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piano lady

Q: dropped powerbook 180c

Help, my very old powerbook 180c fell to the floor. Half the screen is missing. Everything else seems to be intact. Is this fixable or should I just toss my old friend. I've had it since the mid to late 1980's and still use it in my piano studio--has some very early theory games for young beginners that are not available anymore. I'd hate to lose them, but I may have to.

Thanks for any ideas/help.

emac, Mac OS X (10.5.4)

Posted on Sep 9, 2008 1:12 PM

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Q: dropped powerbook 180c

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  • by Texas Mac Man,

    Texas Mac Man Texas Mac Man Sep 9, 2008 5:34 PM in response to piano lady
    Level 8 (46,611 points)
    Sep 9, 2008 5:34 PM in response to piano lady
    piano lady, welcome to Apple Discussions.

    You can join LEM-Swap for buying & selling Mac stuff. http://groups.google.com/group/lemswap
    After you join, post a WTB (want to buy) for another PB 180c. You can swap the hard drive & you can recover your files.

     Cheers, Tom

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Sep 9, 2008 6:54 PM in response to piano lady
    Level 9 (61,297 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 9, 2008 6:54 PM in response to piano lady
    Good screens on old Powerbooks whose main units have failed are detached from their failed main units and sold separately on eBay. If you are exceptionally handy you could do a screen swap.

    But these units are so old now that they are only appearing occasionally, and then mostly as complete units, and often in questionable condition. The internal SCSI drives for them are no longer available, so when that fails, it's no longer a portable or is declared dead.

    It may be a smarter move to get a newer old powerbook, such as a G3 model, that will still run the old programs but have more parts and repair available.

    The prices of parts for older powerbooks have all dropped substantially, except for one part. New batteries, even third-party batteries, still seem to cost nearly what they did when the computer was new. Like tires for cars, they don't last forever, and wear out even if you don't use them.
  • by piano lady,

    piano lady piano lady Sep 9, 2008 9:09 PM in response to Texas Mac Man
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 9, 2008 9:09 PM in response to Texas Mac Man
    Thank you for your suggestion. It was helpful. piano lady
  • by piano lady,

    piano lady piano lady Sep 9, 2008 9:11 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 9, 2008 9:11 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Thank you for your suggestion. It was helpful. I may just recycle the computer at a recycling site. I do hate to see my "old" friend depart, but as you said even tires need to be replaced. piano lady
  • by Niteshooter,

    Niteshooter Niteshooter Sep 11, 2008 6:56 AM in response to piano lady
    Level 2 (454 points)
    Sep 11, 2008 6:56 AM in response to piano lady
    Hi, you may be able to recover your files from that hard drive if you can find an external SCSI case for that hard drive.

    I didn't catch your location but you might want to see if you can find a local Macintosh User Group who will probably have a member like me who keeps lots of older hardware and peripherals. This person should be able to help you recover your files fairly easily.

    If you are in Toronto pm me and I can help.

    You could also try fixing it, the 180c had rather brittle casing and the one's I've worked on sometimes had issues with the screen. Try pressing lightly around the outer plastic edges of the screen and see if that brings it back, or is the LCD cracked? It will look like someone poured oil inside the screen...

    I'm hesitant to say recycle it especially when many recyclers do not wipe the hard drives so if they resell it as parts someone might buy it and gain access to your hard drive.

    I've bought them before, http://www.thestar.com/News/article/201286

    Kevin
  • by Appaloosa mac man,

    Appaloosa mac man Appaloosa mac man Sep 11, 2008 12:35 PM in response to piano lady
    Level 5 (4,330 points)
    Sep 11, 2008 12:35 PM in response to piano lady
    piano lady,

    I had to wait until the 1990s to get my PB 180, maybe you had an early release. Just teasing about the apparent typo.

    You indicate that the screen is only half functional. Have you considered plugging in an external monitor? Even my son's one year-old laptop is working as a desktop mac because of a fall.

    The external monitor, if you have one will let you salvage files before the machine dies once and for all. Google for a user group in your area and you may find sympathetic supplies.

    Jim