PowerBook 1400c / 166 with G3 upgrade card

[68kAlex]

So, on the lookout for spare parts for my 1400cs (with dodgy screen caps) I picked up a 1400c for £20 on Ebay, without knowing much about it.

Turns out this unit has a 2GB hard drive, Sonnet G3 processor upgrade, maxed out RAM, and a ZIP drive! I've struck gold

 

[bibilit]

Congrats

IIRC the 2 Gb HD was standard on those (mine has the same HD)

Pictures required !!

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Fabulous find there, congrats!

Which speed is the Crescendo/PB G3 and how's the LCD? OS9 on the /466 in Beater is da bombe! :approve:

 

[68kAlex]

It's 333MHz and currently running a minimal installation of Mac OS 8 from a Compact Flash drive. Blazing fast!

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

 

[68kAlex]

It's kind of hard to see, but here's a photo of the screen bezel where it says "G3 Powered by Sonnet". The System Disk is my Compact Flash card. I've left the 2GB hard drive in there for backup / data storage.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I've got that sticker in the Zip-Loc file along with the Sonnet 1400 Philips Screwdriver, docs, box cover, etc. I bought the CrescendoPBG3-466-1M back in May '05 for $299.95 direct from Sonnet. Does yours have the 1M or 512k L2 backside cache?

From Nov. '04 until I got HP_Mini in April '09, running Beater on the free Wifi downtown was my only way of getting online for posting here. The speed increase of the G3 and upgrade to OS9 made it a lot more pleasant experience after that first 6 mos.

 

[68kAlex]

I don't know how much L2 backside cache it has to be honest - it isn't mentioned in Apple System Profiler. Either way I'm happy with my bargainous purchase Can't believe how fast the machine feels - it plays Heretic faster than I remember my old iMac G3 playing it (probably because the iMac was running 9.2).

 

[Macdrone]

I'm sure the memory card speeds things up also. No spin up or down time.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Check for a diagnostic utility called Metronome, IIRC. That should tell you everything you want to know about the Sonnet card and how it's working.

 

[68kAlex]

Thanks for the tip, I'll dig it out.

Now managed to get the 1400c online via iCab (not sure if it's the best browser to use) and networked to my PC via FTP. Happy days!

 

[sambapati87]

Lucky score! My 1400c also has a Sonnett upgrade (400mhz) but the L2 cache is bad so I don't get too much of a speed boost

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Metronome ought to be installed on your 1400/G3 already. It's part of Sonnet's software for the CrescendoPB.

 

[Byrd]

That's awesome - I had similar luck with a $19.99 PB 540c some years back - sporting full RAM and a NewerTech 166Mhz 603e upgrade, would never had guessed until I fired it up.