The Swiss Army Knife of Notebook Macs
Low End Mac Reader Specials
Memory To Go Special: New 2008 iMac 2GB $42 / iMac Intel Core2 DUO & MacBook Pro 2GB $36 - 1GB $20. MacPro 8 Core Memory 8GB kit $286 / 4GB kit $143 / 2GB kit $93 -- Free shipping available. LIfetime warranty.
Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com
LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, iMac's, Apple Batteries and Apple A/C Adapters. Also Great prices on Used Apple Computers. Call 1-800-941-7654 Click Here.
OWC: NewerTech miniStack FireWire/USB 2.0 HD & Hub Up to 1.0TB of Performance Storage + FW/USB2 Powered Hubs - convenient & sleek 6.5" x 6.5" x 1.5" Featured: 500GB $169.99; 750GB $209.99; 1.0TB $339.99
Mac users can finally play Party Poker for Mac. Not only that, they can also learn how to play PokerStars for Mac.
Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.
Compare products like desktop computers, laptops, and LCD TVs side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for a new cell phone GPS products or MP3 players. The Ciao network makes searching products easy for you.
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 .
- 2007.12.06
Bookmark in del.icio.usWhat is it about the latest and greatest computers that so mesmerizes us?
The sudden proliferation of computer equipment, home theater components, and cell phones has turned us into a culture of modern magpies, constantly questing after the next bright and shiny object - a relentless drive for improvement that leads to MacBooks being improved in the matter of months and the recent revelation that Leopard "requires" an 867 MHz G4 processor to operate. Not to mention the iPhone's $200 price rollback.
The computer industry is not the only enterprise to utilize the "planned obsolescence" business model, but sometimes it's necessary for a self-selected curmudgeon to remind us that the technologies of the past are still valid today.
The Apple PowerBook G3 2000 (FireWire) was the culmination of Apple's PowerBook models. The WallStreet, Lombard, and Pismo ended Apple's use of the curve and the color black in it's design of notebook computers. Ever since the Pismo, the chicklet white or brushed silver (titanium or aluminum) rectangle rules the design department in Cupertino.
The Pismo has a feminine quality that is missing from my wife's new MacBook. It seems to flow beneath your hands. As for the keyboard, the touch and feel of the Pismo's keys is extraordinary. It has the best feel of any keyboard I have ever used in my 20 years of using computers. Typing is effortless.
It is also the last
Apple laptop to feature expansion bays and interchangeable modules. You
can configure the Pismo in a number of different ways. If you're not
going to be near an AC outlet for most of the day, load the Pismo up
with two batteries and cruise without a cord. Need a DVD burner? Not
only are they available, but you can actually buy a Blu-ray drive for
it. (Since the Blu-ray drive lists close to one large [$1,000], you
have to be little committed or committable to put one in a
seven-year-old Apple).
Need two hard drives? If you have a spare 2.5" inch hard drive, a kit is available, and you have a spare drive to that fits the right expansion bay. A 3.5" inch floppy drive and a Zip drive are also available. It has got to be the Swiss Army knife of Apple notebooks.
This PowerBook G3 has an external monitor connection as well as S-video output on the back. It can be used to play DVDs on a television or monitor and also has a built-in jack for headphones, along with a microphone input. It has two USB 1.1 jacks and two FireWire 400 ports. FireWire means that it can support Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" (how many seven-year-old PC laptops can run Vista?). FireWire also means it can be used in Target Disk Mode as well as utilize Tiger's Migration Assistant. I luuuve FireWire.
Wireless? The Pismo carries an AirPort Card.
Worried that new standards will leave the Pismo technically delayed? The Pismo has a PCMCIA card slot. Let me repeat that: The Pismo has a PCMCIA card slot. Big deal you say? Any technology on a PCMCIA card now or in the future will be available to the Pismo user. Need more USB or FireWire ports? You got 'em through the PCMCIA slot. An adapter will allow you to take your camera's media cards and download your images to iPhoto. The adapter will also let you use the new multi-gigabyte Compact Flash cards for extra memory.
But wait, you say. That G3 processor won't cut it. Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard" - it won't run the next upgrade to OS X! You will be left behind when the Steve Jobs-driven Apple express pushes on into the future. You have maxed out that antique Pismo, and you will soon start to see the spinning beach ball of death any time you have to run anything remotely complex. You will have to use "Force Quit"! A lot!
I only have 384 MB of RAM. I can (and probably will) load it up with the full gigabyte that is possible on the Pismo. There is also a G4 processor upgrade available. As far as the cost of taking apart the old girl, this has got to be one of the easiest laptops to work on. Take it from a man who has removed a hard drive from a iBook G3 Clamshell. Once you pop off the keyboard, everything is right there for you to work on. Being "stuck" with Tiger as my operating system is not a death knell. Tiger is easy to network, very stable and robust. So don't cry for me, Cupertino.
The real reason that I plan to use the Pismo? It's way cheap, it's easy to work on, and it's way cool. Besides, not very many people have one. It's just like driving a classic car. (Did I mention that I don't have to use Classic in OS X?)
I partitioned the hard drive, and the Pismo boots up in OS 9. Try that with your MacBook.
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.
- My 4 favorite PowerBooks, 05.28. The PowerBook 150 has a big screen for a vintage PowerBook, the 165c has color, the 100 is diminutive, and Lombard has USB and a great keyboard.
- More in the My Turn index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: Umax SuperMac C500, Nov. 1996 - The smallest, least costly Mac clone had two PCI slots.
- List of the Day: Mac Video Group covers digital video hardware and software for Mac users.
- October 11 in LEM history: 99: Kihei revisited - 00: Bring back beige - AT&T proposes extortion - 01: Mimio for the Mac - 02: Of docks and roadblocks - Reasons not to switch - PowerBook G3 repair - 04: Virtual PC 7 puts Windows on your Mac - Modem Magic - 05: Why we oppose any iPod tax - Trash shortcuts - 06: 30 days of old school computing - Firefox and Safari chipping away at Microsoft
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.
- nVidia Inside Next MacBook?, Time for a Mac Netbook, Asus Launched MacBook Air Killer, and More, The 'Book Review, 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.
- 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.
About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts
Have a question?
Ask an expert!
Navigation
Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Best Used Macs
Video Cards
Email Lists
InfoMac's Low
End Mac Forum
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
MacMall
TechRestore
MacResQ
ExperCom
Crucial
Memory
batteries.com
Advertise
