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Macintosh
PowerBook 5300
series
The PowerBook 5300 was introduced with great fanfare in August 1995, together with the PowerBook 190 and the PowerBook Duo 2300. Together with the 2300, the 5300 was Apple's first PowerPC portable. Apple had already sold over 1,000,000 Power Macs in 12 months following the desktop's introduction in 1994. Now the PowerBook would move up to the PowerPC line.
The 5300 was available in six configurations:
Features:
The 5300 disappointed many buyers as the performance leap from the previous generation of 68LC040 PowerBooks, the PowerBook 500 series . Whereas the desktop Power Macs were up to twice or three times as fast as the previous generation Quadra series, the 5300s achieved only a 50-100% increase in speed over the 500s. Moreover, the 68K emulator built into the original system software, OS 7.5.2, was poor. Much of the Mac OS remained written in 68000 assembly language which meant every 68K instruction required the emulator to translate 68K instructions into PPC instructions and back again (only 54% of OS 8.5 is PowerPC native which illustrates the OS's dependence upon 68K emulation). Nor was there a Level 2 cache to boost performance. Instead, the 603ev used in the 5300 boasted a Level 1 split cache of 32K (16K data, 16K instruction).
Nonetheless the 603ev was a low-power chip with exceptional graphics and floating point (FPU) performance. As a result,, the 5300's graphics display and floating point maths performance remains better than the desktop Quadras and far in excess of the 500 series (which lacks an FPU). The 5300 also bested the desktop PPC 6100 (and even the 7100 and 8100) in several areas. The 5300 therefore remains more than competitive in its graphics performance with the Macs and Wintel notebooks of 1995-96.
What's available:
There are a few things to note about the six models listed above. First, the 8/500 5300c model contains only 512K of internal VRAM on the motherboard. This limits the screen to displaying 256 colours. Holding down the Option key in the Monitors control panel provides thousands of colours, but only at 640x400. The 16/750 version of the 5300c has 1MB of VRAM soldered to the logic board and it gives you thousands of colours at a full 640x480 resolution.
5300s containing 8MB on the motherboard require a 56MB RAM card to max out the memory at 64MB. All other 5300s have 16MB soldered to the logic board. The top-of-the-line 5300ce has 16MB soldered and 16MB in the single RAM slot. It's necessary to remove this to upgrade a 5300ce's RAM.
By contrast, the 5300ce has a fixed resolution of 800x600, the
same as the later PowerBook 1400. Any 5300 can use the 5300ce screen
panel provided it has 1MB VRAM. In fact, all parts are
interchangeable and the logic board has connectors for both passive
and active matrix screens.
Upgrades:
CPU
Unfortunately, there aren't any. Unless Newer Technology or someone finds a way to put a G3 card into the 5300's PDS (where the video card normally sits), there'll never be one. Mind you, Sonnet have come up with an inventive way of upgrading the 'unupgradeable' 5300/6200 desktop Macs to G3. The PDS does give access to every connector on the processor, but there's a problem about putting the G3 card there that escapes me at the moment. I'll get back to you on that one.
Two points: 1. The 5300 only sold half as well as its predecessor, the 500 series (300,000 v. 600,000 units, so the economics of a G3 upgrade don't make much sense for a company. So unless the 500 gets a G3 the 5300 won't get one). 2. The CPU is soldered to the motherboard, so it's just now as easy as performing a CPU upgrade on a 5300 as it is on a 1400, 500 or 2400, as their CPUs are on a daughtercard.
* As of April 1999, for a limited time only, Apple are offering all owners of PowerBook 5300 and 190 models $US1,000 off the price of a G3 PowerBook model. So go and buy that cheap 190 for $400 and turn it into a thousand. I think the G3/233s are currently going for $US1,999, so a grand off is a superb deal (and helps Apple clear inventory for the forthcoming Lombard and P1 models).
Now *that's* a CPU upgrade...
Memory
Here we're on safer ground. All 5300s come with 8 or 16MB on the logic board. Some 8MB models (new old stock) I've seen in Australia lately come with 4MB in the slot (total of 12) and SpeedDoubler as a bonus. At $AUD895 (take about 38% off that for US dollars) for a 12/500 5300cs, you haven't got a bad deal.
