Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

OWC: Get the Right Memory for Your Mac Top Quality, Competitive Price, Lifetime Backed Free Expert Support + Installation Videos too! MacBook & mini 8GB, iMac 16GB, Mac Pro up to 32GB. Click here

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

The Underrated PowerBook 190

- 2002.07.01

My Turn is Low End Mac's column for reader-submitted articles. It's your turn to share your thoughts on all things Mac (or iPhone, iPod, etc.) and write for the Mac web. Email your submission to Dan Knight .

As I so often like to do on my days off, here I am at the University of Texas, composing on one of my six PowerBooks. This one is one of my two newly acquired PowerBook 190s, both of which cost me about $70 total at my favorite used computer store here in Austin, and a veritable Macintosh heaven, Goodwill Computerworks. I have literally spent a small fortune at this wonderful store since it opened in 1997.

Anyway, the two 190s I picked up are a bit different. They are both the base grayscale models, but they differ in a couple of ways. This one (my fave of the two) has a rather small 4 MB of RAM, a 500 MB hard drive, and is running Mac OS 7.5.3, which I installed, as there was no OS installed when I bought it.

The really interesting difference with this 190 is that it must be a European market model, as the # key has the PowerBook 190 British pound symbol, £. I have also noticed that while both 190s are black, the case for this one is a bit darker than my other 190. Also, the battery holds about a three hour charge on this 'Book, whereas the other 190's battery will not hold any charge.

My other PowerBook 190 has 8 MB of RAM, a 500 MB hard drive, and is also running OS 7.5.3, which I installed, as again, there was no OS installed when I got it. It's also missing the port door on the back, which is no biggie, as those kind of get in the way anyway.

Now, after setting up both PowerBooks and playing with them for a bit, I must say I really like the 5300/190 form factor a lot. My other PowerBooks include a 1400, a 145B, a 170, and a 100.

I used a non-PPC, stock 540c for two years, from early 2000 to early 2002, until I gave it to an artist friend who really wanted a PowerBook. The 540c was, and still is, a great PowerBook. In fact, I'd rank it among the best PowerBooks ever made. I really enjoyed mine and used it a lot, and it has a good home - plus if I get lonely, I can still visit it!

This may be getting off the point, but these are, in my opinion, the best PowerBooks: the 100 (groundbreaking in 1991, way PowerBook 100 cooler looking than the rest of the 100-series - except for the 190, that is!), the Duos (all, but especially the 2300), the 500-series (all - I'd love a 550c, as I'm sure many of us would), the 5300/190-series (okay, it's not really a "series", but they do share the same case design and other features), the 1400 (hands down, my favorite PowerBook to date), the 2400c (gotta love the size!), and the PowerBook G3 (2000), the "Pismo" (on my Mac "wish list").

I know I should have mentioned the Titanium PowerBook G4, but there's something about the look of it I just don't like. I know it's the best PowerBook Apple has made, but I just like the older designs I have mentioned better.

Anyway, returning to the PowerBook 190. Wow, this is a cool Mac! I know it was viewed as something of a disappointment at the time of its release in late August 1995, coming on the heels of the feature-laden 500-series and also being equated with the problematic 5300-series, but it is a PowerBook that holds up well. It has a cool black case, a nice grayscale screen (I've never seen the 190cs in person, yet), a nice small footprint, and light weight.

My other PowerBooks (save for my way cool 100) seem to weigh significantly more then these 190s. The other cool thing is the IR ports on the 5300/190 PBs. I hope to soon use my 190s together via this feature, sort of a "mini 190 wireless network"!

The PowerBook 190 may not be the most "cutting edge" laptop that Apple has made, and it has been nearly seven years since it was introduced (and nearly six since it was discontinued), but it seems to me that it was (and is) a very underrated PowerBook. (This also goes for the much-maligned and beleaguered 5300-series.)

For basic portable computing tasks, the PowerBook 190 is a more than capable Mac, even in 2002. It also still looks cool, whereas some of the older PowerBooks are showing their age, especially the 140-180 models and, I hate to say this, the 520-540c models (the all-black 550c seems to escape that, somehow).

