News...
- Some thoughts on the build price of a fully loaded
2400 without labor or shipping to a service center like
MCE or DT&T:
Base 2400
$150-200
30GB HD
$100
96MB DIMM
$70 via eBay seller who found the motherlode and may have more available.
CardBus Upgrade
Free or $100 from MCE(+S&H), assuming you have a logic board that allows the modification.
Yu-Plan Keyboard
$150? This may become the rare item now that 96MB DIMM is so cheap.
Interware G3/320 or 400
$300+ probably rarer than the keyboard, outside of a 2400 anyway. (Originally sold for $800-$1100)
So, $800 or so, if you do the labor yourself. Note: Refurb 12" iBooks are close to this price and Rev 1 PB G4/12" AL have been seen for around $1200.
If you can find a 2400 already built up with a Interware/G3 it's probably going to be $500-800....and hope you get a decent battery....or two.
- Derek Miller's http://www.penmachine.com/techie/airport1400.html
is a great Wi-Fi website for: "Wirelessly Networking
(AirPort, Wi-Fi, 802.11b, WLAN) a PowerBook 1400,2400,
3400, or G3 With Mac OS 7.5 through 9.2: Step By
Step"
- Philip Lord has a nice photo comparison of the PB
G4/12in and the 2400 on this temporary site: http://home.catv.ne.jp/ff/lord/12inchvs2400c/compare.html
(6 Feb 03/rpm) - The heir apparent? PowerBook
G4-12"
Just wish Apple had squeezed a PC card slot in somewhere... (7 Jan 03/rpm) Specs PB/G4-12" PB 2400-10" iBook-12" Price
$1800 $1700 (1998)
$300-500 (2003)$1300 OS Version
OS X
(OS 9 in Classic)OS 7.6.1 - 9.x
(OS X painful)OS X - 9.x Dimension
10.9x 8.6 x1.18 10.5 x 8.4 x 1.8 11.2 x 9.06 x 1.35 Volume(cu-in)
111 158 137 Weight (lbs)
4.6 4.4 4.9 DVD/CD-RW
Yes Opt - External Yes Pixels
1024 x 768 800 x 600 1024 x 768 Screen Size
12" 10.5" 12" Processor
G4/867 603e/180 G3/800 Cache
256K 256K 512K Max RAM(MB)
640 80 (112) 640 Batt Life (Hrs)
5 2 5 PC Card
No 2 Slots No Fast I/O
Firewire SCSI
(Firewire w/CardBus Upgrade)Firewire Network
100BaseT Opt - PC Card 100BaseT Serial
USB ADB, Serial
(USB w/CardBus Upgrade)USB Hard Drive (GB)
40 1.3 30 VGA
Yes Yes Yes S-Video
Yes No Adapter Wireless - Ethernet
Opt-Internal Opt-PC Card Opt-Internal Wireless - Bluetooth
Yes Opt-USB Upgrade Opt-USB Port Wireless - IR
No Yes No
Newbie Info!!!!(Dec, 2002/rpm)
This isn't really news, but if you are new to the PB 2400c family, you might find it helps put the platform and it's expansion capabilities in perspective
- Original Specs: 603c/180Mhz processor, 16MB RAM, 1.3GB harddrive
- Most common specs: 603c/180Mhz processor, 80MB RAM, Bigger harddrive, Ethernet/Modem PC card.
- Most uncommon, but nice to have: G3 processor upgrade and/or 96MB DRAM = 112MB total
Max'ed out 2400's usually look like this:
- Interware G3/320 or 400MHz processor...easier to find installed, than by itself. (The Newer G3 runs hotter and is not as desirable).
- 30-40GB+ HD http://dealmac.com/ or installed by MCE,
- 112MB RAM via 96MB module http://www.macimports.com/home.html
- Yu-plan translucent keyboard http://www.macimports.com/home.html
- Newer Tech BookEndz docking station ...eBay
- CardBus upgraded http://store.powerbook1.com/mcecarupser.html
- PC Cards for Ethernet wired/wireless, modem, Firewire, USB and other expansion options.
Installing RAM is pretty easy, compared to upgrading the processor card and/or harddrive. Doable, but tedious. Various articles and a Quicktime movie for doing this may be found using the Hardware link in the left frame.
