PowerBook Triple-Threat

NOTE: This Miscellaneous Ramblings column originally appeared on MacOpinion on April 16, 1999. It is republished here by permission of the author and MacOpinion.

Apple's Imminent PowerBook Triple-Threat

Doug Landry over at The PowerBook Zone reports that his sources say Apple's new professional PowerBook (code named "101" or "Lombard") has been tentatively scheduled for release on April 19th National Association of Broadcasters conference. Production is reportedly ramping up.

Apparently, the new big 'Book, which will replace the current G3 Series machines, has been ready to go for some time, with the holdups being:

• Mac OS 8.6 was not yet ready.
• Too many unsold G3 Series 'Books remained in the distribution channels.

Well, it is rumored that OS 8.6 will go Golden Master later this week, and a close associate of mine who has been running a late beta build of the new OS has found it to be both fast and stable.

And, of course, anyone who takes more than a cursory interest in the PowerBook scene will be aware of the extremely attractive deals Apple has been offering on G3 Series II machines to clear those clogged channels. That reportedly has been successful, and the path is clear now for the new 'Books.

Doug has posted an excellent overview article about Lombard, which can be viewed here.

Regular Road Warrior readers will recall that a couple of weeks ago I reported on speculation that Apple will release not just one, but two, lightweight PowerBooks - a consumer "iBook" model, probably with iMac style color schemes, and a slimline 'Book for traveling executives and business people.

At the Apple Shareholders' Meeting last month, Apple iCEO Steve Jobs noted, "We're always trying to build lighter laptops, but we're pulled in some different directions."

Jobs said that ultimately there might be three distinct laptop markets: one for a low-cost consumer model, one for professionals who want a full-featured model that can do everything; and one for "digital road warriors, who just want something light so they can get email in their hotel rooms."

This week, O'Grady's PowerPage published a state-of-the-rumors report on the long-awaited lightweight machines.

According to O'Gradys' "well placed sources," the new executive PowerBook will feature:

• 500+ MHz AltiVec powered PowerPC G4 processor
• New World ROM-in-RAM architecture
• 10-14 GB IBM TravelStar hard drive
• 64 MB RAM standard, upgradeable to either 128 or 512 MB
• 12.1" TFT reflective LCD built by Sharp
• CD/DVD-ROM
• 1" thick "Stealth" all-black enclosure
• Ultra-sturdy construction
• Micro floppy drive
• S-Video out
• Single Type II PC card
• 1/8" speaker and mic ports
• Dual stacked USB
• Single IEEE1394/FireWire port
• Combination v.90/100 base-T Ethernet
• VGA video-out
• 4 Mb/sec. IrDA
• New style AC power outlet will not require a power brick

Pretty cool, eh? Sounds like a feature set that will eclipse the presumably more expensive Lombard.

The downside is that O'Grady's thinks this machine won't be released before late fall 1999, and that when it is, the price will be in the $2,500 range.

As for the consumer iBook model ("P1") AppleInsider is saying that it is being referred to internally at Apple as the "Student Notebook or the "School Book," and is " on track" for late-April/early-May introduction coinciding with the Worldwide Developers Conference at the San Jose Convention Center.

Unlike the late Newton-based eMate, the Consumer Portable will run on a full version of Mac OS 8.6 and a low-voltage G3 processor for extended battery life. AppleInsider suggests that in addition to the familiar iMac flavors, Apple may be entertaining the prospect of supplying the iBook in custom school colors livery for large institutional purchases. Sounds very cool, and I'm betting that Apple is about to hit three more long loud ones out of the park with its imminent one-two-three PowerBook punch.

The Great 5300/190 Debate

I've been getting a lot of mail this week about Apples' generous trade-in offer on PowerBook 5300s and 190s, as reported in this space last week.

To recap, Apple Customer Relations is offering 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.

In order 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

Given that the current used price range of these computers is about $300 to $900, this looks like a really attractive deal. However, one reader posted me this comment:

"At first this appeared to be a great deal. Then I found out, Apple doesn't care if its a 5300ce maxed out (approx. resale value ~$900-1000 or a bare-bones 190 (approx. resale value $300). Hey, they don't even care if it actually works! They're planning to use them for PARTS, according to Apple Customer Service (two calls, today). I hate the notion of someone trashing my 5300, which has run perfectly, without a crash that wasn't caused by a server or an obvious application error, for close to a year now.

