Tag: PowerBook 180

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PowerBook Battery Recharger (for PowerBook 140–180, 1992)

Several PowerBook models from the early- to mid-1990s all shared a common swappable battery, models including PowerBook 140–180. This PowerBook Battery Recharger was designed to charge two swappable PowerBook batteries. At the time, Apple’s laptop designs did not encase the battery inside the laptop, and users were able to swap a low battery for a charged one on the fly.

Until I acquired this PowerBook Battery Recharger, I had never seen one. The color is greenish gray and contrasts slightly from the PowerBook laptops of the time, but matches the tint of an Apple case designed for the same batteries. I acquired the this charger and the case at the same time.

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PowerBook Battery Case (1992)

Several PowerBook models from the early- to mid-1990s all shared a common removable battery (i.e., PowerBook 140–180). This PowerBook Battery Case was designed to safely hold the PowerBook battery at the time, including its attached “battery door” that was removable, but generally remained connected to the battery to make changing batteries quick and easy.

Until I acquired this PowerBook Battery Case, I had never seen one, despite the fact that I owned a PowerBook 160 in the early 1990s. The color is greenish gray and contrasts slightly from the laptops available at the time, but matches the tint of an Apple battery charger for the same batteries I also have in my collection.

My guess is that this battery case shipped with the PowerBook 180c (which I acquired along with this battery case). The Macintosh User’s Guide for the PowerBook 180 states:

“Important care and safety instructions… Transport batteries either inside the computer or in the protective case provided with each battery. Do not transport unprotected batteries.”

Source: Apple

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PowerBook 180 (1992)

The Apple Macintosh PowerBook 180 featured a 33 MHz 68030 processor, 4 MB of RAM, either an 80 MB or 120 MB hard drive, and an internal 1.44 MB floppy drive. The screen was a 9.8-inch grayscale active-matrix display.

The PowerBook 180 supported 4-bit grayscale on the the built-in display, and it allowed 8-bit color when plugged into an external monitor.

Because the laptop supported an external color screen, included a fast processor for the time, and supported a 120 MB hard drive, this PowerBook was the first Macintosh laptop that could replace a desktop with no compromises. In fact, the PowerBook 180 was equivalent in performance to the Macintosh LC III+, also available at the time.

Source: EveryMac.com