Powerbook XXXX

[steveca]

Hi everyone...

I have a powerbook XXXX. I have had it for quite some time to be honest. I would love to know how much I might get for it, in other words what the value of such a machine is... I have seen prototypes going for thousands and others for hundreds, is it a question of luck???

the machine is in great physical condition and works perfectly :-)

It is a PROTOTYPE so it is incredibly rare... not sure how many prototypes one can find of the same model so this might be unique...

some of the plastic is different than the other machines of the same type...

being a prototype it has not been approved by the FCC and the device was not for sale or lease...

another interesting point is that when it loads up it displays a message in an icon stating: "I dont do windows" :) very cool indeed

it loads a version of mac os 7.5 if i remember correct

what i noticed is that it is similar to the one used in the movie Independence Day. Apple say it used powerbook 5300 but if you check out the movie you can see it is a powerbook XXXX :cool:. However on the laptop it says Model number M3047 in other words a powerbook 190 series...


any ideas??

[awmazz]

From what I can gather it's not a prototype in the sense that it's a developmental unit destined for production. These usually had clear plastic casings etc.

This is a modified PowerBook 5300 made specifically by Apple for the movie Independence Day. They wouldn't have made that many but just enough to cover any loss or damage during production. I'm guessing maybe half a dozen at most.

Do you know what the history of this specific unit is? It would likely have been on the set (or in the props dept at least), but is it the actual one used in the movie? That would increase it's value immensely as movie collectors tend to pay more than computer collectors. Not many people have a computer that has destroyed an alien mother ship invading Earth.

[awmazz]

After a bit of googling I see it also appears in the first Mission Impossible movie, so it may indeed be an early prototype of the 5300 taken to full production for placement in movies and other marketing purposes before the actual release of the final 5300 version.

PS. What's confusing is the 190cs part number. Maybe they used parts from the 1995 PowerBook 190 before the 1996 5300 parts were available. Or maybe they just mocked-up a 190 to look like the new upcoming 5300. Does the XXXX actually have a PowerPC processor?

[steveca]

From what I can gather it's not a prototype in the sense that it's a developmental unit destined for production. These usually had clear plastic casings etc.

This is a modified PowerBook 5300 made specifically by Apple for the movie Independence Day. They wouldn't have made that many but just enough to cover any loss or damage during production. I'm guessing maybe half a dozen at most.

Do you know what the history of this specific unit is? It would likely have been on the set (or in the props dept at least), but is it the actual one used in the movie? That would increase it's value immensely as movie collectors tend to pay more than computer collectors. Not many people have a computer that has destroyed an alien mother ship invading Earth.


if that is the case (and believe me I hope you are right :-)) it is rarer than I first thought :D. However have no idea of the history of this machine. A friend of mine got it off ebay and I got it off him...

[awmazz]

Whatever it is, it's a genuine Apple computer with probably the smallest production run in Apple's history and never meant for general sale.

You have the Apple version of the Batmobile. :D

[steveca]

After a bit of googling I see it also appears in the first Mission Impossible movie, so it may indeed be an early prototype of the 5300 taken to full production for placement in movies and other marketing purposes before the actual release of the final 5300 version.

PS. What's confusing is the 190cs part number. Maybe they used parts from the 1995 PowerBook 190 before the 1996 5300 parts were available. Or maybe they just mocked-up a 190 to look like the new upcoming 5300. Does the XXXX actually have a PowerPC processor?

so i turned it on and in the about this macintosh i have something written omega... using OS 7.5.4

how do i get more info on OS7 systems??? like the processor etc?

got some screenshots of the XXXX booting up

[awmazz]

The OS appears to be just as rare as the computer itself. 7.5.4 was withdrawn from sale due to some components being left out of the installer by mistake. So you obviously have an original Apple installed version as there is no known working 7.5.4 installer ever available for sale.

The Apple Menu's System Profiler wasn't available in OS 7 and I can't remember how to find out the machines specs back then. I think you needed third party software at that time. I wouldn't play around with installing any new software on it at all now though as there's no way you can reinstall System 7.5.4 if it crashes on you.

