3lectr1cPPC
Well-known member
After months of searching, I finally found a 3400c up for sale for a price I was willing to pay. It turns on and works, but I've seen so many threads about these being dead. Before anyone tells me, yes, I know about the leaky PRAM batteries (which I've dealt with before in Dell laptops), and I will be removing it the minute it arrives, so I'm not talking about that.
The main thing in these that I hear about being dead all the time is the DC/Power Board found under the trackpad. Apparently these things end up dead all the time for no discernible reason. They've got 2 electrolytic capacitors, but the 3400c is from 1997, which seems a bit new to have so many failures. Under that logic, the 1400c's logic board (which has many more caps than the 3400c) would be just as unreliable, if not more so due to it being a whole year older, yet they seem to be really solid and reliable. Is there anything else that makes these die, or do they just have more bad caps for whatever reason?
I'm also wondering about how strong the display hinges on these are. I'm planning on lubricating the hinges and strengthening the standoffs before actually using the hinge much, but are there any major structural differences compared to the 5300 that make the hinges on these tougher and less prone to breaking? I believe the one I'm getting has a functioning battery, so I would like to take it out of the house from time to time, which would be rather inconvenient if I couldn't close the display hinge.
While not related to reliability at all, I'm also wondering about two other things, being speaker quality and keyboard feel. I know these have a subwoofer in the display housing, but are the speakers in these actually any good? I'm not looking for amazing sound or anything, but how do they compare to the G3 Wallstreet speakers, for example (which are actually really good, and very loud). Finally, the keyboards in the 5300 (and 500) series PowerBooks tend to be quite stiff and just bad in general to type on in my experience. Seeing as the 3400 shares a lot in common with the 5300 series, does it have the same key mechanism that goes stiff with age and wear?
That's all I've got for now. I'm super excited to finally get my hands on a laptop I've been after for a long time!
The main thing in these that I hear about being dead all the time is the DC/Power Board found under the trackpad. Apparently these things end up dead all the time for no discernible reason. They've got 2 electrolytic capacitors, but the 3400c is from 1997, which seems a bit new to have so many failures. Under that logic, the 1400c's logic board (which has many more caps than the 3400c) would be just as unreliable, if not more so due to it being a whole year older, yet they seem to be really solid and reliable. Is there anything else that makes these die, or do they just have more bad caps for whatever reason?
I'm also wondering about how strong the display hinges on these are. I'm planning on lubricating the hinges and strengthening the standoffs before actually using the hinge much, but are there any major structural differences compared to the 5300 that make the hinges on these tougher and less prone to breaking? I believe the one I'm getting has a functioning battery, so I would like to take it out of the house from time to time, which would be rather inconvenient if I couldn't close the display hinge.
While not related to reliability at all, I'm also wondering about two other things, being speaker quality and keyboard feel. I know these have a subwoofer in the display housing, but are the speakers in these actually any good? I'm not looking for amazing sound or anything, but how do they compare to the G3 Wallstreet speakers, for example (which are actually really good, and very loud). Finally, the keyboards in the 5300 (and 500) series PowerBooks tend to be quite stiff and just bad in general to type on in my experience. Seeing as the 3400 shares a lot in common with the 5300 series, does it have the same key mechanism that goes stiff with age and wear?
That's all I've got for now. I'm super excited to finally get my hands on a laptop I've been after for a long time!