"The savings gets less when you calculate out the sales tax, loss of incentives per the direct mail houses, and loss of the value of any peripherals or improvements. My 5300 has a new 1 GB drive, tons of memory, two batteries, two AC adapters, PC card, video out adapter - and Apple said, basically, toss them out or we will."

Another reader, Jeff Seaver, agreed:

"I've signed up for one of Apple's 5300/190 trade-ins on new G3s., but ever since have been really plagued by the decision. I am a very happy 5300 owner. Went through all the usual 5300 nasties early on (motherboard swap, 750 MB HD failed, screen bezel had to be replaced) but that stuff having been done, now it's ROCK solid, in my case having settled on OS 8.5.1, running RAM Doubler at 3x and Speed Doubler too, and tons of applications... never, ever a problem anymore - days between restarts, it sits on my desk driving a 15" monitor and a wonderful Power Computing keyboard. Only problem is this baby is S-L-O-W, and I need to start doing some snazzy on-site presentations in the next few months.

"Anyway, turns out Apple is planning to cannibalize these machines for parts. I can't live with taking a beautiful running PowerBook and giving it up for parts! It's like trading in an old beat up Chevy I've poured love into for years, to a scrap dealer.

"Plus, is this such a deal? I'd like your opinion. Apple says $1,000 bucks off, but that's off their SRP of $3,200 - not the real world retail of $3,000 - plus VirtualPC or an extra 64 MB of RAM kicked in, which most direct channels are now offering to clear _their_ inventory. That makes the trade-in value closer to $700. And no compensation for my soon to be useless Global Village PC card, extra RAM in the machine, wetsuit, two batteries, two AC adapters, car adapter. You get the picture.

"I'm starting to think that maybe the ticket is to give Apple more time to announce the Lombards, see if the DVD model gets into the $2800 range while they're still fresh in the box, and plunk down cold hard cash, and keep this 5300, or sell it to someone who will give it a good home.

"The other notion is, buying a junked-out 190 fast, and turning that in instead - Apple will accept that as trade-in, too. They seem to be going on eBay in the $350-400 range."

What Is Apple's Real Agenda Here?

The more I thought about it, the more suspicious I became about Apple's true agenda with this offer. Why are only 5300/190 users eligible? Secondly, the junking them for parts bit is somewhat implausible. What use do they have for a large stock of used 5300/190 parts?

Which leads me to the following theory. The 5300 has been an embarrassment and public relations disaster for Apple ever since one machine caught fire in an Apple lab just after the 5300's launch in 1995, precipitating a recall. Never mind that it was the Sony LiIon battery that went up in smoke. Never mind that no consumer machines were affected and all 5300s were quickly retrofitted with trouble-free NIMH batteries. The 5300's undeserved reputation as the "incendiary PowerBook" stuck. Of course, some very real but fixable, design defects and quality problems didn't help, but Apple repaired them, offered and unprecedented seven-year extended warranty on the 5300, and as the two 5300-owning readers above testify, the 5300 became a solid and dependable, albeit slowish computer. The 5300 I'm typing these words on has not had a day's downtime or any serious problems since purchased new in November 1996.

I think Apple's true motive behind the trade-in offer is to get the 5300s and 190s out of circulation and off Apple's back for good. My guess is that the "parts salvage" story is mainly a smokescreen, and that most of the machines traded in will end up in a landfill.

As a satisfied and indeed enthusiastic PowerBook 5300 owner I find that hard to swallow. I can't object to Apple's offer on the basis of economics - the trade-in allowance is more than fair. But I still find the thought of a whole bunch of perfectly good, serviceable 5300s and 190s being thrown away or even junked for parts both sad and offensive. They could at least donate them to needy schoolchildren or something. (they could suspend the seven-year warranty on giveaway machines by branding the case or something).

Are the 5300/190 series bad computers? I think not, and I bought one new. However, if Apple just wants to bury them to eliminate what it apprehends as a source of embarrassment, what does that say to those of us who like our 5300s and 190s and are still getting great service from them? That we were chumps for buying a computer (an expensive computer) in good faith, that its manufacturer now considers worthless? What will this do to the resale value of 5300s and 190s whose owners choose not to or can't afford to trade in?

I think Apple has handled the whole 5300 affair rather clumsily. They did all the responsible things as far as product support was concerned, but by choosing not to address the 5300 problems forthrightly and publicly, they passively contributed to a popular misconception that the 5300 is a lemon just waiting to burst into flames.

