PowerBook G3 (WallStreet) CPU and Battery upgrades?

[Zippy Zapp]

I bought a PowerBook G3 WallStreet model a while back that appears to be the first revision 233mhz with the lame zero L2 cache.  It came with 2 floppy modules installed and no battery or optical drive.  I got a new in box CD module for next to nothing but I have been unable to find a battery.  Does anyone know of any replacements, aftermarket, etc? I can live without it but it would be nice to have.  

The PRAM battery is dead and unlike my TiBook G4 that is 2 years newer it won't charge the PRAM battery even after being plugged in for a week now.  Oh well, not critical I guess.  I can probably shoehorn some other cells that are the same voltage and Lithium rechargeable in there as the cells they used are quite pricey.   If I had a battery pack then that would be unnecessary anyway.

As for the gimped no cache 233mhz is it possible to install a CPU card from the 266 or 300mhz PDQ, which was the next revision of WallStreet?  I have read that they work but I didn't want to try it for fear of frying the logic board or something.  Has anyone any information on this or tried it?  I believe there were also aftermarket CPU upgrades but I am sure those are pretty rare and pricey.

None of these things are crucial but I do know the CPU upgrade with cache would be a decent boost as I have seen the difference in two models with and without.

Overall this is a great machine and I think I prefer these over the Ti G4's.

 

[Byrd]

Yes, the CPU daughtercards in Wallstreets are interchangeable.  My tip would be to look out for a 233/266Mhz part with cache and overclock it to 300Mhz.  While you're at it, replace the DSTN 12.1" screen for an active TFT 13 or 14" part - Wallstreets had glorious displays and this is a worthwhile replacement.

I recall Sonnet did make a 500Mhz G3 upgrade for the Wallstreet, but obviously not freely available these days

 

[Unknown_K]

I think the original gimped 233 machine allows you to run the 292mhz G3 which is 83Mhz FSB (the Wallstreet 2 models (including the 300Mhz CPU are all 66mhz FSB). You will need PC100 RAM but the FSB will give you a nice boost.

The 12" DS screens suck, the 13" screens are nice but buggy (move the screen position and you might get a jumbled screen), the 14.1" are the most trouble free.

There are ZIP, floppy, and LS-120 modules for the drive bay as well as the optical drive.

 

[Zippy Zapp]

Thanks guys for the info.  I found a less gimped CPU board that is 266mhz with L2 cache, so that should work.   This is the model with the 66mhz bus (the 250 and 292 had 83mhz bus), so glad to know it is workable with the CPU cards from the later model Wallstreets.

Fortunately this model has a 14.1"  TFT so the screen looks great.  I am glad it is not a DS as, ugh, those screens are hard on the eyes and not easy to follow your mouse.  Slow motion ghost displays...  ;D