BTW, doing all the above gets you into iBook prices real fast. ;-)
- New Owner Q&A's: (Dec, 2002/rpm)
Which OS is recommended? Well, we prefer Apple's...though I understand Linux is popular. :-)
- OS 8.6 is probably the most stable and efficient, unless you want to use OS 9 specific apps, e.g., iTunes, etc. Many folks run multiple partitions on their harddrive, with OS 8.6 on one and OS 9.x on another. A few intrepid souls, with lots of RAM, have even run OSX.
Which basic software packages should I get?
- Everyone has their own favorite browser, but IE 5.x and Netscape 4 Navigator work fine. A good disk utility app such as TechTool Pro and/or DiskWarrior is strongly recommended. I guess everyone probably keeps a copy of Norton Utilities around also. MS Office98 works well, along with Claris/AppleWorks. Quicken98 for figuring how much this is costing you is also a good, stable choice. My preferred email application is Eudora.
What about viruses?
- This may not be politically correct, but if you stay away from MS Outlook and keep your MS Office security updates current to dodge the various macro viruses and plug some other holes in the MS software, you probably can get by without anti-virus software, but it's good insurance if you are concerned.
What about upgrading to 112 meg of memory ?
- More RAM is always nice, but finding the 96MB DRAM module to take you to 112MB will be difficult and expensive...around $400, special order only. A faster/bigger harddrive can provide a good boost in speed and subjectively can make things seem a bit quicker than even the RAM.
- The inability to support more than 80 MB RAM officially(and 112MB unofficially) along with the difficulty in finding good batteries are probably the 2400s biggest constraints.
What about upgrading to a G3 processor?
- The G3 upgrade is outstanding. Two brands were offered. The Newer Technology G3 was the first, but runs a bit hot and is not as fast.
- The Interware G3 was available in a G3/320 or G3/400 configuration. Finding one by itself would be a very rare occurence. Most folks buy one already installed, then just sell their basic machine to help fund the purchase. A 2400/G3-Interware equipped machine is probably going to sell for $700-1000, depending on the market. This is a pretty good deal if you can find one, since folks are still paying $300-600 on eBay for relatively stock machines.
Where do I find out more?
There is a bit of information on this site, but we strongly suggest you subscribe to the 2400/DuoList for timely, helpful guidance. - OS X on a PB 2400c? Ivan Drucker tells you how he did it. (18 Aug 02)
- G3 2400 Install.mov.sit - In 1998 Ash created a nine minute QuickTime movie documenting the installation of his then state-of-the-art Newer G3 upgrade card. This is a 35MB file and will take 5-6 minutes to download with a high-speed, DSL/Cable connection, e.g., 75-130Kb/sec. (23 Jul 02)
- Still in the News...five years after its
debut, the 2400 continues to astound:
From Wired http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,51283,00.html - NEWS FLASH...PB 2400 community-wide knowledge base slows movement toward entropy! Following Sonnet Technologies announcement of a new G3 card for the PB 1400, Sidney Ho initiates popular movement for development of new G3 card by Sonnet Engineering. Read Sidney's proposal here and discuss it on the DuoList! (15 Mar 02)
- In the age of the iBook Glenn Fong provides an objective 2400 vs iBook perspective.
- Added another source for searching the DuoList
archives to our Resource page:
http://www.mail-archive.com/duolist%40lists.themacintoshguy.com/ - Need to run dual external monitors AND have access to your other PC slot? Then check out Peter Liethen's page on the defunct ix3D Road Rocket: http://www.liethen.com/filia-ul-copt/ix3d-rr/index.html (26 Oct 01)
- Check out our new Hardware:Repair
page. This page contains information specific to physical
repairs for your 2400 and includes some material formerly
found on the Hardware:Reference page.
While we've(we'll me anyway... ;-) been thinking about refining some of the longer pages, the driver for this was a great how-to article on power adapter cable repair. While this outstanding effort represents the edited opinions of several individuals on the DuoList, it was a direct result from the repair efforts of Gregory La Vardera and the editing of Marc Blessington.(5 Sep 01/rpm)
- Comet
ICU ...DuoLister John Mistretta
recently brought this new PB 2400 specific site to our
attention. The site's author, Jack Belauro, was able to
revive John's 2400 after it was put in a coma by plugging
in a PC ZIP drive to the SCSI port. Jack has also been
able to revive a dead 2400 battery and hopes to publish
his approach shortly.
This is an outstanding site and really helps one recognize the effort and knowledge needed to make board level repairs on the 2400. It certainly makes me appreciate Kevin(MCE), Paul(After Hours Consulting) and DT&T even more. :-) (17 Jun 01/rpm)
- Tetsuya has translated his CardBus page to English!
