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PowerBook Buyer's Guide
PowerBook 550c
by Steve Hildreth
From someone who recently posted an ad for a 550c:
PB550c - Only sold in Japan. It has a 10.4'' active matrix screen, which goes all the way out to the corners, and is a full 1'' bigger than the 540c. I hear that this is the best quality screen ever to be put on a powerbook, including the 3400 Hooper.
It has the same design as the 540c, but is black. Externally,it's immaculate. This is a discontinued rare model, and I think it'll hold it's value (maybe even go up???) long into the future.
It comes with a Japanese layout keyboard, but I can swap it for an English keyboard if you prefer. (but the English keyboard would be for the grey 540c, and so there would be a two-tone effect.) The english letter character set-up is the same but extra characters, like (*&?>^$ take a bit of getting used to.
I'm running KanjiTalk7.5.5 now, the Japanese OS, but it's completely compatible with English 7.6. Without the NuPower card, it blows the 540c away, and with the NuPower, it blows the 5300ce away.
The 040 33mhz chip is almost 2X as fast as the 540s in mathematical calculations and graphics because it has an attached FPU, which the 540 does not.
Rating:
At the time: A
Ports:
1 serial
ADB
audio out
audio in
video out
Ethernet
internal modem
1 PDS slot
HDI-30 SCSI
Display:
Active-matrix 1000s colors
10.4"
640x480 resolution (?)
Weight: 7.3 pounds +
Apple's Specifications:
| Logic Board |
Ports |
Power |
| Processor: |
68040, 66 MHz |
| PMMU: |
integrated |
| FPU: |
none |
| Data Path: |
32-bit, 33 MHz |
| L1 Cache: |
8K |
| L2 Cache: |
none |
| 2nd Processor: |
none |
| Slots: |
modem |
|
| ADB: |
1 |
| Video: |
mini-15 |
| Floppy: |
none |
| SCSI: |
HDI-30 |
| Geoports: |
none |
| Ethernet: |
AAUI-15 |
| FireWire: |
|
| Mic Type: |
Line in |
| Other Ports: |
Printer, Speaker,
|
|
| Max Watts: |
40 |
| Amps: |
1.0/1.5 |
| BTU per Hr: |
136.8 |
| Voltage: |
100-240 |
| Freq Range: |
50-60 Hz |
| Battery Type: |
PB500, NiMH |
| Soft Power: |
yes |
|
| Memory |
Video Memory |
| Logic Board: |
4 MB |
| RAM Slots: |
1, PB5xx |
| Min - Max RAM: |
12 MB - 36 MB |
| Min RAM Speed: |
70 ns |
| RAM Sizes: |
4, 8, 12, 20, 32 MB |
| Install in Groups of: |
1 |
|
| Resolution |
Video Memory
built-in LCD screen
(built in) |
Video Memory
512K VRAM (ext. only)
(built in) |
| 512 x 384 |
n/a-bit |
8-bit |
| 640 x 400 |
16-bit |
n/a-bit |
| 640 x 480 |
8-bit |
8-bit |
| 800 x 600 |
n/a-bit |
8-bit |
| 832 x 624 |
n/a-bit |
8-bit |
| 1024 x 768 |
n/a-bit |
n/a-bit |
| 1152 x 870 |
n/a-bit |
n/a-bit |
| 1280 x 1024 |
n/a-bit |
n/a-bit |
|
| Physical |
Software |
Storage |
| Introduced: |
5/30/1995 |
| Discontinued: |
n/a |
| Form Factor: |
PowerBook 520 |
| Gestalt ID: |
72 |
| Weight (lbs): |
6.8 |
| Dimensions (in): |
2.3 H x 11.5 W x 9.7 D |
|
|
|
| Addressing Modes: |
32-bit |
| Orig SSW: |
J-7.5 |
| Orig Enabler: |
PowerBook 550c Enabler |
| ROM ID: |
$067C |
| ROM Ver: |
$30 |
| ROM Size: |
2MB |
| AppleTalk Ver: |
58.1.3 |
Mac OS
Supported: |
7.5
7.5.1
7.5.3
7.5.5
7.6
7.6.1
8.0 |
|
| Floppy Size: |
1.44MB |
| Floppy Inject: |
manual |
| Min. Int HD Size: |
750MB |
| Int HD Interface: |
SCSI |
| Orig CD Speed |
n/a |
| Int CD Support: |
|
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