Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

Poker Mac Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Recycled Computing

Stupid Pismo Tricks, 2008 Edition

- 2008.03.24

del.icio.us Bookmark in del.icio.us

It's time for our completely random annual series of "Stupid Pismo Tricks". For those of you who own Pismos, this is familiar ground. To the rest of you, please be patient, and I will try to explain the esoteric foibles of this old Mac.

The Weight Saving Device

All Pismo owners know about the PowerBook weight-saving device. This is a hollow piece of plastic that fits into one of the Pismo drive bays to reduce the weight of the laptop. It is a pretty useless device to me, as I always have both bays filled with batteries or the DVD drive.

Or is it?

If you have a thin bladed standard jeweler's screwdriver or versatile fingernails, pry the weight-saving device apart.

  1. At this point, you could use the device to store important paperwork and/or paper money, traveler's checks, etc. I find that once you pry the weight-saving device apart, it is easier each time to pull apart the device. I don't advise that you store the weight-saving device with your valuable loot in the Pismo's modular bays, as even the dumbest thief will steal a Pismo. (It's a computer, dude!) If you leave it around the hotel room, only the illiterate thief will steal it. Come to think of it, you're better off storing cables, dongles, or other tiny items that you use.
  2. While the WSD (wow, that was a quick acronym) is open, you could fill it with sand, glue it together, and use it for a paperweight or doorstop.
  3. While the WSD is open, you can use a Dremel tool (a dangerous object for those of us who probably shouldn't be using hand tools due to a proclivity for playing chess during shop class) and cut a couple of notches in the base and use it as an ashtray. (You shouldn't smoke.) And using the Dremel tool, you can clean up the top to use a drink coaster. (You probably shouldn't drink as well.)
  4. You could convince somebody that without a WSD his Pismo is incomplete and sell him yours.
  5. The problem with number 4 is that there doesn't seem to be a shortage of these things on the market, and practically any vendor has a supply of these things that they are more than willing to sell to you - cheap!
  6. Since there seems to be no shortage of WSDs, maybe some future society will use them as a method of exchange. (Hey, Charlie! That hard drive will cost you 50 WSDs.)

Pismo as a DVD Player

Now this isn't that a stupid Pismo trick. Run down and pay for an S-video-to-RCA adapter. I had a sad experience with the DVD player that was attached to our TV in the bedroom. (I know - pure decadence, but if you have three teenagers in your house, you will understand why my wife and I retreat to our sanctum sanctorum.)

The DVD player had a laser that was misaligned and would have cost more that it was worth to repair. Pismo to the rescue! With the S-video adapter, the Pismo's DVD Player allows my wife and I to watch videos that appeal to the older generation. You know what I'm talking about - movies without a car explosion every 2 minutes. LEM

Recent Recycled Computing Columns

Links for the Day

Recent Content on Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.

Custom Search

Amazon.com

Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Video Cards
Email Lists

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
B&H
MacMall
TechRestore
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.