[steveca]

The OS appears to be just as rare as the computer itself. 7.5.4 was withdrawn from sale due to some components being left out of the installer by mistake. So you obviously have an original Apple installed version as there is no known working 7.5.4 installer ever available for sale.

The Apple Menu's System Profiler wasn't available in OS 7 and I can't remember how to find out the machines specs back then. I think you needed third party software at that time. I wouldn't play around with installing any new software on it at all now though as there's no way you can reinstall System 7.5.4 if it crashes on you.

thanks a lot for the info... it is really really really rare :) if only there was a way to know its value :) ehhhh. it is a good addition to my collection

[nick9191]

Definitely worth a few thous..

I mean.. I'll give you $10 :D

Seriously, that thing is awesome.

[awmazz]

there's no way you can reinstall System 7.5.4 if it crashes on you.

I'll correct myself as I seem recall they used to just give the OS updates away for free back then, but stopped doing that at 7.6 or something so I should have said withdrawn from circulation instead of withdrawn from sale.

But I've been thinking that I used to be able to just copy the whole system disk to another disk and boot up from that, so you could make copies of your working 7.5.4 if you have an HDI-30 SCSI cable and external hard drive, then move the drive over to another Mac and burn it onto CD to sell on ebay (illegal?). I'll take a free copy for giving you the idea, thanks. ;)

[DoFoT9]

wow how on earth did you come accross this awsome find???

[nick9191]

Seeing this piece of Apple history just made me bid on a Wallstreet G3 running 8.6.

[steveca]

I'll correct myself as I seem recall they used to just give the OS updates away for free back then, but stopped doing that at 7.6 or something so I should have said withdrawn from circulation instead of withdrawn from sale.

But I've been thinking that I used to be able to just copy the whole system disk to another disk and boot up from that, so you could make copies of your working 7.5.4 if you have an HDI-30 SCSI cable and external hard drive, then move the drive over to another Mac and burn it onto CD to sell on ebay (illegal?). I'll take a free copy for giving you the idea, thanks. ;)

good idea to keep a copy just in case :) need to get a hard disk and the cable before however...

[steveca]

wow how on earth did you come accross this awsome find???

i am pretty sure it was ebay... amazing right

[DoFoT9]

i am pretty sure it was ebay... amazing right

SO amazing!!!! im pretty darn jealous! lucky you. what an idiot who sold it hahaha.

[steveca]

SO amazing!!!! im pretty darn jealous! lucky you. what an idiot who sold it hahaha.

i think the seller never had an idea of what the machine actually was... if he did he wouldnt have sold it, probably...

I think I might wait for 20 years and then sell it and make a small fortune like a hundred thousand dollars... (which would be equivalent to a couple of thousands of todays money) :D :D :D

[DoFoT9]

i think the seller never had an idea of what the machine actually was... if he did he wouldnt have sold it, probably...

I think I might wait for 20 years and then sell it and make a small fortune like a hundred thousand dollars... (which would be equivalent to a couple of thousands of todays money) :D :D :D

im liking your plan, in 20 years i plan on being rich anyways so i may be the one buying it off you eheh

[MacTech68]

Wow. What a rare find. Lucky you.

A few bits of information for you.

The early production PB5300 & PB190's had bad case plastics. They were so brittle that the display housing, top and bottom case would be replaced by Apple free of charge (http://support.apple.com/kb/TA38474?viewlocale=en_US). However, being an engineering version, the plastics used are more than likely different but I would still be very gentle with the beast.

Secondly, I notice that it says that the battery is a Lithium Ion. This was to be the first Apple laptop to use a Lithium Ion battery pack but AFAIK, of the first production run that shipped, Apple had several battery packs that caught fire. This resulted in a recall of the first production models (thankfully still in the reseller channel) and Apple replaced all the batteries with the older Nickel-Metal-Hydride batteries (Ni-MH) and shipped a floppy disk (http://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Manuals/powerbooks/0308615PB5300Update.PDF) with re-written System resources to change the charging software. I guess I'm trying to say that since yours has the Li-ion battery, be very careful ! :eek:

What does the AC Adapter look like? Any pics?

