PowerBook Model: 550c (A.K.A. Bonsai or Blackbird)

Began: 5/30/1995

Terminated: N/A

Original Price: ?

Specs

• 68040 @ 66 Mhz
• No FPU & an integrated PMMU
• Memory: 4 MB of RAM on Logic Board. Min. 12 MB RAM max. 36 MB @ min. speed 70 ns. RAM sizes of 4, 8, 12, 20 & 32 MB chips
• 8K L1 Cache & no L2 Cache
• Data Path: 32, 33 @ 33 Mhz bus speed
• Gestalt ID: 72
• ROM size: 2 MB

• Ports/inputs/outputs: 1 ADB, 1 video out (mini-15), 1 SCSI HDI-30, 1 AAUI-15 Ethernet port, 1 line in microphone port (16-bit stereo), 1 printer port, 1 speaker port (16-bit stereo), 1 modem slot, opt. Type II/III PC Card bay, 1 serial port, 1 1.44 MB SuperDrive & 2 built in 16-bit stereo speakers
• Shipped with a 750 MB HD (min.) SCSI
• LCD screen Active Matrix 10.4" @ a max. pixel resolution of 640 x 480 (8-bit) 1000's of colors displaying up to 832 x 624 - 8-bit - 512K VRAM (ext. monitor only - mirror only). Up to 16" monitors supported in 256 color mode @ a 60 Hz (VGA) or 56 Hz (SVGA) refresh rate.
• Electrical: 40 watts max., 1.015 Amps, 136.8 BTU's per hr., 100-240 volts, 50-60 Hz. with a PB500 NiMH battery (softpower supported)
• 6.8 Ibs. @ 2.3" H x 11.5" W x 9.7" D
• OS 7.5 through to 8.0 supported*

* According to Apple Computers Inc®. Earlier and/or later operating systems may be supported.

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Can I upgrade the processor?
2. How large of a hard drive will the PowerBook 540/540c hold?
3. What other upgrade options do I have?
4. What is the most functional and effiecient OS to run on the 540/540c?
5. Any defects?
6. Buying advice.

1. Processor Upgrades

Yes. 4 upgrade chips were made for the 500 series PowerBooks. Newer Technologies made 3 upgrade chips for the 500 series PowerBooks (1) NUpowr 183mhz PowerPC® chip with 128K of L2 cache (Price: NA. Availability: NA) (2) NUpowr 167 PowerPC® 603e chip (Cache: NA. Price: $935. Availability: NA). (3) NUpowr 117 PowerPC® 603e chip. Apple Computers® made 1 upgrade chip that ran at 100mhz (603e PowerPC®) - cache: NA. Price: NA. Availability: NA. Try Output Enablers to obtain a chip booster ($45US and might increase your chip speed to 76 MHz).

2. HD Upgrades?

PowerBook 550c owners are limited to upgrading with SCSI interface only drives.  There are SCSI-IDE adapters available; however, the adapter will not fit in the PB 550c.  A SCSI 2.5" x up to 19 mm drive will work.  Try a Toshiba 210, Quantum 120, 160 or an IBM 120 or 540.  Format the drive at 2:1, as it takes some time for the data to reach the processor from the hard drive. Try The PowerBook Guy for all your PowerBook parts needs. Please note: UP TO 4 GB SCSI HD's will be recognized but at least OS 7.5.5 is needed for such drives. However, with SCSI HD's, there is no upper limit in HD size on this PowerBook.

3. Other upgrade options?

Max out the physical RAM. Try The PowerBook Guy to find RAM for your PowerBook. The PB 550c can house 36 MB of RAM (100ns pseudostatic RAM cards). PPC upgraded 500's can have a possible 64 MB of max RAM (56 MB RAM chips max).

RAM Charger 8.x: RC uses a technology called Dynamic Memory Allocation.  In short, it enables your trusty PowerBook (or any mac) to allocate whatever amount of ram a program needs “on the fly.”  The result is that you do not have to worry about reserving a specific amount of ram avalaible for programs.  Whatever the program needs, RAM charger will feed it, providing of course, you do not run out of available RAM for use. 

Stack RAM charger with Connectixs’ RAM Doubler 8.x in order to get more available RAM out of your machine. RAM Doubler works like VM, only it is faster and more efficient. Furthermore, RAM Charger and RAM Doubler are fully compatible. RAM Doubler can actually increase your RAM by 3x, depending on the users wishes. RAM Doubler requires at least 8 MB physical RAM and a 68030 processor. I suggest using RAM Doubler over Macintoshs’ Virtual memory feature; the latter is extremely slow on older machines. Try downloading the Ram Doubler installer to be found out there somewhere.

Connectix Speed Doubler 8.x: SD 8.x (requires at least a 68030 processor, 12 MB of physical RAM and system 7.5.5 or later) will help make your PowrBook soar by speeding up many common finder operations, such as: scrolling menu’s, opening folders, copying files, etc. Speed Doubler replaces the Mac OS disk cache with its own disk cache system, resulting in an improved (speedier) cache memory system. SD 8.x speeds up the read/write process by storing frequently used HD data in RAM, rather than on the HD. Try downloading the Speed Doubler installer to be found out there somewhere.
 
