[DuoList] New Duo 280c Owner - Questions

[Clark Martin]

Richard Chisholm Jr wrote:
> Hi.
> 
> As of last night, I bought three working vintage Mac laptops via 
> Craigslist. A PowerBook Duo 280c, a Duo 270c, and a PowerBook 145. From 
> the specs on LowEndMac, the 280c appears to be the newest model.
> 
> The 145 and the Duo 270c had batteries in them, the 280c did not. I 
> swapped the battery over to the 280c. The power adapter was for the 
> 270c, but works on the 280c. I have not tried to power up the 145, since 
> it appears that I don't have the proper power adapter. In the bag there 
> was also a dock for the Duos, which appears to be a simple port 
> replicator. I attached it to the 280c, and now it's stuck on. (Oops!) 
> That doesn't seem to be a problem though.

There are different versions of Mini-Docks.  I have two, one has a SCSI 
port and one has a 10Base-T port.  The SCSI dock needs a PowerBook style 
cable to connect it to most SCSI perphierals.

The PB145 takes an altogether different power adapter, it provides 7V @ 
2A with a coax power connector.

The Duo 210, 230, 270, 270c, 280, 280c all have much in common.  I know 
the batteries, displays and certain other parts can be swapped around. 
There are some differences in the batteries though.

> 
> The bag also included an external 3.5" drive, which attaches to the dock.

A Floppy drive?

> 
> As of now, I'm focusing on the 280c, since it seems to have the most 
> potential. According to "About this computer" in the Apple menu (Why 
> doesn't it say "About this Mac"?) it has 40,960 KB of memory, which LEM 
> says is the max for this model.

It may be reporting virtual memory or real memory, I don't recall the 
what the specific messages say.  Look in the Apple Menu for "Apple 
System Profiler" it will give you more info.

> 
> In reading the articles about it last night, it appears that it can be 
> upgraded to a PowerPC processor by swapping in a Duo 2300c logic board. 
> For a system that I bought solely to tinker with, is that feasible? If 
> so, how do I obtain a donor logic board and where are the instructions 
> to accomplish the upgrade?

I would first look around for a 2300c, 5300c or such.  I don't see much 
point in trying to boost the CPU performance of older models as it's 
likely you can get a newer (but still old) model for as much as the upgrade.

> 
> These aremy very first Macs, so wish me luck!
>

Have fun.

The Duos are a nice, very compact laptop.  A web browser on one is going 
to be rather limited on the Internet today (as is a browser on any Mac 
running OS 9 or earlier).  But it can still connect to many sites.  But 
can certainly handle e-mail and writing asa well as other tasks.

-- 
Clark Martin
Redwood City, CA, USA
Macintosh / Internet Consulting

"I'm a designated driver on the Information Super Highway"