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The PowerBook 500 series (codenamed ''Blackbird'', which it shared with the older Macintosh IIfx) is a range of Apple Macintosh PowerBook portable computers first introduced by Apple Computer with the 540c model on May 16, 1994. It was the first to have stereo speakers and Ethernet networking built-in.〔http://www.laptopmag.com/mobile-life/features/landmark-laptops.aspx?page=5〕 It was the first PowerBook series to use a Motorola 68LC040 CPU (simultaneous with Duo 280) and be upgradeable to the PowerPC architecture via a swap out CPU daughter card (with the PowerPC and 68040 upgrades for sale), use 9.5" Dual Scan passive color/B&W displays, 16bit stereo sound with stereo speakers, have an expansion bay, PC Card capability, two battery bays (and a ten-minute sleep/clock battery, which allowed for main batteries to be swapped out while in sleep mode), full size keyboard with F1-F12 function keys, be able to sleep while connected to an external monitor and have a battery contact cover included on the actual batteries. It included a single serial port which could be to connect to a serial printer or a network via Apple's LocalTalk. In another first, it also included an AAUI port for connecting to non-LocalTalk (usually Ethernet) networks. The 500 series was discontinued completely with the introduction of the ill-fated PowerBook 5300. The PowerBook 190 was the ''de facto'' successor to the 500 and continued the only 68LC040 processor offering as the low-end of the PPC-based PowerBook family. The 540c was rated #2 of the all-time best PowerBook models made according to (Insanely Great Macintosh ) (survey taken Nov 2000). ==History== The PowerBook 500 series was introduced on May 16, 1994, with the high-end active matrix LCD PowerBook 540c and 540, with the passive matrix 520c and 520 soon after. One of its marketing highlights was the promise of a PowerPC upgrade to its CPU and PC Card (PCMCIA) expansion. The introduction of this model came at the time of Apple's change over to the new PowerPC Chip from the 68k line of CPU's, and Apples advertising and promise of the PowerPC was the cause of headaches to the company. The strong demand for its ground breaking design and Apple's incorrect market prediction that customers would wait for the fully PowerPC PowerBooks resulted in shortages early on.〔http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/POWER-MAC-TOO-POPULAR-3150434.php〕 In due course the 540 was dropped from the line, 8 mb of additional memory and the modem was offered installed from the factory, hard drive capacity was increased (from 160 and 240 to 320 and 500 mb), and the installed system upped from System 7.1.1 to 7.5. The PC Card Cage was also released, allowing Macintosh users to add PCMCIA capability to their laptops for the first time. In 1995 Apple gave permission for Apple Japan to introduce an updated version, called the 550c, with a bigger display (10.4"), CPU with FPU (68040), bigger hard drive, and Japanese keyboard. It was only sold in Japan, and never received FCC certification. With delays in the new PowerPC PowerBook 5300, demand for the PPC upgrade mounted, and Newer Technology began to market the upgrade before Apple did, although they had produced the upgrade modules for Apple first. What's more, they offered 117 MHz versions over Apple's 100 (actually, 99) MHz offering. Soon thereafter, Newer Technology introduced a 167 MHz model that outperformed the fastest PowerBook 5300, the $6800 5300ce, at a time when problems with that line became a real issue to Apple. About the time Apple introduced the PowerBook 1400, Newer Technology introduced a 183 MHz upgrade with 128 Kb of L2 Cache that kept it ahead of the power curve performance wise. Newer Technology stated they could not produce more of the 183 MHz upgrades because the supply of connectors was exhausted. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「PowerBook 500 series」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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