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hangthedj
Starting Member


USA
4 Posts
Posted - 14 Jan 2003 :  13:50:40
Hi. I'm thinking about getting an older powerbook (maybe even a duo with dock)-something lightweight i can use for school, maybe getting online, playing old games and stuff, nothing too schmancy. Now, I had a 5300cs (we'll not talk about that) and had to spend lots of money on it to get it to do anything, really, and i never did get to hooking it up to my imac so i could update it and everything.

which is why i'm here first. Here's the question: How do i hook up the iMac to an older (pre G3, probably pre PowerPC) 'Book?
The iMac is running OS X.1.5, i'm going to probably move the 'book (if i can) to 7.6.1 or 7.5.5. but of course, i'm going to need to get them together first. so, if i buy, say, a 160 or 230, what would i need to get them going? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

and is a 500 series worth it? after the 5300, which was seven pounds of a floppy drive, basically, would the ethernet, modem, and stereo built in be worth the money?

thanks y'all
-andrew

cinemafia
Guerrilla Recon Leader


USA
2965 Posts
Posted - 14 Jan 2003 :  15:22:47
The only good way to connect a pre-firewire machine to a post-firewire machine is ethernet. So, as long at the 'book yu get has ethernet one way or another, you just need a single crossover cat-5 cable to connect the two and you can AppleTalk them. My TiBook connects in Jaguar to my 840av just fine, though I can't seem to connect to the TiBook from the 840av.

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triumph_larry
New Member


USA
54 Posts
Posted - 20 Jan 2003 :  10:08:37
If you are getting the 'Book to play games on as well, go ahead and get one with a Color LCD that can do 256 colors (8-bit). First time around I got a 250 instead of the 270c and regretted it.

~ Enjoy, the 280c Duo is a really cool machine.

---
The problem with computers is they do exactly what you tell them to. Now where's that fuggin 'any' key?

Macs liberated thus far: SE-30, Performa 6320CD, Duo 280c and Powerbook 100.Go to Top of Page

maclover5
LC Doctor/Hot Rodder


Australia
5830 Posts
Posted - 20 Jan 2003 :  19:58:44
quote:

The only good way to connect a pre-firewire machine to a post-firewire machine is ethernet. So, as long at the 'book yu get has ethernet one way or another, you just need a single crossover cat-5 cable to connect the two and you can AppleTalk them. My TiBook connects in Jaguar to my 840av just fine, though I can't seem to connect to the TiBook from the 840av.

Yeah. I dunno whats up with that. I think its a bug in OS X's AppleTalk implementation, because on my network, i can connect to the LC630 from the iMac, but not vice versa. Another trick to make you use Rendevous, maybe?

--------------------------

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68k Macintosh Liberation Army

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Clinton
Full Member


USA
700 Posts
Posted - 20 Jan 2003 :  23:16:50
OK, powerbook reccomendations:

I personally would go with the 540c. Dual Batteries, possible PC Card capability (requires cage that replaces the left battery) built in ethernet, optional built in 19.2kbps modem (slow, but good for surfing) SCSI hard drive, processor upgradeable to PPC, and RAM expandability options to 40mb.

as opposed to the 190/5300, which is a brick with a floppy drive, one battery (the main benifit with 2 batteries is that if you have more than 2, you can swap out when one dies without hardly breaking stride) no built in ethernet or modem. all in a butt-ugly case with no stereo, and more expensive to boot.

in all, I would go with a 540c if you get a notebook of that sort, active matrix, and a 33mhz '040 make this book worthwile.

CCC

Lieutennant Commander (Pronounced Leftennant)
68k Macs Rescued: 2 Pluses, a 512KE, a Classic II, a Q650, a Q660AV, and a MacII
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triumph_larry
New Member


USA
54 Posts
Posted - 21 Jan 2003 :  13:59:44
You have to decide that when away from your home are you going to be adding data to/removing data from the Powerbook. This is aside from using your modem or local talk connections. If you don't plan on doing that then the Duos will be extra nice for their light weight. I'm pretty sure that there is no horsepower difference between the 540c and 280c. So the main reason to get a 5XX over a duo is if you need things like Ethernet & floppy drive on the road. The HD30 SCSI cable is very bulky so there is a negligible difference in carrying the cable (5XX) and cable/micro-dock (Duo). If you want light weight, but also a larger screen than the Duo 280c, you can either get a Duo 2300c or retro fit the 2300's screen to the 280c.

