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Macintosh PowerBook 165c
The 165c was the first in the PowerBook line to feature a color screen. The 165c is powered by a 33MHz Motorola 68030 processor with FPU.
The Macintosh PowerBook 165c brings color to the Macintosh PowerBook family of notebook computers. In addition to its vivid color display, the Macintosh PowerBook 165c offers 33 MHz performance, video output, more room for memory expansion cards, and a distinctive new exterior design.
The PowerBook 165c computer is shipped with System 7.1 software.
General Information
CPU
Motorola 68030 running at 33 MHz. A 16 MHz power saving mode can be selected by the user. Motorola 68882 FPU running at 33 MHz.
Memory
Read-only memory (ROM): 1 MB.
Random-access memory (RAM): 4 MB of pseudostatic RAM (PSRAM).
RAM expansion: a RAM expansion slot accommodates RAM expansion cards of up to 10 MB, for a total of 14 MB of RAM. The RAM expansion slot is compatible with cards designed for earlier Macintosh PowerBook models, while providing more room for larger cards.
The PowerBook 165c includes 4 MB of 85 ns pseudostatic RAM, consisting of eight 512K x 8-bit chips. The RAM chips are contained on a new RAM/ROM board to provide room for the color display circuitry on the secondary logic board.
The PowerBook 165c accommodates RAM expansion cards from 2 MB to 10 MB in capacity, for a total of 14 MB RAM. The RAM expansion interface is electrically identical to that of the PowerBook 180. However, the design of the PowerBook 165c provides more physical space for RAM expansion cards than was specified for earlier PowerBook computers, making it easier for developers to design high capacity cards.
RAM is always contiguous because only one size of RAM chip (4 Mbits) is used. As a result, software does not have to “stitch” memory. The RAM array is located in the system memory map between addresses $0000 0000 and $00DF FFFF, except following a system reset or sleep cycle, when it is overlaid by system ROM. However, the overlay is removed following access to normal ROM space, and the RAM space is then accessible. Both RAM and ROM memory spaces provide DSACK signals to the processor even if memory is not actually installed. The RAM data path is 32 bits wide.
Video
Liquid crystal display (LCD): 8-bit color video circuitry displays up to 256 colors on the built-in 640 x 400 pixel film supertwist nematic (FSTN) LCD. The display is backlit by two cold cathode fluorescent lamps.
Video output: 8-bit color video output circuitry displays up to 256 colors on all Apple color monitors up to 16 inches in size. The Apple Portrait monitor is also supported at up to 16 shades of gray.
The color display circuitry in the Macintosh PowerBook 165c emulates a NuBus video card installed in slot $C. This circuitry includes the LCD controller chip set, 512 KB of DRAM, and a declaration ROM. The PowerBook 165c is compatible with software that uses QuickDraw and the Palette Manager. Color table animation is also supported.
The LCD controller chip set consists of the WD90C26 controller and WD90C55 display driver, both made by Western Digital, and the Pangola bus interface chip, an Apple custom ASIC that translates signals between the WD90C26 and the 68030 bus. Pangola also handles the frame buffer conversion necessary to support 1-, 2-, and 4-bit color modes with the Western Digital controller.
The WD90C26 contains a 256-entry CLUT, RAMDAC, frame buffer controller, and flat panel control circuitry. Although the CLUT supports a palette of 262,143 colors, many of the possible colors do not look acceptable on the display. Due to the nature of LCD technology, some colors are dithered or exhibit noticeable flicker. Apple has developed a new gamma table for this display that minimizes flicker and optimizes available colors. With this gamma table in place, the effective range of the CLUT is 4096 colors.
Physical
Weight: 7 pounds.
Size: 11.3 inches wide, 9.3 inches deep, and 2.3 inches high.