Pismo!!

[princealfie]

Just got my Pismo through the mail yesterday. Sweet laptop, love all the swappable options on it, yeah...

3 hard drives would be great. I think of 2 bays and the internal and well close to 500 gig in a laptop? Nice...

 

[PDE]

congratulations! It's the best apple laptop ever made! Enjoy! I'm really envious.....

 

[princealfie]

Yeah the best thing is that I can install 3 hard drives in the laptop (no battery however). With 2 bays, I can stick in swappable 160 gb ATA drives plus the internal 160 gb hard drive.

Can't wait to build this one up. Everyone at the Apple Store will be jealous.

Now why is it that I need a MBP now?

 

[PDE]

Yeah, and you can also put in a new, brighter display if the old isn't bright anymore - I think it's relatively straight forward to do that. All the positives for those who haven't had the pleasure:

- Superb keyboard
- comfortable, low-resistance click button that feels 'just right'
- expandable bays
-dual USB and dual firewire ports
- nice, soft edges that provide comfortable usage under varied circumstances
-a display that tilts back as far as you need under various circumstances (though some developed hinge problems over time)
- great airport reception
-plastics that don't absorb fingerprints like the macbooks do
-easily accessible hard drive and CPU (upgradable)


I really think an updated pismo would be wonderful! Something with the same build quality, but thinner and more streamlined. Won't happen though.

 

[Antares]

Now why is it that I need a MBP now?

Speed.

But, yeah, I love my Pismo too. I bought it the day it was announced, back in 2000. The screen is not as bright as it once was and the hard drive is beginning to fail (the stock 12 GB hard drive it came with). The original battery is dead and the yo-yo power adapter is faulty. However, of note, the thing ran virtually continuously for several years...I was using it to run seti@home when it wasn't doing my "work." The only problem I ever had with it was with the sound board/power board (why those were engineered to be on one board, I'll never know)...but that was my fault, anyway. I shorted that board out due to me stupidly sticking a paper clip in there to try and hold an audio RCA cord which I had also stupidly broken a few weeks earlier. Anyway, my Pismo was a workhorse for me. I used it heavily until I bought a Core Duo iMac this past January ('06). Once I replace the hard drive, I'm going to use it as a legacy system. I still have plenty of OS 9 applications and games that I want to play/use.

 

[PDE]

Yes, that's the problem: speed. And once you get used to speed, it's hard to go back. I would if it were faster, but it's impossible to do when you need the power.

Speed.

But, yeah, I love my Pismo too. I bought it the day it was announced, back in 2000. The screen is not as bright as it once was and the hard drive is beginning to fail (the stock 12 GB hard drive it came with). The original battery is dead and the yo-yo power adapter is faulty. However, of note, the thing ran virtually continuously for several years...I was using it to run seti@home when it wasn't doing my "work." The only problem I ever had with it was with the sound board/power board (why those were engineered to be on one board, I'll never know)...but that was my fault, anyway. I shorted that board out due to me stupidly sticking a paper clip in there to try and hold an audio RCA cord which I had also stupidly broken a few weeks earlier. Anyway, my Pismo was a workhorse for me. I used heavily until I bought a Core Duo iMac in January. Once I replace the hard drive, I'm going to use it as a legacy system. I still have plenty of OS applications and games that I want to still play/use.

 

[setso]

..yeah ..pismo is/was cool ..i ever wondered where the name pismo came from ?
..the model before pismo was wall street ..is pismo really about pismo beach ?
..
..looking back, pismo served me well. i did all my sound design stuff on it ..no
..cards attached, straight to the amp. once fiddling around with the volume
..knob on the amp to much and switching input channels, pismo came through
..that loud i nearly felt from my chair. i mean, there was no mainboard noise etc
..the notebook was just quite on the amp. do onboard sound with pc notebooks
..and you'll see.
..
..and pismo today works still as an "okay" key. got trouble with a recent mac ?
..talk to the technician or apple care support ? .. mention that you know the
..pismo powerbook and they're on your side. no more questions..
..
..i was using it for 3 years ..nearly day and night. i had a slow 56k flatrate and
..did a lot of downloading with it. just when i could smell the ibooks approaching
..i quickly sold it to a girl from berlin. Since i didn't use the trackpad very much
..the powerbook looked good. the berlin girl was happy about it and discribed it
..as nearly new and in super conditions (..after 3 years using it..)
..
..pismo had a cool standart which any new apple product has to achieve ..i'd say

 

[Jay42]

Wow, a laptop with 3 hard drives and no battery...


Whatever floats yer boat

 

[phungy]

So no battery means you have to keep it plugged in?

