In this modern age, we have become accustomed to high powered
computers capable of running any app we could imagine and more. But
let's analyze the other end of the spectrum for a moment.
No, I'm not talking about the PC market, but rather the aged, yet
still useful, PowerBook
3400c.
Several months ago, I wrote an
article about the "MainStreet" PowerBook G3 and
how it was still good for basic use despite its "underpowered" CPU and
abysmal screen. In this article I'd like to talk about how the 1997
PowerBook 3400c, despite being from an even earlier CPU generation, is
a better performer in today's world.
The 3400c was introduced in 1997; at the time it was considered one
of the fastest laptops in the world - with a price tag to match. Its
PowerPC 603e processor was available in 180, 200, and 240 MHz speeds,
making this one of the best desktop replacement PowerBooks of its
time.
To complement the impressive CPU, Apple also included a beautiful
12" active matrix LCD screen built onto a robust, if not a little
bulky, body. Add four speakers, an infrared (IR) port, and a hot
swappable drive bay, and you've got one versatile little Mac for
US$4,500-6,500.
The model I used has a 200 MHz CPU, 72 MB of RAM, and a 2 GB
hard disk.
The Right OS
Firstly, let me talk a
little about my OS choice. After frequenting system7today.com message boards for
some time, I decided to start this PowerBook with Mac OS 7.6.1 to see
how it went. I typically don't work with anything below 8.1, and it had
been quite a while since I had worked with any version of System 7, but
it was worth a shot. OS 7.6 needed more fine tuning then newer OSes,
but everything worked more or less the way it should.
For comparison purposes I decided to bump up to Mac OS 8.1. I
noticed little to no speed difference, but I ran into hurdles when some
of the graphics apps I wanted to install didn't work.
Lastly, I moved up to Mac OS 8.6, my favorite flavor of the Classic
Mac OS. The system took longer to boot, but once it was up and running
it felt as fast as 7.6 and 8.1 - and it seemed much more stable than
either. So for now OS 8.6 is my OS of choice for this model.
Software
The 3400c is very limited in today's world. Pretty much all you can
do with it is word processing and maybe some web editing and photo
manipulation using older software. Microsoft Office 2001 was a little
too slow for my taste, but Office 98 ran much better.
If speed is really an issue, ClarisWorks 5 is the way to go. I found
myself using ClarisWorks much more than Office for this reason.
Photoshop 5 also ran adequately, given the limited amount of RAM (144
MB maximum). And, of course, a quick game of Sim City 2000 is no
problem on this machine.
Connectivity
With the addition of a WaveLAN Gold 802.11b wireless card, I
connected the 3400c to my home network and wireless Internet. Using
Internet Explorer 5 can be rather sluggish at times, but it's
tolerable. A better solution is iCab,
available for free, which is a modern browser popular with owners of
classic Macs.
Connecting to my Power Mac and PowerBook via AppleTalk was
interesting, to say the least, but after some tweaking things worked
out nicely.
I was fortunate enough to receive a good battery with this unit; it
gives me a good two hours or so depending on what I'm doing.
In comparison to the cacheless MainStreet PowerBook G3, the 3400c is
superior in almost all aspects. For starters, the active matrix screen
in the 3400c is far better than the cheap passive matrix found on the
MainStreet. And despite having a 603e, the 3400c's 200 MHz CPU is a
better performer than the cacheless 233 MHz G3 in MainStreet.
Shortcomings
The four speakers (two on the lid and two above the keyboard) aren't
that good by today's standards, but they get the job done.
What I don't like much about this model is the proprietary memory
slot, which makes for expensive and hard to find memory upgrades. Also,
PC Card expansion can be troublesome due to the lack of CardBus
compliance out of the box. This means that USB expansion requires
modification of the logic board to accommodate newer cards, and this
can result in a nonfunctional PowerBook if not done properly.
For an average price of US$30-100, the 3400c is a solid choice for
word processing, browsing, and other basic needs. This ten year old
laptop was built to last, and it still has some spunk left in it.
