A week ago, there were a series of posts concerning ways to upgrade 2300's. I wanted (not so facetiously) to give a one word answer: 2400c! To elaborate, some years back I upgraded my PB540c with a Newer 601?/167mhz PPC. Surprisingly, the upgrade was actually much slower on OS 7.6.1 than a 68040 CPU. Anything short of a 603e/180 mhz is a real dog on OS8.1 or earlier. The older Duos don't have enough ram to run OS 8.5 or higher. Any earlier OS has plenty of 68K code so the PPC CPU has to run emulation. Try any native 040 on earlier OS systems and you'll see they run circles around 100mhz PPCs. I keep an old 68040 and it never ceases to amaze me how fast that "ram crippled" antique can fly with the right software. Either enjoy the limitations and benefits of older Macs and the appropriate OS or upgrade to a newer computer. I stick with a (rationally upgraded?) 2400c only because there has been NO viable alternative--and still may not be. I like the G4-Titanium but I'll probably (like Tom) still fly with my 2400c. I wasn't fanatic enough to buy a way overpriced Interware G3-400 because I wanted to be rational and disciplined about reasonable upgrades. At $1299-1399 you can buy a whole G4-400/450 desktop! How does that compute? On the older Duos/2300's, if you want to jump overboard upgrading, you are always better off to sell it and get a 2400c. OTOH, Duos using the right OS and software are great at their intended tasks. Since a computer is one of the faster depreciating assets, I always recommend buying "trailing edge" technology, unless the need for speed is paramount. The current example would be two G4-400/450s (desktops) instead of one latest/greatest "leading edge" machine. For nearly the same price you can end up with two ram upgraded systems, possibly even with big monitors, use one with more ram for dedicated Photoshop/animation/CPU intensive jobs while multi-tasking less demanding tasks on the other "lower specification" G4 unit (or, say, used "free of charge" G3 Powerbook). The combined efficiency/power/versatility far surpass one latest/greatest. Meanwhile, at resale you will also recover (comparatively) far more--especially whenever Apple periodically blows out machines. And don't forget, some software takes months to run properly on leading edge machines--another loss of productivity--the true calculus for determining the right machine(s) and upgrade strategies. A non-upgraded 2400c can be poached on eBay for under $600, often with significant extras. The 2400c just happened to be, in its own way, the most upgradable and versatile Powerbook Apple ever made and ever will make. It literally is the "Swiss Army knife" of computers in being able to interface with nearly every peripheral device, straddling old and new technologies. The complication is that the 2400c upgrade picture looks forever bleak. Sidney Ho (who will keep a 2400 for a long time even after he buys a Titanium, and even if he buys (the hoped for) next Apple subnotebook--I'm the last thing from a Luddite but I do take great pride in staying passably competitive and extremely productive with a 5 year old computer. Of course Apple hates that! :-) But it looks like they'll start earning big money from me again.) ---------- Duo/2400 List, The friendliest place on the Net! A listserv for users and fans of Mac subportables. FAQ at <http://www.themacintoshguy.com/lists/DuoListFAQ.shtml> Be sure to visit Mac2400! <http://www.sineware.com/mac2400> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Need help from a real person? Try. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ---------- Dr. Bott | Great Duo & 2400 stuff including 10/100 Ethernet for 2400s! Dr. Bott | Duo Batts too <http://www.drbott.com/prod/alist/duo.html> NineWire | If they are cool enough to host this list... Digital Solutions | ...you should check them out! http://www.NineWire.com/ PowerBook Guy is | Click here! Everything PowerBook! | http://www.powerbookguy.com Midwest Mac Parts ][ <http://www.midwestmac.com> After-market parts for Macs. ][ 888-356-1104 ][ MacResQ Specials: LaCie SCSI CDR From $99! PowerBook 3400/200 Only $879! Norton AntiVirus 6 Only $19! We Stock PARTS! <http://www.macresq.com>
