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Those "old" Apple Powerbook G3s still have life left in them thanks to a few little known easy do-it-yourself upgrades. The upgrades include more ram than you can shake a ram stick at, and an internal DVD+/-RW drive (yes I said internal, as in, inside the Powerbook). There are two Apple G3 Powerbooks, and the upgrades are almost identical, unless otherwise noted.
First, figure out which Powerbook you have. This handy guide will help you figure that out: identify an Apple Powerbook G3.
Hey, if you find this guide helpful, let eBay know by clicking the buttons down below please.
Upgrade 1: The Lombard is rated to accept a "maximum" of 384 MB of memory according to Apple, which really is not enough for Mac OS X. This is a false specification as I have purchased two low profile 256 MB SoDimms that came from Other World Computing (search the net). This memory allows you to have a total of 512 MB, and makes a considerable difference in OS X 10.3.9! I have only been able to find this memory from OWC, and I have tested it, and it really does work!
Lombards were made in 1999, and only came with a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.
Upgrade 2: I learned that it is possible to install an internal CD+/-RW or DVD+/-RW into a Powerbook G3 Lombard or Pismo with a free program. I purchased an NEC ND-6500A Slimline 8x Dual layer DVD+/-RW (any brand of laptop DVD+/-RW or CD+/-RW will work).
The Powerbook G3 Lombard lacks an MPEG-2 encoder, in other words, the Lombard requires a special Video-PC card (PCMCIA card) to allow you to watch a DVD movie. You should not pay more than $20 for one of these DVD decoder cards and you can find lots on the internet from companies wishing to deplete old stock.
Now, to install the DVD+/-RW drive I had to unscrew four little screws off of the old DVD-ROM from its tray, and screw in the new DVD+/-RW drive. The only downside, is that the faceplate does not match the contours of the Powerbook. To get the DVD+/-RW working in Mac OS X 10.3.9 all you need to is an Internet search for a free program called PATCHBURN, download and install it.
First, figure out which Powerbook you have. This handy guide will help you figure that out: identify an Apple Powerbook G3.
Hey, if you find this guide helpful, let eBay know by clicking the buttons down below please.
Upgrade 1: The Lombard is rated to accept a "maximum" of 384 MB of memory according to Apple, which really is not enough for Mac OS X. This is a false specification as I have purchased two low profile 256 MB SoDimms that came from Other World Computing (search the net). This memory allows you to have a total of 512 MB, and makes a considerable difference in OS X 10.3.9! I have only been able to find this memory from OWC, and I have tested it, and it really does work!
Lombards were made in 1999, and only came with a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.
Upgrade 2: I learned that it is possible to install an internal CD+/-RW or DVD+/-RW into a Powerbook G3 Lombard or Pismo with a free program. I purchased an NEC ND-6500A Slimline 8x Dual layer DVD+/-RW (any brand of laptop DVD+/-RW or CD+/-RW will work).
The Powerbook G3 Lombard lacks an MPEG-2 encoder, in other words, the Lombard requires a special Video-PC card (PCMCIA card) to allow you to watch a DVD movie. You should not pay more than $20 for one of these DVD decoder cards and you can find lots on the internet from companies wishing to deplete old stock.
Now, to install the DVD+/-RW drive I had to unscrew four little screws off of the old DVD-ROM from its tray, and screw in the new DVD+/-RW drive. The only downside, is that the faceplate does not match the contours of the Powerbook. To get the DVD+/-RW working in Mac OS X 10.3.9 all you need to is an Internet search for a free program called PATCHBURN, download and install it.
Viola, you now have a Powerbook G3 Lombard with 512 MB of memory; this is much better than the maximum of 384 MB Apple originally specified, especially for OS X. Well, with all that memory, what else beats a new internal 8x DVD+/-RW burner?
The Powerbook G3 Pismo (both USB and Firewire ports on the back) can take 1 GB of memory from Other World Computing, and the internal DVD+/-RW burner upgrade. The Pismo also has a built in MPEG-2 decoder, so you can watch DVD movies without that Apple PC-Video Card. This machine has a faster system bus speed of 100MHz (side by side, even with less RAM the Pismo is faster), which means that it will noticeably run Mac OS X faster than a "Lombard".
*** One thing to remember for the Lombard. If you want to watch a DVD movie, you will need an "Apple DVD-Video PC Card" that you can find easily on eBay. The Pismo laptops have this decoder built in, so you do not need the card for a Pismo ***
I hope this is helpful, and if you found it helpful, just click on the little button below to share this with others. It is nice to be able to update an older computer. If you have any more questions drop me a line.
Thank you, and happy computing!
Hey, if you want to add airport extreme speed to your Powerbook G3, take a look at my guide add 802.11g 54Mbps to a Powerbook G3/G4 without and Airport Extreme card!!!
The Powerbook G3 Pismo (both USB and Firewire ports on the back) can take 1 GB of memory from Other World Computing, and the internal DVD+/-RW burner upgrade. The Pismo also has a built in MPEG-2 decoder, so you can watch DVD movies without that Apple PC-Video Card. This machine has a faster system bus speed of 100MHz (side by side, even with less RAM the Pismo is faster), which means that it will noticeably run Mac OS X faster than a "Lombard".
*** One thing to remember for the Lombard. If you want to watch a DVD movie, you will need an "Apple DVD-Video PC Card" that you can find easily on eBay. The Pismo laptops have this decoder built in, so you do not need the card for a Pismo ***
I hope this is helpful, and if you found it helpful, just click on the little button below to share this with others. It is nice to be able to update an older computer. If you have any more questions drop me a line.
Thank you, and happy computing!
Hey, if you want to add airport extreme speed to your Powerbook G3, take a look at my guide add 802.11g 54Mbps to a Powerbook G3/G4 without and Airport Extreme card!!!
Guide created: 06/02/06 (updated 09/21/09)
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