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Classic Macs in the Intel Age
My 4 Favorite PowerBooks
- 2008.05.28 - Tip Jar
My Turn is Low End Mac's column for reader-submitted articles. It's your turn to share your thoughts on all things Mac (or iPhone, iPod, etc.) and write for the Mac web. Email your submission to Dan Knight .
Last time I talked about my Quadra server.
Now it's time to talk about the portables, or at least some of them - the best ; ) (This article would be way too long if I went over them all, so I chose to talk about my four favorites instead)
These are all PowerBooks (no Mac Portable in my collection - yet!) using 680x0 processors, with the exception of one, which uses a PowerPC chip.
PowerBook 150
I just can't love my PowerBook 150 enough, as you know from my other articles. It has a very big screen compared to the other 'Books, and System 7.1 runs along just fine with this 'Book.
Although it lacks an ADB port, it still has a LocalTalk port, which is all I need to get it on the Internet with my Vintage Mac Network. iCab is a great web browser, and Eudora works well as a mail client.
In conclusion, it's a great value.
PowerBook 165c

The first PowerBook with a color LCD, this 'Book feels a little more modern than the others. It has a 33 MHz 68030 chip and 4 MB of RAM (mine's been upgraded to 8 MB).
It's great for playing those old Mac games in color. My machine runs System 7.1, although it supports Mac OS 7.6 - or even Mac OS 8 if you use Born Again (something I might try when I get some more RAM).
A cheap way to have a notebook Mac that feels younger than it actually is.
PowerBook 100
Grandma of the MacBook Air (the Duo series is its mom)!
These machines are very thin and easily slip into your backpack. The base 2 MB of RAM isn't much, but it works. (System 6.08L is highly recommended with 2 MB.)
Just like the Air, it lacks some ports and needs an external floppy drive. Still, the keyboard is great, and that makes it a great word processor.
Lombard
There's just one more thing . . . Lombard.
Although not really a Vintage Mac, I consider this the missing link between new and old. It has USB, but the SCSI port and Mac OS 8 make it classic.
It has one of the best keyboards in PowerBook history, and the big 14.1" display makes it a nice DVD player.
Once again, it's not really a vintage Mac,* but more of a missing link. Great value if you can't afford a Pismo and think the WallStreet is a little too old.
Although I have some other PowerBooks (160, 1400, 145b), I find these to be my absolute favorites.
I am looking for a good Macintosh Portable, and when I get one, I'll be sure to share my story here.
Oh, and there's one more thing (again!). Remember the guy who gave me the Classic II and the 100s? Well, I've emailed him, and he's going to give me some other Macs too!
Next time, I'll talk about Compact Macs.
* Editor's note: At Low End Mac, we apply the term vintage to Macs designed around the 680x0 family of CPUs. We use the classic label for any Mac that can run the Classic Mac OS without using an emulator. dk
Go to the index of articles by Carl Nygren.
Share your perspective on the Mac by emailing with "My Turn" as your subject.
Recent My Turn articles
- Using Low End Macs for Internet Radio, 08.18. When the local public radio station moved classical music to HD radio, it was time to find another way to listen. An old iMac with iTunes solved the problem.
- 'That's Not a Computer', 07.30. Salvaging a broken PowerBook by turning it into a desktop computer.
- Upgrading a Digital Audio G4 to work better in Leopard, 06.02. In its original configuration, the dual 533 MHz Power Mac G4 was slow with Mac OS X 10.5, but add the right upgrades, and it runs Leopard quite nicely.
- Upgraded Quadra a great server for vintage Mac networking, 05.21. The compact Quadra 610 runs quietly, and with a PowerPC upgrade, it rockets past regular 68040 Macs.
- More in the My Turn index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: Power Mac 4400, Nov. 1996 - Apple does cheap to compete with clones - and nobody is impressed.
- Group of the Day: Puma List is for anyone using Mac OS X 10.1.
- November 7 in LEM history: 00: PowerBook Lite dreams - Our first Macs - 01: OS 9, OS X, or Linux? - 02: Xserve for the classroom - 03: Panther on slot-loading iMacs - High capacity Lombard/Pismo battery - 05: Clean keyboard residue from laptop screen with ROR - SeaMonkey - 06: Dan Bricklin, inventor of the spreadsheet - Turn any Mac into a gameshow buzzer - 07: The transforming PowerBook 1400 - PowerBook 540 on Compact Flash
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Recent Content on Low End Mac
- Quad-Core CPU Makes Sense in MacBook Pro, OS X 10.6 Causing Overheating, Overseas Power, and More, The 'Book Review, 11.06. Also Late 2009 MacBook reviewed, how to add RAM to new MacBook, 18.4in Acer notebook used Intel i7, and SanDisk SSD chosen for Sony VAIO X.
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- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.03. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 8-core. $2,299; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.26 8-core, $2,799; 2.93, $4,999.
- Best iPhone Deals, 11.03. New 8 GB iPhone 3G, $$99; refurb 16 GB 3GS, $149; new, $199; 32 GB, $299.
- Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.03. Used 867 MHz SperDrive, $348; 1 GHz, $499; 1.33 Combo, $298; SD, $559; 1.5 Combo, $448; SuperDrive, $589.
- Best Power Mac G3 and PCI Video Card Deals, 11.02. Used beige 300 MHz, $25; G4/366, $49; blue & white 350, $80; 400, $90; 450, $105; PCI video cards from $15; shipping additional.
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- Best Mac mini Deals, 10.30. Used 1.33 GHz G4 mini, $379; 1.42, $389; 1.5, $419; 1.83 GHz Core Duo, $350; Core 2, $439; new 2.26 GHz nVidia, $580; 2.53 GHz, $770; Server, $990.
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- Best Classic Mac OS Deals, 10.30. System 6.0.8 floppies, $10; 7.1, $12; 7.5, $20; 7.5 CD, $4; 7.6 $13; 8.1, $11; 8.5, $20; 8.6, $90; 9.0, $20; 9.2.2, $30.
- More deals in our archive.
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