I don't quarrel with anyone's choice to take advantage of Apple's trade-in offer. I still think it's a really good deal, especially if you own a 190 or lower-end 5300, in which case you are getting substantially more than your machine is worth on the open market. I just wish the machines that get traded-in were to be treated with more dignity.

Apparently, quite a few 5300/190 owners agree. One wrote the following:

"As a happy PB 5300 owner which I bought used in HK for US$ 400, I really can't see parting with the 5300 at this time. OK, I already own a G3 233 but these suckers are huge, heavy, and hot. The 5300 is a great road Mac and the passive grey screen I have lasts pretty long. I can take this on trips and not be too concerned about dropping or losing it since it is my spare.

"For some people who use it as a primary computer, the deal is a good thing but I've added enough upgrades to my little baby to make it worthwhile to keep. 48 megs extra, 750 megs hard drive...3x NIMH batteries. All in all, its a personal decision but what Apple should do is allow you to apply the purchase to a new consumer PowerBook or even a DVD player for us G3 owners.

"I hope that Apple will use this chance to ship the spare 5300's to the third world or something instead of just throwing it out. A laptop is a great learning tool and should be given away instead of destroyed."

Reader Chris Turkel wrote:

"I bought my 5300cs used on eBay, to compliment by G3 Desktop and I couldn't be happier. The 5300 is a nice little PowerPC machine, which can run most anything, is stable and has never crashed. With a $10 cable and $25 adapter I am able to hook it up to my desktop and transfer files, back up, etc. What a joy. The thought of 5300s ending up in landfill breaks the heart!

On the other hand, reader Abe Jellinek offered this comment:

"I am in full agreement with the school response. However, Apple would have to sift through the junk to get to the good, and then give it to schools and hope nothing goes wrong. The INSTANT one of these units breaks Fred Langa and his cadre of misinformed PC Magazine "journalists" will jump all over it. Apple would take on incredible cost (time and money) looking for the "good" 5300's (that look the same as the bad ones.) Also, it would be a huge PR hit if the units broke (and no PR gain, Intel dwarfs Apples donations [the computers Intel gives break and are slow, but who cares? It is Intel, the controller of all journalism])"

A valid observation, but I still hate to see good, serviceable computers junked and trashed. Abe, by the way, is delighted with Apple's trade-in offer.

"I bought [a 190] for school and tried to use it for a year. Every 3 weeks it would die. A little click and everything would be gone or locked inside. My 190 would sometimes power up, and die in mid startup. Or the keyboard caps-lock light would come on (indicating power) but the screen would just be black. Or the case would crack, or the hard disk would erase ALL of my files (backed up, of course)

"Anyway, what I am saying is I traded a junky 68LC040 processor and a faulty machine I haven't touched in two years worth 150 bucks, tops, for $1100 off a G3/300. The last thing I am thinking right now is that I am a chump for paying the money for it originally. My friend has a very nice 5300, and is thrilled Apple is essentially GIVING him 100 bucks more than he paid for it a few years ago."

And Brian Gerstel, an IS Specialist at an east coast university had this to say:

"If my department had the funding to do the 5300 trade-in, we'd figure out a way around the Apple Education ban and get rid of our PB 5300 in a New York minute!

"First of all, the machine doesn't have a CD, and requires the "Slow SCSI Extension" to remain stable when using a Zip drive, which makes *my* job as chief software installer more difficult.

"Second, the lack of built-in Ethernet or modem is a pain, and the 3rd party Card Sockets and Services 2.0 drivers for Ethernet don't seem as well-optimized as the 3.0 drivers (for the 2400/3400), unless the performance difference I've seen is just due to the difference in CPU speed.

"Third, our 5300 has been plagued by one of the major design flaws: the socket for the AC adapter keeps breaking off the motherboard. Apple will pay for the repair *once*, but after that it's out of our pocket, and it keeps happening.

"Right now the 5300 serves as our backup PowerBook, in case of an emergency, but frankly I'd get rid of it immediately if there were an alternative."

No argument on the points of fact, but a lack of particular features doesn't make the 5300 a bad machine, especially for people who don't need those features.

