Powerbook Duo 230 upgraded to 2300

[FlyingToaster]

Hey everyone, I was hunting on ebay and got this thing for about $50 total. It came with the box for Duo 230 and power adapter. There was a few papers in it but not even the owner's book, just registration stuff and a duo dock book. The base of the laptop says powerbook 2300 underneath. I can't tell if it's from another 2300 or an ordered upgrade. Anyways, loaded up 8.1 on it through localtalk using the Macintosh TV's cd drive. Painfully slow.

Does anybody have any ideas on what interesting games and apps would work on a 16 greys powerpc? Anything that requires 256 is out of question I guess. I wish there was a work around this. I love this duo though! It plays mp3s without hiccups. I'd love to max the RAM if anyone has a module for trade or something..

 

[Strimkind]

Nice find. I remember looking at that one on ebay, but shipping to canada was a bit nuts.

I think you would be better off finding a RAM module to get it above 20MB RAM, or even 32MB. The 48MB modules are dammed hard to find (been looking for a long time) and do not offer much more than the 28MB, 32MB or 36MB modules that are more common.

Further, I would suggesting installing 7.6.1 as it would run much better on a 2300 than 8.1

 

[Mk.558]

Nice -- just like my 230/100, except probably better

Could we get a picture of the motherboard? If you are not aware of the method, there are three (fourth one near the trackball won't be needed) Torx T8 screws which pop the keyboard.

As with mine, 16 greys is a bit of a limitation but also the 640x400 resolution. Bolo will work fine, I am pretty sure Armour Alley will work fine. There might be a few others but greyscale isn't exactly a common factor in old games -- most were either 1-bit (black and white), 4-bit color (16 colors) or 8 bit (256 colors).

I don't use mine much for gaming, for what it's worth. Still a nice machine though -- and an IDE to Compact Flash adapter makes things even better. Mine has a total of 20MB and that's fine under 7.6.1. The machine isn't really fast enough to make max RAM really worthwhile, although it would be nice

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

It's probably the Apple Upgrade Kit. ISTR them coming with a new FloorPan and case stiffener/heat spreader. I'd LOVE to get a peek at the copper radiator where the 230's LCD Plugs into the MoBo.

Back in the day, certain friends of mine would set up the old floorpan, stiffener/heat spreader and Mobo so that customers could use that in the DuoDock in order to have another computer available when the new 2300c was out of the house. Same thing for 270/280 upgrades. Apple probably wouldn't have liked that arrangement very much. [)] ]'>

 

[FlyingToaster]

Here's the 2300 board,

don't know if you wanted a pic of the connector's for the LCD but here it is anyway.

I only want the RAM upgraded so I could run 8.6 or 9 because it's so...useless! Would be great

The paper covering everything says T-WING CHOMERICS in a pattern

 

[Mk.558]

When you first opened it like that, was the copper shield folded away like that or did you do that?

 

[FlyingToaster]

Oh I did that. Someone else had their way with that thing, it's all bent out of shape. It pushes the keyboard up slightly

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Bend it back down so we can see the heat spreader! I'd really like to see that part. BTW, it probably won't push the KBD up any more if you do it just so, therefore you may notice some degradation in the function, or ipmprovement of, your Duo's Spongeboard . . .

. . . or not! BLECH!!!!

WARNING: If you're a Duo lover . . . or have hopes of ever appreciating one . . . NEVER buy a 1400 of any kind! :