PowerBook 150 Questions PowerBook 2400 & Duo Doc

[Aoresteen]

I'm thinking about getting a PowerBook. The last one I had was the PowerBook 100 in the mid 1990's. I'm looking at The Powerbook 150. I will use it with Word, Excel, Zbasic, a few games and data migration/back up.

I have never used one so I have a few questions:

1. How is the screen? I know it runs at 640 x 480 but is it very useable? Does it die more often than others?

2. I have a bunch of 2.5" IDE drives. Will a 20 gig work ok? I'll put 7.6.1 on it.

3. The SCSI commector is the HDI30. Is it hard to get a cable for them?

4. Ethernet? Anyway to connect it?

The other options I'm looking at are:

1. A Powerebook Duo 250 or 280. Would I be better off with a Duo? Is the docking station tough to track down? or

2. PowerBook 2400c. Are they hard to find? Cost?

As I useally do I would max out the RAM, upgrade the hard drive to the largest practical and buy a new battery for whatever laptop I get.

Thanks!

 

[JRL]

PB 150 Q's answered:

1: The screen is pretty blurry(ex: when you move the trackball, the cursor leaves a little line behind it which fades away) It's not much more worse than other passive-screen Powerbooks though. I personally would say the screen is reliable.

2:Nope. Remy Davidson of IGM has said in his Powerbook reference guide (I forgot the exact name) that the IDE controller limit is around 8.4 GB.

3: The price is alright IMO. Around $5-$10.

4:You can use a standard Asante EN/SC dongle and the special HDI cable that came with it to add Ethernet. There are slightly better ways, but they require ADB.

And I assume you're aware of the other "problems" of the PB 150? Despite these, I really enjoyed mine before the hard drive died.

 

[Maconthemove]

If you are looking for a duo dock, get the duo dock II. Also make sure it is the tall top. The later duo's were taller.

 

[tomlee59]

To JRL's very complete answers, I can only add that the screen is a two-bit (four level) greyscale passive LCD. The screen itself has no unusual failure modes. Even the ribbon cable seems to be less unreliable than in the earlier 1xx series of 'books.

Since the 150 came late in the series, many bugs had been worked out, and the components are also capable of overclocking to a greater than normal degree. The nominal clock speed of 33MHz doesn't come close to stressing the CPU, so reliable operation at 40MHz is commonly achievable.

Despite its "Road Apple" status, the 150 is a serviceable machine, especially because of its ability to use commonly available IDE drives. Just make sure the 'book comes with enough RAM to run whatever it is that you intend to run. It's hard/expensive to find compatible RAM out in the wild.

 

[Bunsen]

In answer to your other two questions:

1 Duo keyboards are notoriously crap. Spongy, failure prone, generally ick. The screens however are very nice, but given to fading at the corners. Docks and minidocks are not too hard to track down, as vintage computing accessories go. The Duo 2300c will take either SCSI or IDE internal drives, and has a 100MHz PowerPC processor.

2 2400s are rare and expensive. Better off spending the money on a Wallstreet.

My recommendations: 180 series (built like tanks) 190 series (take PCMCIA cards) or a 520/540 series (heavier but lots built in). In each case SCSI internal HDs only, unless you use a CF card in the 190's PCMCIA slot.

If you want a good all-rounder that takes IDE drives, go for a 1400 series. Great keyboard, PCMCIA slots, adequate PPC processors and (rare-ish) upgrades to G3. Try for a 1400c screen- the cs is not quite as nice, but adequate. Apparently there is a greyscale version, but I've never seen one.

In all of the above cases, try for a machine with the most possible RAM, as it's proprietary and relatively hard to find.

Next step up: Wallstreet G3s etc.

Are you planning to use this in Iraq?

 

[Franklinstein]

My recommendations: 180 series (built like tanks) 190 series (take PCMCIA cards) or a 520/540 series (heavier but lots built in). In each case SCSI internal HDs only, unless you use a CF card in the 190's PCMCIA slot.

The 190s actually take IDE hard drives. The only display options on the 190 are passive matrix (grey or colour), if that's important. The 500-series is available with all types: active/passive, b&w/color. The 500 series can also take PCMCIA cards, if you manage to locate the relatively rare expansion card cage dealie for them.

