Thread

Outbound Notebook

68kMLA Hardware 33 posts Oct 6, 2009 to Jun 18, 2022

#1 Tue, 6 Oct 2009 - 18:16 68kMLA

i got an outbound notebook at a nearby thrift-shop :beige: , i think it came w/ its power cord, but the power supply does not have the kangaroo on it. i cannot figure out how to power it on, but it is still very cool. i need more info on this notebook, if anyone knows how to turn it on, please let me know

#2 Tue, 6 Oct 2009 - 18:16 68kMLA

Does it have the straw?

#3 Tue, 6 Oct 2009 - 18:19 68kMLA

what straw? it came only with the laptop and power cord

#4 Tue, 6 Oct 2009 - 18:20 68kMLA

Try here and here for some info.

It looks quite cool! :O

#5 Tue, 6 Oct 2009 - 18:27 68kMLA

i have already seen those websites, but thanks anyway. i really need to figure out how to turn it on, i cannot find that online.

#6 Tue, 6 Oct 2009 - 19:41 68kMLA

what straw? it came only with the laptop and power cord

This:

trackbar.jpg.3caf5f99698cd82b1fe7d1bb3fb9fa49.jpg

#7 Tue, 6 Oct 2009 - 19:58 68kMLA

yeah, it came w/ the straw... thats how i knew what it was (well, that and the command key)

#8 Tue, 6 Oct 2009 - 21:19 68kMLA

And the competition for best thrift score ever hots up. Congratulations.

#9 Tue, 6 Oct 2009 - 23:50 68kMLA

And the competition for best thrift score ever hots up. Congratulations.

You conjugated that verb incorrectly. Fail.

#10 Tue, 6 Oct 2009 - 23:52 68kMLA

That or it's an Australian thing.

Cool conquest anyways - plan on taking any pictures?

#11 Wed, 7 Oct 2009 - 00:24 68kMLA

i will have pictures in a few days, it probably won't be powered on though

#12 Wed, 7 Oct 2009 - 03:29 68kMLA

And the competition for best thrift score ever hots up. Congratulations.

Click to expand...

You conjugated that verb incorrectly. Fail.

I guess he meant "heats up".

Also, no one cares.

#13 Mon, 12 Oct 2009 - 16:25 68kMLA

sorry they took so long

wait

i can't figure out how to upload pictures

can someone tell me?

#14 Mon, 12 Oct 2009 - 18:28 68kMLA

I'm pretty sure you have to upload them somewhere else and link to them.

Try this free service:

http://imageshack.us/

#15 Tue, 13 Oct 2009 - 21:41 68kMLA

this should work

here are the pictures:

#16 Tue, 13 Oct 2009 - 21:45 68kMLA

Interesting, Apple had status lights, but they did away with them in later years. :-/

#17 Tue, 13 Oct 2009 - 22:34 68kMLA

yeah, but i have know clue what the status lights mean

#18 Tue, 13 Oct 2009 - 22:41 68kMLA

I would guess (from left to right) Turned on/Standby, AC Connected, Battery Charging/Status.

#19 Wed, 14 Oct 2009 - 06:05 68kMLA

I think I remember reading how to turn it on in MacWorld MacSecrets 5th Edition for some reason. I know that they do talk about that laptop in that book and the straw.

#20 Wed, 14 Oct 2009 - 06:40 68kMLA

I found it. It's on page 486, but it doesn't say how to turn it on. They wrongly called it the "Outback"!

#21 Wed, 14 Oct 2009 - 13:18 68kMLA

Apparently just pressing any key on the keyboard should power it up.

http://forum.soft32.com/mac/Outbound-laptop-ftopict7833.html

#22 Wed, 14 Oct 2009 - 15:20 68kMLA

According to Wikipedia, Outbound was NOT an Australian company - which a lot of people said it was. :-/

#23 Wed, 14 Oct 2009 - 15:24 68kMLA

They wrongly called it the "Outback"!

Perhaps the specific model is called Outback?

#24 Wed, 14 Oct 2009 - 16:01 68kMLA

They wrongly called it the "Outback"!

Click to expand...

Perhaps the specific model is called Outback?

Possible. Though typos like that were not unheard of in that book. I read it cover to cover. It's probably the best, most complete Mac book ever written in my opinion.

#25 Wed, 14 Oct 2009 - 16:06 68kMLA

Well looks like that may very well be a typo, the only alternative name I've found for Outbound's laptop is "RealTech Travler."

#26 Wed, 14 Oct 2009 - 16:06 68kMLA

I suppose a peek inside to look for a PRAM battery could be in order. There may also be some sort of reset button situated internally. You never know. Few of us have ever even seen such a mythical beast, who knows what could be inside!

#27 Thu, 15 Oct 2009 - 00:44 68kMLA

i think i might have made some progress. i reseated the daughter card, and now when i strike a key on the keyboard the power indicator light flashes green for under a second. is this notebook the same as i have heard about the portable, where you need a working battery to make it run?

#28 Thu, 15 Oct 2009 - 04:12 68kMLA

i think i might have made some progress. i reseated the daughter card, and now when i strike a key on the keyboard the power indicator light flashes green for under a second. is this notebook the same as i have heard about the portable, where you need a working battery to make it run?

Try unplugging the internal HD. It may be drawing too much power. The possible working battery requirement you mentioned is also worth investigating.

#29 Thu, 15 Oct 2009 - 23:57 68kMLA

What a great find! Does it contain a stock SE motherboard or something similar? Should be very rebuild-able. Have you tried powering it up without the main battery in place? It may be toast by now. Dunno if the AC brick can power up the machine unassisted though.

#30 Fri, 16 Oct 2009 - 16:26 68kMLA

The initial surge of current may be too much to power on the AC adapter without a battery installed. The battery can dump a lot more current for short-term things like spinning up the HD. This would explain why it turns on for a split second. Even if that's the case, temporarily disconnecting the HD possibly would allow it to power up without a good battery.

#31 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 - 09:15 68kMLA

Does it contain a stock SE motherboard

No. The Dynamac went down that path, apparently, and used my favourite retro display tech - electroluminescent.

http://lowendmac.com/clones/outbound.html

The Outbound required ROMs "borrowed" from a Mac Plus or SE.
To use your desktop computer, you could attach the Outbound to your Mac, giving it access to the pulled ROMs.

Further information - archive of fritter post

The Outbound Notebook uses generic video-camera batteries, an incredible advantage over other laptops. Batteries for the Notebook are cheap ($30 at Radio Shack) and plentiful.

Outbound @ Everymac

and standard SIMM slots used in desktop machines /
For fee-based tech support check out the Outbound Support Site, provided by a former employee of Outbound Systems.