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: We Make DIY Upgrading Easy! Maximize your Apple MacBook / MacBook Pro. Up to 8.0GB Memory, up to 1.0TB HD & More. Easy Guide + Free, Detailed Installation Videos. 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 Wonderful PowerBook 100

- 2000.12.11

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 .

Recently, I acquired my tenth Mac and my third PowerBook: a mint PowerBook 100 from 1991. I was really lucky, as I got it with the external floppy drive and the AC adapter (mine says Sony on the back, not Apple, though the front has the Apple logo!) for a mere $20 at Goodwill Computerworks here in Austin, TX! Those of you who have read my Mac Obsession article on My First Mac will recall that I was looking for a 100-series PowerBook at the time I wrote it. Well, firstly, I found a mint PB 145B and then, two months later, this great PB 100!

The PowerBook 100 is my favorite PowerBook to this day. I also have a PowerBook 540c, which is a really great machine, but there's just something so cool about the 100.

There are several reasons I prefer it. Firstly, there's the size and weight. It's around 5 pounds, making it almost a full two pounds lighter than any of the other 100-series 'Books. Plus, since it uses an external floppy instead of an internal one, it's smaller and slimmer than those machines, as well. The result is a sleeker looking, easier to tote around PowerBook, which I believe was the whole idea in the first place!

My 540c weighs like 7 pounds, which isn't super heavy - and cool looking as the 540c is, it's far from sleek! That applies to most PowerBooks, though. I think the only ones that truly embody the original intent are the 100, the Duos (but they lack too many features without the DuoDock), the 1400 (my next PowerBook!) and the 2400 (way cool machine!). The newer PowerBooks and the iBooks are just far too weighty and big when compared to these models.

My first Mac was also a PowerBook 100, so there's a lot of sentimental value there for me. The 100 was also Apple's very first PowerBook, debuting on October 21, 1991. True, it was conceived in the pre-World Wide Web-era, as we know it, and it's lowly 68HC000 CPU and 8 MB RAM ceiling preclude any kind of modern software, but the PowerBook 100 can still do a lot, making it a very useful Mac.

For example, it will run ClarisWorks 3.0 beautifully, a great program for writing, painting, drawing, etc. As I write a lot, I find CW 3.0 on the 100 perfect for that, plus the 100 is so easy to travel with! Of course, viewing web pages is not really an option on the 100, but it does email fine. I'm on AOL, and the 100 will only run up to AOL 2.7 (no browser), but that does allow for email, instant messaging and chatting. I have a Global Village TelePort Platinum 19.2 kbps external modem I take with the 100 when I travel (I must confess, for major road trips I take my 540c, as I can access my websites and the Internet from it). Really, the 100's forte is as a writing machine. When inspiration hits (like right now!), it's the Mac I choose, hands down.

There's still a lot of software that can be run on the 16 MHz PowerBook 100. Basically, anything that will run on a Plus, Classic, SE, or Portable will run on the 100. That's a lot of software, and it can usually be found for cheap or free! The PowerBook 100 will run the software better than those other Macs, too.

As far as an operating system, I find that 7.1 is best, and about as high as one should go on the 100. It will run up to 7.5.5, but there's a lot of stuff in there that won't work with the 100's 68HC000 CPU. System 7.1 still does a lot, anyway, and the 100 boots in no time, letting you get to work quickly.

So there you have it, the still stylish, still useful, sleek, and highly inspiring PowerBook 100! It usually can be found for less than $50, and when you realize just how cool it is, that's a steal.

Much maligned (unfairly!) in 1991-1992, this machine has stood the test of time and become a classic Mac, just like the Mac Plus, the II-series, and the SE/30. To quote Neil Young, to my PowerBook 100 I say long may you run!

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: 17" iMac G4/800 MHz, July 2002 - The iMac 'grows up' with a 17" 1440 x 900 display.
Group of the Day: LisaList supports Lisa users.
November 8 in LEM history: 99: OS 9: I think I like it - 01: The simplified Mac life - Soured on Windows - Flea market Mac - 02: Little room for improvement in new 'Books - Combo drive upgrade for iceBooks - 04: Re-Porter - 05: Fix the old iMac or buy a Mac mini? - Apple's Copland project - 06: MacBook Core 2 - MacBook value equation - Cheap is as cheap does - 07: Problems with Classic mode in Tiger - The G4 Power Mac that won't run Leopard
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.03. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 8-core. $2,299; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.26 8-core, $2,799; 2.93, $4,999.
Best iPhone Deals, 11.03. New 8 GB iPhone 3G, $$99; refurb 16 GB 3GS, $149; new, $199; 32 GB, $299.
Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.03. Used 867 MHz SperDrive, $348; 1 GHz, $499; 1.33 Combo, $298; SD, $559; 1.5 Combo, $448; SuperDrive, $589.
Best Power Mac G3 and PCI Video Card Deals, 11.02. Used beige 300 MHz, $25; G4/366, $49; blue & white 350, $80; 400, $90; 450, $105; PCI video cards from $15; shipping additional.
Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.02. Used 400 MHz, $50; 733 MHz, $69; 933 MHz, $209; 1.25 GHz dual, $299.
Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, 11.02. Used 2.0 GHz, $800; 2.2, $900; 2.4, $1,000; refurb 2.53, $1,449; 2.66, $1,699; 2.8, $1,949; 3.06, $2,169; new 2.53, $1,579; 2.66, $1,799; more.
Best Mac mini Deals, 10.30. Used 1.33 GHz G4 mini, $379; 1.42, $389; 1.5, $419; 1.83 GHz Core Duo, $350; Core 2, $439; new 2.26 GHz nVidia, $580; 2.53 GHz, $770; Server, $990.
Best G4 iBook Deals, 10.30. Used 12" 1.07 GHz Combo, $225; 1.33 GHz, $298; 14" 1 GHz, $349; 1.33 GHz, $398; 1.42 GHz SuperDrive, $498.
Best Classic Mac OS Deals, 10.30. System 6.0.8 floppies, $10; 7.1, $12; 7.5, $20; 7.5 CD, $4; 7.6 $13; 8.1, $11; 8.5, $20; 8.6, $90; 9.0, $20; 9.2.2, $30.
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.