The PowerBook 1400cs represents a resounding declaration of Apple's commitment to quality. It has a good solid construction, a great keyboard, and it allows easy access to its internals. The 1400 is the first PowerBook to provide for an internal CD and has by far the largest screen of any PowerBook up to its time at 11.3". The "cs" at the end of the 1400's name indicates a passive matrix screen. With each new display used on PowerBooks there becomes less and less of a difference between the two. Although there is approximately $1000 difference between the 1400cs and the 1400c with an active matrix screen, the only real advantage to the higher price is better viewability out of doors. There are still viewing angles in which this passive matrix screen cannot be seen but they are not nearly as drastic as previous displays.
A PowerBook 1400 is an excellent buy for most every task except for multimedia/graphics production. It lacks the full 64-bit logic board bus of a desktop PowerPC machine and accelerated video hardware. At 117MHz, however, it is no slouch. The CD tray loads in the front right side of the PowerBook with an unusual latch. Facing the unit, the floppy/CD drive bay is on the right side, the PCMCIA slot is on the left side, and the battery is in the front left. A 1400 includes a unique control panel that automatically adjusts the touchpad to compensate for moisture. The touchpad supports tapping and "click-and-drag." One external speaker handles public displays of its 16 bit sound and does it at impressive volumes, though not in stereo (obviously). A stereo headphone jack is provided.
One memory slot is always filled with an Apple provided memory module. 1400 owners can use memory boards in the separate expansion slot which supports "piggybacked" memory. 1400cs's came standard with 12MB RAM in the non-CD version or 16MB RAM including a CD. The 1400cs display runs a fixed resolution of 800x600 and displays up to thousands of colors (32,768). An infrared port comes standard, but a video-out port is an add-on. A 1400cs model weighs in at 6.7 pounds and uses a NiMH battery. A version of the 1400cs is available which includes the internal CD.
Advantages
- Speed
- Though not the fastest laptop of its time, the 1400 has plenty of speed for most uses.
- Reliability
- The 1400 ignored attempts to be fast and overly innovative in exchange for solid reliability.
- Service
- Though we all have horror stories, Apple service is among the best in the industry. Apple is one of the last major computer manufacturers to still offer free technical support, not only for new hardware, but often for old systems as well.
- Features
- The 1400 has many long anticipated features such as a built-in CD, piggybacked memory, a large screen, etc.
Drawbacks
- Speed
- Although it is plenty powerful it was nowhere near the level of power it was likely capable of. The slowest desktop Macintosh was running at 160MHz at the time of the 1400's release. The lower level 1400's would have benefitted greatly from L2 cache.
- Battery
- 1400's used relatively old battery technology for their time.
- Modem
- A 1400 has no option for a built-in modem, instead using one of the two available PCMCIA slots.
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