose solder joints would often break loose from the motherboard). The receptacle part was a relatively easy repair, as it simply requires a fairly straight-forward resoldering (after completely removing the logic board...).

I've never heard of any chronic power-related failures on the 3400 or any machine with that style plug (save for the WallStreet/PDQ). My 3400s are all in fine working condition, as are my 1400s and 2400s and the various G3s, though one or two machines needed to have the receptacle soldered down.

The ports on the 1400 are the same as the 5300, except for the fact that the 1400's expansion slot could hold either video or Ethernet solutions (others may exist, but aren't common), or be blank. The 5300 typically had a video expansion installed, or nothing. The 1400 often shipped with nothing occupying its expansion slot. I think I've only got one 1400 (a Japanese 1400cs/166) with an expansion, and it's an Ethernet card that I can't find drivers for...

Unless you currently have several expansions/parts or the inclination to upgrade a 1400 to a G3, or a fetish for that particular 'Book, I'd suggest pursuing a 3400, or even a WallStreet instead. I've purchased 12"/233MHz WallStreets for $10 on eBay before, which is less than you'll pay for a decent 1400, and 3400s have no real processor upgrade path so they'll often sell for less than a 1400.

 

[Bunsen]

The ports on the 1400 are the same as the 5300, except for the fact that the 1400's expansion slot could hold either video or Ethernet solutions

The 1400 expansion slot doesn't take the same cards as the 5300 slot, does it?

 

[Franklinstein]

No, no, they were completely different physically: the 5300 had a ~12x4cm card whereas the 1400 took a fairly square ~6x4cm card.

Of course, they were the same electrically, more or less, and the connector may or may not be the same. It's a shame they weren't interchangeable, really, but besides the power plug, virtually nothing on the 1400 was the same as any other machine.

I was comparing by what was commonly installed: either video or nothing depending on a 5300's trim level (base and cs were often blank, c and ce almost always had video-out), or whatever was BTO in the 1400, which was often nothing - I've yet to see a 1400 with a factory-installed card.

There were 3rd party manufacturers that provided other capabilities, such as my Focus 16vEN Ethernet/video card combo for the 5300, and whatever model Ethernet card (I think it's Focus) is in my 1400.

 

[LCGuy]

1400s never came with a card installed at the factory. Apple made video and ethernet cards, as did NewerTech, but the only way to buy a 1400 brand new with a card was to buy from an AASP and have them install the card before the machine is delivered.

 

[MacMan]

In answer to your initial question, yes! The 1400 is a great early PPC portable which is suitable for many retro tasks, and has the benefit of being able to run System 7, 8 and 9. Many will agree that the keyboard on the 1400 is probably the best to type on of any notebook Apple has produced. The 1400 models are also now available very cheaply on the 2nd hand market, though I would recommend looking for one that has a good amount of RAM as upgrades are hard to find (in the UK certainly).

The downside is no built-in ethernet, which can limit communications. There are expansion cards, as already mentioned, or you could use a PCMCIA ethernet card. The 1400 can also be kitted up with Wifi using a Lucent chipset wireless card like the Orinoco series - there are several websites that describe how to go about this.

There were two varients of the 1400 - the 1400c which has an active matrix screen and the 1400cs that has a passive matrix. Although the passive matrix is much better than those on earlier PowerBooks, it doesn't beat the crisp, bright active matrix screen of the "c" model. The active matrix model was more expensive and is generally not as common on the market as the passive matrix model.

Just to add for the sake of interest, Farallon also made an ethernet expansion card for the 1400, it's model is PN591-TP. I've got one.

 

[Bunsen]

Hear hear. I long had a cs before upgrading to the Lombard, and loved it. The screen is definitely a tad blurry though, so if you can find a c at a reasonable price, nab that.

Barring that, a Wallstreet would be a good, if somewhat heavier, alternative, and has the advantage of industry standard RAM slots to 512MB, as opposed to the 64 MB limited Apple proprietary RAM in the 1400 (and below)

 

[Brooklyn]

With prices the way they are, I would agree to get a G3 powerbook. Any pre-Pismo is going to be very affordable. Even the Pismos are not too bad.

Edit: Actually I take back what I said about Pismos being affordable- they are still really not. Some are selling for half of what a used Macbook would cost...

 

[jerrag]

Hmm I have one of of those little gems, and I can tell you they are very nice indeed. However I have mine now in the back room gathering dust after my cat walked across my keyboard while I was looking at a Lombard, and purchased it for me. I like the Lombard in the fact I can run OS X 10.4 but do miss the neat little 1400c a bit. I had upgraded mine to a G3 266 overdrive and maxed out the RAM to 64 meg but it still limped along when on the web. The Lombard, however with it's 333 G3 Processor and 512 meg of ram runs faster than my wife's Snow white G3 500 with 384 meg of RAM.

At any rate I have been planning on tearing the old 1400 down and building a picture frame for the wife out of the little gem. Sad to do this as even the battery still holds a fairly good charge and it runs very nicely.

Ah well progress and all that.

 

[benjgvps]

I have changed my mind about the 1400c, ever since I got my Acer Aspire One... Perfect computer for me!

 

[J English Smith]

I now have five of these little gems; paid less than $50 for each. Great keyboards and very very robust. My latest one was used in a school - it's more beat up than my other ones, but amazingly intact after hundreds of little hands pounding away for years and years. Apple hardware at its most durable!