:)
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[steveca]

Wow. What a rare find. Lucky you.

A few bits of information for you.

The early production PB5300 & PB190's had bad case plastics. They were so brittle that the display housing, top and bottom case would be replaced by Apple free of charge (http://support.apple.com/kb/TA38474?viewlocale=en_US). However, being an engineering version, the plastics used are more than likely different but I would still be very gentle with the beast.

Secondly, I notice that it says that the battery is a Lithium Ion. This was to be the first Apple laptop to use a Lithium Ion battery pack but AFAIK, of the first production run that shipped, Apple had several battery packs that caught fire. This resulted in a recall of the first production models (thankfully still in the reseller channel) and Apple replaced all the batteries with the older Nickel-Metal-Hydride batteries (Ni-MH) and shipped a floppy disk (http://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Manuals/powerbooks/0308615PB5300Update.PDF) with re-written System resources to change the charging software. I guess I'm trying to say that since yours has the Li-ion battery, be very careful ! :eek:

What does the AC Adapter look like? Any pics?

:)


i will take pictures of the adapter but it looks to be a plain standard 45W adapter, looks production to me... Thanks MacTech you gave me some good information :) If you have any idea of how to get more information on the system I will try them out...

[steveca]

im liking your plan, in 20 years i plan on being rich anyways so i may be the one buying it off you eheh

we have a deal :D

in the meantime if any millionaire wants to make a multi million offer just tell me... after all this thing saved the world right ;)

[DoFoT9]

we have a deal :D

holds out hand to shake

in the meantime if any millionaire wants to make a multi million offer just tell me... after all this thing saved the world right ;)

bahahahahahaha too true! excellent point, its priceless!

[MacTech68]

i will take pictures of the adapter but it looks to be a plain standard 45W adapter, looks production to me... Thanks MacTech you gave me some good information :) If you have any idea of how to get more information on the system I will try them out...

I can't recall but TechTool Lite (http://www.micromat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=49&Itemid=61) might run on 7.5.x. I'd only use it for the system information part.

These machines had many problems covered by the Repair Extension Program. Internal PSU Shield to prevent falling off an AppleTalk network, the power connector at the rear cracking or breaking it's solder joints (pins were way to short and the connector way too small IMHO). There were a few other problems involving the motherboards but I can't recall the specifics.

IIRC, there was an easy way to check if the case plastics had been done by looking for a number stamped on the bottom housing inside the battery bay, but I don't expect that this engineering unit will have one there at all.

If you're using the AC Adapter (since you won't be attempting to charge the Li-ion battery :eek: ), don't make the mistake a lot of users made in raising the front edge with the AC adapter plugged in. This would break the connector inside the machine at the rear. :(

The plug on the end of the AC Adapter was pretty weak too. The plastic molded housing was too flexible and the cylindrical metal shaft would break off the wires inside rather easily. :confused:

Some models included an external video card with Apple's standard PB External video connector.

That's about it..... for now.

Have fun with that new toy. About the best & rarest thing I have is an Apple IIc logic board that was pulled off the production line before being completed. Only some of the components were soldered in. It has the 'break-off' parts of the PCB still attached.

Oh, in looking at the pics, the palm-rest looks very shiny. Is it completely flat or textured like the close-up of the "Powerbook XXXX badge" ?

Edit: Apparently "Omega" was the codename of the PB190

and

Apple's statement re 7.5.4 to developers:

http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn1069.html#RTFToC3

which is interesting because these systems originally shipped (http://apple-history.com/?page=gallery&model=190&performa=off&sort=family&order=ASC&range=) with only 7.5.2
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[steveca]

Thanks for the info MacTech68. I appreciate it a lot. The palmrest is just a little shinier than the rest and it is not textured at all.