The 5300 takes a single proprietory card in sizes from 8 to 56MB. Buy as much as you can afford. 16MB is needed to run OS 8.1. 24MB is the bare minimum to run OS 8.5, but it will not perform adequately. 32MB should be your minimum and aim as high as you can. If you plan on running OS 8.6, go for 40MB at least.
RAM for the 5300 is widely available from a number of vendors. It's reasonably inexpensive and should be 70ns speed or faster. Without plugging it, I've found Kingston RAM to be fastest. There. I've said it now. But having said that, Newer RAM might be just as good or better. I've just not used it, that's all.
NOTE: PowerBook 5300 and 190 RAM is not necessarily interchangeable! *Apple* branded RAM *is* interchangeable between the two. But third party RAM may or may not be. So if you buy RAM from someone with a 190 (or vice versa), don't assume it'll automatically work in a 5300. BTW, for those wondering, larger RAM cards (56MB, 48MB) do work in the 190 - but it won't recognise RAM 40MB - and may be subject to random errors or crashes. The long and the short of it is: don't.
RAM installation is extremely easy on a 5300. Buy a Torx T8
screwdriver for about $3.50 (about the same price as a Mac Plus in
good condition) and remove 3 screws from the underneath. Open the
display, remove the keyboard gently and you have access to the RAM
slot. Voilà. That's all there is to it.
Video
The 5300 comes standard with 512K video card in the PDS slot. As mentioned above, this gives you 8 bit colour (256 colours) on screens as large as 20" (this card is also compatible with the PowerBook 190 , but *not* with the PB1400). Nevertheless, some people need to work in 16-bit colour.
For this purpose, Focus Enhancements make a card called the Focus Lapis which incorporates both 16-bit video and ethernet on a single card. Varying reports have emerged about these cards. Some owners swear by them, while others swear at them. I've no first-hand experience of them. The original software was a bit buggy apparently, and some people have never managed to get the ethernet to work. Others have done so easily. The card also only supports 16-bit colour on monitors up to 17" (it has 1MB VRAM on board). It has also been slightly difficult to install, although in my experience with the standard card, it is easy to install and remove (though it involves taking a fair proportion of the PB apart. Don't try this at home kids unless you're familiar with a PB's inner workings). If you have experience of the Focus Lapis card, post your views here
Expansion bay
Now here's where things get interesting. The 5300/190 was not the first to have an expansion bay (arguably, the PowerBook 500 series has that distinction, via its PDS slot). But the 5300/190 have several options. A ATAPI interface floppy drive resides there in the standard configuration. But here are some other options:
* Hard drive: VST makes 1.4. and 1.6GB DMA (Direct Memory Access) drives which slot straight into the expansion bay. DMA doesn't function on the 5300/190, but it does on the 3400/G3 'Kanga'. These drives are faster than the standard IBM internal IDE hard drives and are fully interchangeable with the 190/3400/Kanga. They are also bootable and hot-swappable (meaning you don't have to restart to pull them out).
* Magneto-Optical Drive: Fujitsu made a 230MB one but these drives are much more popular in Japan than anywhere elese as storage media, so you may have to mail order that one. Note that MOs are slow, slower than a Zip or Jaz.
* VST Zip drive. Totally compatible with the Iomega Zips (same cartridges), the VST Zip is again interchangeable with the 190/3400/Kanga expansion bay. Faster than a SCSI Zip too. Hugely convenient, you can place a bootable system on a 100MB Zip, and also freely exchange info (especially large files) between your PowerBook and a desktop Mac or Wintel machine. No need for SCSI cables, termination or a huge power supply. Just plug in and go. Cons: a little pricey but worth it, esp. if you have no Zip drive for your desktop, the price premium is not excessive (and you can keep it if you trade up to a newer PB). But note - it doesn't fit into a 1400 or a G3 Wall Street. These use different form factors. However, I did hear one report of someone who pulled the Zip mechanism from its casing from his 3400 and simply inserted in a Wall Street model. He excitedly rang VST to tell them who sternly told him back he shouldn't have. But he said it was his Zip and he could flush it down the lavatory if he so desired. There was a pained silence and VST said they wouldn't warrant a Zip that had been down a lavatory. Enough. I think you can see where this's heading...
* 2nd battery. VST (strangely enough) made (make?) one of these. You have to manually switch them over when your first one runs out though. It's not an automatic switch. No idea of the price (but bet it's not cheap).
