Forums | MacLife

Strass · 2002-12-31 4:23 am

Hello all,

I just bought a Powerbook 1400 off eBay. This is my first laptop AND first mac - two historic firsts. That said, I have a few questions. They may seem obvious to you, but please bear with me:

exactly what level of functionality can expect from this powerbook? It is a 133 MHz processor running System 8.5.1. Is it feasible/advisible to upgrade the OS?

is this computer powerful enough to be my "only" computer? Right now I am seriously cramped for space. My current desktop is four years old, so i'm not exactly cutting edge as it is.

umm that should do it, for NOW, at least.

Thanks.

PowerMacMan · 2002-12-31 4:45 am

Hello, and welcome.

You made a good choice with the 1400, it is a favorite for many reasons.

While it is considered outdated by todays standards, it is still a capable machine that should fly just fine when given tasks such as web browsing, e-mailing, or word processing... but dont push it too far.

OS 8.5.1 is as far as I would push it (Except 8.6, but there really isnt that much of a difference between the two so dont worry about upgrading unless you have or know where to get an 8.6 CD), especially if it has 32MB's of RAM or less.

And if your PC is between 166 and 300MHz, you should be able to adjust fairly well to the 1400.

Again, welcome!

Denibriliny_ · 2003-01-02 1:38 am

Hello all,

I just bought a Powerbook 1400 off eBay. This is my first laptop AND first mac - two historic firsts. That said, I have a few questions. They may seem obvious to you, but please bear with me:

exactly what level of functionality can expect from this powerbook? It is a 133 MHz processor running System 8.5.1. Is it feasible/advisible to upgrade the OS?

is this computer powerful enough to be my "only" computer? Right now I am seriously cramped for space. My current desktop is four years old, so i'm not exactly cutting edge as it is.

umm that should do it, for NOW, at least.

Thanks.

I can answer each of your questions with a two word answer "hell no".

dv · 2003-01-02 2:54 am

Although it was fast for it's time, has a wonderul form factor, and has arguably the best laptop keyboard ever, the 1400 will be hard-pressed to even play MP3s without a G3 upgrade, which are expensive and hard to come by. Web browsing will work better on an old PC. there's also nobuilt-in Ethernet, which is a bummer for college students living or working a lot on campus.

8.5.1 is a fine enough OS - if throw RAM at the computer. 64 MB is your max, which is abot 1/2 what I would recommend for basic use with 8.5. Whoever put 8.5 on that thing was smoking too much wacky-tabacky. Downgrade to 8.1.

You are, however, fortunate enough to have two PCMCIA slots. If you demand more RAM, get a PCMCIA (16-bit slots only) flash memory reader and a 256 MB stick. DO NOT get a microdrive. Put your VM partition on that sucker ad it will be lots faster than your HD, which you should upgrade to a 5200 rpm unit at the earliest opportunity.

Or, you could pull extra shifts at the Kwik-E-Mart and buy an iBook. It's probably cheaper.

All this, ofcourse, assumes a stock machine. If you have a G3 upgrade and 64 MBs of RAM already, you should be all set.

Strass · 2003-01-03 12:12 am

Thanks for the info guys. The dude I bought it from just got back into town, so i am sending a check tomorrow. I'll probably have it in around a week. I know that "hard pressed" to play MP3s is a relative term, so I will have to see what this one is like. I know that it does have an ethernet/modem card added, which is nice. I don't really do much in the way of playing games or any sort of graphic or web design - so word processing, internet, and MP3 would be quite enough for me to get out of the thing. I would like to add more RAM though - it has 16...and I haven't used a computer with that little since 1996. Is it easy to add RAM myself on a laptop? I only paid $120 for the thing, so it would be hard justifying paying a pro another 50 bucks or so to take care of something so simple.

Thanks

Mymac4ever · 2003-01-03 3:30 am

I think you can find a lot of useful stuff here in Apples "Old softwarelist". I would also recomend you to, if you get the chance and if you're getting stabilityproblems, to upgrade to at least 8.5.5.

dv · 2003-01-03 6:32 pm

There is not such thing as 8.5.5. 7.6.1 is a godd start, and 8.1 will be the best compromise between RAM usage and stabilty. The machine maxes out at 64 MBs of RAM.

By "Barely" able to play an MP3, I mean that it will work, but the machine will be rendered useless for any other function. My 5300 (a 100 MHz machine) wouldn't even let me type in Simpletext when MacAmp was doing its thing.

Cobalt60 · 2003-01-04 12:02 am

I have a 1400c with a G3 upgrade, 64 RAM, 2 gig HD, an internal ethernet card, and a PC card modem. It has OS 8.6.

It handles the basic tasks well. I don't think you will have any complaints especially with what you paid for it. Sonnet has a G3 upgrade card available and I remember seeing it for a discount just recently.

Forums | MacLife

#1 2002-12-31 4:23 am

just bought my first mac

#2 2002-12-31 4:45 am

Re: just bought my first mac

#3 2003-01-02 1:38 am

Re: just bought my first mac

#4 2003-01-02 2:54 am

Re: just bought my first mac

#5 2003-01-03 12:12 am

Re: just bought my first mac

#6 2003-01-03 3:30 am

Re: just bought my first mac

#7 2003-01-03 6:32 pm

Re: just bought my first mac

#8 2003-01-04 12:02 am

Re: just bought my first mac

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