. | Road Apple: Cacheless PowerBook G3/233- Road Apples are Apple's most compromised hardware
designs. For the most part, they're not really bad --
simply designs unable to provide all the performance they
should have.
 The
PowerBook G3 Series was a trio of very capable models
replacing the 250 MHz PowerBook
G3 (Apple needs to do something about these names!). The
250 MHz and 292 MHz models were lightning fast, but the 233
MHz version was dog slow.
Why? Because Apple decided to keep the price down by
eliminating one small item that makes a world of difference
on G3 systems -- the level 2 cache. Under MacBench 4, the
250 MHz model showed nearly twice the performance of the 233
MHz one! In the second edition of the PowerBook G3 Series, Apple
introduced a 233 MHz model with a 512 KB L2 cache, and that
made a world of difference. The new PB G3/233 benchmarked
70% faster than the cacheless makes-you-wonder. Seventy
percent! To shave maybe $200 from retail, Apple seriously
compromised the performance of this PowerBook G3/233.
(Please don't confuse it with the replacement, despite the
fact they both have the same name and CPU speed.) It's a real shame that any G3 system should earn the Road
Apple rating.  Details- introduced May 4, 1998
- requires System 8.0 or later
- CPU: 233 MHz PPC 750 (a.k.a. G3)
- bus: 66 MHz
- performance: 445 (compare this with 764 for the
G3/233 with 512 KB
cache)
- ROM: 4 MB
- RAM: 32 MB, expandable to 192 MB
- Level 2 cache: none
- VRAM: 2 MB
- displays:
- 12.1" 16-bit 800x600 color dual-scan passive
matrix
- 13.3" 24-bit 1024x768 color active matrix
- 14.1" 24-bit 1024x768 color active matrix
- hard drive: 2, 4, or 8 GB
- CD-ROM: 20x, removable
- expansions bays: two
- ADB port for keyboard and mouse
- DIN-8 serial port on back of computer
- PowerBook SCSI connector on back of computer
- ethernet and modem standard
- two PC Card slots
- weight: 7.2-7.8 pounds with battery
For more details on the PowerBook G3 Series, click
here. - <back to Road
Apples>
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