Apple’s first laptop added to collection

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Nov 052010
 
PowerBook 100

PowerBook 100 comes to life after 14 years

I recently acquired a beautiful example of Apple’s first notebook computer, the diminutive PowerBook 100. Introduced in October, 1991 at a base price of $2,500 it weighs just 5.1 pounds, a fraction of the Mac Portable that preceded it. That computer weighed in at 16 pounds, earning it the nickname “Mac Luggable.”

Codenamed Derringer, Rosebud, Classic, and Asahi according to Mac history legend, the PowerBook 100 was designed in collaboration with and built by Sony. It was introduced simultaneously with the more powerful and full-featured PowerBook 140 and PowerBook 170. Unlike those models, the 100 lacks a floppy drive – it was a $200 accessory.

Upon receipt of the PowerBook 100 I plugged it in and was quickly reminded of two unique features of this computer. It has a hard switch on the back to completely disconnect the battery from the logic board to prevent draining it during storage, and there’s no power switch. Pressing any key on the keyboard starts it up.

The PB100 I acquired (serial number SS2370MV506) looks beautiful, lacking only its rear port cover and two of the three rubber screw covers on the bottom. It’s hard drive clunks repeatedly and refuses to mount, but it happily chimes and starts up from an external floppy disk, revealing a bright screen. “About the Finder” shows it has 4MB of RAM.

Kudos to Paul Brierly whose article Creating Classic Mac Boot Floppies in OS X allowed to me create a System 6.08L Startup disk on my 2009 MacBook Pro running Snow Leopard using just a SmartDisk external floppy drive and a 1.4 MB blank floppy (that was even formatted for MS-DOS!)
I’ve cleaned the rollers inside the trackball assembly to get the mouse pointer to move freely again. Next up is disassembly to see if the HDD can be resuscitated from it’s stiction.

Fun fact from Owen Linzmayer’s Apple Confidential: The Connor internal hard disks for the PowerBook 100 were codenamed Jake (20MB) and Elwood (40MB),

UPDATE: A quick take apart aided by the Service Source guide revealed that the Connor drive inside the PB100 is a Jake (20MB model).  Taking it out and giving it a few sharp thwacks, then reinstalling and reassembling the PowerBook had happy results: the internal HDD mounted fine and the unit booted from it to reveal it has System 7.1 installed. The last file date is 1996 so it looks like this computer has been dormant for 14 years.

Connor HD

Meet Jake, he weighs in at 20 megs

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 Posted by spanky at 1:15 pm

PowerBook 160 joins the crew

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Oct 072010
 

PowerBook 160

A recent acquisition from a fellow who owns a store on Austin’s legendary Sixth Street is the PowerBook 160 pictured above. The unit is in great shape, but unfortunately booted to a solid illuminated gray screen at startup. Booting from a known good floppy disk, resetting the Power Manager, and adjusting the contrast and brightness switches didn’t make any difference, so it was time to crack it open and explore the internals.

With the aid of an Apple Service Manual for the 160/165c/180 I carefully removed the screws the keep the bottom and top case together and reseated all of the cable connections. Still no working video, so it was time to start replacing parts. After much trial and error I finally got the display working with a replacement LCD panel I scavenged from a box of 160 parts I was fortunate to have on hand.

The 160 was Apple’s first grayscale model but its passive matrix screen requires a lot of adjustment to get an image with minimal ghosting. This PowerBook has a 120MB SCSI drive (the highest capacity hard drive that was available from Apple – 80 MB and 40 MB were other options), and is maxed out at 14 MB of RAM with a third party PSRAM card from Lifetime Memory Products, Inc.

The 160 is significant in Apple’s history as the first PowerBook that could drive an external color monitor, at up to 8 bit color at 832 x 624 resolution. I’ve not had an opportunity to test that feature yet since I have to locate the necessary video adapter. Other notable features include a built-in microphone, SCSI disk mode, and a choice of video mirroring or dual video mode – what we nowadays call “extended desktop.” Pretty amazing stuff for 1992.

Bringing this PowerBook back to life was a fun exercise and has encouraged me to seek out more of the early generation units for the collection.

PowerBook 160 wiki at 68kmla.org
Macintosh PowerBook 160/180 Developer Note
PowerBook 160 profile at Vectronic’s Apple World

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 Posted by spanky at 12:22 pm

G3 Kanga PowerBook added to the collection

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Oct 012010
 
G3 or 3400?

Can you tell which is the PowerBook 3400 and which is the PowerBook G3?

