Configuring a PowerBook for Months in Iraq without Internet Access
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We believe in the long term value of Apple hardware. You should be able to use your Apple gear as long as it helps you remain productive and meets your needs, upgrading only as necessary. We want to help maximize the life of your Apple gear.
RAM: The Lombard I bought came with an extra 128 MB for a
total of 192 MB of RAM, which was more than enough than my original
plan of having just 128 MB (which is the minimum for running Mac
OS X 10.3 Panther). The maximum Lombard supports is 512 MB,
and it's very easy to upgrade.
Hard Drive: a 6 GB hard drive was okay for Mac OS 9 - but
not for OS X, so I upgraded to a 40 GB drive, which was bigger and
a bit faster. With 10 GB for Mac OS 9 and 30 GB for Panther that
met my requirement for of both OS's, games, software and music.
Wireless: The Lombard doesn't have a slot for Apple's
AirPort card, only for the Pismo and later. I did some research
and got a Belkin F5D7010 Version 1. The good thing about this card
is that it uses the same Broadcom chipset as Apple's AirPort cards,
so it's fully compatible with Apple's AirPort drivers. There are a
few other brands that also use the Broadcom chipset, but be careful
with different versions of the same card that may not work with
OS X.
Zip Drive: I needed a reliable, durable way to do minimal
backups. I know CD-RW discs are cheap, but I really liked the fact
that I found a Zip drive that would work with the internal bay of
my Lombard for only $10 on eBay. Another
fact is that you're limited to only Military Post Exchange (PX)
stores for your shopping, and they tend run out of blank media very
quickly. Lastly, Zip disks never get scratched, you can erase them
very easily, and they are easy to store.
USB to Serial: Working with routers and other
communications equipment, an RS232 connection is a must. IOGear
UC232A was my choice. It was short, easy to store, and proved to be
very reliable, even in mission critical situations.
GamePad: I play a lot of first person shooters, and the
Lombard's keyboard looks great with its bronzed clear look, but it
wasn't cutting it for game play. Instead of getting a normal
keyboard, which was too big for my storage space, I got a Belkin
Nostromo n52. Its like a small keyboard with just the right keys
and very ergonomic.
Mouse: After ordering an Apple Pro Mouse and receiving it
in pieces, I picked up a cheap two-button mouse with a scroll
wheel.
DVD-ROM: the stock DVD-ROM drive worked very well. Later
on, near the end of the deployment, it started giving problems when
reading original media. In future articles I'll touch on the topic
of upgrading to a CD-RW and even a SuperDrive.
AC Adapter: if you still have the black square power
adapter that came with many G3 PowerBooks, please contact Apple.
They might send you a new yo-yo style adapter. Apple sent me a new
one, and I kept my old one (which eventually died, just as
described in the recall article).
Next week is going to be a long article
on software, the software that kept my mind and soul on track in
the combat zones of Iraq.
We believe in the long term value of Apple hardware. You should be able to use your Apple gear as long as it helps you remain productive and meets your needs, upgrading only as necessary. We want to help maximize the life of your Apple gear.
We believe in the long term value of Apple hardware. You should be able to use your Apple gear as long as it helps you remain productive and meets your needs, upgrading only as necessary. We want to help maximize the life of your Apple gear.
