on 1/25/04 9:59 PM, Ruffin Bailey at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > I've read a number of articles dealing with the worst Macs (most recently "The > 10 Worst Macs Ever Built" > (http://www.insanely-great.com/features/010806.html)), but wondered, as I try > to piece together a 1400, what the best might be. Here, specifically, I'm > wondering about horribly cheap Powerbooks, which probably means 68k models. > > I had a 150 through college that I enjoyed, even if it is a Road Apple at > lowendmac.com. And as I ran through the specs for all the 68k Powerbooks, > though it doesn't have an ADB port (and, therefore, any chance at Ethernet), > its high RAM ceiling (*much* higher than anything short of a 190) and cheap > price today make it seem like a decent choice. Now that there's even an ADB > port hack (http://www.applefritter.com/thefritter/18/adb.html), seems like it > might be an even better box. > > The only other 68k Powerbook I think I could even consider as a good > email/word processing box is the 190. With a PC card slot, it would appear > this one could even do wireless. ?? Also has a 40 meg RAM ceiling, like the > 150, which is decent. Three for sale on eBay right now, currently at $23 with > shipping (though with flakey trackpads, apparently). Having a trackpad > instead of a trackball is nice, and the Linux support would be better than a > 150, I'd have to imagine, though I probably wouldn't bother. > > So just for the heck of discussion, if you didn't want to go "all the way up" > to a 1400, what would you recommend, and why? > > Thanks, > > Ruffin Bailey >
I'd agree about the PB190, which really should have been called something else as it bares little in commen with the rest of the PB 100 series. The pb 180 is very nice (I just put my old one up on eBay), but if you're going to get a 68K machine, go with the 190 or the 500 series (520/540). The biggest reason for these picks is upgradability. The 540 can take a processer upgrade up to 168 MHz and support PCMCIA if you can find the PC Card cage for the second battery bay. And the 190 can accept most of the parts of the PPC Powerbook 5300 series, so you can improve it gradually over time (as cash and insentive permits). -- PowerBooks is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Enter To Win A | -- Canon PowerShot Digital Cameras start at $299 | Free iBook! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> PowerBooks list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/powerbooks.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/powerbooks%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
