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Macintosh
The PowerBook Duo 2300c was the first - and last - PowerPC Duo. Introduced with the PowerBooks 190 and 5300 in August 1995, the Duo was a light and compact alternative to the full-sized PowerBook, weighing in at less than 5lbs. Available in two configurations (8/750 and 20/1.1), both models featured a small but crystal clear 9.5" active matrix display.
The Duo 2300c also has a unique feature. Internally, it has both an
IDE and a SCSI connector so you can connect either type of hard disk to
it (some people have even managed to have *two* hard disks (one external
obviously) by having one of the cables hanging out somewhere. But this
is not the Duo's main purpose...
Features
- PowerPC 603ev CPU at 100MHz
- Tappable trackpad
- 9.5" active matrix colour screen
- L1 cache (32K)
- 750MB or 1.1GB IDE hard drive
- Maximum RAM of 56MB
- 8 or 20MB RAM standard
- Supports all Duo docks and the Duo Dock II
- Supports SCSI disk mode (with dock)
- Internal modem optional
Why a Duo versus a full-sized PowerBook?
Weight, primarily. Even compared with the 190/5300, the 2300 is slim. Looking at it next to the G3 behemoths, the 2300 is a genuine subnotebook. If portability is most important to you, and you don't need an all powerful PB, then the 2300 could be for you. For example, if you only need to do word processing, work in Excel, web browsing and email, then the 2300 is a more than adequate machine. In terms of speed, it's slightly slower than the PowerBook 5300.
The Duo 2300 has no internal floppy and a small desktop footprint, so it's perfect for airline travel. It can run essentially any software any other PowerPC can provided it's not too resource intensive. It supports IDE hard drives up to 8GB so storage isn't a problem. With a Duo Dock and an external monitor and keyboard, it can be your sole desktop computer. Alternatively, it can be a lightweight adjunct to your desktop Mac.
Below: (yes, all right, this's from the 190 page. But I thoughtI'd give it another airing). That's the Duo 2300c in the middle there.
How can I turn a 2300 into a fully-fledged PowerBook or a desktop?
In answer to the first question, you can use an Apple Mini Dock or any of a number of 3rd party docks. These are all pretty much out of production now, but you can pick them up at 2nd hand shops or at auctions. Apple people know docks and mini docks are rare so they charge the earth for them. My tip is to check out PC 2nd hand shops who have the odd Mac part. In Australia anyway, PC drones have no idea what a dock is, what it's for and what it's worth. Consequently you can often find a bargain in these places (saw a full dock for $25 once; their going rate here is about $250).
A mini dock, depending on what brand it is, offers various degrees of expandibility. They usually give you SCSI, ADB and maybe another serial port. They connect via a 152-pin palladium-plated processor direct slot connector (PDS) which accesses every signal on the Duo's CPU. This permits the Duo to connect to external SCSI hard drives, Zip and Jaz drives and even a scanner.
A full Duo Dock offers even more expandibility. There's a pass-through connection so that you can connect to your modem even when the Duo is installed in the Dock. Depending on how you option the Dock, you can install ethernet on a NuBus card and connect to a network, install an additional SCSI hard drive in the dock, plug additional SCSI devices in and use floppies. You can also drive monitors up to 17" or bigger if you use, say, a 24-bit NuBus video card.
On its own, the Duo really only has its serial port and a modem (if
installed). The serial port's useful for a number of reasons, not least
because it gives you access to faster modems than the 19.2kbps modem that
is the fastest internal modem available for any Duo. A 56K external modem
can easily be plugged into the 2300's printer/modem port. The serial port
also permits you to connect to printers and of course you can print to
any LocalTalk-equipped printer.
I've got a Duo 2300 but no Dock. How do I get files onto it?
Two ways: 1. connect a simple Mac printer cable to your Duo and the other end to your other Mac or PowerBook. Start up file sharing and transfer files by AppleShare. It's slow but it works. You can even install a system this way via a CD inserted in a desktop Mac. Simply start file sharing and mount the CD on your Duo's desktop. Then open it and install as per usual.
2. For the more technically minded of you, you can go modem-to-modem using communications programmes like ClarisWorks' communications module or ZTerm. You can even do this with a PC. But this'll be even slower than LocalTalk though. If you're transferring files from a Mac and you don't have a dock, use LocalTalk.
*Bear in mind with a dock-less Duo you have no access to emergency salavation (like a boot floppy) should a hard drive unexpectedly crash and crash hard. What do you boot it with? A RAM Disk that's what. In the Memory control panel, switch on RAM Disk and set it to at least 1.4MB. Then copy over a boot floppy to it. Set the RAM disk to save itself on shutdown and there you have it. If the Duo ever crashes badly, the Duo will simply boot off its RAM disk.
