]> http://www.applefritter.com/taxonomy/term/46/0 en http://www.applefritter.com/node/3366 [center][image:3362][/center] Outbound Systems is the only pre-PPC clone manufacturer to actually receive Apple's blessing. Not coincidentally, the Notebook is the most plentiful clone, and Outbound Systems the most successful clone manufacturer. [center][image:3363][/center] The Outbound Notebook's processor, RAM, and ROM are all stored on a removable daughtercard. This is very fortunate, as the rest of the system is nearly impossible to get apart. Access is easily provided to all componets that the user may want to swap out. [center][image:3364] Mac SE ROMs, top; Mac Classic ROMs, bottom.[/center] ROMs from both the Mac SE and Mac Classic (and others?) can be used in the Outbound Notebook. In order to make the Notebook functional, Apple ROMs had to be installed. If the user already owned a Macintosh, pulling the ROMs from that unit was the most cost-effective way to go. [center][image:3365][/center] The Outbound Notebook uses generic video-camera batteries, an incredible advantage over other laptops. Batteries for the Notebook are cheap ($30 at Radio Shack) and plentiful. Compare this to Powerbook 100 batteries, which must be specially ordered through an Apple Authorized Dealer for $80 (now, no longer available at all), and are often depleted beyond recovery on arrival. The hard drives are IDE. I'm note sure what the reasoning was beyond this move (probably cost), but the drive works well enough. If it dies I could be in trouble, though. Thu, 17 Jun 2004 18:02:46 -0700 http://www.applefritter.com/node/3359 [center][i]Macintosh set your mind free. Now, set your Macintosh free. Lightweight. Powerful. Affordable. Don't settle for deskbound when you can be... Outbound.[/i] [/center] [center][image:3352][/center] The Outbound Laptop is a great computer. Other portable clone manufacturers settled for repackaging Mac Pluses. Outbound made their own. And they made it better. The Outbound Laptop weighs in at 9.3 lbs, heavy for a laptop today, but light as a feather compared to the Mac Portable. The computer's design is very innovative. The keyboard detaches and communicates with the computer via an infra-red port. The pointing device, built into the keyboard, is an Isopoint Trackbar, which is a cross between the eraser stubs on IBM Thinkpads and a trackball. [center][image:3357][/center] The motherboard and floppy drive (mine doesn't have an HD, though some did) are stored behind the LCD. The battery is in the computer's stand. The computer can be propped up at the edge of the desk, taking up only about 6 inches, and the keyboard, with its infra-red port, can be placed anywhere - under papers, on top of books. When the keyboard isn't needed, it can simply snap onto the front of the unit. The Outbound Laptop possesses a near perfect desktop design. And it also makes a pretty decent portable. There's a little bar that pops out of the back of the keyboard that iphysically attaches the keyboard to the computer, giving the user a perfectly functional, if a bit top-heavy, laptop. When it's time to actually move the computer, the base folds up, the keyboard snaps into place, and the handle pops out, making transportation effortless. [center][image:3358][/center] I am very interested in acquiring a power adapter for the Outbound Laptop. I burnt mine up by inadvertantly connecting it to an Outbound [i]Notebook[/i]. Thu, 17 Jun 2004 17:48:44 -0700