Second Class Macs

PowerBook 5300

two

Dan Knight - 1998.12.04

Low End Mac Reader Specials

Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com

LA Computer Company: LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, Apple Displays, MacBooks, iMac's, MacBook Pros, Laptop and iPod accessories and more. Apple A/C Adapters for laptops starting at $25.00 Call 1-800-941-7654 or Click Here.

OWC: OWC Mercury On-The-Go FW400/800/USB2/eSATA Portables High Performance A/V Rated, **Bus Powered** **Up to 500GB in the Palm of your Hand** Macworld Editor's Choice, CNET 'Very Good' - from $75.99!

Mac users can finally play Party Poker for Mac. Not only that, they can also learn how to play PokerStars for Mac.

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

Compare products like desktop computers, laptops, and LCD TVs side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for a new cell phone GPS products or MP3 players. The Ciao network makes searching products easy for you.

MacBook/MacBook Pro / MacMini / iMac Intel Core2 DUO DDR2 667Mhz 4GB Kit $84, 3GB Kit $60, 2GB Kit $40 1GB $20. Click to Maximize your Macs...

Second Class Macs are Apple's more compromised hardware designs. For the most part, they're not really bad - simply designs unable to work as well as they should have.

The PB 5300 was Apple's first PowerPC-based PowerBook. Originally designed to use LithIon batteries, Apple recalled the 5300 after some of the new batteries burst into flames. Not only was this an embarrassment to Apple, but the PowerBook 5300 became the butt of many jokes.

Switching to NiMH batteries solved the problem, but then there was the motherboard to address. A problem with the Sleep setting didn't reduce power sufficiently, reducing the maximum time in sleep mode from over a week to about four days.

On top of that, the power supply wasn't robust enough to handle everything you could put into the expansion bay. And the connector on the AC adapter could break, making it impossible to charge the batteries - or run the computer.

And as if that weren't enough, the 5300 and it's 68040-sibling, the PowerBook 190, had problems with the case, especially the hinge between the main computer and the screen. Flecks of dark gray plastic were soon called PowerBook droppings. Over time, enough plastic would be lost that the 5300 needed to go in for service. (Thank you, Apple, for a seven year warranty on this repair!)

Some of the system bugs were solved simply by upgrading from System 7.5.2, which shipped with the computer, to 7.5.3 or later. Reports are that the 5300 is rock solid under Mac OS 8.0 and later. Also, the improved emulation of Speed Doubler really helps performance of the pedestrian IDE hard drive.

Apple had hoped to design a PowerBook around the PowerPC 603 processor, but soon discovered that the on-chip cache (level 1 cache) was inadequate for decent 680X0 emulation used with older software. The 603e doubled the size of the L1 cache, making it a much better performer with old software. (See Macintosh CPUs, Part 2, for more details on the 603 and other PowerPC chips.)

But Apple made a serious design compromise by designing the 5300 with no level 2 cache - and no way of adding one. Even a relatively small 256 KB L2 cache can boost performance on the order of 30%. Without that cache, the 5300 was slower than anyone expected a 100 MHz or 117 MHz machine to be. (Another blow to the already soiled reputation of the 603.) LEM

Details

Other Resources

Go to the Road Apples index.

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2008 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, PowerBook, MacBook, 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.


Have a question?
Ask an expert!

Low End Living

Amazon.com

Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Best Used Macs
Video Cards
Email Lists
InfoMac's Low
End Mac Forum

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
MacMall
TechRestore
MacResQ
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.