PowerBook 150 for $32.49 shipped . . .

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

. . . sniped it off eBay again, wound up the only bidder for some reason or other, but it counts! :approve:

PowerBook 150 with 4MB RAM and a 120MB hard drive. Loaded with System 7.1.1, it has a 4-grey scale display. Has the original Apple battery. Does not include power cord.

This is the only other 100 Series PowerBook I've ever been tempted to play with besides my bought new, remaindered, BabyPB and his used PB100 brother.

Gotta love the "crappy," but 640 x 480 GS LCD.

Second on my "gotta love it" list is the only IDE drive interface for the classic PowerBook form factor.

__Coincidentally, right after I won the auction, I checked my mail and found the first of the two different IDE <-> SD Card Adapters I've ordered! [] ]'>

The first two may be open to debate by TrackBall purists, but the Duo Memory Card upgrade path to 40MB maxification is a "gotta love it" for sure!

First REAL Hack:

If the TrackBall is ADB, like the one in my PowerBook 100, it'll be getting a new "Modem Card" with an ADB port! }

 

[insaneboy]

that the one from FL? thought about bidding on that. but he has a 165c listed at the same time, so I went after that instead and didn't win(wanted the HDD and RAM for my 180). oh well.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Yep! That's the one, the baseline memory was one probable reason why most folks didn't bid, that along with te missing Wall Wart. Most probably assumed it takes something more on the order of the memory you're scrounging for . . .

. . . not everyone has a dozen or more decent sized Duo Cards scattered around the joint either. )

While I was looking for the location, I paid for it and snagged the BIN NewerTech BookEndz Dock for PowerBook 1400 at the same time! [] ]'>

The total for the two was less than my max bid for the 150.

 

[TheIanMan85]

Excellent score. I'm glad to see a 68k going on eBay for a reasonable price. Especially to a deserving home.

 

[IIfx]

The 150s LCD, while crap, is much much less crap thanks to the absolutely cool blue backlighting color.

At least my 2 samples that fell apart due to so cheap plastic did.

 

[J English Smith]

I still have two that live with only minor plastic issues. The replacement and fairly cheap NiCd batteries on these hold up better than the NiMh ones for the 1400...a lot better.

 

[Bunsen]

the only IDE drive interface for the classic PowerBook form factor.__Coincidentally, right after I won the auction, I checked my mail and found the first of the two different IDE SD Card Adapters I've ordered! [] ]'>

Nota Bene: The 150 does something non-standard with the IDE interface that borks IDE-CF converters. I have no idea whether the same issue will affect SD converters, but it seems likely. Here's the guy who managed to make CF work by building a go-between circuit to flip the single non-standard bit.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

We'll see how the Spindly Plastics have held up when it gets here. :

I find it hard to imagine that even the 150's "crappy" LCD doesn't work out better at a full 640 x 480 than my other Classic PBs:

PowerBook 150: EveryMac

Built-in Display: 9.5" Grayscale Native Resolution: 640x480

Details: 9.5" grayscale FSTN passive-matrix LCD.

PowerBook 100: EveryMac

Built-in Display: 9.0" Monochrome Native Resolution: 640x400

Details: 9.0" monochrome passive-matrix (1-bit) Supertwist LCD.

PowerBook Duo 230: EveryMac

Built-in Display: 9.1" Grayscale Native Resolution: 640x400

Details: 9.1" grayscale passive-matrix (4-bit, 16 grays) Supertwist LCD.

Interesting that a couple of the sites spec the 150 as having a 640x400 LCD. :?:

I'm not even going to try comparing it to the outdoor LCD of all time:

PowerBook Duo 250: EveryMac

Built-in Display: 9.1" Grayscale Native Resolution: 640x400

Details: 9.1" grayscale active-matrix (4-bit, 16 grays) LCD

Duo 250s RULE the 68030 world of outdoor computing, but they're even better with a 2300c MoBo! [] ]'>

 

[IIfx]

Well, I dont like the LCD since its passive matrix and I generally hate the refresh rate of those. Not to mention the fuzzyness. But as I said, the blue backlight is COOL.

Its redeeming of the whole thing really. Who else has a blue-glowing LCD? Nobody. Only the Powerbook 150. (Ok perhaps a few PC clones had it too but they dont count )

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

When a remaindered, passive matrix B&W LCD, PowerBook 100 begins a lifelong love-affair with laptops (sub-notebooks actually, but the full blown lappies count too) there's not a whole lot of way to go but upwards in terms of quality and pixelcount.

I wonder what a blue LED Backlight hack would do for it!?! }

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Well . . . this is THE most cherry PowerBook I've ever gotten my grubby little paws upon, outside my brand new (remaindered) BabyPB!

There's not a blemish or sign of wear, but for a few scuffs (not scratches) to buff/polish on the top of the lid. There are a few scratches on the bottom, but almost no wear, even on its feets! It's just too bad the College of William and Mary didn't use a nice clean metal property plate like the NASA tag on my Luggable. The info's engraved into the bottom plate, but it lends a certain charm to the 'Book. The KBD and TrackBall Assy. & LCD all look factory fresh!

Boots like a champ every time (with the Bat pulled) which is to be expected. The FDD had a bit of trouble ejecting the 800k floppy I tried first, but after cycling it a half a dozen times it's back to as good as new w/HD & LD Disks.

Tag on the top says Ethernet: Token Ring, so they must have used a SCSI NIC on this puppy.

SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [] ]'>

 

[jruschme]

SCSI-to-TokenRing??? How the heck does that work?

JR

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Small (Mini)Computer System Interface = hook up anything to ANYTHING!

The SCSI standard defines command sets for specific peripheral device types; the presence of "unknown" as one of these types means that in theory it can be used as an interface to almost any device, but the standard is highly pragmatic and addressed toward commercial requirements

edit: :lol: found a doozy on http://www.t10.org/ the T10 Technical Committee Site:

Found on a coffee cup:

Bradley's Bromide: "If computers get too powerful, we can organize them into a committee; that will do them in."

 

[jruschme]

Okay, but I don't ever remember actually seeing a SCSI to TR adapter, just SCSI to Ethernet.

JR