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210, 230 and 250
 

So what does the Duo 200 series offer as opposed to the full-sized PowerBooks? Portability. For a number of road warriors, having the lightest possible notebook is essential. They don't want or need a floppy drive, SCSI, video out or a huge screen. But they need access to these options when they're at their desks.

The Duo was Apple's solution to this problem. Combined with a Duo Dock, you had a lightwight portable for the road and a desktop machine in the office. Utilising a 152-pin palladium connect mounted at the back of the Mac, the Duo slides into a Dock like a video cassette and enables you to connect a wide variety of peripherals

The Duo Dock

The Dock gives you access to a floppy drive, SCSI, video with a VRAM expansion option (a 512K SIMM), an FPU, LocalTalk (also available on the Duo on its own) and two NuBus slots for ethernet or a more powerful video card. You can install a SCSI hard drive in the Dock of any capacity you want.

NuBus cards mount horizontally in the Duo Dock, so you must remove the top one to get at the bottom one. If you intend upon changing cards regularly, bear this in mind.

All Duos are also compatible with the later Duo Dock II and the Duo Dock Plus which had slightly modified hoods to cater for the slightly larger active matrix and colour screens used in later models.

Of course, the Duo being a BOB (Best of Both Worlds; BOBW was the Duo's code name) system, you don't have to buy a complete Dock for Duo expansion. A wide variety of mini-docks, made by both Apple and 3rd parties, may be found in 2nd hand dealerships and on the private used market. Mini docks usually permit access to SCSI and an external floppy drive (of course, you have to locate an external floppy; but it's unlikely that a Duo that you buy doesn't have one. They're still available at certain places. If you want to be even more minimalist than that, you can get a Duo Floppy Adapter, formerly made by Apple and others, which allows you to use them ol' floppies.

What should you buy? If you can get a Duo Dock cheaply, go for it. A lot of places overprice them though. If it's got a lot of bits and pieces in it (NuBus cards, a hard drive and so on) and it's a reasonable price, take it. Make sure the insert/eject mechanism works though. They're generally good for at least 5,000 insertions/ejects. However, even if the Duo doesn't eject, there's a manual eject which you can put up with (maybe). If cash is tighter and you don't need all the options a Dock offers, get a Mini Dock. You don't really need a floppy if you have access to SCSI. That'll give you a way to connect to CD ROM, Zip and Jaz drives as well as external SCSI hard drives. This is a far faster and superior way to load software and backup files than using a floppy adapter. Of course, if your Duo hard drive crashes, you can also boot from a CD, Zip, Jaz or hard drive. Unless you're on the road a lot and need an emergency disk rescue, a floppy adapter's probably not worth it. Most Mini Docks are so small and light they add very little weight to your luggage anyway. And, as you can read about on the PowerBook Duo 2300c page, the best way to rescue a crashed drive on the road is to plan ahead. Create a RAM Disk of about 2MB on your Duo Put a minimal system on it (1.3MB) comprising a System folder, Disk First Aid and Norton's Disk Doctor [about 650K] (maybe also a hard disk formatter like FWB HDT or Apple's HDSC or Drive Setup 70K/80K for Drive Setup Lite). So if your hard disk crashes on the road, the 'Book will reboot from the RAM disk. No trouble at all, I assure you. Then you can fix it up and be on your way.

What Works (and what doesn't)

That's the great thing about these 68030s: almost anything that's not PowerPC works. The Duo 210-250 also offer significantly greater RAM capacity than the 100-180 series PBs. 24MB is still a reasonable amount of RAM. 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20MB cards are available. You can get one 20MB RAM card (okay, they're more costly than newer cards on a cost-per-MB basis) and max out the RAM. With 16MB you can easily run OS 7.6.1, the latest system these PBs will support. 7.6.1 is no slug provided it has enough memory (you can even run it on 12MB). RAMDoubler works well and with RD 2.0 or later you can triple the memory (to 72MB). SpeedDoubler is also worthwhile considering (version 2.0 or 8.0). Both are from www.connectix.com

These Duos support support Systems 7.1 through 7.6.1. 7.5.3 is a free download from Apple (also get the free downloadable upgrade to 7.5.5 - it's three 1.4MB disks). You have to buy 7.1 or 7.6. If you have an incomplete system or lack a set of software disks, download 7.5.3 (19 disks) and then install 7.5.5. It's reasonably stable and quick. You can of course run either Open Transport (v.1.1.2, free) or MacTCP with 7.1 or 7.5x. 7.6 requires Open Transport. I personally recommend Open Transport for internet and networking stability (for a discussion, see  PowerBook software).

