What Powerbook is this?

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I came across a older Powerbook that I bought really cheap today. I have no idea what it is. It is black or dark brown with a translucent brown keyboard. When I lifted the keyboard I noticed a antenna cable but I have no idea how to attach a airport card? It appears to have one RAM slot under a metal shield that is empty. It has 2 firewire, 2 usb, S-video, modem, network on the back. What is it and what is it worth? It is in pretty good condition and the screen has no bad pixels.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 21
    cakecake Posts: 1,010member
    That's a Lombard.

    Check here and here for details.
  • Reply 2 of 21
    709709 Posts: 2,016member
    If it has FireWire it's a Pismo. Nice machine. 400 or 500?



    [edit]: I meant 400 or 500 Mhz, not an estimate on price.
  • Reply 3 of 21
    Yeah it has 2 firewire ports and 2 usb ports. But it still has the bronze colored keyboard. The really weird part is that it has a wireless antenna wire but I have no idea how to hook up a airport card to it. So I guess $50.00 was pretty good huh?
  • Reply 4 of 21
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Cake

    That's a Lombard.



    No. If it has Firewire, it is a Pismo. It supports normal Apple Airport cards (not the new Airport Extreme!).
  • Reply 5 of 21
    $50 was really pretty good



    Installing the Airport card is rather simple. On the Apple support page, you can find some how to's
  • Reply 6 of 21
    $50!? Does it turn on?! That's an incredibly good deal considering Pismos are selling for 700-900 bucks
  • Reply 7 of 21
    fran441fran441 Posts: 3,715member
    Wow, that is a great deal.



    The Lombard did not have an internal Airport slot, nor did it have Firewire ports.



    So yes, you've got a Pismo on your hand.
  • Reply 8 of 21
    Yeah it turns on and we used my buddies G4 recovery disk to load OSX just to see if it works! I will go buy a legal copy of OSX so I don't get in trouble. It came with 2 airport cards and a 6gig, 20gig, and 30 gig hard drives. I put the 30gig in the machine and will add more RAM. I am unsure of the processor speed because it just says PowerPC G3 when I check it. It has the DVD player as well. Why does it have the Lombard keyboard? I really like it and I am amazed how well built it is. If I keep it it should be great for the kids to use for internet and simple kid stuff.
  • Reply 9 of 21
    Quote:

    Originally posted by GreggWSmith

    It came with 2 airport cards and a 6gig, 20gig, and 30 gig hard drives. I put the 30gig in the machine and will add more RAM.



    At that price it came with three hard drives and two Airport cards?? Are you sure it 's not 'hot'?



    Did you try System Profiler to get the speed rating?
  • Reply 10 of 21
    Quote:

    Originally posted by GSpotter

    At that price it came with three hard drives and two Airport cards?? Are you sure it 's not 'hot'?



    Such questions we do not ask.
  • Reply 11 of 21
    No it is not hot. I bought it from a recycler that was going to grind it up and melt it down for the precious metal content. I threw out a $50 offer because that is the amount of cash I had on me. He took it and threw in all the spare parts that came with it. I just lucked out. Any offers?
  • Reply 12 of 21
    Quote:

    Originally posted by GreggWSmith

    No it is not hot. I bought it from a recycler that was going to grind it up and melt it down for the precious metal content. I threw out a $50 offer because that is the amount of cash I had on me. He took it and threw in all the spare parts that came with it. I just lucked out. Any offers?



    If you don't want it, eBay is a profitable avenue.
  • Reply 13 of 21
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    Yes, eBay. I hear murbot is doing a lecture tour throughout the U.S. in the coming months: eBay is Your Friend: How to use eBay for Fun & Profit



    Refreshments are provided.







    [he's gonna kill me...]
  • Reply 14 of 21
    ringoringo Posts: 329member
    Pismo and Lombard both had the same keyboard, Pismo was essentially a revision to Lombard that added FireWire and Airport, upped the specs a but and shaved off a few ounces. I think they may also be a bit thinner.



    I'll give you $75 for it, but you'll probably make 10 times that on eBay. Where is this recycler located?
  • Reply 15 of 21
    torifiletorifile Posts: 4,024member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by GreggWSmith

    No it is not hot. I bought it from a recycler that was going to grind it up and melt it down for the precious metal content. I threw out a $50 offer because that is the amount of cash I had on me. He took it and threw in all the spare parts that came with it. I just lucked out. Any offers?



    Is he nuts? Any working Mac laptop is worth more than the metal he would get from it. Does he have any other several hundred dollar machines he's planning on throwing away? Nice find. That guy is a moron.
  • Reply 16 of 21
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Ringo

    Pismo and Lombard both had the same keyboard, Pismo was essentially a revision to Lombard that added FireWire and Airport, upped the specs a but and shaved off a few ounces. I think they may also be a bit thinner.



    No, they weigh the exact same and their dimensions are exactly the same as well. All the upgrades were "under the hood."



    Congrats on a great find, Gregg!
  • Reply 17 of 21
    Ok I finally go the software loaded. It is a 400MHz G3 with 256Mg Ram.
  • Reply 18 of 21
    709709 Posts: 2,016member
    Now go and get an external enclosure for that 20gig HD and you've got a nice little bus-powered FW drive to transfer files between your machines.
  • Reply 19 of 21
    I actually have plenty of space. I have a enclosed 80Gig, and 2 80gigs on my G5. I think I will just hang on to it in the event one dies.
  • Reply 20 of 21
    newnew Posts: 3,244member
    hehe, I sold that exact machine for about 1200$ one and a half year ago.



    And it cost me close to 4500$ two years before that if I remember correctly.



    EDIT: ok, mine was 500mhz with 512 RAM...
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