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Incoming: ultimate PPC laptop

H

hopfenholz

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 24, 2021
29
44
So excited… one of the few macs I’ve never owned. I went from a 1GHz TiBook DVI (lovely machine) straight to a Core2Duo 15” MPB back in the day (also a great workhorse with matte screen).

Snagged this off eBay for £250. 1.67GHz G4 17” and described as completely mint in full working order including good battery.

Guess I’ll be getting to know Sorbet Leopard or 10.5.9 or whatever it’s called…

B40AC1B3-AB75-4DAC-B317-BBD8F093EAC5.jpeg


Just a little bit excited!

Joel
 
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eyoungren

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,160
25,662
hopfenholz said:
So excited… one of the few macs I’ve never owned. I went from a 1GHz TiBook DVI (lovely machine) straight to a Core2Duo 15” MPB back in the day (also a great workhorse with matte screen).

Snagged this off eBay for £250. 1.67GHz G4 17” and described as completely mint in full working order including good battery.

Guess I’ll be getting to know Sorbet Leopard or 10.5.9 or whatever it’s called…

View attachment 2051658

Just a little bit excited!

Joel
Click to expand...
Hi Joel! Congrats, looks nice.

You can also post in here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/club-17.1959812/
 
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InAWhiteRoom

InAWhiteRoom

macrumors member
Jun 28, 2021
77
160
hopfenholz said:
So excited… one of the few macs I’ve never owned. I went from a 1GHz TiBook DVI (lovely machine) straight to a Core2Duo 15” MPB back in the day (also a great workhorse with matte screen).

Snagged this off eBay for £250. 1.67GHz G4 17” and described as completely mint in full working order including good battery.

Guess I’ll be getting to know Sorbet Leopard or 10.5.9 or whatever it’s called…

View attachment 2051658

Just a little bit excited!

Joel
Click to expand...
Beautiful machine! 😍
 
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Doq

Doq

macrumors 6502
Dec 8, 2019
426
662
The Lab DX
If it is, in fact, the DLSD, you have an absolute gem of a PowerBook-- perhaps even a holy grail for some of us, myself included. I've been waiting for one to pop up at not ridiculous collector prices for a few years now and have come up empty handed. Almost as unobtanium as a Kanga PowerBook G3, or an actual unicorn.

Absolutely incredible find. Congrats! :D
 
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m1maverick

macrumors 65816
Nov 22, 2020
1,278
1,193
Doq said:
If it is, in fact, the DLSD, you have an absolute gem of a PowerBook-- perhaps even a holy grail for some of us, myself included. I've been waiting for one to pop up at not ridiculous collector prices for a few years now and have come up empty handed. Almost as unobtanium as a Kanga PowerBook G3, or an actual unicorn.

Absolutely incredible find. Congrats! :D
Click to expand...
Perhaps more than you'd like to spend but if you want one:

Apple Macintosh Powerbook G3 Kanga - Fully working condition - Vintage laptop
 
M

M3Stang

macrumors regular
Oct 26, 2015
123
36
This is so nice! I picked a 17", same specs as yours up on eBay I think 2 years ago now "AS-IS" no power cord untested for $70 USD in Mint condition. Got it in, powered it on with my power cord and it had a question mark, figured bad drive. Swapped drive and it works perfectly now. Best $70 I ever spent on a computer and maybe the cheapest/best share one I have too lol. I don't use it much but its fun to fire it up and pretend like I was using it in 03-05.
 
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hopfenholz

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 24, 2021
29
44
Machine is here, it is DSLD. Just need to fit an NVMe SSD and reinstall Sorbet. I also have a boxed copy of the full Adone Creative Suite CS4 for it (last pre Cloud version)
 
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Macdctr

Macdctr

macrumors 6502a
Nov 25, 2009
941
605
Ocean State
Doq said:
If it is, in fact, the DLSD, you have an absolute gem of a PowerBook-- perhaps even a holy grail for some of us, myself included. I've been waiting for one to pop up at not ridiculous collector prices for a few years now and have come up empty handed. Almost as unobtanium as a Kanga PowerBook G3, or an actual unicorn.

