Apple Powerbooks of the early 1990s

[gunhilltrain]

I may use a laptop in a story set in about 1992 or so. Was there an option to run Powerbooks either on batteries or through a plug-in electrical connection (not just for recharging)? Was it supplied with its own carrying case or did you have to use your own bag?

 

[MrPixel]

I bought a Powerbook 170 shortly after they were released in 1991. It was a true laptop, battery or wall plug through the adapter/recharger. No, you had to supply your own case.

More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerBook_100_series

 

[gunhilltrain]

I bought a Powerbook 170 shortly after they were released in 1991. It was a true laptop, battery or wall plug through the adapter/recharger. No, you had to supply your own case.

More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerBook_100_series

Thanks for the info. I guess relatively few people plug a laptop into a wall socket during actual use, but I suppose it can be done.

 

[MrPixel]

Battery life on my 170 was very short - IIRC about 90-120 minutes at best. I rarely traveled with it, so it spent most of its life on my desk plugged in.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Battery life on my 170 was very short - IIRC about 90-120 minutes at best. I rarely traveled with it, so it spent most of its life on my desk plugged in.

I've never owned a laptop, much less one from that era. I assume the battery life has improved since then.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I've never owned a laptop, much less one from that era. I assume the battery life has improved since then.

Not that much. I've had laptops for work since around 2010, but while you can use them for an hour-long meeting they then soon need plugging back in at your desk or elsewhere. Given that offices and trains etc are now set up so you can plug them in, there's not much incentive to improve battery life, especially as they add a lot of weight.

Apparently people prefer lighter laptops over extra battery life, most of the time. People who really need battery buy extra power packs. In 2002 before planes had power sockets, I remember taking 4 battery packs on a 20-hour plane trip, which lasted us about halfway, playing computer games.

 

[MrPixel]

I do some of my writing on a MacBook Air, which lasts 4-5 hours on a charge and is very light, not tedious at all to use actually in my lap. I think there are Windows laptops with similar performance. The advances in lithium batteries are the difference.

 

[NotWise]

My Dell Latitude tells me the battery's at 85%, with six hours and some left. I take that with a grain of salt.

 

[alohadave]

Thanks for the info. I guess relatively few people plug a laptop into a wall socket during actual use, but I suppose it can be done.

Back then laptop batteries could hold a charge for 1-2 hours tops, so most people did use the power adapter.

It was nothing like now. Sleep and hibernation modes were a lot more complicated and troublesome than they are now.