I checked out ebay and found out some really really really sky-high prices for movie memorabilia; like the wizard of oz reconstructed cowardly lion costume selling for an amazing $700,000!!! and a trophy for $499,000!!! some people have a lot of money indeed, wish I was in that category :)

as awmazz said movie stuff do get more money than apple laptops...

[Spock]

if that is the case (and believe me I hope you are right :-)) it is rarer than I first thought :D. However have no idea of the history of this machine. A friend of mine got it off ebay and I got it off him...

Would this machine not have gotten a lot of bids in the first place on eBay? How much did he give for it and how much did you give him for it? Even after the pictures, Im not 100% sure this machine is not some kind of fake.

And why in the screen shot is it congratulating windows 95??

[ProwlingTiger]

And why in the screen shot is it congratulating windows 95??

A reference to an ad. Read more about it here: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1995_August_24/ai_17238161

[MacTech68]

A reference to an ad. Read more about it here: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1995_August_24/ai_17238161

Didn't know about that one. Here's a few pics:

Ad 1 (http://www.mactips.org/wp-content/AppleWin95.jpg)

Ad 2 (http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/6775/whymacet8.png)
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[steveca]

Would this machine not have gotten a lot of bids in the first place on eBay? How much did he give for it and how much did you give him for it? Even after the pictures, Im not 100% sure this machine is not some kind of fake.

And why in the screen shot is it congratulating windows 95??


the advert in ebay was done completely wrong. Most people wont search for a Powerbok XXXX. In fact there was just one bid. About the machine being fake is in my opinion impossible. It is running 7.5.4 which is not found and why would a fake take the hassle to install this, it could just run 7.5.5 as easily. If it was a fake it would not have an official Apple installed OS and wouldnt have the code "Omega" in the About screen and if it was a fake the body itself would not have the shiny palmrest. As far as authenticity goes this is spot on

[steveca]

A reference to an ad. Read more about it here: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1995_August_24/ai_17238161

thanks a lot for the info... i never heared about that either... makes this thing even rarer I believe... Sorry for the bad pic but the one near the C:\ONGRATLNS.W95 says "I dont do Windows"

[Spock]

the advert in ebay was done completely wrong. Most people wont search for a Powerbok XXXX. In fact there was just one bid. About the machine being fake is in my opinion impossible. It is running 7.5.4 which is not found and why would a fake take the hassle to install this, it could just run 7.5.5 as easily. If it was a fake it would not have an official Apple installed OS and wouldnt have the code "Omega" in the About screen and if it was a fake the body itself would not have the shiny palmrest. As far as authenticity goes this is spot on

Just seems odd to me, Im sure it could be a prototype but I highly doubt it is from ID4 or MI they dont look the same and most things that come off a movie lot legit have some kind of certificate or inventory tags or stickers, I could be wrong either way whatever or where ever it came from I would have liked to get my hands on it;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1mdWkW5NPY

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26gQATqxE-c

And a little retro webpage.. http://web.archive.org/web/19961111063127/http://mission.apple.com/

[awmazz]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116629/trivia

From the internet movie database for Independence Day:

The Macintosh laptop that David uses is shown as a Powerbook XXXX, a prototype model with no designation.

The Apple ad in your youtube link for MI shows 'PowerPC' on the unit. Interesting point made by the commenter on the Mission Impossible youtube page that they used a Powerbook 550 which was only available in Japan, but they used the 5300 in the ad. They were trying to sell the 5300 after all!

When this thread started, I googled Powerbook XXXX and found a MI promo video (not an ad) from Apple made at the time with the Powerbook XXXX clearly visible. I've tried finding it again but gave up.

