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PowerBook G3
('Firewire'; 'Pismo')

Introduced in February 2000, Pismo represents an evolutionary advance over the previous G3 PowerBook, 'Lombard', Pismo removes the last vestiges of legacy Mac connectivity - namely the SCSI port, around since the PowerBook 100 - and adds Firewire and Airport support to the motherboard. Not the least of Pismo's advances is the conclusion of inclusion of a PowerPC 750 (G3) CPU running at 400 or 500MHz., the latter reprsenting the fastest G3 processor ever used in a Mac (so far).
 

	System bus	Display	Hard drive	RAM Std/Max	Battery	L2 cache	Ethernet	Modem	Floppy	CD ROM/DVD	Expansion bays
G3/400	100Mhz	14.1" XGA	6GB	64/512MB	LiION	1MB	10/100baseT	56K V90	n.a.*	Std (4x)	Two
G3/500	100 MHz	14.1" XGA	10GB (18GB BTO)	64/512MB	LiION	1MB	10/100baseT	56K V90	n.a.*	Std (4x)	Two

* Third party Expansion Bay modules such as internal Imation SuperDisk (120MB disks and 1.4MB floppies) and VST 1.4MB floppy drive available.
Note that Firewire Dsk Mode replace SCSI Disk Mode. Firewire Disk Mode is possible between Firewire-equipped Macintoshes, including other PowerBooks. This includes PowerBooks equipped with Firewire PC cards. A SCSI PC card supports external SCSI devices for output to hard disks, scanners and removable media. The G3 Firewire does not officially support SCSI Disk Mode however.

Additional Features:

ï Two standard SO-DIMM expansion slots for SDRAM modules and 64 MB minimum of SDRAM installed, expandable to 512 MB total
ï 14.1-inch TFT display with XGA resolution (1024 x 768 pixels)
ï Standard VGA video connector for external video monitor with XGA resolution, and S-video connector that supports PAL and NTSC video monitors
ï 8 MB of video SDRAM (24 bit [millions] colour on internal and external monitors
ï Ultra ATA hard drive of up to 18 GB
ï DVD-ROM with DVD-RAM readability supported
ï Integrated wireless communication with AirPort Card upgrade
ï Two hot-swappable expansion bays for two batteries or one battery and one DVD-ROM drive
ï One manual-eject CardBus slot that accepts one Type II CardBus card or PCMCIA Card
ï Two 400mbps FireWire ports with support for FireWire Disk Mode
ï Two USB ports for external keyboard, mouse, and other USB devices
ï Built-in microphone and speakers as well as a line-level stereo input jack and a stereo headphone jack
ï Keyboard with embedded numeric keypad and inverted-T arrow keys. Some function keys control the display and speakers
ï Trackpad with tap/double tap and drag features
ï 2D and 3D graphics via ATI Rage Mobility M3 with AGP
ï Infrared link for up to 4 Mbit-per-second IrDA data transfer
ï Anything more you want?

Well there's more: announced simultaneously at the Pismo's February 2000 release, VST <www.vsttech.com> announced a CDRW expansion bay module. Cool. With Adaptec Direct CD <www.adaptec.com> you could even make on-the-fly backups while you're on the road. VST has subsequently announced that they're making the CDRW device for the Lombard and Wallstreet G3s. The Lombard and Pismo devices are interchangeable; the Wallstreet's module comes in a slightly different casing to match the Wallstreet's larger form factor.

Lombard owners who're upgrading will be pleased to hear that their batteriesand Apple expansion bay modules all work with Pismo. VST's Zip and floppy modules should work as well. So if you're making the leap from Lombard to Pismo (lucky you), you'll be able to take a lot with you if you've invested heavily in peripherals.

But not RAM. The good news is that all Pismos employ a 100MHz system bus. The bad news is this requires PC-100 SO DIMMs, as opposed to the 66MHz SO DIMMs in the Lombard. If you put in PC-100 DIMMs in your Lombard, you can use them in the Pismo; if not, don't.

The DVD video module is finally standard on the Pismo, Apple having prevaricated on DVD with Wallstreet and Lombard; previously, it was an option or only available on the high-end model (Wallstreet 300, Lombard 400 for example). The Pismo module reads DVD RAM disks at 4x, as well as standard CD ROMs at 12x (specs are a bit hazy on this point; but bear in mind that CD ROMs/DVDs rarely, if ever, read at maximum speed).

The biggest point insofar as Mac legacy support goes is Pismo's dropping of SCSI (the last Mac to do so :-( But there's an Adaptec PC card which permits access to fast SCSI devices which every legacy Mac user owns (or should own). How well this card works with stuff like external CDRWs, few know at this stage, but there're unlikely to be major issues as SCSI PC card technology has existed for some time - it just hasn't been necessary to write Mac drivers as Macs have had SCSI on board since year dot (or the Mac Plus anyway). But the downside is that unless you own another Firewire-equipped Mac - like a B&W G3, iMac DV or G4 - you've lost that useful SCSI Disk Mode feature. Now AFA I'm concerned, this move probably makes sense for Apple; I suspect most Pismo buyers, if they own a desktop Mac, will have a machine of the G3/G4 variety, not the LCII class.

