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Fizzbinn’s Finds
Posted by: joshc on 2021-11-25 05:53:08 Anybody have any tips on de-soldering SIMM connectors? They are not easy, as you seem to have found out. Lots of heat applied to both sides - 300-330C is probably in the right region. You probably aren't going to reuse that socket so you can be a bit rough with it, just be mindful of the traces underneath it. Heating from above and prying at it bit by bit it should start to pull apart pretty easy. Very destructive but I've found this the easiest way to remove them.
Posted by: EtherRad on 2021-11-25 07:22:49 That 540c gem just gave me some serious FOMO
Posted by: EtherRad on 2021-11-25 07:28:56 "What Is FOMO? The fear of missing out refers to the feeling or perception that others are having more fun, living better lives, or experiencing better things than you are. It involves a deep sense of envy and affects self-esteem. It is often exacerbated by social media sites like Instagram and Meta, or gambling sites like eBay."
Posted by: Fizzbinn on 2021-12-14 16:36:04 So I lucked into having a local eBay listing for a lot including a Peforma 575! First eBay transaction I've completed in 1 day. 🙂 Macintosh Performa 575 with Macintosh Essentials box and all the docs Power Macintosh G3 Desktop 266MHz with lots of broken internal plastic, missing ZIP drive and clearly broken PS Multiple Scan 720 Display Macintosh Color Display StyleWriter 1200 2 x Apple Design Keyboard (one in parts) ADB Mouse II Apple Microphone Pretty good for $280 IMO although I think I need to take a break and figure out how I'm going to store my growing collection as in the middle of the foyer is going to get me into trouble...
Posted by: macuserman on 2021-12-14 16:44:57 That's killer, man I'm jealous been looking for a board for my 575 for a minute but that's heck of a haul congratulations.
Posted by: Fizzbinn on 2021-12-14 20:16:18 That 540c gem just gave me some serious FOMO "What Is FOMO? The fear of missing out refers to the feeling or perception that others are having more fun, living better lives, or experiencing better things than you are. It involves a deep sense of envy and affects self-esteem. It is often exacerbated by social media sites like Instagram and Meta, or gambling sites like eBay." “Gambling sites like eBay” LOL I guess its all part of the “fun” with this hobby! Win some, miss some, loose some, randomly luck into some, envy others good luck… I kinda enjoy hearing about others good luck and finds, it CAN happen for you too!
Posted by: Fizzbinn on 2023-04-21 13:58:25 Got a pretty nice looking PowerBook 190cs off eBay ...but I guess it was my time to lose at shipping damage roulette. I don't suppose anyone has a parts 190 or 5300 with a good bottom case they're willing to part with? I tried powering it on and it started to boot off the HD then cut out. Looks like the power jack was damaged too, it wiggles. I don't think its supposed to do that!
Posted by: 3lectr1cPPC on 2023-04-21 14:05:49 ugh, that absolutely sucks, I'm sorry you've run into that. And yes, the 190/5300 DC jacks are poorly designed and go loose. go ahead and resolder it and it should hopefully be good.
Posted by: macuserman on 2023-04-21 14:45:00 Got a pretty nice looking PowerBook 190cs off eBay ...but I guess it was my time to lose at shipping damage roulette. View attachment 55527 View attachment 55526 I don't suppose anyone has a parts 190 or 5300 with a good bottom case they're willing to part with? I tried powering it on and it started to boot off the HD then cut out. Looks like the power jack was damaged too, it wiggles. I don't think its supposed to do that! I’m your guy I have a bunch of this stuff.
Posted by: Fizzbinn on 2023-04-21 17:51:13 I’m your guy I have a bunch of this stuff. Oh wow, PM you? Here’s the part/piece I’d love to get, if it had the ”190 series” sticker even better!
Posted by: Fizzbinn on 2023-04-21 17:55:11 ugh, that absolutely sucks, I'm sorry you've run into that. And yes, the 190/5300 DC jacks are poorly designed and go loose. go ahead and resolder it and it should hopefully be good. I think it must have cracked DC jack solder joints with the shipping damage, then arc’s/overheated the barely there connections when I tried to turn it on. Cleaned up with flux, solder wick, IPA and now resoldered: Now to put it back together…
Posted by: 3lectr1cPPC on 2023-04-21 18:04:32 Good luck!
Posted by: Fizzbinn on 2023-04-21 18:37:46 Success! and it had a 32MB RAM card!
Posted by: 3lectr1cPPC on 2023-04-21 19:04:39 Sweet! Now all you've got to do is source a parts 5300c unit and swap the screen and cable over. Then you've got a 540c in an uglier case.
Posted by: Fizzbinn on 2023-04-21 19:24:18 Sweet! Now all you've got to do is source a parts 5300c unit and swap the screen and cable over. Then you've got a 540c in an uglier case. LOL. Be nice! I like the last/first of a kind models. As far as I can tell the PowerBook 190cs was the last 68k Mac released. I was surprised to see the RF shield had a date stamp of "Mar 26 1997", the "Kanga" PowerBook G3/250 came out in November 1997, 68k and PPC G3 Macs made/sold in the same year!
Posted by: 3lectr1cPPC on 2023-04-21 19:39:34 Yeah, I can’t be too unfair to this case design. I don’t mind it too much, though it definitely isn’t my favorite. As per the 1997 date there - it’s not for the reason you think. That 190cs was sold in 95 or 96. The issue was that they had major quality problems with the whole range of 190/5300 laptops, and as such a super-extended warranty became a thing. They’d swap out all sorts of parts, basically everything in the unit, case plastics included. From what I’ve heard the plastics were super brittle in these units from day 1, and would crack and crumble. Basically all of them went through apple’s service center for repairs, and the ones that came out were in a much better place reliability wise. Thus, the 1997 manufacture date on that part. I’ve heard from some sources that the hinge warranty in particular went for 7 years on these due to the issues - that potentially means that you get one of these serviced into the 2000s, though I haven’t confirmed this.
Posted by: joshc on 2023-04-24 02:01:40 It's a miracle that Apple managed to turn a profit again so quickly in the late 90s, as they were still supporting very old hardware and had several disasters like the 5300 and other models that had a lot of warranty recalls and on top of all that, they had masses of unsold inventory that was written off/recycled like thousands of Performas that were never sold. So I'm still impressed they managed to turn it round as quickly as they did as it was a real shambles indeed.
Posted by: macuserman on 2023-04-24 08:08:43 Oh wow, PM you? Sure shoot me a PM, and we'll see what we can work out.
Posted by: LaPorta on 2023-04-24 09:06:10 It's a miracle that Apple managed to turn a profit again so quickly in the late 90s, as they were still supporting very old hardware and had several disasters like the 5300 and other models that had a lot of warranty recalls and on top of all that, they had masses of unsold inventory that was written off/recycled like thousands of Performas that were never sold. So I'm still impressed they managed to turn it round as quickly as they did as it was a real shambles indeed. That’s why Jobs immediately killed support for all pre-1998 machines that weren’t explicitly still under warranty.
Posted by: 3lectr1cPPC on 2023-04-24 09:25:36 Did they kill the 5300 extended warranty for the display hinges then? IIRC there was a 3 year warranty extension for general repairs (may have been 5?) and a 7 year for the hinges.
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