RAM Disk: Load the operating system onto a Ram disk (bootable) to increase both the speed and efficiency of your PowerBook 550c.  It also results in longer battery life (25% more), as the hard drive is not constantly spinning.  Check the help section within your Operating System for instructions on setting up a RAM Disk. RAM disks are particularly important to have in case your computer crashes. Upon restart, it will boot from the RAM Disk and you can diagnose problems with the HD from there, provided you included both a system folder and a copy of Norton Disk Doctor on it.

Add a Compact Flash Card: The following is for those who have upgraded their 500 series PowerBook with a PC card slot. Compact flash cards are used in order for owners of digital camera’s to load their files onto their computers. However, as these cards insert into the pcmcia slot (pc card slot), they can also act as a second hard drive. Flash cards come in sizes of 6 MB to 1 GB and higher. 128 MB card goes for about $50US. Also, Compact flash cards, acting like a hard drive in your computer, can be used to increase the amount of available ram that your computer has (using VM). In addition, store a system folder on it and boot from it.
The benefits of the latter are silent operation, longer battery life (no hard drive spinning) and a faster computer. (Please note, with the speed of newer laptop hard drives reaching 5400 rpm’s, a flash card might actually slow the computer down. However, on older laptops, this is not the case, as the original hard drives in these machines are significantly slower than the newer, faster drives). You will need: (1) Compact Flash Card (2) A PC card slot or USB (3) An adapter for the Compact Flash Card if necessary. Flash card speeds peak at about 4.2 Mbps and write at about 2.2 Mbps. Make sure to get one of the faster cards.
 
Battery Information: Replace the battery via BTI. Need more power on the road? The PowerBook 550c will hold 2 batteries at once by using its expansion bay drives. Download this program (Emmpathy) in order to recondition your PB 550c's battery if it is not charging properly or it is dead. Further, buy more batteries as spares or try an external 7.2 volt NiCad battery pack (approx 5 hours running time under heavy usage).  Try Lind to purchase one. Want even more portable power or don’t want to use a battery?  Try a solar panel called the “Sun Catcher Professional” made by Power Quest.  You must have your PB plugged in to boot, however.

You can also try a program called amnesia to help recover a non-chargeable NiCad or NiMh battery.

You can also try to reset the Power Manager to help your battery charge if you are having chargeing problems, your ac adapter is not recognized, your computer will not wake from sleep, and the like. Go here for instructions on how to reset the Power Manager.

VST Battery Charger/Auto Adapter: VST made external dual battery chargers for the 500 series PowerBooks as well as an ac adapter that plugs into a standard vehicle cigarette lighter.

Expansion Bay Options: Add another battery (2nd) to one of the expansion bays or add a PC card slot via a PCMCIA module that inserts into the left battery bay.

PC Card Slot (PCMCIA): Ethernet cards and modem cards will work as well as a compact flash card (see above). Please note that ethernet performance via the pc card method is about 25% slower than the PB 540(c)'s internal Ethernet, for example, due to the PC Card slots 16-bit bus. Use the internal ethernet if possible.

More Powerful AC adapter: Try a higher wattage ac adapter to speed up battery charging, like a 45 watt ac adapter as used on the PowerBook Wallstreet for example. However, you may decrease the life of your battery by undertaking the latter method.

Add a 17" Active Matrix Screen: Take a PB G4 17" screen and add it to the PB 550c. Yeah right...

Add Wireless: Give your 500 series wireless network capability (i.e. surf the web or transfer files wirelessly). Click here for how to do it.

Goodies to Add on: The PowerBook 550c is ready to be furnished with all sorts of peripheral devices and will also support external monitors. 
 
The PB 550c will support external zip drives, scanners, printers, cd-roms, cd-r's, floppy drives, etc.  Most plug into the SCSI port - you will need an adapter. Please note that 100 and 500 series PowerBooks do not provide SCSI termination power to connected devices. The first and last SCSI device in a chain must be terminated via a SCSI terminator. Use an HDI-30 SCSI peripheral cable when connecting your PowerBook to external SCSI devices of the aforementioned sort. Laserwriters may use the serial port for a Localtalk connection. 

Internet/Networking
 
Add an Internal (faster) or External Modem: See the tips section on speeding up browsing to improve the PB 550's Internet performance (or any mac for that matter). External modems can be used via the serial port (try US Robotics 19.2 external modem for reliability).  Note: the serial port on the PowerBook 550c has a data transfer rate ceiling of 57.6 kbps. Internal modems can be installed (try a 56k); the standard modem when the PB 550c's came out was only 19.2 kbps data/14.4 kbps fax courtesy of Global Village.
 
