PowerBook Hard Drive Upgrade Tutorial, TiBook Touchup Paint, 16x FireWire CD-RW Drive, and More

Compiled by Charles Moore and edited by Dan Knight - January 25, 2002

Except as noted, prices are in US dollars.

• Great PowerBook Hard Drive Upgrade Tutorial
• TiBook Touchup Paint
• MCE Announces Lucid-16, 16x Portable FireWire CD-RW Drive
• Sleeves and Computer Transporter Bags from eBags
• Another Computer Sleeve and iPod Case
• Do-It-Yourself iPod Sleeve
• Bargain 'Books

Great PowerBook Hard Drive Upgrade Tutorial

Insanely Great Mac's Remy Davison has posted an excellent tutorial on how to do PowerBook hard drive upgrades, covering everything from the latest TiBooks back to the old 100 series machines.

Remy notes that IBM, Toshiba, Fujitsu, and Hitachi are the main 2.5" notebook hard drive manufacturers, and that most Apple OEM hard drives supplied in PowerBooks and iBooks have been IBMs and Fujitsus, with IBMs being the preferred drive.

There is a ton of useful information and many links to more in this article. If you're contemplating a hard drive upgrade, it's well worth reading.

TiBook Touchup Paint

Samuel Hotchkiss has paint for touching up scratched Titanium PowerBooks.

Samuel's packs of grey paint for TiBooks are ready to ship. To order transfer $11.50 to his PayPal account (hotch@hotch.org) and he says he will ship within 24 hours.

For more information, email hotch@hotch.org

And a tip of the hat to The PowerBook Zone for bringing this item to our attention.

MCE Announces Lucid-16, 16x Portable FireWire CD-RW Drive

MCE Technologies, LLC has announced a 16x version of their Lucid Portable FireWire CD-RW drive. The Lucid-16 CD-RW drive sports the slimmest dimensions and lightest weight of any FireWire CD-RW drive on the market today, as well as a sleek industrial design intended to complement all of Apple's current system lineup, particularly the Apple PowerBook G4 Titanium.

The Lucid-16 16x10x24x Portable FireWire CD-RW Drive burns recordable CD-R discs at 16x speed (2400 KB/Sec) and rewritable CD-RW discs at 10x speed (1500 KB/Sec), while reading CD-ROM discs at 24x speed (3600 KB/Sec). It does so while weighing in at less than a pound and measuring 5.5 inches in width, 6.5 inches in length, and only 0.8 inches in height. The Lucid-16 also features JustLink buffer underrun protection to prevent the creation of defective CDs from interruptions in the flow of data to the drive.

Since the Lucid-16 CD-RW drive is bus-powered, it does not require an AC adapter for operation, drawing all required power from any FireWire port which supplies bus power. The Lucid-16 drive supports all Power Macs, iMacs, PowerBooks, and iBooks with built-in FireWire ports as well as those with PCI FireWire cards which supply power to the FireWire bus. An AC adapter which is available separately is required when using the Lucid-16 drive with a system that has FireWire ports that do not supply power to the FireWire bus, such as with some CardBus-based and PCI-based FireWire cards. The Lucid is compatible with both Finder burning and Apple's iTunes under Mac OS 9.1 through Mac OS X.

The Lucid 16x10x24x Portable FireWire CD-RW Drive is bundled with Roxio Toast CD-recording software, a FireWire cable, and a user's guide. The Lucid-16 CD-RW Drive will retail for $399.00 The optional universal AC adapter is listed at $14.99. MCE will begin shipments on February 1, 2002.

Computer Sleeves and Computer Transporter Bags from eBags

eBags' Business Express Computer Sleeve is an inexpensive padded sleeve that protects your laptop computer. Price: $24.99. On sale for $19.99

eBags' Jelly Computer Sleeve comes in three colors, and also is on sale now for $19.99.