Of course, all PowerBooks are inherently much cooler than their PC laptop equivalents, so I still enjoy using my 100, 145B, and 170, as well. For a total cash outlay of $70 for these two 190s, I cannot complain! My advice: if you find a clean, working PB 190 for relatively cheap, snap it up; you won't be disappointed!

Share your perspective on the Mac by emailing with "My Turn" as your subject.

Recent My Turn articles

Using Low End Macs for Internet Radio, 08.18. When the local public radio station moved classical music to HD radio, it was time to find another way to listen. An old iMac with iTunes solved the problem.
'That's Not a Computer', 07.30. Salvaging a broken PowerBook by turning it into a desktop computer.
Upgrading a Digital Audio G4 to work better in Leopard, 06.02. In its original configuration, the dual 533 MHz Power Mac G4 was slow with Mac OS X 10.5, but add the right upgrades, and it runs Leopard quite nicely.
My 4 favorite PowerBooks, 05.28. The PowerBook 150 has a big screen for a vintage PowerBook, the 165c has color, the 100 is diminutive, and Lombard has USB and a great keyboard.
More in the My Turn index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: Power Mac G5 Quad, Oct. 2005 - With two 2.5 GHz dual-core G5 CPUs, the G5 Quad was the most powerful PowerPC Mac ever and introduced PCI Express.
Group of the Day: Mac Network deals with all aspects of Mac networking.
November 21 in LEM history: 00: OS upgrades, downgrades - AltiVec vs. Pentium III - 01: Saved by the clones - Computer of the future - 02: Apple Education: Let's get to it - 03: Panther lets Macs and PCs work together, - Lombard SCSI bug - 05: 3 survivors from the 1970s - Real world battery life inadequate - Windows to Mac file transfer with Zip disks - $99 alternative to Microsoft Office - 06: Parallels 1.0 far more polished than beta
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

Best eMac Deals, 11.18. Used 1 GHz Combo, $100; SuperDrive, $269; 1.25 GHz Combo, $119; SD, $319; 1.42 GHz Combo, $289; SD, $498.
Best Mac OS X 10.6 and Mac Box Set Deals, 11.18. "Snow Leopard", single user, $25; 5 users, $45; Mac Box Set, single user, $139; 5 users, $180; Server, $414. Shipping included.
Best Xserve Deals, 11.18. Used 1 GHz dual G4, $649; 2.3 dual G5, $795; 3.0 4-core Xeon, $1,899; refurb 2.26 4-core, $2,499; new, $2,888; refurb 8-core, $2,999; new, $3,449; more.
Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, 11.17. Used 1.83 GHz, $750; 2.16, $800; 2.33, $900; refurb 2.4, $1,299; 2.53, $1,449; 2.66, $1,699; 2.8, $1,899; new 2.53, $1,579; 2.66, $1,799; more.
Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.17. Used 400 MHz, $50; 933 MHz, $80; 500 dual, $60; 867 dual, $90; 1 GHz dual, $150; 1.25 GHz dual, $225; 1.42 GHz, $499.
Best Mac OS X 10.5 Deals, 11.17. "Leopard" upgrade, $80; single user license, $135; 5 users, $173; Mac Box Set, 5 users, $230; Server, 10 users, $340; unlimited, $850. Shipping included.
Best Mac mini Deals, 11.16. Used 1.42 GHz G4 mini, $379; 1.66 GHz Core Solo, $419; 2.0 Core 2, $450; new 2.26 GHz nVidia, $580; 2.53 GHz, $769; Server, $990.
Best iBook G4 Deals, 11.16. Used 12" 1.07 GHz Combo, $210; 1.33 GHz, $298; 14" 1.33 GHz, $398; 1.42 GHz, $479; SuperDrive, $498.
Best iPod shuffle Deals, 11.16. Used 1 GB, $35; 4 GB, $65; refurb 1 GB, $39; 2 GB, $59; new 2 GB, $55, 4 GB, $75. New and refurb prices include shipping.
More deals in our archive.

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.