Article 1 Attraction to Retro-PowerBooks
By Ryan Vetter
July 28th, 2003
With the exception of the 12” Aluminum G4 PowerBooks and G3 12”
IceiBooks, Laptop’s have gotten quite large over the past 5 or 6
years in both the Apple and PC universe. I remember my first laptop; it
was a Texas Instruments that my Dad bought me for College with an Intel
Pentium 100 Mhz processor inside and looked virtually identical to the
PowerBook 1400 series. Small, nice keyboard, bright 11.3” screen
and so forth; that was about 6 years ago. From the time of the PowerBook
3400c’s inception to before the introduction of the 12” Aluminum,
it was hard to find a truly portable high end Apple notebook, save for
the non-clamshell style IceiBooks – but IceiBooks just are not PowerBooks
– not in any respect.
In addition, even those flying saucer looking clamshell iBooks of the
late 90’s through to the early part of the year 2000 were not that
compact either; not compared to Retro-PowerBook’s. Before I continue,
I should stipulate what I consider a Retro-PowerBook to be. Retro-PowerBooks
are all PowerBooks built up to and including the PowerBook Wallstreet
(all versions – rev. 1 and rev. 2).
Why is the Wallstreet included in the Retro-PowerBook class? Because computer
years are a bit like dog years, and the Wallstreet is going on 5.5 years
old now – very old in computer years; equivalent to at least a decade,
making it, well… retro status. Other considerations come into play
as well, like the case design of the PowerBook (i.e. dimensions) and the
hardware under the hood (graphics accelerator card, RAM speed, stock chip
speed, motherboard architecture, modern software support, etc.).
Anyway, back to describing the characteristics of the evolution of the
ever-growing PowerBooks that the world saw starting in the late 90’s
in order substantiate what I think is currently happening in the PowerBook
community (or at least should be happening): Retro-PowerBooks are becoming
in vogue because of their compactness, versatility and price compared
to later model PowerBooks. All PowerBook models from the 3400c (1997)
on got exponentially larger. The Wallstreet, which was the next model
that was released (later part of 1998) after the first PowerBook G3 (same
form factor as the 3400c released late 1997), proved to be a bit of a,
well… tank (14.1” model @ 7.8 lbs).
However, at the risk of digressing, the Wallstreet is my favorite PowerBook
of all PowerBooks. Then the Lombard came out (1999) followed by the Pismo
(2000), each having the same form factor as the Wallstreet, both shaving
off 1/3” in thickness and about 2 lbs in weight compared to the
Wallstreet, making them both a leaner Wallstreet with more muscle. However,
the Lombard and Pismo are still not compact when compared to Retro-PowerBooks
(exception being the Wallstreet), like the PowerBook 500 series, 1400c
or 2400c, for example.
Then comes the TiBook’s (released early 2001). These machines are
even more cumbersome than the three models that preceded them.
Although the TiBook, in comparison to Lombard’s and Pismo’s,
shaved off weight (about 2 lbs) and thickness (only 1” high compared
to 1.7” high for the Pismo and Lombard), the TiBook is not “sleek”
like the Wallstreet, Lombard and Pismo are; and it especially has an extremely
large and awkward case design compared to non-Wallstreet Retro-PowerBooks.
The TiBook is essentially a square silver box. In fact, the color and
non-sleek design bothered me so much when I owned one, that I sold it
and bought a mint-condition Wallstreet that is loaded with a DVD player
and a Powerlogix G3 500 Mhz processor; giving it at least the feel of
a Lombard.
Now, you may be thinking, the IceiBooks (non-clamshell iBooks) are feature
rich and small, like a PowerBook 1400c. Granted, but these did not hit
the market until late 2000 - early 2001. Before that, if you wanted a
retro-style compact full featured new PowerBook, there
were none to be found – not until early 2003 when the 12”
AlBook was released.
The IceiBook is doubtless a feature rich, compact bargain computer that
would blow away a PowerBook 2400c or PowerBook 1400 series, has been around
for a couple of years now and it runs OS X to boot. But if you do not
have much money to spend, an IceiBook, as well as an AlBook, is out of
the question – ergo the attraction to Retro-PowerBooks.
It should be noted that my attraction to non-Wallstreet Retro-PowerBooks,
in addition to those things covered in this article, is primarily based
on the fact that I use them as secondary machines. As a first machine,
I just could not live with working all day on a 12.1” screen or
smaller (without being hooked up to an external monitor) – it
is too small (frusterating, when using DreamWeaver for example, and
slows
down production). However, you may like working with smaller screens,
which is all the more reason to opt for a Retro-PowerBook as a primary
machine. Accordingly,
my primary machine is the larger Retro-PowerBook Wallstreet.
Not only are Retro-PowerBooks more compact than the newer PowerBooks,
they are also more feature rich and versatile in certain respects compared
to later model PowerBooks. The Wallstreet, along with the PowerBook 3400c,
for example, have expansion bay drives that house zip drives, HD’s,
second batteries and so forth; something the IceiBooks, TiBooks and AlBooks
can only admire. In addition, many Retro-PowerBooks are processor upgradeable
(for example, PowerLogix makes a G4 500 Mhz chip upgrade for the Wallstreet).
What does a Retro-PowerBook have to offer? Take the 500 series PowerBooks,
which are loaded with features (internal modems, built in Ethernet, external
monitor support, active matrix screens on some models, an expansion bay
allowing it to hold two batteries, and so forth) and are tiny compared
to the latest model PowerBooks, save for the 12” AlBook. Furthermore,
take my second machine, which is a PowerBook 2400c. At 4.4 lbs, its 2
PC Card slots, nice active matrix screen, scissor style keyboard and its
tiny dimensions, it is a little gem.
These machines are beginning to show their age in terms of speed and their
capability to run the latest software, but they are still attractive in
the sense that they are so compact, feature rich and versatile. Even with
an OS 9 machine like the 2400c, lots of work can get done. Heck, DreamWeaver
4 works just fine not to mention Microsoft Office 2001. And the Wallstreet,
well… Jaguar is running on it just fine thank you, and it is virtually
“quirk” free, save for non-OS X DVD support.
In addition, the Retro-PowerBooks, like the Wallstreet, are built tough
and just plainly feel strong, particularly compared to the IceiBooks with
their keys that love to fall off or Lombard’s and Pismo’s
who’s cases feel like they are going to bend around your leg when
placed on your lap.
Another attractive feature of Retro-PowerBooks is the grey or black case
color of Retro-PowerBooks; which is to me, significantly more attractive
than that silver hue that Apple insists on coloring their TiBooks and
AlBooks with or that off white color of their latest model iBooks. Lest
we forget the lime, orange, blueberry, etc. clamshell iBooks – fun
but un-classy.
Lastly, the price of say, a good working PowerBook 2400c or Wallstreet
is about $300US compared to $950US for an entry level (refurbished)
12.1”
iBook, and a Wallstreet will run OS X too, with a 14.1” screen.
However, having said all that, if you have the money, the AlBook 15”
and the AlBook 12” (as a secondary machine) are awesome choices.
The attraction to older Retro-PowerBooks is thus due to their compact
design, affordability and their unrivaled expandability; 3 conditions
that even the PowerBook Aluminum G4 12” cannot fully meet. Concluding,
Retro-PowerBooks are still useful as they can serve as a primary Desktop
OS X replacement (i.e. Wallstreet), a secondary non-OS X portable computer
to accent your Apple Desktop machine or AlBook 17”, for example;
as well as being capable of serving as a primary Non-OS X Desktop replacement
machine. They make great companions on the road and sport that multi-colored
Apple logo that smiles at you all day long. PBRM
|
|