Computer Sleeve features:

• Diamond Poly Ripstop
• Size: 13.5" x 11" x 1.5"
• Interior computer dimensions: 12.25" x 10.5" x 1.5"
• Weight: 5.5 oz.
• Warranty: Lifetime

eBags' Computer Transporter features:

• High density poly ripstop
• Size: 13" x 11.5" x 2.5"
• Interior dimensions: 13" x 11" x 2.5"
• Weight: 1.3 lbs
• Warranty: Lifetime

Regular price: $44.99; Sale price: $35.99 (20% off)

Another Computer Sleeve and iPod Case

SFBags' sleek, minimalist SleeveCase keeps your laptop out of harms way without taking up much valuable space, and is available in custom-fit models for the TiBook and iBook. A plush layer of high grade neoprene wrapped in a Ballistic shell surrounds and protects your computer. The ultra smooth neoprene skin makes sliding your laptop in and out a snap.

Available in Black Ballistic nylon with Lead Indium trim.

Sizes:

• Small $35
• Medium $37
• Large $39
• X-Large $42
• Titanium G4 $39
• New iBook $38

Optional custom features

• D-rings, Shoulder Strap & Shoulder Pad +$25
• Ballistic flap +$15

The SFBags Super Dooper iPod Case is protective and extremely functional. Once in the case, you can instantly access everything on your iPod. The padded top slot allows any iPod compatible headphone, and the removable belt clip securely grabs on to anything. A padded front flap protects you iPod and serves as a pocket for the ear bud storage.

Shipping third week of February

Do-It-Yourself iPod Sleeve

Norbert Scully has posted a PDF file containing a pattern that anyone can use to make their own vinyl sleeve costing less than a dollar for their iPod with about 20 minutes work.

Bargain 'Books

There are two different versions of WallStreet running at 233 MHz, the cacheless MainStreet version and the later Series II with a level 2 cache. It's not always possible to determine from the vendor's listing which is being offered, so we've included links within this paragraph to the two models.

Small Dog Electronics

• PowerBook G4/400, 128 MB with an additional 512 MB (640 MB total)/10 GB/DVD-ROM/56K modem, refurbished, one year Apple warranty, Brenthaven Titanium 1 case, $1,699
• PowerBook G4/400, 128/10 GB/DVD, new, $1,569
• PowerBook G4/400, 128/10 GB/DVD, refurb, $1,499

That's right - a TiBook for under $1,500!

PowerBook Guy

• PowerBook G3/400 Pismo, 128/6 GB/DVD/56k/FireWire, $1,249.95
• PowerBook G3/333 Lombard, 128/4 GB/CD/56k/SCSI, $1,049.95

PowerMax

• PowerBook G3/250 WallStreet, 32/4 GB/CD/FD/13.3", refurbished, $799
• PowerBook G3/500 Pismo, 128/12 GB/DVD, $1,588
• PowerBook G3/233 WallStreet, 32/2 GB/CD/13.3", $599
• PowerBook G3/292 WallStreet, 96/2 GB/CD/14.1", $859

MacSolutions

• PowerBook G4/500, 256/20 GB/DVD, three years of Apple Care Warranty, free 2 day shipping, $1,899
• PowerBook G4/500, 256/20 GB/DVD, free 2 day shipping, $1,699
• Also 500 MHz iBooks for $850

Recent 'Book Reviews

• nVidia Inside Next MacBook?, Time for a Mac Netbook, Asus Launched MacBook Air Killer, and More, 10.10. Also photo reveals more about MacBook Pro, comparing 16:9 and 16:10 displays, Apple settles suit over faulty iBook and PowerBook adapters, bargain 'Books from $150 to $2,699, and more.
• Mac Netbook Coming?, $179 64 GB SSD, Apple Owns 20% of US Notebook Market, and More, 10.03. Also head of Norton AntiVirus team uses a Mac, Toshiba demos new battery technology, 1 TB notebook drives due in 2010, bargain 'Books from $150 to $2,699, and more.
• $200 64 GB SSD for Your 'Book, Apple Steering Customers Away from MacBook Pro, and More, 09.26. Also how a $550 Windows notebook can cost over $1,200, netbooks may cut into MacBook sales, widescreens getting wider, bargain 'Books from $150 to $2,699, and more.
• Mac Notebook Share up 60% in US, Apple Refurbs a Great Deal, RIP PowerBook G4, and More, 09.19. Also speculation on next generation MacBooks, refreshing a WallStreet, running a PowerBook 5300 from flash memory, 3G modem sale booming, bargain 'Books from $150 to $2,699, and more.
• More in the .