PS. Seems someone picked a Powerbook XXXX up for $10 for christmas in 2007. You may want to revise your valuation based on this! Unless it was the friend you mentioned. Refers to it as an 'M2 seed unit'.

http://www.powerbookmedic.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1737

[steveca]

Just seems odd to me, Im sure it could be a prototype but I highly doubt it is from ID4 or MI they dont look the same and most things that come off a movie lot legit have some kind of certificate or inventory tags or stickers, I could be wrong either way whatever or where ever it came from I would have liked to get my hands on it;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1mdWkW5NPY

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26gQATqxE-c

And a little retro webpage.. http://web.archive.org/web/19961111063127/http://mission.apple.com/

I believe you cant compare the laptop with the ads, because the ads will feature the ready made production version which people can buy.

As you say it is sure to be a prototype of some kind... Now if ready-for-production prototypes feature a clear casing then this is some other thing... In the movie ID4 they used a powerbook xxxx for sure and it is the same as this one. Now if the production of this XXXX was very small it will definitely have been at least in the props, as already pointed out by other members in the thread... however about having tags etc I am not sure, but it could be... once again a number of other props that I checked on the internet do not have tags or anything...

[steveca]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116629/trivia

From the internet movie database for Independence Day:



The Apple ad in your youtube link for MI shows 'PowerPC' on the unit. Interesting point made by the commenter on the Mission Impossible youtube page that they used a Powerbook 550 which was only available in Japan, but they used the 5300 in the ad. They were trying to sell the 5300 after all!

When this thread started, I googled Powerbook XXXX and found a MI promo video (not an ad) from Apple made at the time with the Powerbook XXXX clearly visible. I've tried finding it again but gave up.

PS. Seems someone picked a Powerbook XXXX up for $10 for christmas in 2007. You may want to revise your valuation based on this! Unless it was the friend you mentioned. Refers to it as an 'M2 seed unit'.

http://www.powerbookmedic.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1737

not my friend but we didnt get it for much more :). i believe that as you said it depends on how you advertise it. if you go on ebay and advertise the laptop as "powerbok XXXX" you wont get a lot of hits and i was lucky...

About the valuation it all boils down to whether this thing was on or not in the props department. If not I believe it costs some thousand $ for all of its history... li-ion battery (wont find this...); OS installed 7.5.4; similar to the ones used in movies (preproduction); itself not being available for sale; and also the C:\ONGRATLNS.W95 which make it an intersting Apple history item...

Being in a movie or prop would make it cost much more... I believe anything between $100,000 to $400,000. I am not qualified to give estimated values but if you check ebay and some other movie things which sold in the recent past you do get astronomical values...


Just a thought... I am not sure Apple would have let its preproduction models go with the other props... even the FCC says it is not safe for use so I guess the fully functional powerbook with a battery likely to catch fire would have returned to base... as i said this is just my 2c...

[jodelli]

The picture with the specs shows a 68040 processor, which if accurate makes this the equivalent of a 190.

[steveca]

The picture with the specs shows a 68040 processor, which if accurate makes this the equivalent of a 190.

not only that but even the model number marks it as a 190...

the thing is what did they really use in the movie... they want people to think it is the 5300 but it is clearly the XXXX

[MacTech68]

not only that but even the model number marks it as a 190...

the thing is what did they really use in the movie... they want people to think it is the 5300 but it is clearly the XXXX

In case people hadn't noticed, Apple model names with 3 numbers were 68K Motorola CPUs and 4 numbers were PowerPC CPUs.

:o
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[steveca]

In case people hadn't noticed, Apple model names with 3 numbers were 68K Motorola CPUs and 4 numbers were PowerPC CPUs.

:o

I think you are right... so how come I have what seems to be a powerpc laptop (XXXX) but in reality it is not (Model number and specs). Why would Apple want to label this laptop in such a way? It is not helpful even for their development stuff, so is this enough to confirm that this laptop was made in such a way to be used in the movie before the other powerpc (5300) laptops were being finished?

[MacTech68]

I think you are right... so how come I have what seems to be a powerpc laptop (XXXX) but in reality it is not (Model number and specs). Why would Apple want to label this laptop in such a way? It is not helpful even for their development stuff, so is this enough to confirm that this laptop was made in such a way to be used in the movie before the other powerpc (5300) laptops were being finished?

