[transparent]

You might be thinking a Mac Book Pro would be a ton better, But I need to know if a PowerBook 5300 would be a good gift with a few old games would be good for a 6 year old.

I don't know since I've never used one but I need to know.

[mad cow disease]

If memory serves correctly the 5300 is over a decade old. Closer to a decade and a half, probably. It'd be like giving somebody a PC with windows 3.1 or Windows 95.

I don't particularly think it's a good gift, but I guess it depends who's it's for.

[Cold Warrior]

I don't think so. A 6 yr old is old enough to know that the games are dated and not as good as something for his PS2, XBOX, or Wii.

However, if he doesn't have anything else, then it's better than nothing.

[Dork.]

The power jack in the 5300's were prone to breaking, rendering the laptop unable to be charged. Apple's fix for this was to put a new motherboard in the unit. I believe there was even a third-party charger that plugged in via the media expansion bay, specifically because there were so many 5300's around that couldn't charge through the jack.

If you're looking for something cheap, but kid-durable to run old OS9 games on, you're probably better off with a 1st-gen, toilet-seat iBook.

[Andrew Stephens]

The battery on a 5300 will most likely be shot so it won't function as a stand alone laptop . The original power jack is iffy. It won't carry much RAM, which will be expensive and the browser it will run will struggle on moany modern websites.

Get a cheap old iBook - a million times better. A pressie that doesn't really work or costs a mint to keep running is not a great pressie.

It is a good pressie for a collector though.

[zaghahzag]

for the same money, buy some old game console + tons of games. 5300s were crap when they were new. They're still crap.

[zaghahzag]

or buy him a baseball. Giving someone a 5300 would be like buying them gift certificate for the dentist.

[Dork.]

Originally Posted by Andrew Stephens 

It is a good pressie for a collector though.

And if any of you know a collector who wants one, please PM me.

[Sourbook]

I still have my old 5300cs sitting on a closet shelf. I had to send it back to Apple after two months for a complete gutting and refit. The thing was pretty fast for it's time and was very reliable till the day it retired. I wouldn't part with it for anything. It's the computer that saved the world.

[imitchellg5]

My 5300cs was a great computer, but it had the power plug issues. On mine, even bumping it wrong would make it turn off. I have 3 batteries for it, one of which is good for at least an hour and a half of Wolfenstein.

[Dork.]

I wrote my masters degree project on my 5300c. Even got to do a bit of Newton programming on it, back in the day. Yes, I'm that old.

Diamonds, Civ II, X-Wing, lots of cool games back then!

[goMac]

Weren't 5300's the ones that would randomly catch fire?

I think a Wallstreet or a Pismo would be a better option. Pretty cheap. A lot more powerful. And pretty gosh darn durable.

[romeosc]

... Better to buy a Toilet seat iBook for $100.

It at least has usb.

The 5300 is good for spare to read and use SCSI devices etc.

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by goMac 

Weren't 5300's the ones that would randomly catch fire?

I think a Wallstreet or a Pismo would be a better option. Pretty cheap. A lot more powerful. And pretty gosh darn durable.

Yeah, they were. Mine has had smoke coming out of the AC plugin too.

[SierraDragon]

Originally Posted by transparent 

I need to know if a PowerBook 5300 would be a good gift with a few old games would be good for a 6 year old.

No, a PowerBook 5300 would not be a good gift for a 6 year old. Making old hardware/software work properly is a huge hassle and a kid that age needs hassle-free.

-Allen Wicks