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The Apple Macintosh Portable Site
Apple's
Pre-PowerBook Masterpieces
Main
Page
A Site Exclusively Devoted to: The Apple Macintosh Portable Models 5120 and 5126 (1989-1991)
Written and Occasionally Maintained by Houlton E-mail address: HearandDec@aol.com A simple lover, collector, repairer and buyer and seller of the Macintosh Portable.
Please take a look at the excellent disassembly pictures offered by Michael H. Darland on his Portable web page: http://12.25.246.15/dissport/port.html
It is always embarrassing to see such a nice web page and then turn back to this simple text page.
NEWS for 2008: Apple "vintage technology collectors are spreading worldwide and are growing in number. While vintage technology collecting can be a profitable hobby, I do it for love of the two original Apple model and most of the people who write me as well as my buyers seemingly feel the same. None the less, there are serious collectors out there who have their eye on the bottom line. They want the very best stuff which is ever more difficult to find.
I am discovering that as the Portables are aging, certain parts have begun to fail and are therefore in critically short supply. Logic boards for both models are developing problems which I cannot repair. And other parts are short: Display cables for backlit screens, larger memory in all sizes, bags with all 4 feet present: all rare as hen's teeth now.
Another modem development: computers must be recycled. Apple will charge you $30 to recycle your old Apple computer. I will take your Portable 5120 or 5126 for nothing. See my Recycle Page. (http://members.aol.com/hearanddec/Recycle.html)
EBAY NEWS - Ebay lists fewer Portables these days, but things seem to go in bunches. Prices are widely variant. They are now quite low for the unbootable "as is" machines and "untested" stuff. If you have the means and interest to restore a Portable, now is a good time. Keep an eye on sales. But I must tell you, as I mentioned earlier, it is harder to get parts and not every Portable is fixable any longer. The percentage of "as is" machines that need logic boards, replacement hard drives or a new display cable are growing. That is probably why the up and running ones bring a substantial premium. Since up and running, fully reconditioned Portables are the only ones I sell, I regard that as a good thing. The down side is that the non-running eBay purchased machines now seem to have lots wrong with them. I have to buy several to get the parts to put one in excellent shape.
Interestingly, Portable collectors are an increasingly international bunch. Japan has always favored the model, but now Europe has been buying Portables. Germany and England are active and the Italians, Poles and a chap from Belgium have all bought stuff from me. I guess collecting vintage Apple stuff transcends nationality. After going both ways, I am again of the view that the Portables are best served by a good battery as opposed to a PB1xx power adapter. It is more expensive and more work to keep a battery charged, but battery power seems gentler, less abrupt and provides the initial oomph necessary to spin up aging hard drives. The NICD LADY still rebuilds them and I get all my batteries rebuilt by her.
I have recently
received requests to put together complete Portables which would include
everything
that came with them when new. The original Apple Portable boxes are always the
hardest to find. So, too, the
literature that was in the box is virtually impossible to find. Here is one
original Portable collection I put
together. Currently I have boxes
for both the original non-backlit Portable as well as the back-lit.
Folks write me and ask when I am going to auction another Portable on eBay. I still do so, but have also been selling directly to folks who read my web pages and want to obtain a Portable right away. If you are interested, look at the web page describing and pricing complete Portables. You can still get a 5120 with all the original stuff, but write for an exact quote on just what you want. And recall I simply no longer constantly have an inventory of excellent reconditioned Portables to sell.
I regret to say that when I shipped this collection to a fine Portable lover in Japan, for the first time in my now substantial history of international shipping, the shipping box was well and truly caved in by the shipper. Really the photos my buyer sent me looked like the box was dropped on its end from a good height. Very sad but happily very rare. I sent the poor collector a replacement computer and, since I had USPS insurance, I assumed the two Postal Systems were working on my insurance claim. I now have my doubts about Postal insurance. The USPS wrote me and told me that the Japan Post had not responded to their request for information about the claim so my claim was denied. I have resubmitted the claim, but a long time has gone by with no further response. Damn.
INVENTORY STATUS:MEMORY SUPPLIES: I am very low in stock of larger memory cards, but have some nice 3 meg 5126 cards and some PDS cards. Is there anyone who would be interested in taking a batch of Apple 1 Meg 5126 RAM cards and taking off the RAM on some and filling out the RAM on other cards making 3 Meg cards out of 1 meg cards? Let me know.
HARD DRIVES: If your hard drive is gone, consider sending it to me. I will take your data off if I can, put the extracted data on another rebuilt Conner 40 drive and send it back to you. Do not do this lightly however, drives are getting in short supply and they are getting costly. Write me for a quote.
POWER ADAPTERS: I now have original Portable adapters as well as PB 100 adapters in stock.
BATTERIES AND EXTERNAL BATTERY CHARGERS: As I noted above, old batteries still in operating condition are essentially impossible to obtain. I now just buy rebuilt batteries from the NiCDLady. I have a nice supply of external battery chargers. Some in original boxes.
PACKING AND SHIPPING TIP: I have noticed that when folks send me Portables and pack them sideways and on edge so that the side edge of the Portable is down, the weight of the lid pressing on the tap stops sometimes snaps off the channels holding the tabs which in turn hold the clutches in place. I recommend against this position for shipping. Try to ship - and ask folks who ship Portables to you - to pack the Portable flat in the position you would have it on your desk. In this position there is a danger that not enough padding will be under or over the Portable and it will be damaged by weight above or being bumped. That is why all shipping should be in oversize boxes with lots of padding on the top, bottom and sides of the item. It may be smart to buy a Portable in its bag to insure a better padding in shipment.
For a full page "exploded" image of the Portable Click or copy the following address to your browser: http://members.aol.com/joemander/Exploded.jpg/
THIS SITE IS PRIMARILY COMPRISED
OF
A SERIES OF SIMPLE PORTABLE ARTICLES FOR PORTABLE LOVERS, COLLECTORS, AND OTHER INTERESTED FOLKS (Click the links or copy their web addresses into your browser:)
I. Background of the Macintosh Portable: Click or copy the following address to your browser: http://members.aol.com/macportable/History.html
2. My Portable Will Not Boot Up: A Simple Self-Diagnostic for the Non-Booting Portable Click or copy the following address to your browser: http://members.aol.com/macportable/NoBoot.html/
3. The Portable Battery Click or copy the following address to your browser: http://members.aol.com/macportable/Battery.html/
4. Why Do You Mention Running a Mac Portable with a PowerBook 1xx Power Adapter? Click or copy the following address to your browser: http://members.aol.com/macportable/PB1xx.html/
5. Just Who Buys a Portable Anyway? and/or Why Should I Buy a Portable? Click or copy the following address to your browser: http://members.aol.com/macportable/Who.html/
6. Types of Portable Buyers Click or copy the following address to your browser: http://members.aol.com/macportable/Type.html/
7. Portable Stuff for Sale Click or copy the following address to your browser: http://members.aol.com/hearanddec/Options.html/