* Tip: Make your RAM Disk 2MB or so and put Norton Disk Doctor 3.5.2
on it. Really. You'll thank me. Even with Disk First Aid 8.5 you'll get
messages like 'Errors were found but DFA cannot fix this disk'. Norton's
will allow you to recover the disk and probably fix the corrupted file
so you can boot it off the hard disk again. ****Make sure you FIX the hard
disk problem though****
What's the RAM story with the 2300c?
You either get an 8MB or 20MB model. The 20MB model has 12MB in the single memory slot so you have to remove it to upgrade it (don't worry; you're sure to have plenty of potential buyers). You can buy a single 48MB card and upgrade to a maximum of 56MB. I recommend 16MB as an absolute minimum to those with the 8MB 2300c. 32 is even better (24 cards are hard to find though; better go straight to 40).
What can I run on it?
Anything! With 24MB RAM or so, you can run MS Office 98, QuarkXPress even, PageMaker, Netscape 4x or 4.5, IE 3.01 (I don't recommend IE 4x; MHO); Eudora Pro, FileMaker Pro etc. As I say, it's a bit slower than a 5300 but not by much.
What about OS software?
The Duo 2300c originally came with OS 7.5.2 (also used on the 190 and 5300). However, Apple has now removed 7.5.2 from its ftp sites, so you should go with the full install of 7.5.3 which incorporates all of 7.5.2's changes (I'm not going to say 'features'). It's a 19 disk download, so dial in, set and forget and go to bed. That's what I do. Use iCab or something to download (even IE) so you can resume any downloads that got messed up. 7.5.3 is a *full* install and is pretty slim if you don't have a lot of RAM. Update it with the free download to 7.5.5 (three disks).
The Duo supports all current system software. Note that from
7.6 onward you must use Open Transport and not Classic networking like
MacTCP (see PowerBook
software.). 7.6.1 will probably be fastest on the 2300, but lots of
owners prefer 8.1. Many people have also said they were happy with 8.5.1.
If you have 32MB of RAM or more, 8.5.1 is fine. Owners with less than that
should stick with 8.1 or 7.6.1.
A Word About SpeedDoubler (yes, this bit is plagiarised straight from the PowerBook 5300 page. But exactly the same applies here).
There's only one piece of essential software for the 2300 and that's
SpeedDoubler 8 which provides a dramatic speed
boost to your 2300. It requires 12MB RAM and OS 7.5.5 to run. SpeedDoubler's
emulater is vastly superior to Apple's
and its disk caching improves performance remarkably. It also accelerates
network copying (with Open Transport 1.1.2
or later) and Finder functions such as Duplicate or Empty Trash. Don't
bother buying a 5200 if you're not going to buy
SpeedDoubler. It's about $US49 or less and it's worth every penny.
My hat's off to the folks at Connectix.
So any Duo can become a 2300, huh?
Yep. Apple offered an upgrade path to all Duo owners. So even if you own a lowly Duo 210 (apologies in advance to 210 owners) you too can become a PowerMacing Duo owner. How? By swapping the logic board over, that's how. Why would you do this? If you have a big investment in docks and other paraphenalia, this might be a good upgrade, especially if you can track a logic board down cheaply.
What happens is you swap over the logic board (best get friendly Apple tech to do this unless you're a Duo afficionado) and that's it. You get double the motherboard RAM for a start (8MB). There's both an active matrix as well as a passive matrix connector. If you can find a box and the right connector, you can throw your old (small) SCSI hard disk into an enclosure and use it as an external SCSI drive (if you have a dock that is). Or you can leave your SCSI drive in the upgraded Duo.
Down sides? You're stuck with the same screen, probably the same hard drive and the same trackball. Unless the upgrade is really quite cheap, I'd advise against it. Then again, there's probably quite something in having the fastest Duo 210 on your block...
Batteries
Duo's use their own type of batteries. The early ones used Type I and II NiMH. The Duo 280s and 2300s use Type III NiMH. These are much better than the NiCADs used in the 100 series PBs (apart from the 190). Another reason to consider the Duo 2300 as an alternative to a full-sized PB. If you get a Duo with a dead battery, try Apple's free 'Battery Recondition' that comes with system software. It takes about 2 hours and might just rescue that 'dead' battery.
Buyer's Guide
*Problems*: Not many, but some niggling ones.
1. Battery contacts: make sure they're okay. Loose connectors could
be nightmarish.
2. Keyboards. A sore point with Apple. I think they're up to Revision
F. If your keyboard has problems see if Apple'll give you a free new one.
They're a bit embarrassed about this one. Before you buy, pull down the
Key Caps desk accessory and test all the keys. Only takes a minute.
3. Make sure the serial port's okay. Test it. If it's toast, walk away.
For the meantime it's your only way of getting so