Links for the Day

• Mac of the Day: Motorola StarMax 5000, May 1997 - This second-generation Mac clone offered 603e, 604e processors.
• List of the Day: The iPod List The iPod List is a forum to discuss the iPod, it's accessories, the iTunes Store, iTunes, and related topics.
  
• October 13 in LEM history: 98: Evidence that Macs last longer - 99: A Mac is like Prozac - From home computers to a real computer - 00: Tradeoffs for OS X beta - 03: iBook failures - 05: The 2005 iMac G5 value equation - Email on your iPod - OS X on 4 dual-core CPUs - 06: The legendary Apple Extended Keyboard - Stinky old iBook smells like sweat - Apple's climb back to success

Recent Content on Low End Mac

• TruePower Battery Can Run WallStreet PowerBook Past the 5 Hour Mark, Tommy Thomas, Welcome to Macintosh, 10.10. If you have a rugged old PowerBook but its battery is losing capacity, TruePower can give you plenty of time in the field.
• 30% of iPhone 3G Buyers Switched Carriers, EU Battery Rule May Force iPhone Redesign, and More, iNews Review, 10.10. Also iPhone 3G greatest consumer electronics device ever, track presidential polls on your iPhone, Talking English Dictionary, waterproof armbands, several new iPhone apps, and more.
• Economic Crunch May Slow Mac Sales, a Recycled Cube, ToCA Race Driver 3 for Mac, and More, Mac News Review, 10.10. Also don't buy RAM from Apple, customize your Mac's appearance, MacTribe expanding into print, My Apple Space social networking, and more.
• Best Mac Pro Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.10. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,799; new, $1,949 after rebate; 2.8 4-core, $2,099 shipped; 8-core, $2,599 shipped; 3.0 $3,399 shipped; 3.2, $4,099 shipped.
• Best PowerBook G3 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.10. Used 14" WallStreet G3/266 MHz, $90; Lombard G3/400 MHz, $150; Pismo G3/400 MHz, $300; 500 MHz, $350.
• Best Time Capsule and AirPort Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.10. Refurb 500 GB Time Capsule, $249; new, $294; refurb 1 TB, $419; new, $462; AirPort Extreme Card, $39; Base Station, $159; Express, $60.
• Modding Your Old Mac to Make It More Useful, Phil Herlihy, The Usefulness Equation, 10.09. If your old Mac is too slow, too noisy, too plain looking, or has too little room for expansion, you might want to mod it.
• What Would an $800 MacBook Mean for the Mac mini?, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 10.09. If Apple does release an $800 entry-level MacBook next week, the $600 Mac mini is going to look very overpriced.
• Best iMac G4 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.09. Used 15" 700 MHz CD-RW, $269; 800 Combo, $300; 1 GHz, $390; 17" 1.25 GHz SuperDrive, $400; 20", $529.
• Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.09. Used 1.83 GHz Core Duo, $995; 2.16, $1,125; new, 2.2, $1,400 after rebate; refurb 2.4, $1,699; 2.5, $1,999; 2.6, $2,299; rebates on new.
• Best Mac OS X 10.4 'Tiger' Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.09. DVD upgrade from 10.3, $75; upgrade bundle with 10.3, $118; full version, $129; family pack, $200; 10-user Server, $350; unlimited, $400.
• The Power of Older Macs, Why Vista Only Sees 3 GB of RAM, Wangwriter Supplies, and More, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 10.08. Also the end of an era as MIT HyperArchive shuts down and another suggestion for profiling Windows computers.
• Migrating My Law Office from Windows to Macintosh, Andrew J Fishkin, Best Tools for the Job, 10.08. By switching to Leopard Server, everyone in the office will be able to move to a Mac - but which ones will best meet their needs?
• Low End Mac Needs Help Moving to Joomla, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 10.08. We've settled on Joomla as the content management system that should work very well for Low End Mac, but we're running stuck with templates.
• Will Apple's iPhone/App Store Tornado Blow Away the Competition?, Tim Nash, Taking Back the Market, 10.08. The iPod, iTunes, and the iTunes Store paved the way for the success of the iPhone and the App Store - and nobody can match that.
• More links in our archive.

Go to the 'Book Review index.