If you only have 4MB RAM, stick with OS 7.1. 7.5 can run on 4MB but it uses too much memory. With 7.1 Update 3.0, you can run Open Transport and virtually everything else that 'requires' System 7.5.

Duos have a single 8-pin mini DIN port (like nearly all desktop Macs except the iMac and B&W G3s) that supports serial and AppleTalk printers, as well as a modem connection. With this you can connect up a StyleWriter, ImageWriter (!), LaserWriter or other printer that's LocalTalk or othewise Mac-compatible. If you're on the road with a PowerBook, an investment in PowerPrint, a cable & driver kit that'll let you connect to virtually any popular Windows printer, might be in order. PowerPrint's particularly useful if you have a Windows printer and buy a mobile Mac and want to use it with the printer occasionally. Lightweight printers like the HP DeskJet 340 connect conventionally to the PB's serial port.

By the way, make sure you buy a Mac printer cable. Not only does it mean you can talk to Mac printers, but you must have it to put software onto the Duo. Without a dock, floppy adapter or mini-dock, there's no other way of getting stuff onto your Duo. Okay, you could get a terminal programme like ZTerm or use ClarisWorks' Communications module and go modem-to-modem with another Mac. It's only as fast as a floppy drive (slower in fact, probably). But if a modem is installed in your Duo and you have a bit of modem-to-modem expertise, yes, you can transfer files this way. But you're better off using a printer cable connected to another Mac: swtich on AppleTalk and File Sharing and you can utilise your desktop Mac's CD ROM to install software. If your Mac doesn't have a CD ROM, you can use its floppy. Floppies can;'t be file shared, but you can copy the floppies over to the desktop's hard drive and then install stuff on your Duo. All you do is mount the desktop's CD or hard drive on the Duo's desktop and install from there. It's slow but it works just fine.

The usual '030 rules apply: Word 5.1, ClarisWorks (including AppleWorks 5.0) or NisusWriter (currently at version 5x) for word processing; Netscape Navigator 4 (standalone) for the web (or iCab 68K); Netscape 2.02's okay, but can't deal with Java so you can have problems or crashes when you (inevitably) run into Java-scripted sites. Eudora (v.1.3, 1.5 or 3.0 [Lite] or Claris Em@iler v.1.0 or 2.0 run really well, although you can use Netscape's built-in mail and news in versions 2.0 and 3.0. NewsWatcher of course for news. Excel 5.0 works, but 4.0 would be better on an '030. Even Photoshop v.2.0 or 3.0, PageMaker 3.0 or 4.0 and Quark 3.11 work just fine (Quark 3.3x should be okay as well). Connected to a 17" or larger monitor, a Duo in a Dock can make an admirable low-budget DTP machine. Believe me, they've published glossy magazines with a lot less.
 

Modems

All Duos have a slot for an optional internal modem. This has a RJ-11 (standard phone jack) connection. However, the fastest internal modem available for a Duo - any Duo - is 19.2kbps. Rethink. You can certainly surf the net and fax at this speed, but it won't be fast. If you're using the Duo in desktop mode, maybe think about an external 33.6 or 56K modem to plug into the serial port. But whatever anyone says about fast modems, 19.2 is fast enough to get a bit of work done. So keep that internal modem (or get one) - it's part of lightweight travelling for the PowerBooking-Powerpacking Road Warrior.
 

Upgrades

Notionally, Duos weren't upgradeable - until the Duo 2300c came along. And then they were. So, you can upgrade that lowly Duo 210 of 25MHz to a full 100MHz PowerPC! Okay, so 100MHz ain't so fast anymore but it's a heck of a lot faster than a 68030. So. What do you get?

The PPC Duo upgrade is a full logic board upgrade. That means no mucking about with daughter cards and compatibility and so on. No kludges to install OS 8.5 either (you can do it on a PPC upgraded PowerBook500but you have to cheat). So you get a PPC 603e @ 100MHz, compatibility with all Duo peripherals and the ability to either retain your SCSI internal hard drive, or upgrade to a larger IDE hard drive (IDE HDDs are available in much larger capacities than SCSI for notebooks). IDE is much cheaper too (at least it is in my hemisphere of the world).

