400MHz PowerPC G3. 512MB RAM. 40GB Hard Drive. ATI Rage Mobility 128. AirPort Wireless Networking. Pioneer Slot Load DVD-RW 8x SuperDrive. Dual Boot between Mac OS 9.2 and Mac OS X Tiger.

This is the PowerBook G3 Pismo in a nutshell. It's an absolutely beautiful machine. My favourite feature by far is the audio hardware as it's so rich and warm, but clear, the product of old school audio hardware engineering. It's a very warm machine, a friendly and inviting machine. I likened it to sitting at a fine wooden desk under the warm glow of a desk lamp with a vinyl on in the background. It's certainly a computer with character.

I think in the coming days and weeks I will attempt to use the PowerBook more often, perhaps use it as a dedicated workspace for that novel I had been intending to write for much too long. I think it would suit it quite nicely.

Now all I need are four rubber feet and either a battery (functional or not), a weight saving device or an optical drive to blank the right bay, which looks incomplete with the addition of the slot load drive. As I asked, does anyone know if Wallstreet feet can be fitted or modified to fit? I have a few spares already if so.

Hugh: I'll certainly keep it in mind. I wouldn't mind a spare. Only issue is at the moment I'm in between jobs so I need to watch what I spend on shipping or anything else for that matter. Hopefully things will settle fairly shortly though.