Can MAC Powerbooks be seriously upgraded?

Run_to_da_hills

I picked up a 15" G4 Powerbook with relatively low specs, Ie 550 MHZ cpu, 100FSB. I would guess its vintage is around 2002.

Can these be upgraded with components from later higher spec models? MB;s drive components etc ? They made this same laptop design virtually unchanged in appearance from 2001 to 2006 and I believe the clock speed went from 550 to 1.6 MHZ. Macs are totally new to me.

tpotter

If you have a Titanium Powerbook, which judging by its age and speed, I am fairly certain it is, the cpu is soldered to the motherboard.

This means that there is no easy way to remove it, unless you are pretty good with desoldering and soldering.

You could overclock it, but this would require some soldering as well, although less than removing the cpu.

There was a company, called Daystar, that was doing an upgrade for this model, but I am not even sure they are still offering it and it was pretty expensive, well over the value of the laptop.

Run_to_da_hills

tpotter wrote: »

If you have a Titanium Powerbook, which judging by its age and speed, I am fairly certain it is, the cpu is soldered to the motherboard.

This means that there is no easy way to remove it, unless you are pretty good with desoldering and soldering.

You could overclock it, but this would require some soldering as well, although less than removing the cpu.

There was a company, called Daystar, that was doing an upgrade for this model, but I am not even sure they are still offering it and it was pretty expensive, well over the value of the laptop.

It is the Titanium model, and also suffers from broken hinges and severed inverter cable (a common problem) Looking on Ebay these models are still ridiculously over rated and way over priced, PCs of the same specs would have found their ways into skips long ago.

tpotter

Looking on Ebay these models are still ridiculously over rated and way over priced, PCs of the same specs would have found their ways into skips long ago.

You are right about that, but even still, I found one similar to yours that looks like it is going to sell for around $230 US. Which while still rather high in the scheme of things, is not all that much.

Given the condition of the case, I imagine your would likely fetch a little less than this.

The_Conductor

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

It is the Titanium model, and also suffers from broken hinges and severed inverter cable (a common problem) Looking on Ebay these models are still ridiculously over rated and way over priced, PCs of the same specs would have found their ways into skips long ago.

That may well be- but you can still run any modern G4 compatible (as opposed to x86 software) on the 500Mhz chip with minimal problems. Try doing that with a 500Mhz P3 mobile laptop.......

That said- my latest laptop is an 18.4" Acer with a 2.8Ghz, 6Mb cache processor. I couldn't justify a Mac on price grounds......

Run_to_da_hills

tpotter wrote: »

You are right about that, but even still, I found one similar to yours that looks like it is going to sell for around $230 US. Which while still rather in high in the scheme of things, is not all that much.

Given the condition of the case, I imagine your would likely fetch a little less than this.

In its present state yes, If I could get the replacement patrs I would repair it and probably hang on to it for what its worth . My First Mac

tpotter

smccarrick wrote: »

That may well be- but you can still run any modern G4 compatible (as opposed to x86 software) on the 500Mhz chip with minimal problems. Try doing that with a 500Mhz P3 mobile laptop.......

Correction, try doing that with a 500mhz p3, with the same RAM as a G4, running XP. You can throw a copy of Linux on there and have a fully functional machine

Capt'n Midnight

if it's the arm of the hinge then power putty can sometimes work wonders

another cheap trick is to remote into a desktop so the laptop is just a client

Run_to_da_hills

Back to my own problem, Is there a good source for bits, ie right hand hinge replacement and inverter cable? I gather these models don't take WIFI cards.

Dartz

smccarrick wrote: »

That may well be- but you can still run any modern G4 compatible (as opposed to x86 software) on the 500Mhz chip with minimal problems. Try doing that with a 500Mhz P3 mobile laptop.......

That said- my latest laptop is an 18.4" Acer with a 2.8Ghz, 6Mb cache processor. I couldn't justify a Mac on price grounds......

I do this regularly with an X20 and find it quite satisfactory. Your point? Even if for some reason, flashplayer caues it to literraly freeze so solid it doesnt even respond to keyboard interrupts.

Run_to_da_hills

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

if it's the arm of the hinge then power putty can sometimes work wonders

another cheap trick is to remote into a desktop so the laptop is just a client

Someone already attempted an epoxy putty repair, I would rather do it once and right but at the same time dont want to spend more than the thing is worth, I have seen repair shops on line charging 150 to 180 for hinge replacements on these models. :eek:

I also believe you have to rip the screen cover and body apart to replace the wires that are normally damaged.