PowerBook 550c

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

LOL! My sanity has never been in question, that was a compliment. :lol:

 

[CC_333]

These two might have been in your budget, but already sold: 

550c for 6900 yen (63.27 usd):

https://item.mercari.com/jp/m22458856028/

550c for 5000 yen (45.85 usd)

https://item.mercari.com/jp/m943014617/

Yes, those were! Too bad they've sold, though.

But, anyway, if those popped up, then surely more of them must!

Keep me informed!

c

 

[youjuoufudtgd]

mac os 8 floppies https://winworldpc.com/download/08e280ba-c3aa-6839-7111-c3a5c290c2a8

 

[Charadis]

LOL! My sanity has never been in question, that was a compliment. :lol:

Heh heh   I just thought I was crazy for collecting old pieces of hardware! 

Yes, those were! Too bad they've sold, though.

But, anyway, if those popped up, then surely more of them must!

Keep me informed!

c

Sure, I’ll let you know! Browsing through some of these Japanese sales sites, you’d be amazed what is up. Missed a 2400c/240 on the same site, sold for 5000 yen (45.85 usd): 

https://item.mercari.com/jp/m78159089908/

There are proxy buyers for Mercari, but I’ve never used any of them. I’m curious to try them out tho...

http://vvjapan.com/proxy-guide-mercari-japan

mac os 8 floppies https://winworldpc.com/download/08e280ba-c3aa-6839-7111-c3a5c290c2a8

Thank you! I’ve actually found the disk images for Mac OS 8.0 floppies, but I appreciate it. I’m a collector, and I’m actually looking for the official disk distribution of Mac OS 8.0 on floppies. They are very rare. The last set I know of sold here: 

http://oldapplestuff.com/installsoftware.html



As Apple was phasing out floppy disk distribution, you usually had to inquire through Apple for those floppy disks. That last set was listed for 95.00 usd, and sold to someone in Australia, according to the site operator. 

Now, if you can find me an official Mac OS 8.0 on official floppies, you might be my new best friend  

 

[KnobsNSwitches]

I've never heard of Mercari before, do you use google translate, or speak japanese?

I've known people that some US-based shippers with yahoo auctions japan, but this is new to me.

 

[Charadis]

I've never heard of Mercari before, do you use google translate, or speak japanese?

I've known people that some US-based shippers with yahoo auctions japan, but this is new to me.

Nope, no Japanese! I ran into Mercari not long ago searching for a complete 550c. Apparently, there is a US branch as well. From what I’ve read about it, it’s basically a fast way of selling your stuff, it’s an app-based selling proxy. And low fees, too. I use Google Translate to read the seller/buyer conversations, as they are public and passive. 

It’s an app-based selling proxy where you snap a photo of your product and list it like eBay! Problem is, from the author of the article I’ve read, that means a lot of these sellers may not be experienced selling online. 

I use FromJapan for Yahoo! Auctions. There are definitely a few more options, but these guys have been great with me, so far! (Except with the first PCMCIA Module I bought, took over a week for them to mark as “Received”...buy it got here, finally). 

 

[ArmorAlley]

Wow, Mercari... (going off topic)

Here's a Color Classic II for 5000 yen in Kyoto-fu...

https://item.mercari.com/jp/m42424118192/

 

[Charadis]

Wow, Mercari... (going off topic)

Here's a Color Classic II for 5000 yen in Kyoto-fu...

https://item.mercari.com/jp/m42424118192/

There are some interesting finds  

i didnt translate through the descr of the listing you found, but I couldn’t find a “II” on the front nameplate, which concerns me. Would be a nice deal if it’s a true CC II and still works, compared to what I’ve seen from previous sales. 

There were a couple Color Classic II Macs on Yahoo! Auctions recently, one complete in box with lit and softwares. That one sold for north of 500usd. 

If if I hadn’t spotted the 550c w/ box last week, I probably would have put in toward a CC II. The whole week has been a torture waiting for the last min of that auction   

 

[Charadis]

Small pre-weekend update. Finally got around to snapping some shots of my 2100. And..I found Mac OS 8.1! My 550c computers have reached US soil, and one just delivered yesterday. But it's 1.25hrs away at my parents, and the other just reached Little Rock today. That will be my weekend project. Feels like forever ago. I'm also expecting a few more items shipping from overseas, so I will update on a rolling basis. This business is becoming a giant sink hole in my wallet :-/  

So, here is the Apple Newton MessagePad 2100. Seller on eBay originally listed for 249 plus 15.25 shipping, I shot him a Best Offer of 190 and he smacked me back across the face with a counter for 220 plus shipping. Suffice to say, I took the bait, but not before I snickered... "I would have paid 249...  " Probably.







Happened across this keyboard for 39 plus 14.50 shipping. It's used, but I haven't even used it, yet. 