So what's the down side? It's not that easy to find anymore; it's probably not cheap; you only get a speed boost - your screen and everything else remain the same. If you want a budget PPC Duo, my tip would be to look for a Duo 2300c. You get a great active matrix colour screen, a Type III battery, improved keyboard, a tappable trackpad, speed (of course), 8 or 20MB RAM standard [upgradeable to 56MB] and you can run OS 8.1 or 8.5.1 (or, presumably, 8.6). As mentioned earlier, it's compatible with all Duo peripherals (except the original Duo Dock).

If you do happen upon a Duo 2300c logic board that's been parted out or something and you upgrade your 68K Duo, ensure you download OS 7.5.3 for it. 7.5 and 7.1 won't run on a 2300c board. 7.5.2 is the minimum system for these machines, but Apple have pulled it down from its ftp sites. 7.5.3 incorporates all of 7.5.2's revisions though. Ensure you get the 7.5.5 upgrade as well.

Note that you can also use NiMH Type II and III batteries used in later Duos. These batteries offer better battery perfomance and longer life, so most 2nd hand Duos you look at will have later batteries in all likelihood. It also means you can share batteries with another Duo owner.

And yes, you can replace the 20mm Duo trackball with a marble (if you can find one the right size!).

What To Look For:

Keyboards. The number one problem. Currently up to Revision F or something (though doubtful there'll be any more). Keys can stick or simply not work. Either way it's time for a new keyboard. Ring Apple. If it's under AppleCare of course you'll get a free new keyboard (for reasons of fragiliity,  I recommend AppleCare for PowerBooks generally; these babies are expensive to fix and a dead screen or dead logic board would really make it worth your money. Think about it). Duo 210s and 230s may still have Rev.A keyboards. Pull down the Key Caps DA and check every key. Carefully.

Older PBs like this have also probably had their fair share or knocks and drops. Check the screen for scratches and markings. When you boot it up, look for lines in the screen and, possibly, a dim backlight. The contrast/brightness controls can also break/stop working. There's a control strip or something that'll let you raise/lower brightness/contrast if the buttons don't work. If the screen seems dim and doesn't brighten, walk away. Any stripes on the screen: ditto. The screen's probably about to lose a backlight (amazingly expensive - replace the screen?? - if you don't know how to replace backlights (@ $10) yourself).

Make sure the trackball and mouse clicker work smoothly. Make sure you test out the keyboard before going any further with the purchase. Duo keys are full-sized like those of all PowerBooks: but they're slightly closer together making them a fraction cramped. If you have large clumsy fingers and can't type, forget it. Women might find Duos preferable due to their (a) light weight and (b) the smaller, lighter keyboard. Duo keys have a 2mm pitch travel, versus 3mm for for the desktop PBs (100 series). This can give the Duo a light, crisp feeling. But of course it's a matter of personal preference. If you don't like trackballs, you're out of luck. Without a dock of some kind, you can't plug in an ADB mouse as you can on a full-sized PB.

Watch out for the battery contacts too. A test is to press on the left-hand palm rest firmly when the Duo's running on battery power. If the power goes down, it means the battery contacts are faulty. Again, one that should be avoided. Some people wedge something thin into the battery bay to make the battery fit in more tightly.
 

Buyer's Guide

The Duo 210, 230 and 250 are excellent budget sub-notebooks for word processing, email and light duty web browsing. Their lightweight design makes them perfect for road trips or between office and home. They are viable alternatives to the PowerBook 140 and 170 as the Duo 230 and 250 run 33MHz CPUs versus the 25MHz 170 and the 16MHz 140. They also have better screens than the earlier PBs. However, their functionality is more limited and they remain slightly more expensive than their 140-170 counterparts (can't figure out why, except that they cost a lot originally). Their greyscale screens are adequate for viewing graphics and the 250's active matrix display renders greyscale particularly well. Duo 210-250s in good condition are reasonably priced these days ($US250-450?) and may come with Docks and other peripherals included in the price. Their superior RAM capacities to the 100 series also make them more upgradeable. In good condition and at the right price, the 200 series Duo can make a great low-end buy.