Well, yes... and no....

Who knows what went on in the engineering dept back then? Those small badges left & right of the colored Apple badge actually clip out very easily. It's possible that that form-factor was originally intended to be PPC only (hence the xxxx badge being produced) but at some time during the process it was decided to also make a 68K motherboard for the same form-factor.

It would seem clear that when the badge was printed, the machine was designated to be a PPC.

Of course, all that's purely speculation on my part. :confused:

If Apple handed these out to appear in movies, then I'd also speculate that the final "5300" hadn't been decided. It would be a greater advantage for Apple to have the full model name splashed on the big screen than some engineering moniker. Though I'm surprised that the model that appeared in the film wasn't simply "PowerBook". I'm still confused.

EDIT: Oh, BTW, some pics of the Li-ion battery's look and labeling would be nice. I believe they had a button and LED indicators too. (This was how the PB 3400 & 1st G3 PowerBook batteries shipped)
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[WardC]

This is a PowerBook 190cs pre-production unit. The display is a Sanyo 10.4" dual-scan, 256 color 640x480 display. The OS is a pre-release version of 7.5.4 which was ditched at the last minutes, some crucial omissions and fixes were touches, and it was released after the weekend as Mac OS 7.5.5 (there was no 7.5.4 ever released)...

we had 7.5 (box unix), then 7.5.1, the installed version on Many 601 Macs. Mac OS 7.5.2 came standard on the PowerMac 7200, 7500, 8500, 9500, and the PowerBook 5300 and 190 series. OS 7.5.3 was a free update through Apple, and there was a revision 2 to 7.5.3 later released. Then, 7.5.5 came out (skipping 7.5.4). There was a 7.5.5 update 2.0 after that. No 7.5.6 came out -- the next release was Harmony (7.6) which was a retail upgrade. There was a 7.6.1 update to this, before the next major release of Mac OS, Mac OS 8. The developers had an internal version called 7.7 (Tempo) for awhile, but once it hit the a2 stage it became Mac OS 8.0. Then 8.1 came with HFS+ support, there were no sub-updates or 8.2. The next release was 8.5 which was a retail release (like 7.6 and 8.0). After 8.5 came 8.5.1 (this was default on Bondi iMacs in 1998). 8.6 was soon released as the next update. Apple released an update to 8.6, 8.6.1, but Mac OS 9.0 came out shortly after this in 1999. 9.0 was quite buggy, and it took a series of updates, 9.1, 9.2, 9.2.1, and 9.2.2 to iron this out, and Apple ended the Classic line of Mac OS at 9.2.2.

OS X had a rough start with 10.0 and 10.1, but after many updates and fixes to the 10.2 Jaguar release, things were beginning to look good. 10.2.8 was the last release of Jaguar. 10.3 was the first release os OS X that was really taken seriously as solid, stable, and speedy. Updates through the Panther line went from 10.3 to 10.3.9. Then Tiger was released, a major overhaul and speed boost to Mac OS overall. Many regard Tiger highly and think (10.4.11) is one of the most stable operating systems around. Many were hesitant to upgrade to Leopard. Leopard to many seemed a plethora of prettiness, bells, and whistles, but did not offer much internal improvement. Currently, the Mac sits at 10.5.6 and we are waiting for 10.5.7 shortly. Snow Leopard (10.6) is on the way, to deliver an experience for the Mac user like never before.

OK, enough of that.
Don't ask me how I know all this, just a Mac Addict.

[MacTech68]

... After 8.5 came 8.5.1 (this was default on Bondi iMacs in 1998)...

I agree with all else except this one.

The original Bondi 233Mhz iMacs shipped with 8.1 with the MacOS ROM File.

:)

EDIT: oh, and you forgot the poor attempt at a bug-fix in 9.0.4.
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[WardC]

I agree with all else except this one.

The original Bondi 233Mhz iMacs shipped with 8.1 with the MacOS ROM File.