PowerBook 550c and Ethernet/Networking:  It is possible to connect a PB 550c to an Ethernet network.  To achieve the latter, try one of the following five things: (1) Use a pc ethernet card and insert it into one of your PC card bays. Simply connect the ethernet cord to another ethernet equipped mac or ethernet network. (2) Buy a Local-talk-Ethernet-Bridge adapter made by Asante, Focus or Farallon.  Etherwave by Farallon is a popular one which attaches to the serial port (printer/modem port) on the PB 550c. The result of the latter is a serial port converted to a standard RJ-45 Ethernet port.  Furthermore, the driver supplied with the Etherwave boosts the serial port speed by 5x (5x 230.4 kbps). 
 
Try Etherwaves “Multi Printer Adapter” which allows multiple devices to be connected to the PB 550c at any given time (i.e. printer, scanner, Ethernet, etc.) (3) Dayna and Asante make SCSI-Ethernet adapters (RJ-45 connectors).  (4) Simply use the built in ethernet to get on an ethernet network or network to another computer. You will need an adapter to convert the AAUI-15 to the standard RJ-45 style connector. (5) Use another macintosh to connect to an Ethernet network and then connect the PB 550c to the latter computer. To connect to another computer via Asante's SCSI-Ethernet method, make sure you have the required Asante driver. You will also need the following files on your system 6.x or 7.x folder:

*Asante EN/SC - driver for the EN/SC
*AppleShare
*AppleSharePrep
*AppleTalk Control Panel
*EtherTalk Phase 2
*Network
*Responder

Get the above files here

(6) One can also connect to another SCSI equipped mac by using a SCSI HDI-30 docking cable. (7) Furthermore, use a printer cable to connect to another compatible macintosh computer or, (8) if the 550c has a modem, connect to another computer via the modem cableNewer macs, like an imac for example, can be connected to older PowerBooks as well. To acheive the latter, try Asante's USB-to-local talk adapter (will not talk to printers) or an ethernet-to-local talk adapter. Connecting to another Mac is also useful if you want to install software from a CD but your PowerBook lacks a CD-ROM. Simply connect to antoher CD-ROM equipped Mac by trying one of the aforementioned ways , mount the disc image on your PowerBooks desktop, and install the software.

4. Best OS?

Non-PPC upgraded 550c's should run OS 8.1 as it is stable and feature rich. PPC upgraded machines should run OS 8.5-8.6. Click here to get detailed instructions on installing 8.5 on a PPC upgraded machine. OS 7.5.3 (upgrade it to 7.5.5 once installed) works well with the 550c and is a free download from Apple. I do not know why, but if you want to, you can run Softwindows 95/v. 4.0 or virtual PC 1.0 (Connectix) with 32 MB RAM on a PPC upgraded 500 series PowerBook.

Click here for a list of useful software/utilities for older macs.

Essential Utilities for the 500 series PowerBook include:

*ClickPad II which makes the trackpad clicable, double-tap capable and enables dragging capabilities

*Tech Tool 1.1.8 (Mac OS 8.5 required) free download from Limewire

*Plus Maker (Alsoft): Enables PPC upgraded 500's to boot from an HFS+ HD, as PowerBook 500 series computers do not normally allow a boot from an HFS+ formatted HD.

5. Any defects?

If your 550c fails to boot, the Power Manager may be corrupted (indicated by the machine not booting). Solution: Manually reset the Power Manager. In order to accomplish the latter, take out the battery, hold in the reset button for about 1 minute and then try booting the machine - it should boot.

6. Buying advice.

The PowerBook 550c is a PowerBook Readme Best choice. It sports a full sized keyboard, trackpad (replaced the older style trackball), on chip FPU; making it almost twice as fast in certain respects compared to its 500 series counterparts, 16-bit stereo sound with built in speakers, PPC upgradeable, 640 x 480 screen resolution (active matrix color 10.4" - 1000's of colors), built-in ethernet (25% faster ethernet than the PB 190(cs), 5300 series and the 1400 series PowerBooks), an internal expansion bay and a closed lid sleep function.

PowerBook Readme Rankings: 500 Series Buyers Guide

1. Best choice:550c. Bad:Ø Good: Nice large color 10.4" active matrix screen (16-bit 640 x 400 or 8-bit 640 x 480), cool black case, full featured, PPC upgradeable.

2. 540c. Bad:Ø Good: Nice 9.5" 16-bit (640 x 400 or 8-bit 640 x 480) color active matrix screen, full featured, PPC upgradeable.

3. 520c. Bad: slow (25 MHz), passive matrix screen. Good: colored 9.5" 8-bit screen 640 x 480, full featured, PPC upgradeable.

4. 540. Bad: B&W screen. Good: 33 Mhz processor, active matrix 8-bit 9.5" 64 level greyscale screen, full featured, PPC upgradeable.

5. 520. Bad: B&W screen 4-bit 16 greys, slow 25 MHz processor. Good: full featured, PPC upgradeable.