PowerBook 100 Review

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PowerBook Buyer’s Guide

PowerBook 100

The 100 was the first PowerBook. More stylish than the 140 which followed it, the 100 does not have a built in floppy drive. Instead, it was available separately from Apple and plugged into the included HDI-20 floppy drive port. The 100 uses the relatively slow 68000 processor running at 16 MHz. With a 9" passive matrix black & white display and limited memory constraints, the 100 is really only suitable for word processing, spreadsheets, and e-mail. The black and white screen precludes any kind of real graphics work or image-intensive games. That said, the battery is robust and can provide up to 2 hours of real work time which is nice for travellers who need a modest computer at a rock-bottom price.

pb100 with floppy

Rating

At the time: C

General

  • Introduced: 10/21/91
  • Discontinued: 8/3/92
  • Main Processor: 16 MHz 68000
  • Data Path: 16 MHz 16-bit
  • PMMU: none
  • FPU: none
  • 2MB RAM standard, 8MB maximum
  • 20 or 40MB hard drive

Weight

  • 5.1 pounds

Display

  • Passive-matrix back & white
  • 9"
  • 640×400 resolution

Ports

  • ADB
  • serial
  • sound output
  • HDI-30 SCSI
  • HDI-20 floppy
  • internal modem

Sound

  • Sound Out: mono, 8-bit

Battery

  • Battery Type: PB100, lead acid

Software

  • Original System Software: 7.0.1
  • System Software Supported: 7.0.1 to 7.5.3

Apple’s Specifications:

Logic Board Ports Power
Processor: 68000, 16 MHz
PMMU: none
FPU: none
Data Path: 16-bit, 16 MHz
L1 Cache: none
L2 Cache: none
2nd Processor: none
Slots: modem
ADB: 1
Video: none
Floppy: HDI-20
SCSI: HDI-30
Geoports: none
Ethernet: none
FireWire:
Mic Type: none
Other Ports: Printer, Speaker,
Max Watts: 17
Amps: 2.00
BTU per Hr: 58.14
Voltage: 100-240
Freq Range: 50-60 Hz
Battery Type: PB100, lead acid
Soft Power: yes
Memory Video Memory
Logic Board: 2 MB
RAM Slots: 1, PB1xx
Min – Max RAM: 2 MB – 8 MB
Min RAM Speed: 100 ns
RAM Sizes: 2, 4, 6 MB
Install in Groups of: 1
Resolution Video Memory
built-in LCD screen
(built in)
512 x 384 n/a-bit
640 x 400 1-bit
640 x 480 n/a-bit
800 x 600 n/a-bit
832 x 624 n/a-bit
1024 x 768 n/a-bit
1152 x 870 n/a-bit
1280 x 1024 n/a-bit
Physical Software Storage
Introduced: 10/21/1991
Discontinued: 8/3/1992
Form Factor: PowerBook 100
Gestalt ID: 24
Weight (lbs): 5.1
Dimensions (in): 1.8 H x 11 W x 8.5 D
Addressing Modes: 24-bit
Orig SSW: 7.0.1
Orig Enabler: none
ROM ID: $037A
ROM Ver: n/a
ROM Size: 256K
AppleTalk Ver: 52
Mac OS
Supported:		 7.0.1
7.1
7.1.1 (Pro)
7.5
7.5.1
7.5.3
7.5.5
Floppy Size: none
Floppy Inject: n/a
Min. Int HD Size: 20-40MB
Int HD Interface: SCSI
Orig CD Speed n/a
Int CD Support:

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