Powerbook 150 in da house!

[Quadraman]

Just picked up a PB 150 from a nice lady not far from me. It didn't work at first, but after a bit of tinkering I think Igot it mostly up and running. I get a yellow rectangle in the upper right of the screen for some reason that obscures everything under it. Even themouse pointer disappears under it. I don't know if this screen related or video hardware related. Also, a program called Power Port reports an error 36 and refuses to load on boot up. I don't know what the program is or what the error message means, soI don't know where to begin looking for a problem. It also looks like the battery is dead, but I expected that.

 

[Patrickool93]

As for the screen, open the screen housing. Then remove the LCD screws, and CAREFULLY!!!! unplug the ribbon that goes to it and clean the contacts and then plug it back in. Worked for my 160. But be so so so so careful about bending the cable as it rips at the hinge very easily.

 

[iamdigitalman]

sweet. I have always wanted either a 150 or a Duo (with B&W screen) as a lightweight creative writing machine.

the reason? they are lightweight, and portable. I don't need colour to run Word 5.1a. I know it's a little wastefull to use a machine for a dedicated task, but at least it will be used.

-digital

 

[Quadraman]

Yes, this is amazingly light. It came in a Targus bag with a portable printer and even with the printer, it doesn't pull down on my shoulder like my 8 pound AMD laptop (10 with extra battery).

 

[LCGuy]

I get a yellow rectangle in the upper right of the screen for some reason that obscures everything under it. Even themouse pointer disappears under it.

Common issue with PB150's. That part of the LCD panel dies and becomes unusable.

 

[Quadraman]

I get a yellow rectangle in the upper right of the screen for some reason that obscures everything under it. Even themouse pointer disappears under it.

Common issue with PB150's. That part of the LCD panel dies and becomes unusable.

So the LCD panel needs to be replaced or is this to do with the video circuitry/cabling??

 

[LCGuy]

i'm pretty sure its the LCD panel itself

 

[Maniacintosh]

The 150s have a darn good screen. Although it is passive matrix like my 165, it's much brighter and clearer.

My 150s in shambles; it has no screen housing, just a screen hanging from some cables. The trackball falls out, the keyboard is terrible, etc. Whatever shall I do with it...

 

[Quadraman]

The 150s have a darn good screen. Although it is passive matrix like my 165, it's much brighter and clearer.
My 150s in shambles; it has no screen housing, just a screen hanging from some cables. The trackball falls out, the keyboard is terrible, etc. Whatever shall I do with it...

Send it to me, I could use the parts. [] ]'> [] ]'>

 

[MacJunky]

The 150s have a darn good screen.

No they don't! My two 150s have absolutely horrid LCDs when compared side by side with my 145 and 160.The 150 is not known for having a good LCD and the lack of ports really hobbles it. Even with the ADB hack.

One of the few if not only things the 150 has going for it is the 40MB RAM capacity and that it uses an IDE HD. However I can't seem to get either of my 150s to not display a SadMac on power on with either of the drives that shipped in my G3 PowerBooks. I know that it needs a special formatting utility but that will not help if I cannot even boot off a 150 disk tools floppy with a newer IDE drive in it in the first place.

 

[Quadraman]

The 150s have a darn good screen.

No they don't! My two 150s have absolutely horrid LCDs when compared side by side with my 145 and 160.The 150 is not known for having a good LCD and the lack of ports really hobbles it. Even with the ADB hack.

One of the few if not only things the 150 has going for it is the 40MB RAM capacity and that it uses an IDE HD. However I can't seem to get either of my 150s to not display a SadMac on power on with either of the drives that shipped in my G3 PowerBooks. I know that it needs a special formatting utility but that will not help if I cannot even boot off a 150 disk tools floppy with a newer IDE drive in it in the first place.

What is the ADB hack?

I also wondered if it would not be possible to adapt the cable running to the LCD to a standard Mac 15 pin or VGA adapter and running it as a desktop ala the TAM.

 

[Patrickool93]

The ADB hack is a hack where you add an ADB port to the 150.

http://homepage.mac.com/inachan/mac/pb150/adb/adbto150-e.html