Back in 1997 the PowerBook 3400c with it’s 240 MHz PowerPC 603e processor was the fastest portable computer available from any manufacturer. The first laptop to surpass its speed was Apple’s first PowerBook based upon the G3 processor. The 250 MHz G3 PowerBook literally smoked it’s predecessor in speed tests, nearly tripling it’s scores. But if you were looking to see who was carrying one of these remarkable portable computers you would have to look very, very closely, because they are virtually identical in appearance to their predecessor, the 3400. That’s why Apple’s first PowerBook G3 (internally referred to by the codename of “Kanga”) is often referred to as a “PowerBook 3500.”

Since the Kanga G3 PowerBook shared the same form factor as the 3400c their removable expansion bay modules (floppy drive, optical drive, etc.) are interchangeable. Weighing it at 7.7 pounds, the Kanga G3 has onboard ethernet, modem, and 2 PC card slots plus IrDA, as well as the same impressive 4 speaker sound system as the 3400c. All of these features helped command a premium price for Apple’s first G3 based PowerBook that was advertised as up to twice as fast as notebook computers powered by the competing Pentium II chips.

The Kanga I’ve recently added to my collection features 160MB of RAM, a 5 GB hard drive, and runs great. Back in November of 1997 when it was introduced a fully equipped Kanga ran north of $6K. It was only available for six months, as the PowerBook G3 Series (aka “Wallstreet”) model was introduced in May of 1998. Kanga was the last Apple portable to sport a six-colored Apple logo.

UPDATE: My dear friend Jay kindly corrected me on this statement that I quoted from LowEndMac’s Compleat Guide to the PowerBook Kanga. The last PowerBook to feature the six-color Apple logo was in fact the PowerBook G3 Series (revision 2), codenamed “PDQ” that was released in September of 1998. You can see a picture of it here.

LowEndMac’s Compleat Guide to the PowerBook Kanga
PowerBook 3400 and Kanga G3 Repair Manual

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 Posted by spanky at 4:36 pm  Tagged with: ,

PowerBook 180c acquired

 hardware, powerbook, repairs  No Responses »
Jun 112010
 

PowerBook 180c from the UK

The PowerBook 180c was Apple’s first PowerBook with an active matrix screen capable of displaying 256 colors. Introduced in June of 1993  it cost $1K more than it’s monochrome counterpart, the PowerBook 180. As lowendmac notes, the gorgeous display had took a heavy toll on the Ni-Cad battery, reducing it’s usage to about an hour before requiring recharging.

When I worked at Motorola I was loaned a 180c by Apple for a month or so, and loved it. I quickly realized that I needed to always carry a power adapter and find the chair close to power outlets in the meeting rooms. Recently I acquired a “working” 180c from an ebay auction, and after it’s transatlantic trip from the UK I set about testing it.

My first discovery was that it didn’t arrive with a power adapter (should have read that auction description a little closer). My second discovery was that the battery hadn’t been removed from the computer in at least a decade. When I was finally able to pry it carefully out I found a blue crystalline substance in the battery bay and on the outside of the battery terminals where the electrolyte has leaked out and hardened. When I opened the port cover on the back of the computer I discovered the same substance had leaked through the port openings.

leaking PowerBook battery

Leaking PowerBook battery electrolyte damage

After removing the battery I attempted to start up the PowerBook using a PowerBook 170 adapter I had on hand, and was pleased to hear a startup chime. My thrill was short-lived however, since the computer refused to proceed any farther, just repeatedly sounding a startup chime. A quick search of the internet revealed that this is a common symptom when you try to use a power adapter not intended for the 180c. The 180c needs a 24 watt adapter (model  M5652 or M4462). Fortunately I was able to locate an inexpensive original 24 watt adapter from retrotechnology.com.

Once I had the proper adapter I started up the PowerBook and it proceeded to a happy Mac screen and loaded the finder with just one issue – the top quarter of the screen isn’t illuminated. Bending the display forwards flickers it on, so I am hopeful the issue can by adjusting or replacing the internal display cable that is prone to being pinched.

It looks like the 180c will be more of a project than I anticipated. A full take-apart is needed to remove the crystallized remnants of  electrolyte in the battery bay, inside the bottom case,  on the logic board, and the rear ports. Ni-cad battery electrolyte is potassium hydroxide, and recommended cleaning solutions I’ve seen include baking soda, vinegar, and coke. Further research indicates that the blue color of the substance I found indicates that it’s copper sulphate and the recommended cleaning solution is hydrogen peroxide.

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 Posted by spanky at 3:52 pm  Tagged with:

Apple Portables Collection – What I’m Looking For (G3 models)

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Apr 232010
 

Wanted Poster

Before I continue listing what’s in my current collection of Apple portables I want to detail what I’m still looking for. As I mentioned in my introduction to this series, I am not seeking one of every portable computer Apple has ever made, just one that personifies each developmental step along the way. The landmark editions, if you will.

So here’s a list of what I’m seeking along with a short description and why I deem them important: Continue reading »

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 Posted by spanky at 2:28 pm  Tagged with: , ,
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