Duo upgrade to PPC?
Siegfried
one of the 030 Powerbooks. He said ANY Duo is Power PC upgradable! I
never heard this before. I won't be able to afford the 040 Powerbooks. I
know the 030 PBs aren't upgradable. HELP!
Is this true?
When will this tech be available?
What will it cost?
Should I forget it and assume that buying any PB or Duo now won't be PPC
anytime in the future?
Thanks in advance.
Tim
UIUC
Marc D. Posner
jma...@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Siegfried ) wrote:
> I just spoke with a dealer who was trying to convince me to buy a Duo over
> one of the 030 Powerbooks. He said ANY Duo is Power PC upgradable! I
> never heard this before. I won't be able to afford the 040 Powerbooks. I
> know the 030 PBs aren't upgradable. HELP!
>
> Is this true?
>
From what I've heard from several Apple techs, yes. All Duos in the
forseeable future will use the same shell. Therefore, with a logic board
upgrade, all will be upgradeable to future models. ALL. Even the 210 can be
upgraded to PPC, when that logic board is available.
At least, that's the plan Apple has right now.
> When will this tech be available?
>
No idea. Early next year?
> What will it cost?
>
Dunno.
> Should I forget it and assume that buying any PB or Duo now won't be PPC
> anytime in the future?
>
All Duos should be upgradeable. That was part of the Duo design. Since the
motherboard and PowerLatch port are integrated, there is no 'bus' problem
that the all-in-one PBs have. And since it isn't a daughterboard upgrade,
any Duo now can use the new logic board.
> Thanks in advance.
>
No problem
> Tim
> UIUC
--
Marc Posner
pos...@zeus.bwh.harvard.edu
nick.c
pos...@zeus.bwh.harvard.edu (Marc D. Posner) wrote:
>In article <jmadler-13...@corky.slip.uiuc.edu>,
>jma...@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Siegfried ) wrote:
>From what I've heard from several Apple techs, yes. All Duos in the
>forseeable future will use the same shell. Therefore, with a logic board
>upgrade, all will be upgradeable to future models. ALL. Even the 210 can be
>upgraded to PPC, when that logic board is available.
>
>At least, that's the plan Apple has right now.
Yes. However, it's still unclear (at least to me) if the new
logic boards will support the older passive matrix displays.
That may mean (this is speculation) that you will need to
upgrade both the logic and the display of 210 and 230 units
to use the 603 motherboard. This will not be cost effective
for 210 and 230 owners (ie the combined upgrades would be more
expensive than buying a new unit). As a 230 owner, I'd like
to upgrade my logic and keep the passive (battery friendly)
display.
>> When will this tech be available?
January '95 - tentatively.
>> What will it cost?
Expect around $1000. Not certain, but a reasonable speculation based
on the fact that you will have to replace the entire logic board.
New powerbook logic boards have come in around $1000 consistently
for the high end machines for the last 3 or 4 generations, and the
040 logic upgrade for older Duo's was announced to cost around
$1000. (oh, and the display upgrade to color active matrix will
cost around $2000. no upgrade to grey active matrix will be offered
at this time.)
>> Should I forget it and assume that buying any PB or Duo now won't be PPC
>> anytime in the future?
>>
>All Duos should be upgradeable. That was part of the Duo design. Since the
>motherboard and PowerLatch port are integrated, there is no 'bus' problem
>that the all-in-one PBs have. And since it isn't a daughterboard upgrade,
>any Duo now can use the new logic board.
Again, I'm uncertain whether the newer logic boards will be backwards
compatible with the old displays. That would mean adding addition
design into the board solely for upgrading old machines. Still,
Apple has recognized there is a market for upgrading powerbooks,
so it's possible. The 270c and up will definitely be compatible
with both the 040 and 603 upgrades, the 250 will most likely
work to, with the 210 and 230 I figure you've got a better than
50% chance of them being upgradeable w/out a display upgrade -
and I'm *hoping* that's the case. They will certainly be upgrade
able if you get the display upgrade - just not cost effective.
All Blackbirds will be PPC upgradeable for only $500 (again in Jan '95).
Note, they will be slower than same speed 603 Duo's though, do
to a different logic design which allows for this cheaper upgrade.
All Classic Powerbooks (100 through 180c) will not be upgradeable.
-- nick
_/ _/ _/ _/_/_/ _/ _/ Sea Shells to C shells, Waikiki to
_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/_/ the Internet, a wave, is a wave...
_/ _/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/
_/ _/ _/ _/_/_/ _/ _/ CompSrv: 71232,766 I-Net: Ni...@pitt.edu
Alex Tang
: In article <jmadler-13...@corky.slip.uiuc.edu>,
: jma...@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Siegfried ) wrote:
: > I just spoke with a dealer who was trying to convince me to buy a Duo over
: > one of the 030 Powerbooks. He said ANY Duo is Power PC upgradable! I
: > never heard this before. I won't be able to afford the 040 Powerbooks. I
: > know the 030 PBs aren't upgradable. HELP!
: >
: > Is this true?
: >
: From what I've heard from several Apple techs, yes. All Duos in the
: forseeable future will use the same shell. Therefore, with a logic board
: upgrade, all will be upgradeable to future models. ALL. Even the 210 can be
: upgraded to PPC, when that logic board is available.
: At least, that's the plan Apple has right now.
I've read the same in MacWeek (early april i think). They mentioned that
there will be a logic board upgrade to 603. However, I've heard from my
Ex-housemate who now works for Apple in Austin, that there might be some
problems due to heat and such. I dunno. (honestly, I'm really hoping
that they're ppc upgradable. I just bought a used 230 with plans to
upgrade next year. :)
...alex...
SandersM
intention is to offer PPC upgrades to all Duo models. She added the caveat
that, of course, plans may change between now and next year, and that upgrades
from older Duos might cost more [this, I gathered, was little more than
speculation on her part], but that the upgrade would be nothing more than a
logic board swap and, accordingly, would likely be offered to all Duo owners.
So, there you go: Information worth every penny you paid for it.
Sanders McNew, Scribe
Hell's Kitchen Debating Society
New York City
"Trust everybody, but cut the cards." -- Finley Peter Dunne.
David Schwartz
: forseeable future will use the same shell. Therefore, with a logic board
: upgrade, all will be upgradeable to future models. ALL. Even the 210 can be
: upgraded to PPC, when that logic board is available.
explained that Duo upgrades _must_ include the active matrix screen. The reason
he gave was that the '040's were tested with this configuration, and Apple won't
support any other.
So, yes, any Duo can be upgraded. But I'll cost ya!
david schwartz
BMUG