Powerbook 520c

#1 Rhapsody

#1 Rhapsody

Mac Guru
I recently got 3 PB 520c laptops and two work. What is the best OS and how can I make it very useful? With an ethernet adaptor can it be used on the internet? Is the a free office suite for it.
 
Well first you'll have to tell us how much memory it had and the hard drive size. I would use Mac OS 8.1 which I would use because OS 7 to OS 8 is a big performance jump, meaning that OS 8.1 can do much more and is much more compatible with programs. Although you can get OS 7 for free.
You can get an adapter for the AAUI-15 port that will convert it into a normal ethernet port, however they are hard to find these days. I actually think I have the adapter somewhere is my desk and I'll see if I can find it.
 
Its 640*480 pixel screen won't be very good for internet browsing. You can, of course, get Terminal software to run, an E-Mail client etc. - Office-wise, there should be a copy of AppleWorks or ClarisWorks on them. You might find that somewhere for cheapo as well, but it's not the easiest to handle compatibility. With their dualscan LCD displays (instead of active matrix TFT), they were the cheaper sister to the 540c (and the highly recommended 540 with active matrix greyscale TFT). Today, I find, the 520 and 520c make nice museum pieces, but I wouldn't call them too useful. If you want a simple typewriter, they're still perfectly okay, of course. Simple Text can handle that, although it might be tough without internet. You'll have to use floppies or something, since there's no USB.
 
Each one has 12MB RAM. One did come with Clarisworks but I had to wipe the other one's hd so I don't know if it had it. I think they came from a school. I believe I already have the AAUI adaptor so I can get ethernet. I believe I will just use ethernet for file transfer and possibly and HTTP server.
 
8.1 would be to heavy for it, I believe. I would say anything from System 7 to System 7.6.1. You can always install 7.5.3 and then update to 7.5.5....it's plenty fast with that OS.
 
I put a 7.5 minimal install on both because the full install kept failling. Can I update it more? 7.1 will not run on it for some reason but 7.1.1 can.
 
That's because they originally came with System 7.1.1. You won't be able to install an older system than that. But you'd want 7.5, anyway. It *should* run 7.5 just fine. What installer did you use? Did you get the official System 7.5.3 from Apple? (It's free.) You'll find it here: System 7.5.3 from Apple.com

A full install should work just fine. But you can mix & match stuff somewhere in the options. You don't really need everything.

Then update to 7.5.5. -> System 7.5.5 Update from Apple.com
 
I got the install disks with the computer. They are the official Apple disks so I don't know why the full install won't work. I was working on getting 7.5.3 from Apple, but for some reason my external floppy drive won't work (that's why I need to find my AAUI adaptor).
 
You should be able to download the upgrade for 7.5.3 and then the upgrade for 7.5.5. I know that the issue is getting them on floppy, but this way you don't have to blow away what's already installed.
 
#1 Rhapsody said:
Once I have my ethernet hookup can I download the disk images and write them on one of the PBs?
Click to expand...

You should be able to with Disk Copy. That should be either on the hard drive already or it should be in the installation discs.
 
icemanjc said:
You can get an adapter for the AAUI-15 port that will convert it into a normal ethernet port, however they are hard to find these days. I actually think I have the adapter somewhere is my desk and I'll see if I can find it.
Click to expand...
How hard can it be? My wife just sold 6 of them on ebay in the last few months... as I recall I think I still have two left.

As for the 520c... I know people who like them. Personally I've always favored the Duos myself (the 280/280c were faster than the 540/540c because of a wider internal bus).

As for what to run on it... I like Mac OS 8.1. I generally run 8.1 on most of my 040 systems (except my Quadra 700 which is running A/UX 3.0.1), but I think I'd run 7.5.5 on any system with less than 24 MB of memory.
 
I'm not sure updating a minimal install of 7.5 to 7.5.3 and then 7.5.5 would be the way to go, though. The minimal install is _not_ what you want. I'd find a way to make floppies of the 7.5.3 set and try another full install. Why exactly the full install of 7.5 didn't work, I dunno.
 
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