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Yay finally repaired my PB1400
Posted by: zerohour on 2010-03-03 06:59:08
Screen cost me £7.27 from eBay

How nice to have an old friend back ... Ok Front bezel claims to be a 1400C/133 when it's in fact a 1400/166 was a cs but the Active Matrix screen is much brighter 🙂

I am a happy bunny ... Ok it's only got 16Mb but that's more than enough for Wordperfect 3.5e. If only I could get a working battery cheap but I won't hold my breath 😛

Posted by: ClassicHasClass on 2010-03-03 08:35:51
The c screen is so much better than the cs.

The PB 1400 remains my favourite PowerBook, because it was my first laptop and it serves me to this day. For many years it was the only laptop I had. Now that I have a reconditioned battery, it is back to 100% function except for an annoying stuck line on the active matrix LCD (and 60MB of RAM (RAM Doubled to 120MB), 9.1, a 466MHz G3, a 4GB hard disk, video out, and modem and Ethernet cards). The battery lasts for an amazing hour and a half. That is pretty damn good for a laptop that was bought as a 1400cs/117 in 1997.

Posted by: J English Smith on 2010-03-03 09:05:35
Is that one of the original Apple batteries or one of the aftermarket ones? That is really good runtime, either way! I have found that my VST aftermarket ones can't use battery recondition, the computer goes nuts (starts clicking and beeping after about 20 seconds of the white screen...it freaked me out). I get a bit more runtime from the VSTs than the Apple ones, but no more than 20-30 minutes. I just think of these as plugged in machines and use the batteries like PRAM...

I wish it was easier to find old RAM for the 1400...not much around on the 'bay anymore...I have two 24MB cards so I have one of mine maxed to 64, but that leaves my other ones with only 16. I'd love to find some more 24 or 32 MB cards...

Posted by: Trash80toHP_Mini on 2010-03-03 13:49:42
The c screen is so much better than the cs.
The PB 1400 remains my favourite PowerBook . . .
Mine too. I REALLY HATE to admit it, but 'Beater kicks PowerDuo's @$$ in terms of pixels, power & WiFi.

. . . and 60MB of RAM (RAM Doubled to 120MB), 9.1, a 466MHz G3, a 4GB hard disk, video out, and modem and Ethernet cards). The battery lasts for an amazing hour and a half. That is pretty damn good for a laptop that was bought as a 1400cs/117 in 1997.
'Beater's got almost the same specs with a fairly borked battery, no Video Out, but maxed out RAM, WiFi and Boot Drive Cards coupled with the same Crescendo 466! [😉] ]'>

I've just started to tune her up as an emergency backup for HP_Mini! [😀] ]'>

Great job of resurrecting/upgrading yours, Z! 8)

Posted by: ClassicHasClass on 2010-03-03 17:07:13
Is that one of the original Apple batteries or one of the aftermarket ones? That is really good runtime, either way! I have found that my VST aftermarket ones can't use battery recondition, the computer goes nuts (starts clicking and beeping after about 20 seconds of the white screen...it freaked me out). I get a bit more runtime from the VSTs than the Apple ones, but no more than 20-30 minutes. I just think of these as plugged in machines and use the batteries like PRAM...
I wish it was easier to find old RAM for the 1400...not much around on the 'bay anymore...I have two 24MB cards so I have one of mine maxed to 64, but that leaves my other ones with only 16. I'd love to find some more 24 or 32 MB cards...
No, it's an Apple original. I was shocked myself, but that's on the ground testing. I reconditioned it and it's working great.

I thought about putting an ORiNOCO-compatible card in it, but I just don't use wireless that much.

Posted by: J English Smith on 2010-03-04 12:50:47
I have the wireless cards...you can text surf (using WannaBe) and pull up the low-demand BBC website, that's about all I can do without pulling my hair out. But it was fun to get working that way...

Wow, that's remarkable re the battery. Some very good cells in that one! I wish Li-Ion batteries were possible for the 1400...sigh.

Posted by: Trash80toHP_Mini on 2010-03-04 13:11:07
I wish Li-Ion batteries were possible for the 1400...sigh.
IIRC they are, but you'd need to hack the 1400 somehow so it wouldn't try to charge them (or just be sure to NEVER use the AC 'Adapter with the Li-ion battery in the bay) and use an external Li-Ion charger.

Posted by: CJ_Miller on 2010-03-06 01:59:12
you'd need to hack the 1400 somehow so it wouldn't try to charge them
Wouldn't a few diodes do?

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