Charles W. Moore has a great article at Low End Mac on the 11th birthday of the Macintosh Powerbook 5300c, Apple's first PowerPC laptop.First off, this 1995 model had the same problem that plagued iBook G4 and Powerbook G4 computers last week -- flaming batteries:
Even before the 5300 began shipping in quantity, it suffered a major engineering setback and PR disaster that is ironically seems ripped from the headlines in August 2006. The 5300 was originally designed to use lithium-ion (LiIon) batteries, but Apple did a recall and switched to Nickel-Metal-Hydride (NiMH) cells after two of the Sony-made LiIon batteries caught fire.
No consumer machines were damaged, but the switchover caused shipping delays and was a major embarrassment.
This will make you feel good about today's computer prices:
In addition to being the first PowerPC PowerBook, the 5300 also has the distinction of being the most expensive laptop Apple ever sold, with the top-end 5300ce model originally selling for a whopping $6,500!
Give the article a look -- it's well worth reading for old Mac aficionados.
1 comment:
I can only imagine what high-end graphics software did to these laptops. It couldn't have been pretty. My whole take on using Macs this old is that the less graphics-intense your needs, the better.
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