Which Powerbook

[vassilizaitsev]

I'm leaning towards getting a duo 280c.

I used to have one and liked it, it was all good, all except the keyboard, which just wasn't very responsive.

The 280c dosn't have a floppy drive IIRC, but connecting a serial cable is good, and better than floppy for data transfer anyhow.

I'd use it at home, so batteries arn't a big problem, I'd connect an adb keyboard, I have one of the smaller ones, the one without the numeric keypad, that and a mouse and I'd be fine.

I had a 540c, but I had trouble with the software, what would, what wouldn't run. The 540c was too large also, perhaps it's nice to have the big screen, but it was too unwieldly for me.

Just chatting away here to myself arn't I? [] ]'>

 

[TheNeil]

You just keep burbling away to yourself

The 280c is a nice little machine. Seem to remember that the screen is a nice (if you can get away with the size) but while I've never had a problem with the keyboard myself, the position of the trackerball button meant that it was a pain if I ever wanted to lie on the sofa and use it.

Certainly no floppy drive and serial cables are one way to go (seem to remember that I once copied the 19 part OS 7.5.whatever installer across and it took an age). Alternatively what about one of the docking stations? Not only is there the 'proper' docking station but also the 'mini-docks' that offer some connectivity but without having to have a box the size of a desktop

If you can though, maybe think about going for the 2300c - the same tiny form factor but PPC power

 

[~tl]

I'd use it at home, so batteries arn't a big problem, I'd connect an adb keyboard, I have one of the smaller ones, the one without the numeric keypad, that and a mouse and I'd be fine.

The Duos don't have built in ADB, so you would need a Mini Dock for using it with an external keyboard and mouse...

 

[Metalchic]

i've got an Apple Nanodock for adding 1ADB and 1 FLoppy Drive port, i alsoo have afloppy drive and axtra Duo battery.

 

[Quadraman]

At this point if I were getting a Duo, I'd be looking for a PPC Duo 2300.

 

[vassilizaitsev]

I'd use it at home, so batteries arn't a big problem, I'd connect an adb keyboard, I have one of the smaller ones, the one without the numeric keypad, that and a mouse and I'd be fine.

The Duos don't have built in ADB, so you would need a Mini Dock for using it with an external keyboard and mouse...

Wow, I'm sure I remember mine having adb..... could it have been added, can an adb card be added?...

I found this; http://mywebpages.comcast.net/gionpeters/hhhh/duo.htm

though, I'd prefer to have somebody do this mod for me!

 

[~tl]

I'd use it at home, so batteries arn't a big problem, I'd connect an adb keyboard, I have one of the smaller ones, the one without the numeric keypad, that and a mouse and I'd be fine.

The Duos don't have built in ADB, so you would need a Mini Dock for using it with an external keyboard and mouse...

Wow, I'm sure I remember mine having adb..... could it have been added, can an adb card be added?...

I found this; http://mywebpages.comcast.net/gionpeters/hhhh/duo.htm

though, I'd prefer to have somebody do this mod for me!

I've never seen a manufactured ADB card for the Duo. Although the modification you linked to is trivial enough, the fact that they have to use one of the PDS pins for the ADB data means that no card that plugged into the modem slot alone would be able to provide ADB. That makes me think a manufactured card for the ability is unlikely.

If you have a steady hand, then that mod shouldn't be impossible. If you're not used to soldering things that small, then I'd suggest practising on some scrap board first though!

 

[Temetka]

At this point if I were getting a Duo, I'd be looking for a PPC Duo 2300.

++

I'd love a Duo 2300.

 

[alk]

Other than the bigger & better screen, the 2300/2300c doesn't have any real advantage over the 280c.

I'd go the 280c route myself.

Peace,

Drew

 

[Temetka]

I'll take the PPC CPU considering the other CPU's have no FPU which is important to me.

 

[alk]

Sure, you can run OS 9 and other heavy PowerPC software on that thing, or you can look for vintage software which will run more comfortably. And I would wager that often in that case, there will be 68k versions of the same software that will run better on the 280 than the 2300 because the 2300 has all the drawbacks of NuBus Macs but in a tiny little case (with no L2 cache). But that's just my opinion having used both a 2300c and a 280c and having found that the 280c is generally faster.

But you are right, for tasks which require an FPU, the 2300c is a requirement. Just try running RealPlayer on the 280c!

Peace,

Drew