Finally, here is Mac OS 8.1. I looked up Mac OS 8 last week and, at first, thought it was just another 8.0 listing. When I looked up 8.1, I saw this pop up again and was confused...briefly. Then I franticly clicked it, and checked it. Double checked it. Triple checked it. Slapped myself a couple times to make sure I was seeing the 8."1" correctly. Must have clicked the Buy It Now button at least twice. 16.99 shipped. 



It's just the disc and manual, and I've seen it, even complete, sell for even less. But I'm glad I got my copy secured. Now, I can jump straight to 8.1 instead of go through 8.0 if I ever have to do clean installs. And...well, it's an official copy in my Mac library 

 

[MOS8_030]

That's a fair price for a boxed 2100.

I have a couple of those OS 8.1 manuals/disks.

You're still missing the two floppies that came with the package, not that you need them, unless you're a completionist.

 

[Charadis]

That's a fair price for a boxed 2100.

I have a couple of those OS 8.1 manuals/disks.

You're still missing the two floppies that came with the package, not that you need them, unless you're a completionist.

Gracias! I haven't seen the 2100 complete with box very often, and when I have in the past, I wasn't a serious collector. The iPad Air still seems a little better for games...  

True true, I see disks pop up from time to time on the eBay, but for near the same price as I paid for just this disc and manual. I assume they're the same disks that come with 8.0? I eventually want to get those disks...but in a complete set. My hunt for 8.1 isn't entirely over. But I'm not so desperate for a disc anymore   

That, and my 500 series seem to "eat" floppy disks. When I prepare a startup disk image on a blank floppy, it works, but only for the first or second session. I have to keep rewriting the image on the same disks after each use because the 550 seems to "corrupt" the image after a use. Strange behavior...

It's nice you have a couple copies! They don't seem to turn up very often 

 

[MOS8_030]

There's also a Drive Setup 1.3.1 CD that came in the package too.

I paid $69.00 for my copy of OS8 from Apple.

I must have pre-ordered it because the receipt is dated July 25th 1997.

Yes, I still have the receipt...

 

[Charadis]

There's also a Drive Setup 1.3.1 CD that came in the package too.

I paid $69.00 for my copy of OS8 from Apple.

I must have pre-ordered it because the receipt is dated July 25th 1997.

Yes, I still have the receipt...

Wow, that's impressive! I love documentation. I save the receipts to every thing I've personally bought...however, since college, that's not terribly as much, or as far back. That's definitely a nice piece to any collection. (Also...had a bad Craigslist experience once when I bought a MacBook, had to return it because found out it was stolen after I contacted the original owner through facebook...was out 500, never reimbursed. Officer actually came up to collect the Mac. Since then, I've become more aware on "ownership," and actually prefer paying the premium on old things if receipts/boxes/manuals are included). 

 

[Charadis]

Finally, my babies came! Pics of the two 550c laptops and the other PCMCIA module - turns out, it is a Rev B! I only need Rev A now.  

Cost about 150 to DHL the large one, 70-80 for the smaller one. Overall...I calculated about 700 + 260, nearly 1 grand for the lot below. Meh



Smaller one first...packed just like my first 550c. Except more bubble wrap. I actually don't even remember my first one being bubble wrapped. Not this much anyways. Seems efficient though. 



And, well...it survived.  





Woohoo, now for the big one! 



Flap opens from the side. Nice. 



Behold, the sarcophagus has been opened. It rests..



Well...I guess I have to stick these somewhere



This is definitely going back into the 550c. One of them anyways..



Both are USA models! This will compliment my Singapore model nicely. 



It all makes sense now. This was a "bargain" for a reason...



As if that wasn't bad enough :/



Well, I found the PCMCIA module disk with the stack of install disks inside the 550c box. 



I'll have an update later on the first 550c. It is obviously in need of some attention. I've already torn it down, and it's not a simple clean-up it appears. Since I'm still at my parents', I'll have to wait until I'm back at my apt. to do any further work on it. 

 

[Charadis]

I was looking for 550c unboxing earlier on, but, disappointingly, could not find any at the time, so I made it a goal to do a video walkthrough if I ever found one in box. This is a supplement to the pics above from earlier yesterday. Being here in a small town, however, it only took about 10 hrs to upload a 24 min+ video. On the bright side, at least you can enjoy it in 1080p "Full HD." On the downside, you'll probably be previewing 1080p on your iPhone retina LCDs, retina MacBook Pros and 4k "Ultra HD" TVs, 5k iMacs..etc. On the bright side, I might be quiet enough that you might not be able to hear me much! On the down side...you'll probably still hear me. Ramble. And make some mistakes (see corrections). 

 

[Bolle]

...

View attachment 23301

...

Part Numbers on the ROMS are different from the 520/540 CPU module... interesting.

 

[Charadis]

Part Numbers on the ROMS are different from the 520/540 CPU module... interesting.

