Howdy All,
Last night I was given a Powerbook 1400c. It's got a NuPOWR G3 250Mhz, 64MB RAM and is in the process of inheriting a 6GB drive. It's even got a good battery! Not bad for setting up someone's e-mail on an older iMac, huh? 
My question is what OS would be best for this machine? It came with OS 9.0.4 installed, but it's got about a bazillion extensions loading when it boots (Seriously - there are 4 lines during the icon parade! I've never seen so many extensions!). I know I can pare those extensions down, and I just might do that and keep the system folder the way it is. I just wanted to know what system would give the best performance/functionality ratio.
Thanks in advance,
The Czar
Hey,
The big question is what are you going to do with it? The 1400 maxxes out at 64MB so you're stuck there. Not one of Apple's brightest moves. Also, the "C" key trick of booting a CD won't work on a 1400c. Even so, I'd say OS 9.1 and I would download or burn the drivers/software for that G3 upgrade for when you get that 6 gig drive.
The C key booting does work.
My G3 PB1400 runs 8.6 at the moment. The machine is still darn slow though...I think 8.1 is the best.
What are the specs on your 1400, martakz?
I have decided after a grueling day of fighting with various versions of the Mac OS (on both my Gossamer and 1400) to just stick with 9.0.4 on the 1400. It's fairly stable and quick. I must say I'm impressed with this little machine. It handles tasks smoother than my PII 366 with 224MB RAM and a 20GB drive. This machine is almost so good I want to put the 20GB drive in here :-P. Maybe someday. I'm using iCab right now to post this, and I'm very impressed at the efficiency of this browser! It's quite refreshing after the bloat of IE and Netscape.
As a side note, if anyone knows of a good MP3 player for this rig, I would be appreciative to hear any and all suggestions.
Cheers and thanks,
The Czar
Before I sold my 1400c I'd decided that OS 8.6 was just about ideal for it, especially considering that miserable 64 MB RAM ceiling. With just a bit of winnowing of extensions and such you can get your OS RAM footprint down into the 12-15 MB range. Much tougher to get close to that in 9.x, and every MB counts in the 1400. I used RAM Doubler 8 at a modest setting of 96 MB and had no problems running a couple of apps at a time.
My soon-to-arrive 2400c has a similar config to your 1400: NewerTech G3/240, 80 MB RAM. Gonna stick with OS 8.6 on the Comet, too.
Specs:
-Newtech G3 216mhz G3 upgrade card.
-Maxed out ram
One interesting point, is that it has a video card upgrade which allows it to do mirroring and spanning to 2 monitors.
Sadly, the Newer G3's run hotter than other available upgrades. Prolly a major factor in my being able to pick off a G3'ed Comet for ~$200. Planning some case mod projects and the Comet is currently #2 on the list. When it comes time for removing the plastics for painting I intend to take a closer look at possible ways to upgrade the heatsink.
BTW, which vid card in your 1400 - Apple's 8-bit or Newer's 16-bit?
Newers 16-bit card as its definatly not an apple one.
The G3 often hits 85C but its never overheated. The thermal pad does suck though. Just figure out a way to use solid metal instead of that and the heatsink should be fine.
With virtual memory turned on, OS 9.0.4 is using approximately 13MB of RAM, which leaves plenty available for applications and whatnot, IMHO. It's a neat little toy to play with, but it probably won't become my main machine.
My unit also has the video card installed, however, I believe it's an Apple unit. Sadly, I am lacking the appropriate adaptor to hook it up to external video.
Cheers,
The Czar
I have a 1400c./166 with 64MB RAM but I used RamDoubler 9 to give me 128MB RAM and it works pretty well. From my experience OS 8.6 is the most recent OS I would use on a 1400. With the G3 card you can get away with OS 9.1 though and if you are on-line with the 1400 it will help.
I would at least download the OS 9.1 update so you can use WamCom Mozilla 1.3.1 which will give you access to many sites iCab will not.
SoundJam MP is a good old pre-OS 9 MP3 player. It's the app iTunes was made from when Apple bought SoundJam.
You can also get a hack to make the first iTunes run on OS 8.6.
As per other postings in these forums, you might want to investigate a Compact Flash drive in a PCMCIA adapter as a virtual memory drive. Ironically, an IBM Microdrive may be the fastest. You should be able to pick up a 105 meg one for next to nothing.
Flash speed comparisons
My 1400cs 117 works very well with 8.6.. I'm not exactly sure WHY it works very well, but it does.
As for mp3 players, I'm running Audion 3 ..
http://www.panic.com/audion/
Click through the BUY link for the serial number.. it's a freebee now.
Hope that helps