A few months ago, I talked about my purchase of a new PowerBook 1400c/133, and how it provided another option for Mac users wanting portability, but not wanting to spend a bundle on a new G3 portable. Well, as trusty and reliable as my 1400 has been for the past four months, I decided it was time to do some upgrading. I wanted to be able to load my web browser and view graphic-heavy, Java-loaded, and plug-in intense sites with decent speed (after all, in college I get to use the campus T1 line, so I may just as well take advantage of the connection speed by being able to view the biggest, baddest pages in the world!), I needed to be able to do compiling and programming work in Code Warrior as quickly as possible, and, most importantly, I wanted to be able to play Unreal.
Fellow My Mac writer Susan Howerter has been known to mention the “trailing edge” from time to time. I hope that I am accurate in my paraphrased definition of Susan’s term when I say that the trailing edge is yesterday’s hot technology that has just seen a significant price drop in order to make way for tomorrow’s hot technology. For the most part, these computers are very fast and feature-rich, and provide most users with all the bang they’re ever going to need for the fewest possible bucks. I’d have to say that, for the most part, I agree with Susan; I certainly went for the trailing edge when I picked up my PowerBook 1400c/133 a few months ago. However, I decided to take Susan’s theory one step further: I decided to take advantage of the popularity of upgrade components to put my trailing edge machine on par with today’s cutting edge machines and found out that I came out ahead in the deal. Sort of.
For the sake of my argument, I’m going to draw just as much from current prices and products as I am from my own personal experience. For example, I purchased an internal Ethernet card from Farallon for my PowerBook 1400, and bought a cheap 33.6 PC Card modem. My rationale was that I will constantly need the Ethernet card to connect to the campus network, and rarely will need to use a dial-up modem. So, it made little sense to me to buy a brand new 56k modem or combo card. However, all of today’s cutting edge products come with 56k modems, so I decided to include the price of a 56k modem in my comparison below.
In the comparison below, all product prices quoted are from Cyberian Outpost (a great Internet-based computer dealer, and a My Mac sponsor!), except for the PowerBook 1400 itself, which I quoted from MacMall. (The Outpost was sold out of 1400s.) Here is the breakdown of the costs involved for upgrading a PowerBook 1400 to a top-of-the- line machine:
As you can see, for well under three thousand dollars it is possible to put together a screaming PowerBook with Ethernet and modem capabilities, a decent-sized hard drive, an acceptable amount of RAM, a reasonably fast CD-ROM drive, and a high-quality screen. Let’s compare this cost with the costs of a couple of brand new G3-series PowerBooks, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each machine over the upgraded 1400. Again, these prices and configurations were current at Cyberian Outpost as of this writing.
Let’s take a look at the first PowerBook G3 model. It is the most similar to the upgraded 1400 in terms of RAM, hard drive size, screen size, and connectivity. It features a faster CD-ROM drive, and costs over $300 less. However, the 1400/G3 will be much faster than this model, because not only is the processor’s clock speed higher than the G3/233, but the G3/233 has no backside cache. (Read my review of the NuPowr G3/250 upgrade to see what a difference the presence or absence of a backside cache makes!) Plus, even though the G3/233 has a bigger screen, it is a passive matrix display, rather than an active matrix one such as the 1400c. This saves money, but really compromises viewing quality (the 1400cs screen that John Nemerovski detested in his column last issue was a passive matrix screen, quite similar to the 12.1 inch PowerBook G3 screen). Finally, the low end 233 MHz G3 model does not come with a floppy drive, and the floppy drive is standard equipment for the 1400 series. If you need a floppy drive, it’ll cost over a hundred bucks extra, and that cuts the difference between the upgraded 1400 and this G3 model to a more modest $200.
Now, let’s check out the second model in the chart above. This model is the closest in price to the upgraded 1400. This time, there is a much larger, high quality screen, in addition to the faster CD-ROM drive. However, this configuration still features the slower processor, and the floppy drive AND a 56k modem are not included. Buying those two add-ons would bump the price of this model up to over three grand.
Finally, the third G3 configuration listed has turned out to be one of Apple’s most popular. It’s speedy processor is right on par with the NuPowr G3/250 in the upgraded 1400, and it also has the large, gorgeous active-matrix screen. It has a hard drive twice the size of the upgraded 1400, a faster CD-ROM drive, and all the other extras, such as a floppy drive, Ethernet capability, and a modem. The catch? It costs almost $3700!
Of course, there are many other configurations of G3 PowerBooks, and many other dealers to buy them from. You can even configure one to your liking online at The Apple Store. However, Cyberian Outpost featured some of the best prices and most popular configurations, and I chose to stick with their listings for consistency’s sake.
The verdict? There really isn’t one. If you’re in the market for a new PowerBook, the best route for you will depend upon your needs and wants. If you want the power of a G3 notebook and don’t mind a lesser quality display, the 233/12.1 configuration is a great buy. If you want an excellent big screen, a larger hard drive, and a speedy CD-ROM drive, as well as built-in connectivity, the 250/13.3 configuration is an excellent and popular choice; My Mac’s webmaster, Adam Karneboge, can attest to the quality of the 250/13.3 model. However, it costs considerably more than the other models listed in this column. (We won’t even mention the price of the top-of-the-line 292/14.1 model — I’m a starving college student, for Pete’s sake!)
The other way to go is the option that I chose. In upgrading my PowerBook 1400, I got the top-notch speed and capabilities of a G3/250 model, and only had to sacrifice a few unnecessary extras (an 11.3 inch screen instead of a 13.3 inch one, an 8x CD-ROM drive instead of a 20x one, 2 gigabyte hard drive instead of a 4 gigabyte one, etc.). Plus, I ended up saving several hundred dollars! This is a perfect solution for people who already have 1400s, and it’s also a very viable option for those out there who are in the market for a brand new PowerBook (if you can still find a PowerBook 1400c anywhere, that is!)
Of course, with the last few 1400s out there being sold and many of the “better” G3 models being short in supply, this whole deal may be a moot point soon. And, as is always the case in the computer industry, it won’t be too long before Apple introduces faster and better PowerBook models. The lesson to be learned here, though, is much more general than that. I simply wanted to point out even for a first-time buyer, buying an older computer and upgrading it can be very cost-effective. This is also true in desktop models, with companies such as Newer Technology, Vimage, Sonnet, and Interex making G3 upgrades for older Power Macs. I hate to quote a marketing slogan, but it does seem to fit my experience pretty darn well: sometimes Newer is better than new.
Mike Wallinga
mikew@mymac.com
Websites mentioned:
http://www.newertech.com
http://www.applestore.com
http://www.cybout.com
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