I’m about to put each of the 500 series daughtercards that I have into one photo, would be interesting to note the differences of each. If I can figure out how to dump the ROM on the 550c module, I’ll try that out sometime this week. 

 

[Charadis]

As an update, I got my 3rd 550c up and working! This means I'm going to need another 550c...preferably damaged  Also, some photos of all the 500 series daughter cards in case it helps for comparison. Only one of the battery connectors has been replaced on the board though. Waiting on a 520 board from a member here to finish the repair.



Turns out, someone had replaced the original 33MHz daughter card with a 25MHz one from a 520c. Even the hard drive, a 320MB SCSI, was from a PB520. Mother truckers.... :/

I popped the PPC from my Singapore 'book to get it going



Only other thing that doesn't work is the floppy drive. Destroyed the only replacement floppy drive flex cable I had on hand while fit-testing it (stupid me, was so close to wrapping it together), so I temporarily parted one from my 540c to try it out, and the drive still doesn't work. Going to see if a drive swap will work, otherwise, it might be logic board problem. Also, if anyone has a floppy drive flex cable they wanna sell me, you should shoot me a msg  



Finally, here are pics of the daughter cards.

Edit: Top row 68k, bottom row PPC. 





For those that prefer woodgrain (Atari fans?)





I've been so busy, occupied with fixing the 550c, that I haven't really had time for much other things. Well, that's all for now! 

 

[register]

Great thread, I really enjoyed the read. Thank you for sharing!

Suggestion of an »earthly idea what application you could use for a modem in a Blackbird in this day and age«: Consider to use an address manager application (like »Address Manager« or »CoMa Mac«) that does not publish your contact data to the rest of the world. Just wire it to your phone line in parallel to your phone. The machine can dial for you and pick up the phone for you and also send / receive fax messages. Depending on te hardware it might even serve as an answering machine. A set of one time pads and a fax connection can also serve for strongly encrypted telecommunication ;-) (the one time pad encryption works with any media, of course, but a fax can be a nice tool for practising).

The modem also enables the machine to set up direct network connections to other computers (think of ARA) or to dial into a BBS system.

If you could please take some notes of which combination of CF memory card, adapter, system software and formatting software works and works not for you, consider also to publish your results (positive as well as negative finds) in our Wiki, like on the page Flash drive test results.

 

[Charadis]

Great thread, I really enjoyed the read. Thank you for sharing!

Suggestion of an »earthly idea what application you could use for a modem in a Blackbird in this day and age«: Consider to use an address manager application (like »Address Manager« or »CoMa Mac«) that does not publish your contact data to the rest of the world. Just wire it to your phone line in parallel to your phone. The machine can dial for you and pick up the phone for you and also send / receive fax messages. Depending on te hardware it might even serve as an answering machine. A set of one time pads and a fax connection can also serve for strongly encrypted telecommunication ;-) (the one time pad encryption works with any media, of course, but a fax can be a nice tool for practising).

The modem also enables the machine to set up direct network connections to other computers (think of ARA) or to dial into a BBS system.

If you could please take some notes of which combination of CF memory card, adapter, system software and formatting software works and works not for you, consider also to publish your results (positive as well as negative finds) in our Wiki, like on the page Flash drive test results.

Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed the read so far! I’m definitely learning a lot of new things myself! And I hope to contribute in furthering modern day applications for these beautiful machines. I’m out of town atm, but let me address some of your items if I can. 

The modem idea: interesting concept, I had actually thought of something along the lines for the fax portion, and possibly a telephony suite for my TAM. I knew I installed the modem on my 550c for a reason, but as I currently don’t have a landline service (because of iPhone and no permanent living space), I’d like to give it a try when I return to my parents’ place next weekend. 

Currently, I’ve only tried Transcend and Silicon Drive compact flash cards with a Memorex CF PC Card adapter for transferring files between my PB G3 and TAM. 4GB and 2GB cards work fine, but the PCMCIA module gets very picky if the cards aren’t formatted to Mac. If I somehow mess up the format on either 4GB Card, or format to FAT, the computer either doesn’t recognize it or I have limited options (ie, I can’t format the card). So I normally have to get out my PB G3 to format the card/s before I can use them in the Blackbird again to store data. 

For transferring files between my PS3 (it formats CF cards to FAT32), if the card is the 2GB Card, it shows up on the desktop when I plug it in the card reader, and I can transfer files between the devices (card shows up on desktop as PC format, but allows me to transfer files on it to the system). Very picky system. 

Hope that helps! Still doing more testing, but not sure if I’ll pick up anymore CF cards. I’ve had no success using CF as a hard drive with the cards I have, even after formatting on another Mac. Only the Seagate ST1 was recognized, but I assume this is an issue with the IDE->SCSI adapter than the system itself. 

I’ll try to add my findings to the wiki...I didn’t know it existed!