Practicality of a PowerBook 5300cs

iHotu · 09:38 PM

I have a non-working PowerBook 5300cs (100mhz, 500mb, 24mb). The green power light at the top of the screen will come on, but that’s all. I was told the screen stopped working, but it may be more as the system does not seem to boot up at all, neither the HD or the floppy drive makes any noise.

I have looked around and found new logic boards and screens each going for about 30 shipped. As I don’t really know what I’m doing, I could easily see myself spending $75-$100 and still not have a working machine.

Which gets me to my question, if I was able to get this powerbook to work, what could it be used for? I have read a few older posts stating:

Surfing the Web - would be very slow, limited to simple sites
Email - may or may not work, depends on your provider
MS Office – old file types, plus how would I go about printing to a USB printer?
Wireless – possible with the correct card

Ideally I would like to use this as an extra wireless system for email/web, but is it too under powered for that? Is anyone still using these portables? I would most likely install 7.5.3, as it is free from Apple, and try to grab any free apps from the Web. Most of the local computer repair stores don’t want to deal with this, and working units can be found on eBay for about $50. I would not mind spending a few bucks to fix it if I thought it would be a useful system.

SodaPopMonster · Jul 27, 2006, 09:30 PM

You could use it to light a fire.

dmw007 · Jul 27, 2006, 09:33 PM

I have a PowerBook 5300cs, it just sits underneath my desk. Not sure that it is worth $75-$100 to get it in working order....

iHotu · Jul 27, 2006, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmw007

I have a PowerBook 5300cs, it just sits underneath my desk. Not sure that it is worth $75-$100 to get it in working order....

While it would be fun to try, that's what I'm thinking too.

Have you used an external display with yours? If so, what kind of resolution is possible?

dmw007 · Jul 27, 2006, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iHotu

Have you used an external display with yours? If so, what kind of resolution is possible?

I have never used an external display with my PowerBook 5300cs, so I am not sure what kind of resolution is possible.

Jul 27, 2006, 09:10 PM	#1
iHotu macrumors regular Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: at large	Practicality of a PowerBook 5300cs I have a non-working PowerBook 5300cs (100mhz, 500mb, 24mb). The green power light at the top of the screen will come on, but that’s all. I was told the screen stopped working, but it may be more as the system does not seem to boot up at all, neither the HD or the floppy drive makes any noise. I have looked around and found new logic boards and screens each going for about 30 shipped. As I don’t really know what I’m doing, I could easily see myself spending $75-$100 and still not have a working machine. Which gets me to my question, if I was able to get this powerbook to work, what could it be used for? I have read a few older posts stating: Surfing the Web - would be very slow, limited to simple sites Email - may or may not work, depends on your provider MS Office – old file types, plus how would I go about printing to a USB printer? Wireless – possible with the correct card Ideally I would like to use this as an extra wireless system for email/web, but is it too under powered for that? Is anyone still using these portables? I would most likely install 7.5.3, as it is free from Apple, and try to grab any free apps from the Web. Most of the local computer repair stores don’t want to deal with this, and working units can be found on eBay for about $50. I would not mind spending a few bucks to fix it if I thought it would be a useful system. __________________ Try restarting first. It might help, and it's easy to do. Last edited by iHotu; Jul 27, 2006 at 09:38 PM.
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Jul 27, 2006, 09:30 PM	#2
SodaPopMonster macrumors regular Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Houston, TX	You could use it to light a fire. __________________ The Macintosh may only have 10% of the market, but it is clearly the top 10%.-Douglas Adams
	0

Jul 27, 2006, 09:33 PM	#3
dmw007 macrumors 603 Join Date: May 2005 Location: Working for MI-6	I have a PowerBook 5300cs, it just sits underneath my desk. Not sure that it is worth $75-$100 to get it in working order.... __________________ 3.2 GHz Mac Pro Nehalem PowerBook 1400cs/133, 450MHz G4 Cube, 500MHz Pismo iPhone 3GS, 60GB iPod
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