Richard Chisholm Jr wrote:
Hi.
As of last night, I bought three working vintage Mac laptops via
Craigslist. A PowerBook Duo 280c, a Duo 270c, and a PowerBook 145. From
the specs on LowEndMac, the 280c appears to be the newest model.
The 145 and the Duo 270c had batteries in them, the 280c did not. I
swapped the battery over to the 280c. The power adapter was for the
270c, but works on the 280c. I have not tried to power up the 145, since
it appears that I don't have the proper power adapter. In the bag there
was also a dock for the Duos, which appears to be a simple port
replicator. I attached it to the 280c, and now it's stuck on. (Oops!)
That doesn't seem to be a problem though.
There are different versions of Mini-Docks. I have two, one has a SCSI
port and one has a 10Base-T port. The SCSI dock needs a PowerBook style
cable to connect it to most SCSI perphierals.
The PB145 takes an altogether different power adapter, it provides 7V @
2A with a coax power connector.
The Duo 210, 230, 270, 270c, 280, 280c all have much in common. I know
the batteries, displays and certain other parts can be swapped around.
There are some differences in the batteries though.
The bag also included an external 3.5" drive, which attaches to the dock.
A Floppy drive?
As of now, I'm focusing on the 280c, since it seems to have the most
potential. According to "About this computer" in the Apple menu (Why
doesn't it say "About this Mac"?) it has 40,960 KB of memory, which LEM
says is the max for this model.
It may be reporting virtual memory or real memory, I don't recall the
what the specific messages say. Look in the Apple Menu for "Apple
System Profiler" it will give you more info.
In reading the articles about it last night, it appears that it can be
upgraded to a PowerPC processor by swapping in a Duo 2300c logic board.
For a system that I bought solely to tinker with, is that feasible? If
so, how do I obtain a donor logic board and where are the instructions
to accomplish the upgrade?
I would first look around for a 2300c, 5300c or such. I don't see much
point in trying to boost the CPU performance of older models as it's
likely you can get a newer (but still old) model for as much as the upgrade.
These aremy very first Macs, so wish me luck!
Have fun.
The Duos are a nice, very compact laptop. A web browser on one is going
to be rather limited on the Internet today (as is a browser on any Mac
running OS 9 or earlier). But it can still connect to many sites. But
can certainly handle e-mail and writing asa well as other tasks.
--
Clark Martin
Redwood City, CA, USA
Macintosh / Internet Consulting
"I'm a designated driver on the Information Super Highway"
_______________________________________________
DuoList mailing list
[email protected]
http://listserver.themacintoshguy.com/mailman/listinfo/duolist