OPTIONS:

Burning up the miles

Big news here. Not only does VST continue to offer the expansion bay Zip and SuperDisk it offered for the previous G3 PowerBook models, but it adds an CDRW drive. No more backup worries: for example, Adaptec's Toast supports ATAPI CDRWs and this means you can back up your data to hard CD media on the road. Unfortunately, Adaptec's DirectCD, a prime candidate for use with a PB CDRW, hasn't been updated recently and I'm not aware whether it supports ATAPI drives. But if you use a CDRW, you can just do incremental backups and just erase the disk using Toast when you want to put new data on it. For mobile warriors who need to share their data with PC users, you can, of course, burn a PC-formatted or hybrid CD to share with both Mac and PC users.

Putting Fire into the 'Book

For the first time, the PB G3 gets two 400mbps FireWire ports, replacing the venerable HDI-30 SCSI connector that's served us so well since 1991. FireWire support also incorporates FireWire disk mode, which lets you mount a PB's hard disk onto another PB or FireWire-equipped desktop, like an iMac DV or Power Macintosh G3 (B&W) or G4. I'm not entirely certain whether this will work with a beige PCI Power Mac desktop with a FireWire card in it. If you know for sure, mail me here.

Firewire also permits the use of peripherals such as digital cameras, hard drives and CDRWs. You should be able to power one FireWire peripheral per connector with the PB (but not computers). Check the power requirements of given perupherals though, as you don't want to overheat your logic board or controllers. With FireWire peripherals attached of course, just like media bay modules, you'll use more battery juice obviously. The FireWire controller allows much faster download and transfer speeds than the SCSI-II interface on the older PBs. When working with very large files, such as digital video, this can make a world of difference. FireWire peripherals - such as cameras, hard drives and CDRWs - are becoming more common now and prices are moving toward the acceptable. But you'll always pay more for cutting-edge technology if you're an 'early adopter'. Take a look at the price of a 1.0GB SCSI hard drive in 1992 if you don't believe me.

Departing Gate 9.04...

Airport, first on the iBook, then appearing on the Power Mac G4 and iMac series II, finally makes its built-in appearance on the Pismo. In case you don't know, Airport permits 50 metre wireless network or internet connectivity with up to 10 users at up to 10baseT ethernet speeds (11mbps). In the US, Airport is a $99 option. With Airport installed, you can communicate with other Macs or PCs (appropriately equipped and configured). If you or your partners have any PowerBook 190, 5300, 1400, 2400, 3400, G3 Kanga, Wallstreet or Lombard equipped with the Lucent Technologies or Farallon WaveLAN PC card, you'll also be able to talk to a Pismo, or access the network or the internet through. If one Mac is utilised as a 'server' or gateway to the 'net, there's no need for Apple's Airport Base Station, although this is obviously a cheaper gateway/router solution. Note with the PC card solution though that you'll only get 4mbps maximum rather than 11mbps. But if it's just a 56K modem internet connection, that doesn't matter at all. You'll be wireless, and that's what counts.

As a side note, I'm not sure whether the Farallon or Lucent cards support the PowerBook 500 with the rare PC card module. There's no reason why they wouldn't and it clearly doesn't require PowerPC as they work on the PowerBook 190.

What else?

The usual slew of Apple technologies make a reappearance on Pismo. I'm glad to see that IrDA hasn't gone to the dogs as it's useful for quick file sharing connections between 'Books and early iMacs without Airport capabilities. My gripe is that more recent incarnations of Apple's implementation of IrDA leave out IRTalk, the infrared LocalTalk - not surprising given Apple's gradual cessation of support for legacy technologies. The bottom line is that Pismo can't use IR to talk to the PB190 (so equipped), 5300 or 1400, although everything from the 3400 on is fine.

Twin USB ports continue the new serial interface started with Lombard. Naturally, printers, joysticks, microphones, keyboards and mice that're USB are everywhere now (thanks to the iMac). You'll scarcely find an inkjet printer without it now. If you want to plug in your old StyleWriter or DeskJet, there're plenty of 3rd party USB-->serial converters on the market. If you have something like VST's uSCSI adapter for your iMac, you should be able to use that for your Pismo, rather than purchasing an additional PC card for SCSI connectivity.

Using BTO at the Apple Store you can have an 18GB hard disk dropped in, although there's also IBM's Travelstar 25GB and probably bigger ones being made as I write this. But for additional storage, consider a removable media bay hard drive. VST makes 8GB plus HDDs for the Pismo which are hot swappable, work in Lombards and take advantage of DMA for faster transfer speeds (No, I have no interest in VST in case you're wondering; they just happen to manufacture a lot of Mac and PowerBook peripherals, and I believe in supporting Mac hardware and software developers and vendors, don't you?).
 

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Both the Pismo 400 and 500 are hugely fast, fully-equipped PowerBooks. They're lighter than a Sony Vaio and, according to a number of real world tests, whip the Mobile PIII 650Mhz Vaio into the dust. For mobile graphics and multimedia, as well as effortless wireless network integration and FireWire connectivity, Pismo is truly unrivalled in the global notebook market.