PowerBook G3

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{{Infobox Computer |name = PowerBook G3 |developer = Apple Computer |type = Laptop |photo = Image:Powerbook g3 pismo.jpg |caption = A "Pismo" PowerBook |first_release_date = November 1997 |discontinuation_date = January 2001 |processor = PowerPC G3, 233 - 500 MHz }}

The PowerBook G3 was a professional line of laptop Macintosh computers made by Apple. It was the first laptop to use the PowerPC G3 (PPC740/750) series of microprocessors.

1 PowerBook G3
2 PowerBook G3 Series
3 PowerBook G3 Series (Bronze Keyboard)
4 PowerBook (FireWire)
5 External links

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PowerBook G3

The first Macintosh PowerBook G3, codenamed "Kanga" was introduced in November 1997. At the time of its introduction, the PowerBook G3 was the fastest notebook computer in the world (a title formerly held by its predecessor, the 240 MHz PPC 603ev-based 3400c). This model was largely based on the PowerBook 3400, sharing the same case and motherboard, but with minor updates that have caused some incompatibilities between batteries and RAM upgrades for the two models. The PowerBook G3 shipped with a 250 MHz G3 processor and a 12.1" TFT SVGA LCD. It is the only G3 system that is not officially compatible with Mac OS X. The Kanga was on the market for less than 5 months, and is largely regarded as a stopgap system that allowed Apple to ship G3 PowerBooks in a preexisting Apple design while Apple prepared its more revolutionary PowerBook G3 Series

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PowerBook G3 Series

The second generation of PowerBook G3s with the name PowerBook G3 series (Mainstreet/Wallstreet) were introduced on March 1998 with redesigned case which was lighter and more round and was still an Old World ROM Mac. 233 MHz (no L2 cache 13.3" version, no L2 cache in one of the 14.1" versions, other one having 512KB. L2 cachless uses the PPC740), 250 MHz and 292 MHz version were made available with three display options which were 12" passive matrix LCD, 13.3" TFT LCD and 14.1" TFT LCD. The same design was updated on August 1998 (Wallstreet-II) and now had 14.1" display in all models. Processors were bumped with 233 MHz, 266 MHz and 300 MHz models. The case contained two docking bays, one on each side. The left hand bay could accommodate a battery, a diskette drive, a third-party Iomega Zip drive, or a third-party add-on hard drive. The right hand bay was larger and could accommodate all of the above plus a 5-1/4" optical drive (CD-ROM or DVD-ROM). A small internal nickel-cadmium battery allowed swapping of the main batteries while the computer "slept". With a battery in each bay, battery life was doubled. DVDs could be displayed with the use of a hardware decoder built into a CardBus (PCMCIA) card. The PowerBook G3 Series was Apple's first notebook offering to match the BTO customizability of the Power Mac G3 desktop line.

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PowerBook G3 Series (Bronze Keyboard)

The third generation of PowerBook G3 (Lombard) was introduced in May 1999. It was dramatically thinner and lighter than its predecessor and was the first New World ROM PowerBook. It had longer battery life and the user could double the duration to 10 hours by substituting a second battery for the optical drive in the expansion bay. The keyboard was also improved and now featured translucent copper-tinted plastics, which is the origin of the "bronze keyboard" nickname. The Lombard was the first PowerBook to use industry-standard optical drives. This change meant that CD and DVD recorders designed by other manufacturers could more easily be used in this computer, often at a price far less than those manufactured by Apple. Drives for the Lombard and Pismo can be used interchangeably. A DVD drive was optional on the 333 MHz model and standard on the 400 MHz version. The 400 MHz model included a hardware MPEG-2 decoder for DVD playback, while the 333 MHz model was left without. Further DVD playback optimizations enabled both models to play back DVDs without use of hardware assistance. This model introduced USB ports to the PowerBook line while retaining SCSI support and eliminating ADB entirely.

MacOS 8.6 - 10.3.x is supported by Apple, but 10.4 is not, although there are issues when installing Mac OS X (above 10.0) if both RAM slots are not occupied with identical size RAM (ie. OS X will not install).

The use of XPostFacto 4 may allow users to upgrade to Tiger. More RAM, a faster hard drive and CPU upgrades are available for these reliable PowerBooks.

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PowerBook (FireWire)

A fourth generation of PowerBook G3 (Pismo), with the name PowerBook, was introduced in February, 2000. The word "Pismo” means "scripture" in Polish and also refers to the Pismo clam. The original Pismo was to be a latchless design, akin to the similarly spec'd iBook. Apple settled on fitting the Pismo board into the form factor of the previous Lombard G3 PowerBook, but with many improvements. The Pismo was available at a CPU clock of 400 or 500 MHz, implemented unified motherboard architecture and replaced SCSI with the newer FireWire interface (IEEE-1394). The PCI graphics used on the Lombard were updated to AGP and the front side bus speed was increased from 66 to 100 MHz. A 2x DVD drive became standard for both speed grades. It was also the first professional Apple laptop with AirPort networking as an official option (although it could be added to the earlier models via various third-party CardBus (PCMCIA) cards).

All version of Mac OS X are currently supported. The Pismo can be upgraded with additional RAM, a faster hard drive, and even a G4 CPU upgrade.

The Pismo PowerBook was the last of the G3 line. It was succeeded by the Powerbook G4 Titanium models.

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