*Internal power supply. Ever get tired of packing and pulling out that 24 volt thing? Pack no more as VST again come to the rescue with an internal power block. All you need is a standard power cord for whatever country you're in as the voltage is automatically regulated (yes, this's been a Mac feature since at least the LCII and possibly earlier).
* Car cigarette lighter power supply. Not an expansion bay product at all, but it fits here as well as anywhere. Again, VST make these. They plug into your car cigarette lighter and are guaranteed to infuriate that heavy-smoking hitch-hiker you picked up. Wondering why your car won't start? Well, you left the Homer Simpson® After Dark® screensaver on and Homer chewed up all your car battery juice. Of course, this trick doesn't work on Chryslers does it? I understand Chrysler did away with their car ashtrays a few years ago - but do they still have a cigarette lighter attachment? Tell me here
PC Cards
A wide variety of PC cards exist for the 5300. The most common are Type II cards (like modems and ethernet). Both may be purchased at reasonable prices. Most (but by no means all) PC cards work. PC cards which write to hardware don't operate correctly (or at all) if they're looking for Wintel hardware. Modem cards from Netcomm, for instance, do work well although they may have been intended for PCs.
But there are two reasons for buying a PowerBook specific PC card. 1. It encourages vendors to keep making Macintosh hardware and to retain their Mac support structure and software. 2. You get Mac fax software and the like with Mac modems and ethernet cards.
But if you insist on using generic PC cards, make sure you test personally before you buy. One PC card modem I tested (no-name brand) came up as a flash RAM card! Avoid no-name brands.
Also be aware that 5300s (like 1400 and 3400) PC card slots are not Card Bus compliant. If a card demands this, don't purchase it for your 5300.
Hard Drives
While hard drives such as the VST ones discussed above are large and fast, larger and cheaper IDE hard drives are readily available. The IDE controller in the 5300 will recognise up to 8.2GB of hard disk space (provided OS 7.5.5 or later is used) but it's doubtful you need anything that big in the 5300. 2.5" drives of no more than 17mm in height will work and will be much better than the original IBM ones. Bear in mind that the screw locations on the cage which retains the hard drive *may not be in alignment* though. It doesn't matter. As long as the drive is wedged in tight so it won't move at all, it's okay. Others simply glue their drives into place (not that I recommend it).
A new, faster hard drive will boost the 5300's performance. Original IBMs run at 4,000rpm (designed to reduce power consumption). Drives up to 5,500rpm shouild be quite safe and shouldn't overtax the power supply. You'll also make significant gains in boot speed and virtual memory speed.
A Word About SpeedDoubler
There's only one piece of essential software for the 5300 and that's SpeedDoubler 8 which provides a dramatic speed boost to your 5300. It requires 12MB RAM and OS 7.5.5 to run. SpeedDoubler's emulater is vastly superior to Apple's and its disk caching improves performance remarkably. It also accelerates network copying (with Open Transport 1.1.2 or later) and Finder functions such as Duplicate or Empty Trash. Don't bother buying a 5300 if you're not going to buy SpeedDoubler. It's about $US49 or less and it's worth every penny. My hat's off to the folks at Connectix.
For details on Emulation on a 5300, see the
PowerBook
500 page.
For details on Essential PowerBook software for the
5300, check out the
PowerBook
190 page.
For all your Mac freeware, shareware and commercial software needs,
go to Pure Mac
Buyer's Guide:
The PowerBook 190/5300 Repair Extension Programme (REP)
Following reports of problems with the casing and some internal parts (logic boards, power connectors etc.) of the 190/5300 series, Apple implemented a 7-year free Repair Extension Programme. You can find details of it here.
As a general rule, go for a 5300 which has been through the REP
already. Models with an 'AA' after the serial number on the
underneath have already been through it. Another check is to pop out
the battery and examine the battery bay. An dated ink stamp also
gives away the fact that a machine has been through the REP.
© Copyright 1999 MacConsulting. Information
is assumed to be correct and is provided on an 'as is' basis. No
liability for damage is accepted by the owner of this
site.
Note: All photographs on this site were obtained
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retain copyright on any of these images, please email me at
pb5300@fcmail.com with proof of copyright/ownership and they will be removed
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