The PowerBook is a family of Macintosh laptop computers designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from 1991 to 2006. During its lifetime, the PowerBook went through several major revisions and redesigns, often being the first to incorporate features that would later become standard in competing laptops. The PowerBook line was targeted at the professional market. In 1999, the line was supplemented by the home and education-focused iBook family.
The Amiga 3000, or A3000, is a personal computer released by Commodore in June 1990. It is the successor to the Amiga 2000 and its upgraded model Amiga 2500 with more processing speed, improved graphics, and a new revision of the operating system.
The Macintosh IIfx is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from March 1990 to April 1992. At introduction it cost from US$9,000 to US$12,000, depending on configuration, and it was the fastest Macintosh available at the time.
The PowerBook Duo is a line of subnotebooks manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from 1992 until 1997 as a more compact companion to the PowerBook line. Improving upon the PowerBook 100's portability, the Duo came in seven different models. They were the Duo 210, 230, 250, 270c, 280, 280c, and 2300c, with the 210 and 230 being the earliest, and the 2300c being the final incarnation before the entire line was dropped in early 1997.
The Atari Falcon030, released in 1992, is the final personal computer from Atari Corporation. A high-end model of the Atari ST line, the machine is based on a Motorola 68030 CPU and a Motorola 56001 digital signal processor, which distinguishes it from most other microcomputers of the era. It includes a new VIDEL programmable graphics system which greatly improves graphics capabilities.
The PowerBook G3 is a series of laptop Macintosh personal computers designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer from 1997 to 2001. It was the first laptop to use the PowerPC G3 (PPC740/750) series of microprocessors, and was marketed as the fastest laptop in the world for its entire production run. The PowerBook G3 was succeeded by the PowerBook G4.
The Macintosh Classic II was a personal computer designed and manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from October 1991 to September 1993. The system had a compact, appliance design with an integrated 9" monitor, typical of the earliest of the Macintosh range. A carrying handle moulded into the case added a degree of portability at a time when laptops were still relatively uncommon.
The Macintosh IIvi is a personal computer designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer from September 1992 to February 1993. The IIvi was introduced alongside the Macintosh IIvx, using a slower Motorola 68030 processor and no floating point unit. The Performa 600 models, meanwhile, are the IIvi with the IIvx's 32 MHz CPU. The IIvi was, on some benchmarks, faster than the IIvx. It is the only model in the Macintosh II family to be branded as a Performa.
The Atari TT030 is a member of the Atari ST family, released in 1990. It was originally intended to be a high-end Unix workstation, but Atari took two years to release a port of Unix SVR4 for the TT, which prevented the TT from ever being seriously considered in its intended market.
The PowerBook 500 series is a range of Apple Macintosh PowerBook portable computers first introduced by Apple Computer with the 540c model on May 16, 1994. It was the first to have stereo speakers, a trackpad, and Ethernet networking built-in.
The Macintosh LC III is a personal computer designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer from February 1993 to February 1994. It replaced the commercially successful Macintosh LC II in Apple's lineup of mid-class computers, and was significantly faster, with MacWorld Magazine benchmarks showing 2x performance in all major categories - CPU, disk, video and maths. It was also significantly less expensive; the LC III with an 80 MB hard disk was priced at US$1,349 at introduction, $700 less than the LC II. The LC III was sold primarily to educational institutions, and a corresponding Performa variant called the Performa 450 was sold to the consumer market.
The PowerBook 190 and its companion PowerBook 190cs are laptop computers manufactured by Apple Computer as part of their PowerBook brand, introduced to the market in August 1995. The two models differ only in their screen: the 190 had a 9.5" greyscale display, while the 190cs featured a 10.4" color display. Apple's target sales audience for this model was the college student in need of a no-frills portable computer.
The PowerBook 1400 is a notebook computer that was designed and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1996 to 1998 as part of their PowerBook series of Macintosh computers. Introduced in October 1996 at a starting price of $2,499, it was the first new PowerBook after the controversial PowerBook 5300. After the introduction of the more powerful PowerBook 3400c in February 1997, the 1400 took on the role of Apple's entry level notebook and remained there until its discontinuation in May 1998. Its successor, the PowerBook G3 Series, would ultimately go on to replace and consolidate not only the 1400, but the 2400c and 3400c as well.
The PowerBook 100 is a portable subnotebook personal computer designed and manufactured by Sony for Apple Computer and introduced on October 21, 1991, at the COMDEX computer expo in Las Vegas, Nevada. Priced at US$2,500 with external floppy drive, the PowerBook 100 was the low-end model of the first three simultaneously released PowerBooks. Its CPU and overall speed closely resembled those of its predecessor, the Macintosh Portable. It had a Motorola 68000 processor at 16 MHz, 2-8 megabytes (MB) of RAM, a 9-inch (23 cm) monochrome backlit liquid-crystal display (LCD) with 640 × 400 pixel resolution, and the System 7.0.1 operating system. It did not have a built-in floppy disk drive and was noted for its unique compact design that placed a trackball pointing device in front of the keyboard for ease of use.
The PowerBook 180 is a portable computer released by Apple Computer along with the PowerBook 160 in October 1992. At the time, it constituted the new top-of-the-range model, replacing the previous PowerBook 170. Its case design and features are the same as that of the 170, but it shipped with the more powerful 33 MHz Motorola 68030 CPU and Motorola 68882 FPU. Along with the 160, it introduced a new power-saving feature which allowed the processor to run at a slower 16 MHz rate, the same speed as the original 140.
The PowerBook 140 was released in the first line of PowerBooks. It was the mid-range PowerBook, between the low-end 100 and the high-end 170. As with the PowerBook 170, and unlike the 100, this PowerBook featured an internal floppy drive. Codenames for this model are: Tim Lite, Tim LC, Replacements, and Leary. In 1992, it was replaced by the PowerBook 145, which was essentially a speed bump, though the PowerBook 160 essentially superseded it as the new mid-line model.
The PowerBook 170 was released by Apple Inc. in 1991 along with the PowerBook 100 and the PowerBook 140. Identical in form factor to the 140, it was the high end of the original PowerBook line featuring a faster 25 MHz Motorola 68030 processor with 68882 floating point unit (FPU) and a more expensive and significantly better quality 9.8 in (250 mm) active matrix display. It was replaced by the PowerBook 180 in 1992.
The PowerBook Duo 210 is a portable subnotebook personal computer, manufactured by Apple Computer Inc. and introduced in October 1992. Priced at US$2250, the PowerBook Duo 210 was the low-end model of the two simultaneously released PowerBook Duos. The specifications of the PowerBook Duo 210 are almost identical to the PowerBook 160, except that the PowerBook Duo 210 has a smaller display. Its case design is identical to the PowerBook Duo 230, but it shipped with 25 MHz Motorola 68030, instead of the faster 33 MHz 68030 on the Duo 230. The PowerBook Duo 210 had a 80MB SCSI Hard Disk Drive. It was discontinued on October 21, 1993.
The PowerBook 160 is a portable computer that was released by Apple Computer along with the PowerBook 180 on October 19, 1992 and the PowerBook 165 variants were released the following year. At the time, it constituted the mid-range model replacing the previous PowerBook 140 in processing power. The PowerBook 160 was sold until August 16, 1993.
The PowerBook 150 is a laptop personal computer created by Apple Computer which was introduced on July 13, 1994, and released on July 18, 1994. It was the last member of the PowerBook 100 series to use the original case design, the most affordable of the series when introduced and also the last consumer model.