 

[840quadra]

So no battery means you have to keep it plugged in?

Yup.

Unless you like a relatively heavy piece of equipment that does nothing!

 

[PDE]

It's easy enough to get a battery and just two hard drives, one internal and one for the bay. No Apple laptop can do that currently.

 

[Silentwave]

I also just picked up a Pismo. I sorta messed it up a Little... but the new (metal) heatsink to replace the composite one I had in there will be here soon, along with a 500MHz G4 upgrade for it

I'm upgrading RAM and adding airport, a fresh batt, and probably a larger HD and either Jaguar, Panther, or Tiger. I'll be using it as my main portable lappy so I don't have to lug around my MBP which cost me an arm and a leg and has a few issues and poor battery life.

 

[Digidesign]

The Pismo has a special place in my heart as being the computer that made me switch over from PCs.

The form factor is still classic too. In car-terms it reminds me of the curves of the corvette stingray.

 

[Silentwave]

I bought mine partly because of looks

my old school principal, my mentor and role model, had a PB G3 back then.

Honestly, it isn't running OS X but OS9 seemed pretty fast with 400MHz G3, 12GB HD, and 192MB RAM. I bet it'll run pretty well with the 500MHz G4, 384 (later 768) MB RAM, and a 40GB HD.

 

[princealfie]

what's wrong with using the pismo without the battery?

 

[Silentwave]

nothing as far as i'm concerned... mine had a dead battery (100% kaput) so i'm going to have to pick up another one before I can even think about using it with one

It worked just fine without it

 

[Flowbee]

Funny... and I'm thinking of selling my Pismo. It just can't keep up with what I need it for anymore. Trouble is, I'm having a hard time letting go... {sniff}

 

[xPismo]

Niiiiiice! You will love it. Look for a G3/900 or G4/500 upgrade card. It makes the Pismo fly.... although I might be biased. I mean, hey, look at my 'tar.

I _so_ miss mine.

 

[baxterbrittle]

I remember my Pismo fondly also. I picked it up real cheap from a pawn broker because they didn't know anything about macs and and didn't want to offer me any kind of warranty. So I bought mine for AU $410 when the going rate on ebay was about $1500 AU - It was a range topper 500 with 256MB and 20GB. I used that thing every moment I got just because I loved it so much. I eventually sold it to a friend whom needed a good cheap laptop for school. He runs it all day everyday and it just keeps on going - original HDD and all. I had 2 batteries in it as the optical drive failed and I liked the many hours of battery life. It had Airport in it to. The Pismo was a fantastic machine and was still quite a bit snappier than a 700MHz iBook due to the larger cache.

I am also a big fan of older hadware, for example I am typing this from a Sharp Aticus 150 266MHz MMX PC. I bought it yesterday for $30 AU. It's not a speed demon but it's running 98 quite quickly and I'm preparing to install DSLinux (I hate windows) which will be even snappier. I using it wirelessly the battery life rocks, it's virtually silent and it barely gets warm and to top it off is less than an ince thick and weighs 3 pounds. Old gear is Cool end of story.

 

[Selenolycus]

Damn, the Pismo is one sexy-lookin' machine.

 

[princealfie]

Sounds good. I just found a method of adding a 32mb PCMCIA video card which will allow me to drive some serious displays! Wow...

This is becoming sweeter by the hour

 

[PDE]

Sounds good. I just found a method of adding a 32mb PCMCIA video card which will allow me to drive some serious displays! Wow...

This is becoming sweeter by the hour

What I love about the pismo, besides that it just keeps going forever, is the fact that whenever somebody mentions the Pismo on a mac forum there is an overwhelming joy among former pismo owners! Not many computers can evoke that kind of sentiment. Well done Apple! Now, please, make another machine like that, where function and form are so wonderfully balanced.

 

[Flowbee]

Well done Apple! Now, please, make another machine like that, where function and form are so wonderfully balanced.

They probably could, but it would cost you. One thing to remember is that the Pismos started at $2500 when they were introduced, which would be about $2,900 in today's dollars.

 

[Jiddick ExRex]

One of my friends has an old pismo she's not using anymore. Can you come up with some uses for it if I get it and upgrade it as much as I can...?

 

[PDE]

They probably could, but it would cost you. One thing to remember is that the Pismos started at $2500 when they were introduced, which would be about $2,900 in today's dollars.

I'm pretty sure I paid $1999 for my 400mhz one, while the 500mhz was $2500. I think the preceding "wallstreet" powerbook G3 was priced at $2500 for the entry level. In any case, for a professional notebook, I'm sure many people would gladly pay $2500 for top quality and design...