:)

EDIT: oh, and you forgot the poor attempt at a bug-fix in 9.0.4.

Yeah, I am wrong and you are right on this one. the 233MHz original ones all shipped with 8.1. It wasn't until the later 266MHz and 333Mhz (lifesavers) iMacs later came in ~January '99 that we had 8.5.1 show up as the default OS.

And, yes, I remember 9.0.4. There was was 9.0 and 9.0.1 and no 9.0.2 or 9.0.3, it jumped to 9.0.4 and then the major 9.1 update.

[steveca]

Well, yes... and no....

If Apple handed these out to appear in movies, then I'd also speculate that the final "5300" hadn't been decided. It would be a greater advantage for Apple to have the full model name splashed on the big screen than some engineering moniker. Though I'm surprised that the model that appeared in the film wasn't simply "PowerBook". I'm still confused.

EDIT: Oh, BTW, some pics of the Li-ion battery's look and labeling would be nice. I believe they had a button and LED indicators too. (This was how the PB 3400 & 1st G3 PowerBook batteries shipped)

sorry for not replying before. was very very busy and will take some other pics of the powerbook pretty soon...

[jodelli]

Reading this thread I dug out some old system disks:


There was a 7.6.1 update to this,
<snip>


Top row: 7.6.1, 8.0, 8.1, 9.0, 9.2.1
Middle row: 8.1, 1st G iMac install; 8.6, Slot load iMac; 10.1.3, early Flat panel iMac.
Bottom row:
Cheetah, 10.0, (you needed 9.2 to do anything useful);
Puma, 10.1, (this version actually sort of worked with a 10.1.3 update);
Jaguar, 10.2, (by 10.2.8 it had evolved into something good).
JMHO.

The System 6.0 floppy is long gone.

[steveca]

I would add some to that but very good collection so far... looking forward to 10.6..........

[steveca]

btw... talking of rare and cool apple stuff there is an iphone proto on ebay... pretty sure you know about it... i am checking how high that might go to get an idea for a value of the XXXX...

here is the link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=170308425742

[awmazz]

Reading this thread I dug out some old system disks:
Top row: 7.6.1, 8.0, 8.1, 9.0, 9.2.1


I collect the OSs as well, like a stamp collection (so I need to get a life, I know). It's almost complete - starting from system 1.0 through to 10.5.6. I'm only missing 7.1 now as far as I can tell from all the available info.

And 7.5.4 of course. The only place I've ever seen a working version of it so far is on this Powerbook XXXX. *hint* * hint* if you ever decide to burn a backup copy of it to CD, steveca.

I've also managed to acquire the original CD releases of 7.1.2, 7.5 and 7.5.3. Hard to come by as they were mostly on floppies as CD drives weren't so common at the time.

[Anonymous Freak]

I am not sure Apple would have let its preproduction models go with the other props... even the FCC says it is not safe for use so I guess the fully functional powerbook with a battery likely to catch fire would have returned to base... as i said this is just my 2c...

One thing many hardware manufacturers do is send full-production-quality hardware out to various places for testing; but marked "preproduction, not approved by government agencies", etc, etc. I know I've worked for one OEM that does just that; even when the hardware is 100% production.

[fun173]

WOW!!! this is so cool, aside from the fact that i love the movie Independence Day i love this comp too. i wish i could get a prototype Mac. Keep us informed on what your going to do with this machine because its a very cool find ;)

[bobnugget]

if that is the case (and believe me I hope you are right :-)) it is rarer than I first thought :D. However have no idea of the history of this machine. A friend of mine got it off ebay and I got it off him...

Hi, in case no-one has said yet. I've taken apart many 5300's and 190's in my day.

The PB190 and PB5300 are identical apart from the Motherboard (and RAM expansions - the 48 MB 5300 one won't work in a 190 and vice versa). Also, the PB190 has a clickable trackpad, and the PB5300 doesn't!

Cool find anyway. I had a few prototypes some years back, and sold them for around $400 each about a year ago.