The PC Card adapter for the 5XX series that was mentioned is exceedingly rare, so don't make your purchase based on the hopes of aquiring one.

I always lean towards the Duos because they are smaller and lighter and I don't need external things on the road. I keep an AC adapter at home and a second one at work so I don't even need to tote one of those around. When it comes to Powerbooks, I'm all about the minimal computing experience.

---
The problem with computers is they do exactly what you tell them to. Now where's that fuggin 'any' key?

Macs liberated thus far: SE-30, Performa 6320CD, Duo 280c and Powerbook 100.Go to Top of Page

davis3031
Starting Member


USA
7 Posts
Posted - 22 Jan 2003 :  09:26:06
If you decide to get something even cheap, not like it really even matters that much at that price anyway, a higher end 1xx machine is always up to the task. I would in particular recommend the 160, 165, or 180 because of their ability to go to 14mb or ram which is awesome for using for a ram disk, spinning down the hard drive and computing in absolute silence. I usually whip out my 160 once a week or so and write on it in this manner as I find it lets me "hear myself think." 5xx machines are great as well but you may find that a lot of the parts for them are still really expensive, for insatnce any of the card cage devices that go in the left battery bay. As an owner of 5 or 6 (not sure how many exactly) 1xx series powerbooks, I would definately agree the the best way (in theory) to send files to a newer mac would be ethernet, although we run into problems with the 1xx series not having ethernet, but this is where the 5xx series gets another one of my votes. Bottom line: dirt cheap --> 1xx series Less dirt cheap: --> 5xx machine. Having never owned a duo I can't comment on those. Hope this helps.
DaveGo to Top of Page
G4from128k
Full Member


USA
873 Posts
Posted - 22 Jan 2003 :  09:40:07
I ran into this interesting list of recommended approaches for ethernetting various old Macs:

http://housing.uoregon.edu/resnet/ethernet/maclist.html

<edit>
Also found a vendor site that lists ethernet adaptor products and the Mac's they go with:

http://www.lovemacs.com/products/nics.shtml
</edit>

Hope it helps you figure out which model to buy and how to network it.


Cheers,
G4From128k

by Day: Mild-Mannered Engineer and Trapeze(tm) Artist
by Night: Colonel of Truth, Justice, and the Macintosh Way
Reserve Officer in 68kMLA Cantankerous Coot Contingent
& User of the Hockey Puck Mouse of Radial Symmetry


Edited by - g4from128k on 22 Jan 2003 09:55:03Go to Top of Page

shaktiman
Senior Member


United Kingdom
1226 Posts
Posted - 22 Jan 2003 :  11:19:33
"because the music that he constantly plays,
says nothing to me about my life"

lovley to come accross a fan.

shaktiman

Quadra 840av, prettymuchmaxedout8xcd drive,3 monitors 15" & 14" & 14" os 8.1
, 12 meg ram, 500 meg hard drive
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Alien
Junior Member


Netherlands
269 Posts
Posted - 26 Jan 2003 :  14:03:34
quote:
I'm pretty sure that there is no horsepower difference between the 540c and 280c.

Actually, there is. The 280c is marginally faster because of better motherboard bus throughput (some subsystems in the 5oo series are 16-bit, while the 280c is entirely 32-bit).

However, this is most likely a "measurable, but not noticeable" issue.

,xtG
.tsooJ

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triumph_larry
New Member


USA
54 Posts
Posted - 28 Jan 2003 :  11:39:08
If you plan on dong anything that requires heavy math (I know its funny on an older Powerbook, that's why I ran Photoshop 3 on my Duo) the Duo 270c had a 68030 with an FPU while the Duo 280c had a 68LC040 without an FPU.

As someone said when you can land a powerbook for under 50, experimenting on which meets your needs doesn't hold the same financial consequences as it did when they were new.

---
The problem with computers is they do exactly what you tell them to. Now where's that fuggin 'any' key?

Macs liberated thus far: SE-30, Performa 6320CD, Duo 280c and Powerbook 100.Go to Top of Page

   

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