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PowerBook Buyer's Guide

PowerBook Duo 280

by Steve Hildreth

The Duo 280 is essentially equivalent to the 280c with the exception of its 9" active-matrix grayscale screen, smaller 240 MB hard drive, and extremely light weight. At 4.2 pounds, this is one of the lightest Macs you can get. If you can live without color while on the road, a PowerPC-upgraded 280 is a powerful, extremely lightweight laptop. While docked, the 280 can power a 21 inch monitor with 256 colors and a 16 inch monitor with 32,000 colors. While only 0.1-0.2 pounds lighter than the newer 2400c, the 280 can be had for far less cash on the used market, while still providing PowerPC performance (assuming that it's been upgraded!).

Rating

At the time: B

Ports
1 serial
internal modem
processor direct slot (PDS) for dock or floppy drive

Display
Active-matrix 16-level grayscale
9"
640x400 resolution

Weight
4.2 pounds

Apple's Specifications:

Logic Board Ports Power
Processor: 68LC040, 66 MHz
PMMU: integrated
FPU: none
Data Path: 32-bit, 33 MHz
L1 Cache: 8K
L2 Cache: none
2nd Processor: none
Slots: modem, dock
ADB: none
Video: none
Floppy: none
SCSI: none
Geoports: none
Ethernet: none
FireWire:
Mic Type: none
Other Ports: Printer,
Max Watts: 25
Amps: 1.04
BTU per Hr: 85.5
Voltage: 100-240
Freq Range: 50-60 Hz
Battery Type: Duo, NiMH Type III
Soft Power: yes
Memory Video Memory
Logic Board: 4 MB
RAM Slots: 1, Duo
Min - Max RAM: 4 MB - 40 MB
Min RAM Speed: 70 ns
RAM Sizes: 4-36 MB
Install in Groups of: 1
Resolution Video Memory
built-in LCD screen
(built in)
512 x 384 n/a-bit
640 x 400 4-bit
640 x 480 n/a-bit
800 x 600 n/a-bit
832 x 624 n/a-bit
1024 x 768 n/a-bit
1152 x 870 n/a-bit
1280 x 1024 n/a-bit
Physical Software Storage
Introduced: 5/16/1994
Discontinued: 11/14/1994
Form Factor: PowerBook Duo
Gestalt ID: 102
Weight (lbs): 4.2
Dimensions (in): 1.4 H x 10.9 W x 8.5 D
Addressing Modes: 24-, 32-bit
Orig SSW: 7.1.1
Orig Enabler: PowerBook Duo Enabler v2.0
ROM ID: $067C
ROM Ver: n/a
ROM Size: 1MB
AppleTalk Ver: 57.0.4
Mac OS
Supported:
7.1.1
7.5
7.5.1
7.5.3
7.5.5
7.6
7.6.1
8.0
Floppy Size: none
Floppy Inject: n/a
Min. Int HD Size: 240MB
Int HD Interface: SCSI
Orig CD Speed n/a
Int CD Support:

 

Week's Best MacBook Prices:
Specials for PowerBook Central Readers

17" MacBook Pro
2.53GHz i5: MSRP $2299
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B&H $2199
MacConnection $2049
MacMall - Your #1 Apple Superstore! $2199.99

15" MacBook Pro
2.4GHz i5: MSRP $1799
2.53GHz i5: MSRP $1999
2.66GHz i7: MSRP $2199

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2.4GHz 2.53GHz 2.66GHz
B&H $1739.95 $1929.95 $2099.95
MacConnection $1669 $1799 $1969
MacMall - Your #1 Apple Superstore! $1739.99 $1929.99 $2099.99

13" MacBook Pro
2.4GHz: MSRP $1199
2.66GHz: MSRP $1499
spacer
2.4GHz 2.66GHz
B&H $1159 $1449
MacConnection $1049 $1349
MacMall - Your #1 Apple Superstore! $1159.99 $1449.99

MacBook Air
1.86GHz/120GB HD: MSRP $1499
2.13GHz/128GB SSD: MSRP $1799
spacer
1.86GHz 2.13GHz
B&H $1427.95 $1707.29
MacConnection $1439 $1729
MacMall - Your #1 Apple Superstore! $1447.98 $1707.27

Apple Store
Apple Refurbished
June 2009 models:
17" 2.8GHz MacBook Pro: $1869
15" 2.66GHz MacBook Pro: $1529
13" 2.53GHz MacBook Pro: $1189
13" 2.26GHz MacBook Pro: $929
13" 2.13GHz/128GB MacBook Air: $1549
13" 1.86GHz/120GB MacBook Air: $1249
Oct 2009 models:
13" 2.26GHz White MacBook: $849
March 2009 models:
15" 2.93GHz MacBook Pro: $1949
Jan 2009 models:
17" 2.93GHz MacBook Pro: $2199
17" 2.66GHz MacBook Pro: $1949
Oct 2008 models:
13" 1.8GHz/128GB MacBook Air: $1449
13" 1.6GHz/120GB MacBook Air: $1199

Updated Daily


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