Craig Hunter wrote:

"I had a 5300, and I agree, it was a fine machine once the kinks were worked out. Instead of focusing on the 5300/190 angle of the trade-in, I think you should look at it from the perspective of Apple being overstocked with G3's. They need to reduce their inventory for lots of reasons (tax writeoffs, making the numbers look good for Wall St, etc.), and this is one way to do it. It's fairly easy for them to write off a landfill full of traded-in 5300/190's, but not so easy (or legit) for them to do it with a landfill of new G3's. I heard somewhere (perhaps AppleInsider) that Apple was prepared to take drastic measures to trim inventory before introducing the new PB models, and this looks like one strategy. I also expect that they may offer new G3's to customers sending in the original G3's for repairs. It would be cheaper for Apple to give a new 266/14.1" model to someone instead of fixing an early production 250/13.3" model, which had lots of assorted problems at the beginning."

Bob Seminak wrote:

"While negative PR may have contributed to Apple's decision to offer this trade-up program, I suspect that the motives are much less sinister. Apple has had well-documented problems with their customer service. They also presently have a glut of PowerBooks which apparently are delaying introduction of new models.

"Someone most likely did an analysis of which older PowerBook models cost Apple the most to support currently (and in the future - the extended 5300 warranty) and decided that a program of this sort made sense - take potentially problematic systems out of service while offering customers more up-to-date machines. This is both good PR and likely reduces current support costs as well as future exposure. While it may not be pleasant to think of these machines choking up a landfill with non-biodegradable mass, it certainly makes business sense; any salvage value is only that much better for Apple.

"One point not mentioned is that these trade-ups represent a significant bonus to both Apple and those who take advantage of this offer: a bunch of computers supported under Mac OS X."

Hadn't thought about the OS X angle, Bob.

Anthony Doll speculated:

"Maybe Apple (after offering the unprecedented 7-year warranty) actually needs the spare parts now. It seems this would be cheaper than manufacturing new ones."

Possibly, but I think that's a long shot.

James Sifert wrote to say:

"If Apple wants to give money back for an embarrassing machine maybe they should think about compensating people who bought late model Performas.

"My brother bought a Performa PowerPC 5200CD on my advice of Mac vs. Windows and he has never forgiven me. Some money towards an iMac would help I am sure."

Indeed. In my humble opinion, the 5200 desktop series is a lot doggier than the 5300/190 PowerBook ever was.

5300cs owner Joseph L. Williams, who uses his to help coordinate navigation of Space Shuttle missions at the NASA/Lyndon B Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, also wrote this week.

"I've continued to read your articles on MacOpinion since your first offerings, and I'd like to again thank you for your well-written thoughts. I've been swamped with work the last few weeks and haven't had the time to write, but I've been following your threads and have a few items to share with you.

"First, regarding Apple Support. I followed the stories you reported - some good, some bad - about different people's dealings with Apple Support. Wouldn't you know it - around that same timeframe, my 5300's screen started acting flaky. After some Internet research, I felt strongly that the video cable was going bad. I contacted Apple Support and shared my problems with them. I did have some minor troubles with them, mainly with working through the layers of phone support. However, within 10 days I had my 5300 back, good as new. One item, the broken bezel(?) casing for the screen, was fixed under warranty, even though my 5300 is a little more than 3 years old. The cable repair did cost me $120, including labor. I'd give my latest experience with Apple Support a B+.

"Next, I'd like to share with you a revelation I had. I call it a personal revelation even though many folks out there are probably doing this and think "no big deal." For the last three years, I've been working with my 5300 using the built-in screen. One day I asked myself the question: Why am I not driving an external monitor? So, I walked into the department administrator's office and asked her if she had any old PC monitors laying around. Turns out that she had ViewSonic 7 in excess. I purchased a video monitor hookup that contained dual ports on it - one for Mac monitors, one for PC monitors. A few flips of the DIP switches, plug in the monitor, and *shazam* - a working external monitor, running at 800 x 600. My PC friends were amazed that I could do this with my PowerBook. They were even further amazed when I showed them that I was running in extended desktop mode, not mirroring mode. This is the coolest thing, and it's a shame that support for the extended desktop mode was dropped somewhere after the 5300 series. Hopefully, Apple will fix this with their next PowerBook offering. By the way, my PC colleagues were even further amazed that I could drag a window from one monitor to the other. We can't do that on our multi-monitored workstations in the Mission Control Center!

"Finally, I've mentioned to you in the past that I'm happy with my 5300, even though it's starting to show its age. I'd like to be able to run Virtual PC with Windows 95 on it, because we do have a few Windows-only applications I need to use. I tried it as an experiment, but the 100 MHz 603e is too dog slow. Major bummer. I don't know if you or any of your readers have tried this as well.... Despite this experience, I'm still holding onto my resolve to wait another PowerBook generation or two before stepping up. That $1000 rebate you mentioned in Miscellaneous Ramblings #10 is making it quite hard, though...."

