Ode to the PowerBook 100

[Trash80toG4]

The PowerBook 100 TrackBall diameter, handiness is far, far superior to the big ball series. I used the 100 IRL, but not any of the full size models. When I collected my first pick of the full size series PowerBook 150*** or handled the RAM limited PowerBook 100's contemporaries the ball didn't fall neatly, naturally under my finger. PowerBook 100 mid-ball is handy to the level of the buttons. I felt I had to raise my finger up farther and it feels clunkier.

Loved the smaller 100 ball so much I had no problems adapting to the PowerBook Duo series' smaller ball diameter. Recessed into the surface, all but, if not co-planar to the buttons, so I wound up absolutely loving the 230 which replaced the 100 in my bag. But I used the Duos almost exclusively Docked from the start, so the KBD issues never bothered me as I really only used KBD and TrackBall in the field.

That said, I'm a mouse/graphics guy.

 

[Trash80toG4]

*** PowerBook RAM limitations deserve a dedicated post. The PowerBook 100 was unique.

Using RAMdisk+ combined with my maxed out 8MB memory configured BabyPB was a dream. Its battery backed, persistent memory was an amazing feature. In 1991 a PowerBook didn't really need more than 4MB of memory. So I loaded OS and mainline apps in the other 4MB using it as a persistent Silicon Disk, far outstripping performance of the 100's contemporaries. You could do the same with them, but you'd need to wait for all that stuff to load from fixed disk at startup before you were up and running.


Side note:
As for the 150, it was also unique. By its release you really needed more than the maximum 14MB memory limit of the 180c. Passive screen didn't bother me on paper then, nor IRL when I finally got one. Again, I cut my teeth on the passive matrix 640x400 screen of the 100. The extra 80 lines of pixels and four bit grayscale of the 150 were far superior.

Lack of ADB never bothered me a bit. I was using much faster external, PowerBook design optimized external modems by then. I'D have had an in-shop fabbed PCB in there with an ADB port aimed out the RJ-11 hole in a heartbeat. Much more convenient than carrying a SCSI MicroDock everywhere. Lack of video out was a deal breaker though. I had Docks at both ends of my commute by then and had been doing graphics in TPD res well before I ever got my PowerBook 100.

IDE was less expensive, but some of the magazines and later LEM lore would have had you believing its "cheapened" IDE substitute being slower than SCSI, but that's hogwash. SCSI=FAST was what Mac users believed from the beginning. It was fast . . . in WorkStation drives. We all now know just how not-fast Apple's implementation of the SCSI interface was.

PowerBook 150 should be seen as the fabulous "PowerBook 100" of the BlackBird era, not as a hobbled late date stand-in for the 180c as far as I'm concerned. So this side note, ode to the PowerBook 150 belongs here after all.

 

[3lectr1c]

As for the 150, it was also unique. By its release you really needed more than the maximum 14MB memory limit of the 180c. Passive screen didn't bother me on paper then, nor IRL when I finally got one. Again, I cut my teeth on the passive matrix 640x400 screen of the 100. The extra 80 lines of pixels and four bit grayscale of the 150 were far superior.

Owning both systems myself, I can say that I prefer the 100's screen. The 150's LCD is just VERY BLUE. It is its own kind of fun, but the 100's has less ghosting and is in general a better quality panel, at least in my opinion.

One think I will give the 150's screen though is that it does not ghost really at all with a black background set, which is a normal issue on every other passive panel I've seen.

It also may be the case that the Sharp LCD the 150 could have also come with was better, mine has the Casio panel.

 

[Fizzbinn]

I’m intrigued by the PowerBook 100 for its uniqueness, as I am similarly for Macs with unique cases, features, and/or “firsts”/“lasts”.

Off the top of my head/best recollection:

Unique case, not used again
Outside Sony design
First “PowerBook”
First Mac with no built in floppy drive
Last 68000 based Mac
Last 16Mhz 68000 Mac

…and I’m sure I‘ve got some of that wrong as well as missing others.

Lots of other Macs I have/desire in my collection with similar traits, e.g. A couple generations later the PowerBook 2400c or on the desktop side the Macintosh IIsi…

 

[Daniel Hansen]

I’m intrigued by the PowerBook 100 for its uniqueness, as I am similarly for Macs with unique cases, features, and/or “firsts”/“lasts”.

Off the top of my head/best recollection:

Unique case, not used again
Outside Sony design
First “PowerBook”
First Mac with no built in floppy drive
Last 68000 based Mac
Last 16Mhz 68000 Mac

…and I’m sure I‘ve got some of that wrong as well as missing others.

Lots of other Macs I have/desire in my collection with similar traits, e.g. A couple generations later the PowerBook 2400c or on the desktop side the Macintosh IIsi…

Same. The only reason I have a 190cs is that's the last 68k Mac Apple made... no other reason.

Quibble, perhaps: it could be argued the 100 isn't the first PowerBook, as its development started *after* the 140/170, and afaict it didn't hit shelves any earlier than the rest of the line - October 21, 1991 (almost its 32nd birthday!)... I haven't read otherwise, but some people suggest the 100 DID hit shelves earliest... curious to know definitively.

 

[3lectr1c]

The three were all announced at the same time. The way I see it, that makes them all the “first” to me. That’s how I look at it anyways.

 

[Fizzbinn]

Oh how we all seem to love the minutiae!

Let‘s go with lowest model number PowerBook!

 

[Daniel Hansen]

Oh how we all seem to love the minutiae!

I am absolutely a nitpicker, but only about things that don't actually matter lol

 

[Fizzbinn]

I am absolutely a nitpicker, but only about things that don't actually matter lol

 

[TimR]

The Powerbook 100 is my favorite in the series. I've bought five of them now from eBay UK in faulty /untested condition (usually pay £80-£90 each), and managed to make them all work again. They all required new LCD caps, new SMD mainboard caps, and the Conner hard drives required tape over the drive bumpers internally. Some of the Connor drives failed quickly afterwards, but cheap BlueSCSI replacements drives sorted those. The most challenging unit decided to die when I ultrasonically cleaned the daughterboard and mainboard - one of the solder joints on a daughterboard RAM chip had become disconnected and it was giving sad mac bus errors. Also a trackball went bad, and would stop the keyboard and external mouse port working. Disconnected it and the keyboard and external mouse worked. Compared two trackballs with a multimeter and saw that although the caps and resistors all gave similar readings, the two transistors and four diodes gave different results. Figured out modern replacements and got the trackball working again for about $5. I also saw some small bits of the purple screen rot on a few, but mostly they were good. It's also amazing that you can buy new batteries and 6MB RAM cards for the Powerbook 100 on eBay from fellow enthusiasts. My own one will be getting WiFi from a BlueSCSI 2, first chance I get. Every time I refurb a Powerbook 100, my own unit gets little upgrades too.

My least favorite Powerbook is the 150. I wouldn't buy another. Lack of ports made troubleshooting painful. I managed to fix one, only to have it die after being powered up for an hour. Suspect the PSU was giving out too many amps. Ending up selling it for parts on eBay. Someone in New Zealand was really pleased with the LCD.

Below is a Powerbook 100 LCD with new tantalum caps fitted.