- CardBus activation for hardware hackers...
:-)
While I'm the kind of guy that lets Kevin at MCE work on my 2400, the price of 2400s is dropping enough to allow folks to take a few more risks with their own PBs. If you are so inclined, here are a couple of suggested ways to activate CardBus on your 2400: (WARNING:There are thought to be at least four different versions of the 2400 board...so don't undertake this without due consideration for what might, or might not, happen.)
- DuoLister 'LifeIzCool'(Calvin)...(17 Jun
01u/rpm)
"For all the 2400's with the yellow trace wires, right next to the RAM slot there is a longer one and a shorter one. The longer is for the upper slot, and the shorter one is for the lower slot, if you simply just cut the wires to both, your CardBus is "awakened". Tougher part...for the board without the traces (like mine) it's in the same area. There are two resistors(capacitors?...Tetsuya/rpm) located above the RAM slot, look at the picture at http://www.ab.aeonnet.ne.jp/~tkishino/Cardbus-e.html, at c375 and c377 instead of patching those two resistors(capacitors?...Tetsuya/rpm), MCE simply removed them...in fact they just clipped it off. What I did was I used my soldering iron and desoldered and removed those two resistors, and now the CardBus is enabled...took me less than 5 minutes(including the warming of my soldering iron), so very simple procedure...all have fun...I will not be responsible for anything if you screw up your motherboard....I do not know the difference of the effects of having resistor and not having one at all. thanks folks."
- Here are the source site for much of the
research Calvin has done. This is close to 200
pages of public material, much of which was
translated using Altavista's Babelfish: http://world.altavista.com/:
- http://www.zdnet.co.jp/macwire/9911/12/c_yakata_1.html
- http://www.zdnet.co.jp/macwire/9911/12/c_yakata_2.html
- http://www2.powerbook.org/lovemb/2400/cardbus.html
- http://www.kawasoh.com/powerbook/pb2400.html
- http://home.att.ne.jp/yellow/PowerBook/duolist/cardbus.html
- http://shop.hipay.com.tw/2400/2400.html
- Here are the source site for much of the
research Calvin has done. This is close to 200
pages of public material, much of which was
translated using Altavista's Babelfish: http://world.altavista.com/:
- Tetsuya Kishino (Doggy Fox) has a great
site(referenced above) with pictures and detail about
CardBus
upgrading
(Japanese text...use this site and paste this address in the website translation field: http://www.ab.aeonnet.ne.jp/~tkishino/Cardbus-j.html )
The essence of Tetsuya's activation is:- 1. Prepare 2 chip resistors and a conductive paste.
- 2. Paste the chip resisters ON the resistors near C375 and 377
- 3. Wait for the paste to cure (dry).
He also has good info (in english) on PC Card Slot Repair, Heat Management (13 Jun 01/rpm)
- DuoLister 'LifeIzCool'(Calvin)...(17 Jun
01u/rpm)
- iBook vs 2400...Chuck Goolsbee has some nice shots comparing the size of the new iBook to the 2400. http://avebury.rackhenge.net/images/iBook-2400c/ (12 May 01)
- Power Adapters... Added Mark Richert's summary
of how variously rated adapters might work with a
2400c....it's mostly in the watts folks. See Hardware_Peripherals
page (rpm/DuoList/16 Feb 01)
- 16-bit Ethernet Card, CardBus Not Required for
high-speed Ethernet....Eric Prentice, DuoList Mom,
offers the following solution through Dr. Bott:
(24 Dec 00)
- Macsense is shipping a 16-bit (i.e. non-CardBus) 10/100 Ethernet PC card. Details at: http://www.drbott.com/prod/MPC100.html
- You can find their 2400 stuff linked at: http://www.drbott.com/prod/alist/duo.html
- Free 2 day shipping if you mention DuoList when
you order
- Drivers for Non-Apple CD-ROM players?...We've added the following links to the Hardware Peripherals page. (24 Dec 00)
- Need a bag for your PB 2400?...
- Kensington Wetsuits?
- After Stan Bratton, via the DuoList, brought the availability of the Kensington Wetsuit to our attention, we exchanged a few emails with the seller, Andrew Balto. Andrew is making the following special offer to DuoList members and readers of mac2400:
Kensington Wetsuit #3 in black, while supplies last... - Buy 1 @ $35
- Buy 2 @ $65
- Buy 3 @ $99
All come with free ground shipping to continental US
Payment is via PayPal or money order.