Joe is a brave man to attempt running Virtual PC on a PowerBook 5300. Connectix recommends a 120 MHz 603e as the minimum hardware for VPC (the 117 MHz 5300ce is just shy of that spec.), but since VPC is none too speedy (although quite usable) on a G3 233, I shudder to think how slow it would be on a 100 MHz 5300.

As for extended desktop mode, this is one advantage we 5300 owners have had over the speedier 3400s and G3 PowerBooks. The 5300 *was* in its day positioned as a premium Apple product, and indeed the 5300ce was one of the ten most expensive Macs in history.

Happily, Doug Landry says that extended desktop mode will finally be back on Lombard.

Andy Ferguson wrote:

"Re: two issues in Miscellaneous Ramblings #10:

"1) the QuickTime powerplug problem. I did not have the same problem as you did, but (as I'm sure you know from other comments out there) upgrading to 8.5 makes the 5300 a *whole new machine*. Really. My 5300ce was just about to lose out to a new Toshiba, but got a new lease on life with the 8.5 upgrade.

"2) second class apple citizens: I don't think I'm going to do the trade-in program since I'd prefer to squeeze another year out of my 5300 before handing over more cash, but I did figure out an acceptable (to Apple) way to work around the "not in Canada" problem. O'Grady alluded to this solution, but didn't spell it out: basically, use a US shipping address (like a Mail Boxes Etc. type place...yeah, it means schlepping across the border twice, but depending on where you are that could be worth it), and temporarily change your credit card billing address to the same shipping address. Voila. Apple doesn't care where you and your computer are from, as long as the shipping and billing address are in the US. This scenario is even better if you use an address in a state with no sales tax! You can reach Apple customer service by dialing a regular number (not toll free) which O'Grady has posted."

I tried installing a beta release of OS 8.5 on my 5300, but with mixed results, due to partial incompatibility with some older software I use. I have heard rave reviews from other 5300 owners about OS 8.5 speeding up their 'Books, however, and I have it on good authority that if you like OS 8.5, you're gonna love OS 8.6.

The U.S. address is indeed a viable workaround for Canadian 5300/190 owners who live within reasonable driving distance of the border or who have cooperative friends Stateside.

Joe Kudrna writes:

"Just like you, I was very impressed by the 5300's smaller size and weight over the 500, but unlike you, its boxy PC shape and lack of an internal CD-ROM really turned me off. Most horrific was no L2 in those early PPC days, crippling its performance to about a 500's (it desperately needed 8.1). Then there where the quality problems.

"No matter what everyone else said, you where right that the 500 was the first portable desktop. The stereo speakers, 16-bit in-out sound, and Ethernet where features that up till then where the domain of desktops. SCSI gave it better expandability than a PC at the time! As for performance, it was better (except video) than a Quadra 700, on par with a Quadra 950. A chip clocker can push it to 40 MHz, just shy of Quadra 840AV performance. Of course PPC was here and fast, IF the code was native.

"My first Mac is my 520c. I have a faster PC (K6-300), but my 520c is my workhorse. My wife has a 550c, which I am typing this letter. It is a real beaut! Recently someone offered $1000 for a 550c. It is a collectors item in a way. Considering how hugely popular the 500 was, why they made the 190 that served no demand beats me. [Cheaper? CM]

"These have been incredibly successful PowerBooks. I think only WallStreet G3 has the WOW power exceed the 500."

Joe has published a Website dedicated to PowerBook 500s with a ton of information on these solid and popular machines.

More On iCab

I reported on iCab, the new German Mac-only challenger in the browser wars several weeks back when it was in one of its very early beta versions - German language only. I've continued to download the successive betas of iCab as development progressed, and this week Preview Version 1.4 is out - the best iCab yet.

I've been back on the 5300 for the past month or so for personal reasons I wrote about previously in The Road Warrior. With the G3 I tend to prefer Internet Explorer 4.5 as my everyday browser (sorry Netscape fans, but it's the better browser right now - I have high hopes for Communicator 5), but IE runs very slowly on the 5300, and I tend to quickly gravitate back to speedy little Netscape 2.02, which is crash prone and Java-challenged, but which re-launches fast and is the speediest browser I've yet found that supports the features I need.

