Powerbook 1400
Screen:1400C: 11.3 inch
TFT LCD screen@800x600
1400CS: 11.3 inch
Dual Scan LCD screen@800x600
Processor: 117mhz, 133mhz or 166mhz
PPC 603e with 16KB data and 16KB Instruction cache
RAM: 12MB to 64MB of 70ns or faster
RAM on a proprietary "Piggyback"'able
RAM card.
Cache:128k
L2 Cache
Bus:33mhz
Storage:IDE interface with unknown PIO mode,
came as standard with 750 MB, 1GB, or 2GB hard drive,
also, expansion bay for
CD-ROM or
floppy drive
Video RAM:1MB
Ports:
A really useful little notebook. Its small footprint is almost exactly comparable to a (2001) ibook (although it weighs rather more).
The screen is excellent and crisp in the "C" version, I have been told that the "CS" versions screen is also excellent, for a dual scan.
Runs Mac OS 8.1 or 8.6 comfortably (and 9.1 grudgingly), and copes with most office-type tasks easily.
Web surfing is accomplished painlessly enough with icab, although you do get pauses that freeze the whole system (sometimes for several seconds with large pages) whilst pages are rendering (this happens with all browsers). Email and newsgroups are a strong point of the system with many well written and popular programs running at a very good speed.
Plays MP3s from hard drive or CD-ROM as long as you use the right programs (i.e not itunes) and don't try to do much else at the same time (reading a text file is ok), I have noticed occasional stuttering with virtual memory turned on but not without.
The video circuitry is somewhat lacking, offering no 2D hardware acceleration and being rather slow at redrawing the screen in 16bit colours (best to run in 256 colours).
Battery life was never a strong point averaging around 2.5 hours when new. This was mainly due to the fact the battery was NIMH, Apple's previous Powerbook, the 5300, originally shipped with Li-Ion batteries but sadly, early in production, several of these powerbooks burst into flames, all were recalled (they had only been shipping for a short time) and fitted with an NIMH battery instead. Apple was obviously playing safe with the 1400. On the + side getting your batteries re-celled is a lot cheaper.
The hard drive is IDE and of a standard height and so can be replaced cheaply with large capacity modern models. Note however that you apparently cannot use SCSI disk mode with disks larger than 4GB.
Sadly Open Source software support is patchy at best, due to this being a Nubus machine. MkLinux runs but er... not exactly brilliantly: no PCMCIA, no sound, serial ports work but give an {IDE TIMEOUT} twice a minute, it tends to hate the CD-ROM and is limited to 256 colours (which is good for speed but not so good for looking at any kind of photo). Even NetBSD which runs on practically everything, including toasters, won't run it.
Its processor is upgradable to a G3 466/400/333 via the use of currently available Sonnet Technologies Crescendo PB G3 product, which presumably solves the freezing whilst rendering and inability to do much else whilst playing MP3s niggles and also usefully extends the battery life.
Several other companies also made processor cards, the first being newer's 183mhz 603e NUpowr product and their later NUpowr G3 upgrades, Vimage also made several G3 upgrade products, neither of these 3 products are still shipping however, and both the G3's ran a lot hotter than the Sonnet products, sucking up the batteries at a faster than normal rate.
Mention should also be made of the "bookcovers" system. The lid of the Powerbook has a (3/4) detachable surface, when you bought the powerbook you got the standard dark gray cover and also a clear cover, You could place The cardboard insert of your choice into the clear cover.
Third Parties such as Bookwares made addon covers in a variety of different materials, such as leather, steel and various polished woods:
<http://www.theapplecollection.com/design/macreleased/Bookwares.html>>
and one company even made a solar panel cover for taking the load off your batteries. None of these products are, to my knowledge, still sold new but presumably there are a number floating around in second hand channels.