Email Andrew at abalto@hypmedia.com to order.We've never bought anything from Andrew (though I love my Wetsuit), but based on Stan's good experience and Andrew's eBay status this sounds like a great opportunity for a hard-to-find item.
For reference, his eBay sales of the Wetsuit have ranged from $27-60+, with the latest averages being around $40, plus shipping. (rpm/19 Feb 01)
- Laptop
Travel - We've confirmed that these folks have a
number of Kensington Wetsuits (#3 for the 2400) in
stock. They also offer an alternative to the Wetsuit.
It is a custom neoprene case,
available in a multitude of colors, that is
custom-fitted to the dimensions of each brand
and model of notebook. This case is priced at $34.95,
is manufactured within 72 hours of the receipt of an
order and is, made of the same neoprene material as
the Wetsuit. The case differs from the Wetsuit in that
it is oriented 90 degrees different, i.e., it is
carried along what would be the width of the laptop
rather than its length. (rpm/DuoList/17 Feb
01)
http://www.laptoptravel.com/cgi-bin/lapt.storefront/EN/catalog/27
- Travelon Adjustable Computer
Sleeve...another slick solution for the PB 2400.
Todd Kennedy's description is on the Hardware_Peripherals
page. (21 Jan 01)
- Check out our review
of Tom Bihn's Café Computer Case, a
nicely made bag with room for a PB 2400 and a few
extras...all in the space a G3 would require.
- Bob Snow offers up the review he did on the Targus
cased designed for the IBM 560, which is similar in
footprint to the PB 2400, but thinner.
His concerns about the zipper location are quite valid. This is the case I've used for the last two years at work for my IBM 560. It's very minimalist and the zipper design seems to be geared toward opening the case and working on the laptop in place, rather than removing it. I found the 560 a tight fit(at least a hassle to zip up), but never tried it with my PB 2400.
- Kensington Wetsuits?
Security Solutions...without a slot for the
Kensington security cable, it becomes somewhat problematic
to secure a PB 2400 when traveling. Pacsafe has been selling
what amounts to a wire-reinforced locking bag for backpacks
and travel luggage and has recently released a bag for
laptops that would easily accomodate the PB 2400. I recently
used one on a trip to San Diego and it worked easily and
simply. Plenty of room for a PB 2400 and bunch of other
stuff. Until Apple adds a "Kensington" slot to their PBs
this seems to be the only minimal security solution.
(rpm/30 Oct 00). Follow these links for more
info:
Newton Software? Ash has made a number of his
successful Newton software products available as
charity-ware. A minimum donation of $25 USD to any
international charity qualifies. Go to the site of his
latest start-up and check out the offerings: www.sarofax.com
|
|
Battery Summary...See our Hardware_Peripherals page for a list of the most likely folks to have them in stock.
|
New Support
Page!
...click on Support and see
not only the usual commercial recommendations, but the first
(of what we hope will be many more) regional volunteers for
helping fellow PB 2400 owners repair or upgrade their
machines.
- Green Light of
Death?...With all the activity and questions
on how to revive comatose 2400s we decided to
post(belatedly) Sydney Ho's extremely complete set of
guidelines. If all this doesn't work you probably need to
consider a visit to the repair shop: Power
Reset by Sydney Ho (23 Dec
00)
- Ivan Drucker has updated his very complete
'take-a-part' instructions on the Hardware:Upgrade
page.
"I have revised my original 2400 takeapart instructions on your site. The revisions include one major change which should reduce the risk of introducing screen hinge play, some warnings at the end on how to not to break off certain plastic bits, and then minor adjustments." Ivan (rpm/14 Sep 00)
See our Hardware_Peripherals page for more details on all these topics.
PB 2400 Startup Timings...from the recent DuoList discussion. (rpm/11 May 00u)Bad Logic Boards...
We seem to be hearing of more and more logic board problems, some of which may be relatively easy to fix.
Trackpad Clicker Repair on the Hardware_Repairs page has a couple of new refinements shared by members of the DuoList.
Hinge Repair...Sydney Ho(of Clicker Repair fame) further explores maintenance of your screen hinge: Hardware_Repair
Keyboard Replacement details are provided with a link to Allison Percy's page showing how she installed a translucent keyboard on her PB 2400. See our Hardware_Peripherals page for information on replacement translucent keyboards.