However, iCab, which is even smaller than Netscape 2.02, is getting closer to being a very adequate replacement for the old Netscape with every incremental beta release.

iCab is not as fast as Netscape 2.02, but it is feature-loaded and Java -savvy. While I had found version 1.3a unacceptably buggy and unstable for routine use, version 1.4 seems markedly improved in that department. Scrolling is faster and smoother than with earlier versions, and it hasn't crashed on me yet in three days intensive use.

There are still some things that need work, though. Contextual menus refuse to work more often than not, and support for some forms is still wonky. And one feature iCab will have to add before I can use it as my everyday browser is a "text only" option in the "Save As" dialog. At this point iCab will only save pages as html files.

However, this browser has real potential, and is already a useful alternative to its monster competitors.

iCab preview Version 1.4 will work until the end of June. The developers intend to charge a modest $29 for the full, shipping version of iCab, but "iCab lite" will continue to be available for free.

Changes in iCab Preview 1.4 (since Preview 1.3a) include:

Bug fixes:

• Many new workarounds for false/invalid HTML code.
• "Reload" doesn't load the filtered images anymore.
• When printing large tables some parts were never printed.
• When loading images that are not embedded in HTML pages the "back" button jumped back two pages instead of one.
• When loading plain text files from the web only an empty page was shown.
• User names and passwords will be hidden now in all FTP URLs.
• Small problem with certain HTML macros (e.g. "ª") solved.
• When loading GIF images from the net it could happen that a single frame of the animation was not OK.
• When quitting, iCab will check if downloads of the Download Manager are still active. If necessary iCab will ask if it should really quit and abort the downloads.
• many other small bug fixes.

New Features in Version 1.4:

• When iCab opens the source of the HTML page in an external editor (for example BBEdit) after a double click in the error report window it also sends the AppleEvent "Goto Line". So the Cursor should be in the same line as the error (if the editor supports this AppleEvent).
• New menu entry "Sherlock/Find File". The menu entry calls Sherlock (MacOS 8.5) or the old "Find file" application (MacOS 7.x - 8.1)
• Many AppleEvents are now supported. Now Sherlock can be used together with iCab as well as the URL Manager by Alco Blom (Please get the latest Version of URL-Manager Pro, because Alco Blom did also some modifications in UMP for iCab).

For questions concerning iCab, bug reports and suggestions: support@icab.de

For general questions concerning the concept, marketing etc.: info@icab.de

You can download a free evaluation copy of iCab preview 1.3a at: http://www.icab.de/download.html

Compleat Buyers' Guide Feedback

Charles Broderick had these comments about my Compleat PowerBook Users and Buyers Guide feature last week:

"I owned a PB 1400 cs 117 MHz 12/750, and now own a used PB 2400c, so I can correct / fill in some facts.

"The bottom of the line PB 1400cs 117 12/750 was the only model that did not have a CD-ROM, and was the only 1400 to have 12 MB RAM soldered on. The rest all came with 16 MB on the motherboard. My MacBench 4 results for the processor gave it a rating of 117 (100 being the 6100/60 MHz).

"The PB 2400c is indeed a gem. It has a Lithium ion battery, not a NiMh.

"That's about all I know to flesh out your article. As for upgrading/buying a new PB, the quandary is whether to upgrade. I was thinking of upgrading my PB 1400, and can do so cheaply now, but the passive matrix screen was always a handicap. I bought a used PB 2400c, and I am very happy. I am wondering about how the new P1's will be, but think I am likely to upgrade my PB 2400 since it's so cheap."

Charles is correct on all counts, and upgrading 1400s and 2400s just got even cheaper.

Vimage Cuts G3 Upgrade Prices

The Vimage Corporation this week announced price cuts across the board for its G3 upgrade cards, including PowerBook models.

The Vpower PB 1400 G3/233 (512K of backside cache, 02.1 backside cache bus clock ratio) upgrade for the PowerBook 1400 has been cut by $160, to $339, and the PB 2400 G3/240 (512K, 02.1) has been lowered to $489. The PB 2400 G3/320 (1 MB, 02.1), which technically will give you the fastest PowerBook processor in the world until Lombard ships, has been cut to $899.

In summary:

• Vpower PB 1400 G3/233 - $339
• Vpower PB 2400 G3/240 - $489
• Vpower PB 2400 G3/320 - $899

For more information visit Vimage's website.

That's all for this week!