From: ewa@cs.ucsd.edu (Eric Anderson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Powerbook Duo 210 - New Observations
Summary: Notes from the field
Keywords: PowerBook Due 210
Date: 3 Jan 93 10:51:25 GMT
Organization: CSE Dept., U.C. San Diego

I posted some initial observations about the 210 about a month ago.
Now that I've been to Japan and back, I have more comments which might
be helpful to potential buyers.  And please send me suggestions if you
have similar experiences.

1. It snores!
   When my 210 is put to sleep, and the power plug removed, it snores.
   A light buzzing comes from the rear, near the power jack.  In any but
   the quietest places, you have to put it within a few inches of the ear
   to hear it.  Battery life is good when asleep, so there is no evidence
   that this is a fault.  But I'd like to know if anyone else hears this!
   (When shut down, or the battery is removed, it is completely silent)

2. Battery life
   I took four batteries with me for the flights across the Pacific.  I never
   ran out of power - the flight from Los Angeles is eleven and a half hours
   but between meals and movies I only used up two batteries.  With the screen
   set to minimum (quite bright in a dark plane) and the conservation set to
   maximum (not too annoying) and processor cycling on, but full CPU speed, I
   got well over two hours of use per battery.  These batteries discharge
   themselves when not in use, and after 24 hours they've lost maybe 30
   minutes of charge.  So plan ahead and keep them topped off.

   I bet I could get close to three hours with a big RAMdisk.  Anyone know
   what another 12 meg of RAM would do to battery life?  It must draw some
   power after all...

   While we're talking about the battery, I have had zero problems with
   loose connections.  Just make sure that it is tightly latched as intended
   and you should be fine.

   The battery slip-case has sharp innards that dig grooves into the battery.
   This is silly.  Discard the case, or sand down the ridges in the case
   (not so easy).  You can also slice off the pin way inside the case that
   latches the battery in there and it's much easier to use the case.  The
   primary latch, in front, is good enough without that darn plastic pin.

3. The screen
   I love this screen, the gray looks so sharp compared to 1-bit.  The
   shadows can be mostly eliminated with a good background (I like a slight
   variation of the 3-d grid that comes with the unit (the lighting direction
   on that grid is wrong!)) and proper contrast.  The biggest offender for
   shadows is window title bars, sets of horizontal lines.  (Try setting the
   background to white/black horizontal 1-pixel stripes - the screen becomes
   garbage!)  I'm waiting patiently for someone to write an init or a new
   WDEF that uses 50% gray for the title lines - that would greatly reduce
   the shadows.

   I found that tilting the screen so that the "perpendicular vector" points
   slightly *above* my eyes gives the best possible contrast.  (Ie, tilt it
   a little farther back than just looking straight on).  This can be
   difficult to achieve in Economy Class, and one flight had seats designed
   such that if the person in front of me reclined, my 210 would get wedged
   between the tray and seat, and possibly crushed!  So for peace of mind I
   moved to a seat behind an empty seat.

   When the screen is off, it takes a minute to warm up.  It comes on fairly
   bright, but gradually increases to full.  This is subtle enough that I
   thought it was my eyes for a while.  Does anyone know what kind of light
   is used to light the screen?  Do they ever burn out?  Should I keep them
   off when I'm plugged in and the light is not needed?

4. RAM required for system.
   With networking off, and few inits, the system takes some 1300K.  That
   isn't bad, and I know devoted people can trim that further.  Be sure to
   toss (or relocate) the QuickTime extension if you don't need it.

5. Keyboard
   This keyboard just isn't a desktop keyboard.  It is quite adequate, but
   the spacebar takes some getting used to and it will always be a little
   less comfortable/natural than a full-sized keyboard.  For extended use
   at home you'll be happier with a real mouse and keyboard.  The floppy
   adapter is adequate for this if the docks seem too expensive.

6. Travel
   It is wonderfully light.  A nice padded case, power supply, spare battery
   and an appletalk cable shouldn't be over 8 pounds, total.  Fits great in
   any briefcase, too.

7. Appletalk
   I find that a simple ImageWriter II cable works fine to connect any two
   Appletalk ports:  210 and LaserWriter, 210 and IIci, etc.  It's a lot more
   compact than a pair of phonenet connectors!

8. Summary
   I love it.  Sun Computers wants $1999 for them, developers can do better
   but may have to wait a while.  They are abundant in San Diego stores.
   I see no need for the faster 230, though the dealer said most people are
   opting for the 230.  My most desirable option now (in addition to four
   batteries, two power supplies and one charger (on order)) would be 4 or
   8 more MB of RAM.  It's a well balanced machine, but 4MB is a little tight.

Please comment.  Disagree or suggest things I've overlooked.  Ask questions.


Eric Anderson                                     ewa@ucsd.edu
Computer Systems Laboratory
Department of Computer Science and Engineering    (619)534-8604 (lab)
University of California, San Diego               (619)534-7029 (fax)
9500 Gilman Drive 0114                            (619)534-6005 (cse dept)
La Jolla, CA  92093-0114