iBook Logic Board Replacement Program
WarningFrom L Michael Cianciola
Please update the article to include the advice to "deauthorize"
the computer for iTunes. I have had my logic board replaced twice and
had to have apple reset my iTunes account because I left the iBook
authorized both times. Apple has said to me that they will only
perform this deauthorization one time.
Mike Cianciola
- Thanks for the valuable tip, Mike.
Charles
Apple Laptops?
From
Peter da Silva
Apple has always made superior
laptops? How about the toilet-seat
iBooks?
The current crop of Apple laptops are prettier, but they have poor
keyboards, poorer video, and if it wasn't for the operating system I
wouldn't even be considering replacing my rock solid and reliable
ThinkPad with a PowerBook.
Apple is a software company, they just don't want to admit it.
- Hi Peter,
I have to disagree. The original iBook was not to everyone's
aesthetic taste, but it is a tough and reliable computer, and lots
of folks are still getting excellent service from them. The
final "Paris" series with FireWire are especially
desirable.
The Mac OS is certainly one of Apple's biggest attractions, but
they make superb laptops. It's the hardware, not the software,
that attracts folks to run Linux distros on PowerBooks and
iBooks.
Keyboards are something of an idiosyncratic preference. I love the
keyboards on the G3 Series
PowerBooks, and the 1400
has a nice keyboard as well. The keyboard on the aluminum
PowerBooks has received generally rave reviews.
Charles
Editor's note: I have to agree that while the original iBooks
looked a bit odd, they ran well and held up over time. And based on
my son's 12" PowerBook G4, the
aluminum PowerBooks may have the best keyboard in a portable since
the no-compromise keyboard of the Macintosh
Portable. dk
Nautical Pismo
From John R Helms
Hi Charles,
I know that you are nautically inclined and fond of the Pismo,
so I thought that you'd find it interesting to know that my Pismo
(with me in tow) recently logged three weeks onboard the research
vessel R/V Endeavor. We travelled from Norfolk, VA to the Bermuda
Atlantic Time Series station, which is one of the oldest continuously
studied oceanographic sites (over 100 years of study).
We then headed south to the Biocomplexity station, which is in the
tropical North Atlantic off the coast of South America. After that we
headed north west and finally made land fall at Barbados. All told a
trip of approximately 2400 mi. The Pismo was in almost constant use
as a number cruncher for the chemical oceanography data that I was
generating along the way. There is something strangely beautiful
about a thin rime of sea salt beginning to encrust the rubber grip on
the outside surface of the Pismo case.
It turns out that this is not the first sea voyage for this
intrepid little laptop. The previous owner used this same laptop
while writing a children's book manuscript during a cruise on board a
38 foot (I think) Nordhaven trawler from Connecticut to Key West,
FL.
Happy Sailing
John Helms
- Hi John,
Thanks for the interesting sea tale. Great to hear that the Pismo
served you faithfully on your voyage.
In 1998, John Steele, who is the founder and president of the
world-renowned Nova Scotia boat building firm Covey Island
Boatworks, spent a year's sabbatical on a cruise with his family
aboard their then 106 year old 50 foot Bristol Channel Pilot
Cutter Marguerite T. John is a PowerBook guy, and since he
didn't want to entirely cut the umbilical to his office at CIB, he
took his PowerBook 5300 on the
voyage, coupled with a Motorola Wave Talk M-sat satellite
telephone system for phone and email communications. The 5300
never missed a beat, and John continued to use it in the office
after his return,
Charles
Question about Your Quest for a Pismo Battery
From Amy Langenhorst
Hello,
I read your article about needing
a new Pismo battery, and I am wondering if you were satisfied with
the battery you got from Wegener
Media. I need a replacement battery for my Lombard,
and the price there seems good, which makes me worry about the
quality.
Thanks,
Amy Langenhorst
- Hi Amy,
Well, the battery is still working. Dave Wegener told me that is
is a pull (i.e.: used) from a Pismo, and therefore I don't have
extravagant expectations about its life expectancy, but so far, so
good. However, had I known last fall that I would be upgrading my
Pismo's processor and hard drive, I might have opted for a
high-capacity unit from
OWC.
Charles
Editor's note: Expect a review of the NewerTech battery (the one
OWC sells) for the titanium PowerBook soon. Short and sweet, it gives
me over 4 hours in my 400 MHz PowerBook
G4. dk
PowerBook 1400
From
Ken Payson
I am trying to erase my PB 1400
hard drive w/ NewerTech 250/G3 card and cannot get the startup disk
to change to the CD - I've gotten an OS 9.2 disk to start up, but
there is a error message 1010 and it won't start up.
My ultimate goal is to get a RoamAbout
card (802.11b) to work with my D-Link wireless network.
This is very frustrating.
Do you know anything or can you direct me on this?
Ken Payson
- Hi Ken,
PowerBook 1400s can be piggy about booting from CDs. You said you
got an OS 9.2 disk to boot, so why not reinitialize your hard
drive using the copy of Drive Setup on it?
Alternatively, you could install a copy of OS 9 on a Zip disk and
boot from a SCSI Zip drive.
If you can connect to another Mac in SCSI Disk Mode, you could
erase and reinitialize its HD from the other Mac.
An OS 8.1 Disk Tools floppy (the disk image is downloadable from
Apple's software support site) will also boot and initialize your
hard drive.
Good luck!
Charles
Related Links
Re: PowerBook 1400
From Ken Payson
Thanks for your reply.
I ended up erasing and then, after much tribulation, finding out
that I had to reinitialize in the extended format.
I worked my way up from the original 7.5.3 CD through old CDs I
had through 8.5.1. Then, online, I found Apples 8.6 updater, and
there I stand.
I installed a RoamAbout 802.11b WLAN card, and after a bit more
fiddling I can now use the old 1400 with our more up to date
computers in a home wireless network.
What a thrill to have this out from under the desk back on top -
the kids are already using it for AIM and email; tomorrow we'll try
to print from it.
I knew there was a reason to keep this phenomenal computer.
After a day of messing around, I almost like it better than my G4
TiBook with Panther.
Almost.
Ken
Hi Ken;
- Cool!
I love the 1400. (See PowerBook
1400 Revisited on Mac Opinion for more on the topic.)
I'll bet Apple would sell a gazillion of the 1400 form factor
updated with a fast G3 or a G4 in it and modern connectivity,
optical drives, etc.
Charles
Editor's note: A lot of people seem to agree. If the 14" iBook is
the Son of Pismo, the 12"
iBook and 12" PowerBook are
sons of the 1400 - it has the same footprint, but the iBook is only
1.35" thick vs. 2.0" for the 1400, which has an expansion bay.
dk
Li-Ion Batteries for PB 5300?
From Joe Smith
Charles, a question for you: I recently bought a "new" Apple
Li-Ion battery on eBay
that fits both 3400s and 5300s.
I had read that some 5300s had recognition problems, but it was a low
cost, and I was hoping for the good amp hours at a low price. Well,
lo and behold, the 5300s that I own do not recognize the Li-Ion cell
even though it fits like a glove. Any workaround on this, or am I
doomed to live with NiMH forever?
P.S. All of my 5300s have been through the Apple reconditioning
program, if that matters.
- Hi Joe,
It's NiMH forever, I'm afraid.
While the 3400 LiIon battery is physically identical to the 5300
NiMH battery, it is not supported, and there are no workarounds
that I'm aware of. However, 5300 batteries will work in the
3400.
Charles
Letters sent may be published at our discretion. Email addresses will
not be published unless requested. If you prefer that your message
not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be
edited for length, context, and to match
house
style.
Go to Charles Moore's Mailbag index.