Absolutely incredible find. Congrats! :D
Click to expand...
I have two of them in my collection and both are fully functional as well ;)

the one on the left is running MacOS 9 and the one to the right is running MacOS 9.1
52727811952_1b0e353f1f_o.png


The one on the right has all the original back covers intact as well as the 20x CDROM drive Kangas came with.
52728815343_65480297b5_o.png


Good luck finding these today. I have not seen them for sale in awhile . . . I consider myself lucky to have two fully functional examples in my collection. I just fired them up today :)
 
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Doq

Doq

macrumors 6502
Dec 8, 2019
426
662
The Lab DX
Macdctr said:
Good luck finding these today. I have not seen them for sale in awhile . . . I consider myself lucky to have two fully functional examples in my collection. I just fired them up today :)
Click to expand...
I do stand by my now 6 month old statement. Even moreso now that I actually have a DLSD here in the lab (though it's missing the actual Dual-Layer SuperDrive after I yanked it for being bummy and a replacement).

I saw a Kanga go up on the 'bay about a week and change ago that went for $810 Freedom Eagles.... I think an actual unicorn would've been cheaper. :confused:

It's difficult to find listings as is because unless the seller explicitly puts "Kanga" in the name, you'll either get results buried in listings for the G3 Series if you search for "powerbook g3" or results buried in listings for the PowerBook 3400c if you search for "m3553".

I wonder if I can just G3-upgrade a 3400c, seeing as that's exactly what Apple did with the Kanga in the day. Would have to source that badge though somehow.
 
Macdctr

Macdctr

macrumors 6502a
Nov 25, 2009
941
605
Ocean State
Doq said:
I do stand by my now 6 month old statement. Even moreso now that I actually have a DLSD here in the lab (though it's missing the actual Dual-Layer SuperDrive after I yanked it for being bummy and a replacement).

I saw a Kanga go up on the 'bay about a week and change ago that went for $810 Freedom Eagles.... I think an actual unicorn would've been cheaper. :confused:

It's difficult to find listings as is because unless the seller explicitly puts "Kanga" in the name, you'll either get results buried in listings for the G3 Series if you search for "powerbook g3" or results buried in listings for the PowerBook 3400c if you search for "m3553".

I wonder if I can just G3-upgrade a 3400c, seeing as that's exactly what Apple did with the Kanga in the day. Would have to source that badge though somehow.
Click to expand...
Unless you can somehow source a "Kanga" logic board the answer is no. You won't be able to put a Wallstreet logic board inside the 3400 case to make a Kanga so to speak. The problem with these aging rare laptops is that the plastic is getting brittle with age and easy to damage... My good Kanga has some case damage (cracks) but overall in pristine condition. Luckily I have the side port and back port covers in perfect condition and they are still attached to the case. The only thing missing from my Kangas are the Ethernet/Modem dongle. I got lucky I guess. :)
 
H

hopfenholz

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 24, 2021
29
44
What's the appeal of the Kanga? I've always written them off mentally and considered the G3 Series the one to have but realise now I don't know much about Kanga.
 
Doq

Doq

macrumors 6502
Dec 8, 2019
426
662
The Lab DX
It depends, really. If all you're looking for is a "G3" "PowerBook", then a unit from the Series are way superior, especially on the higher end and the later you go. For collectors and enthusiasts, the Kanga double represents as both the first G3 PowerBook and the last "old" PowerBook-- not to be confused with the last Old World PowerBook (that would be the PDQ).

It's also probably the most perplexing Apple laptop ever made, with it only been on the market for five months, being the only G3 that's not officially supported with OS X at all, and being the smallest PowerBook until the release of the 12" G4, it even feels more like an old PowerBook than a part of the G3 line, even with a G3 in it!
 
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Macdctr

Macdctr

macrumors 6502a
Nov 25, 2009
941
605
Ocean State
Doq said:
It depends, really. If all you're looking for is a "G3" "PowerBook", then a unit from the Series are way superior, especially on the higher end and the later you go. For collectors and enthusiasts, the Kanga double represents as both the first G3 PowerBook and the last "old" PowerBook-- not to be confused with the last Old World PowerBook (that would be the PDQ).

It's also probably the most perplexing Apple laptop ever made, with it only been on the market for five months, being the only G3 that's not officially supported with OS X at all, and being the smallest PowerBook until the release of the 12" G4, it even feels more like an old PowerBook than a part of the G3 line, even with a G3 in it!
Click to expand...
Couldn't agree more. For me it was how rare it was to find one of these, let alone two, to add to my collection. I also have a 500MHz Pismo that has been upgraded to G4 550MHz with RAM maxed out and a dual layer DVD burner. The Pismo being one of the best G3 laptops Apple has ever produced in my opinion.

I still can't believe someone tried selling one of these for $810 on eBay though... I did not realize just how much the Kanga went up in value and I was at one point considering giving one away . . .
 
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