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lothar56 · Dec 26, 2005, 09:58 PM

Okay, I have two powerbook 5300cs's, and there's at least one working laptop between them. (One is perfect except for a ripped display cable, oops, the other had battery leakage or something, i'm waiting for it to come still). I've got a Classic case that's been sitting here unused for a long time, so here's my plan. I found that the 10.4" powerbook LCD fits perfectly in the classic's case, so I'll dremel down posts and such so that it's mostly flush. I'll pull the PB's innards from the case and rearrange them inside the Classic, and probably make a new bezel for the rear. I was thinking of mounting the trackpad in the side of the computer to make it convienent, then just plugging in a keyboard if I need one. The plan is to run 'Slide Freebie' (found it on VT) which just takes a folder of pictures and make a slideshow. It require a PPC (got it), 6-12MB of RAM (got 16) and Quicktime (no prob). My biggest concern is how to get the pictures onto the computer. Right now it has a 500MB HD, and I'm not sure what the one I have coming is, either 500 or 750. This really isn't a problem, since my entire iPhoto library is around 580megs. It would be easy enough to use SCSI target mode to one of my Beige G3's, but I was thinking if I sell this on eBay it would be nice to have a more convienent way to do it. So I was thinking about a PCMCIA wireless b card. Also, I've got tons of internal (both SCSI and IDE) Zip, Jazz, and hard drives lying around.

So here are my questions:
1 What wireless cards would be compatible, and what system should I run? I've got everything from 7.1 to Tiger. Right now the PB has 8.0, I suppose each card would have different requirements?

2. Is there any conceivable way to use a normal internal drive, I've got tons of power and ribbon cables to splice and solder, so that's not a problem. If at all possible, I'd like to use what I have and not have to buy anything more.

3. What if I was to get a USB PC card and a small USB external drive? I think all I need for USB is OS 8.1, right? Then all the pictures could be stored there and easily transferred between computers, or even just a jump drive would work. What's the best bet on a USB PC card for this computer?

Any answers?

Langdon · Dec 27, 2005, 12:02 AM

1) Lowendmac did a list of wireless cards that work

2) a 3.5 inch HDD would require another powersupply since I doubt the powerbook's can provide enough to get it to spin up.

3)The 5300 can not use a USB PC card since those require a 32 bit PC card slot which your laptop does not have.

lothar56 · Dec 27, 2005, 01:05 AM

That sucks, I really liked the jump drive idea. Well, I suppose wireless is my next best choice.

But one other question:
Is it a problem that the motherboard is running outside the powerbook's case? I don't have a display hooked up so I can't really see what's going on, but I have it mounted to one of my beige G3's in OS X and it randomly shuts off. I noticed that the bottom of the powerbook's case is a coppery looking material, which would contact the processor. Does this act as a sort of heatsink? Do I need a fan or some type of heatsink on the processor now that it's not in the case?