PowerBook 180

[beachycove]

One of these has just arrived from a fellow lister. It is working fine from what I can see. And what a beautiful screen! I can see why they were in high demand back in the 90s.

The battery is even accepting a charge after some initial failed attempts, so I am cycling the cells to see if I can awaken the chemistry. It had been re-celled (professionally, judging by the very fine glue line), so I am hoping that the cells are not too old.

8 MB ram total. Where could I find a cheapish 10 MB ram card, I wonder? Does anyone have one spare?

 

[tmtomh]

Cool - a Powerbook 180 was my second Mac (bought it new back in '92), and I loved it. It was a tank, pretty much indestructible.

Enjoy it!

As for finding RAM, I'm guessing the cheapest and easiest way is to scan eBay for a 140/145/160/165/170 or 180/180c advertised with 14MB RAM (meaning it has a 10MB module installed), and some kind of flaw. That, hopefully, would enable you to buy the unit cheaply.

If you could find new-old-stock, or even used, RAM modules by themselves, it's likely they'd cost more than an entire used Powerbook with the RAM already in it.

 

[beachycove]

I just got 80 mins. charge from the formerly dead battery in the PB 180 while running Battery Amnesia (great utility). And that is with all power-saving features turned off, which Battery Amnesia does when it does a deep discharge (disk never spins down, brightness turned up, AppleTalk on, etc.). It's heading for 90+ mins, I'd bet, but it probably needs a couple more cycles before the full capacity is known.

I wish, how I wish that Lithium Ion batteries were as forgiving.

The trick is to persist: 10-15 cycles of the cells is a good strategy, but check the temperature to ensure that they are not overheating. However, the moral of the story, children, is that with a little care, old PowerBook batteries can sometimes be revived.