5300s are pretty nice machines, after the power ports are fixed and the flaming Sony LiIon battery fiasco is ignored (they've used non-fire prone NiMH batteries since the almost immediate recall in '95). I like my 5300s. OS 8.6 on a 5300 is pretty nice: responsive, relatively modern (you can run OS 9 if you REALLY want to), and excellent for use in harsh lighting conditions (with that b&w screen). The 5300ce is pretty nice for its higher resolution screen and marginally faster processor.

The only Duo you're likely to find working properly when you get it is a 2300c. This is because the version F keyboards on those things are remarkably improved over the models used in previous Duos; they're still rather weak in comparison with other keyboards, though.

The 2400 is nice when you find 'em. They're kinda finicky, though, and they're less than easy to get apart. Failure of the power board is not uncommon, and results in a permanent Green Light of Death and/or Click of Death (from the speaker, not the hard drive). Replacing the hard drives in those things requires disassembling the ENTIRE computer. They're blazingly fast compared to their predecessors, though. When you find a good one, they're more than worth it.

As for the PB150, I don't much care for them in average use. However, they're a little more rugged than other models of the same vintage (that's one bonus of being so stripped down), and finding replacement batteries (or re-celling your own) isn't all that difficult. As others have noted, finding RAM, particularly the 90˚ angle adapter required, is often a fruitless endeavor. It's best to buy those things with the RAM already upgraded beyond the 4MB base.

 

[Quadraman]

Pass on the PB150. It has the worst screen of any 68k Powerbook and when they fail they have dead yellow blocks on the screen. New replacement screens are not easy to find and expensive when you do find one. The last one I saw for sale on ebay was a year ago and was sold BIN for $75. Junk PB150's are cheap, but there's no guarantee you'll get a good screen and you could end up buying several before you get one. They are also not very expandable because they lack most of the ports of other similar PB's. Any other member of the PB1xx line would be a much better value.

 

[benjgvps]

I like my PowerBook 150, although the lack of ports (Just power, localtalk and SCSI) is silly. Batteries are pretty easy to find and I can get 3-4 hours out of mine with most of the power saving settings on. It comes apart easy and is pretty strong.

 

[Aoresteen]

Thanks All! Lots of stuff to digest.

Bunsen, I will NOT be using it in Iraq. I'm planning on getting one when I return in June so I'm doing my research.

So, what is the BEST 68K PowerBook? I prefer not to get a PowerPC CPU but I will if push comes to shove.

Thanks!

 

[~tl]

So, what is the BEST 68K PowerBook? I prefer not to get a PowerPC CPU but I will if push comes to shove.

The best 68k 'Book is the 550c... though they're pretty rare. It's basically an upgraded version of the 540c with a full '040, a larger (10.4") screen and a black case that was only sold in Japan:

http://68kmla.org/wiki/Macintosh_PowerBook_550c

Apart from that, both the 190 and 540 are pretty nice... and should be a lot easier to find.

 

[kastegir]

Thanks All! Lots of stuff to digest.
Bunsen, I will NOT be using it in Iraq. I'm planning on getting one when I return in June so I'm doing my research.

So, what is the BEST 68K PowerBook? I prefer not to get a PowerPC CPU but I will if push comes to shove.

Thanks!

Well, if you're strictly looking for a 68k powerbook, the 540/540c is a nice way to go. They're a little tougher to find.

I've got a 180 and a 180c and they're built like tanks and pretty cheap. I prefer the trackball to the trackpad on these older macs, so the 180 is my machine of choice. You can probably find one for under $25 on eBay.

I've also got a Duo 280, which is also a nice machine, but you need to deal with the whole external floppy thing.

 

[JRL]

For a 180c, I would recommend this example:

PB 180c

PB 180c's have gone up in price. The last one I knew ended at around $35 shipped.

 

[LCGuy]

Try for a 1400c screen- the cs is not quite as nice, but adequate. Apparently there is a greyscale version, but I've never seen one.

Erm, since when? I remember when the 1400 was new (i actually got mine brand new), and there was never a greyscale option. The only options, no matter what speed/RAM/HDD configuration you got, were dual scan (cs) or TFT active matrix ©, and both were offered in colour only, though they can happily do B&W, 4 greys, 16 or 256 greys.