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.

Miscellaneous Ramblings

Apple Clearing Out Old PowerBooks, Taking 5300 & 190 on Trade

Charles Moore - 9 April 1999 - Tip Jar

NOTE: This Miscellaneous Ramblings column originally appeared on MacOpinion on April 9, 1999. It is republished here by permission of the author and MacOpinion.

This has been a singularly slow news week in the PowerBook world, as we await the introduction of the new Lombard professional PowerBook. Nothing significant to report there except that PowerBook G3prices and deals continue to sweeten (see below) on G3 Series II 'Books as Apple hustles to clear out the distribution channels.

However, check out my companion Road Warrior column this week for the second installment of my "Compleat Buyer's and Users' Guide To PowerBooks," especially if you're considering a PowerBook purchase soon.

I'm still using the old 5300, and I continue to marvel at how good a job it does, albeit sometimes a bit slowly. A glance at the trusty HoverBar shows that I have 17 applications open as I type this - on a machine with 24 MB of real RAM (doubled) that has not been restarted for a couple of days.

However, I had my worst tussle with a software conflict in many a moon last Monday, after Nisus Writer, my workhorse (and normally rock-stable) word processor, started crashing on startup. All the usual medicine did nothing to help. It was a very long day, involving a clean system reinstall, several utility diagnostics, and about 50 restarts. I finally tracked it down to the fact that I had turned off QuickTime Power Plug in the Extensions Manager in an attempt to trim the RAM System heap. The usual situation is that a conflict happens with certain extensions turned on, but I can't remember encountering one because something totally irrelevant to the affected program was turned off.

QuickTime 3 has never been a happy camper on this 5300, and it also has caused anomalies in the Sleep function. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone else who has experienced these glitches in a 5300. For the record, I'm running OS 8.1.

Anyway, I enabled QuickTime Power Plug again, and Nisus is back to its old self.

Upgrade Resource

PowerBook Central has published an excellent and comprehensive resource on PowerBook upgrades, from the 100s to the G3 Series. Well worth a look if you have an older PowerBook that needs a dose of upgrade tonic.

Trade in your 5300 or 190 on a new G3 and get a $1,000 allowance

O'Grady's PowerPage is reporting that Apple Customer Relations will shave up to US$1,000 off the purchase price of a new PowerBook G3 Series 266 or 300 as a trade-in allowance on PowerBook 5300s and 190s only.

Can we expect a lot of 5300s and 190s in the refurbished channels soon?

The eligible G3 PowerBooks are the following configurations:

  • 266/1MB-L2/64RAM/4GB HD/20xCD/10BT/56k/14" TFT/ US$1899
  • 300/1MB-L2/64RAM/8GB HD/20xCD/10BT/56k/14" TFT/US$2199

Being as the 5300/190 machines are getting a bit long in the tooth, and even the high-end 5300ce (the most expensive PowerBook ever built) is selling for less than $1,000, this deal would appear to be a no-brainer decision if you can come up with the difference.

O'Grady's says that to take advantage of this offer, proceed as follows:

  1. Call Apple Customer Relations at 800-767-2775
  2. Mention the "PowerBook 5300 Limited Time Offer Upgrade"
  3. Apple will issue a case number
  4. Apple will send you a call tag to return your PowerBook 5300 or 190
  5. Give Apple a credit card number (it won't be charged until computer is shipped)
  6. Limited one per customer
  7. Apple is not responsible for any data or data transfer

Unfortunately, it appears that this deal is another instance where Canadians (and other non-US residents) are second-class Apple citizens. I tried the 800 number cited above and got the "you have dialed a number that cannot be reached from your area" (which is in Canada) recording.

Mac news from Singapore

My Singapore correspondent Tan Choon Hwa writes:

Dear Charles,

Things have certainly picked up in Singapore since we last 'heard' from each other.

Mac sales have increased quite a bit; judging by what my Mac dealer told me. All 300MHZ PBs have been sold out since the middle of March and many customers are on the waiting list. Even PC shops in my local IT mall have iMacs and PBs in them.

While Macs still serve a niche market, they are becoming more visible and common to the masses - which is good.

I hope I will have more encouraging news to tell you the next time I fill you in.

Looking forward to it Choon Hwa.

Cautionary note on external hard drives for PBs

Road Warrior reader Craig Spirko writes:

In your column on Fri. a Herb Schwartz was looking for a 2.5" drive case and I remembered I had purchased same but started using Zips at the time and never used it. I dug it out thinking I might send it along to someone who could use it but thought I'd try it first to see if it worked. Mistake. Immediately smoke started wafting from my Duo SCSI Dock and it no longer functions. Yes, it was the excuse I needed to buy a G3 PB (I don't suffer from chemical sensitivity syndrome, knock wood) currently being sold at fire sale prices, from which I am writing you now.

Upshot: I don't recommend using a 2.5" drive case, certainly not with a Duo Microdock.

Enjoy reading your column,

Craig

Thanks for the caveat, Craig.

Till next week.

Charles Moore has been a freelance journalist since 1987 and began writing for Mac websites in May 1998. His The Road Warrior column is a regular feature on MacOpinion, and he is a news editor and columnist at Applelinks.com. If you find his articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.

Recent Miscellaneous Ramblings

Links for the Day

Recent Content on Low End Mac

Recent Deals

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.

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Miscellaneous Ramblings ©1999-2009 by Charles W. Moore. 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.