Help! I'm a Mac idiot!

[The 777 Hoax]

Okay, so I received a Macintosh Powerbook 5300, and guess what... I know absolutely nothing about it. First of all, I've never owned a laptop, and second of all, I don't know anything about Macs. I'm very used to Windows and am totally lost! I don't even get why the mouse only has one button! And what the heck is the squiggly line next to the apple for? I don't even know if it has a CD drive, and if it does, I don't know how to open it. I'm the biggest noob ever at this. Could someone please explain some of this to me, or direct me to a helpful site? Help would be greatly appreciated.

It doesn't come with very much, and it's kind of boring. It has ClarisWorks, I'm guessing that's the Mac version of Microsoft Works. It used to belong to a school so it has KidPix on it and that's fun when I'm extremely bored. It has HyperStudio which I learned how to use at school. But that's the only things it can do. Can someone tell me if there's anything interesting to do on this thing??

Please help. I feel like the biggest idiot in the world.

EDIT - btw, I can't hook it up to the Internet.

 

[Maniacal]

Well, i am not much for macs but I have a little bit of experiance using them.

1) There is no start bar.
2) The bar at the top of the page changes when you are running a program (this is WEIRD to me)
3) CD drive, I don't know, I do know now they are slits in the side you slide the disc into.
4) www.google.com will probably have some guides
5) I like the title of this thread.
6) The right button for Windows is general only used for that little menu (which isn't terribly important) and in games.

 

[The 777 Hoax]

Well, i am not much for macs but I have a little bit of experiance using them.

1) There is no start bar.
2) The bar at the top of the page changes when you are running a program (this is WEIRD to me)
3) CD drive, I don't know, I do know now they are slits in the side you slide the disc into.
4) www.google.com will probably have some guides
5) I like the title of this thread.
6) The right button for Windows is general only used for that little menu (which isn't terribly important) and in games.

1.) I think the little rainbow apple does the same thing, only with not as many folders.
2.) I noticed that and that confuses me a lot.
3.) Oh.
4.) I'll try that.
5.) Thank you.
6.) Well how do you copy and paste stuff? Or save it to your hard drive or whatever?

 

[Speedo]

Heh, you'll have to forgive me for laughing. Did you not do some research before buying the thing?

My suggestion is that you find a forum devoted to Macs and start reading.

 

[Maniacal]

1.) I think the little rainbow apple does the same thing, only with not as many folders.
2.) I noticed that and that confuses me a lot.
3.) Oh.
4.) I'll try that.
5.) Thank you.
6.) Well how do you copy and paste stuff? Or save it to your hard drive or whatever?

1-5) No problem.
6) I think there is a command key on the keyboard.
7) How did you get this?

 

[Ginger_Ale]

Right clicking for creating new folders, copy and pasting, etc., can be done by holding in Control + clicking.

For CD drives, there should be an eject button at the top right of your keyboard. You can press that to open the drive I think. At least on the Mac laptops I've used, the CD drive will be on the right side of the laptop.

If you have any specific questions, I'll try to answer them, but there's not much general stuff I can answer - most of that you can just learn by using the laptop.

 

[Turner]

The only thing you need to know about a Mac PowerBook is that it makes a great paperweight.

 

[The 777 Hoax]

I didn't buy it... I got it for free.

 

[Till]

I didn't buy it... I got it for free.

I suggest selling it then. For reasons unknown, Macs are very expensive. Chances are, that you will be able to affort a superior x86(Windows) notebook for the money you get for the powerbook.

 

[The 777 Hoax]

I suggest selling it then. For reasons unknown, Macs are very expensive. Chances are, that you will be able to affort a superior x86(Windows) notebook for the money you get for the powerbook.

Really? Even if it's so old? I don't know much about laptops and how much they are worth, so I wouldn't even know how much to sell it for.

 

[Till]

Really? Even if it's so old? I don't know much about laptops and how much they are worth, so I wouldn't even know how much to sell it for.

Oups, i had no idea how old your notbook is.
A quick ebay check reveals, that it is probably not worth selling.
I think Turner's advise might turn out to be the best option....

 

[CruddyLeper]

I suggest you keep it and play with it until you appreciate how it works.

It's amazing how much a tutorial course would cost for the knowledge YOU can get for... well, just spending time with it.

 

[The 777 Hoax]

Well I just don't know what to do with it since it's crappy and doesn't do anything. I'm pretty sure it doesn't have a CD drive after looking on Wikipedia. Is it possible to stick a floppy disk in there and do something interesting, like a game of some sort?

 

[CruddyLeper]

This page might serve as a starting point;-

http://www.lowendmac.com/pb2/5300.shtml

It's got 2 Cardbus (1 type III card) slot(s) on the back, so you could connect a network card (PCMCIA type with Mac drivers) and hook it up to the internet. I doubt if a wireless card would work without an OS upgrade, although the hardware certainly could support a wireless card.

It's got a Powerbook SCSI connector on the back for connector external SCSI drives - which gives you a road into CD or maybe (prolly not without OS upgrade) DVD drives. External hard drives, printers and scanners are also obtainable for SCSI. Damn expensive though... well, the scanners are pretty cheap second hand, but the hard drives are usually pricey and the printers are WAYYYY scary prices.

Biggest limitation is the RAM. 64MB isn't a lot even by Mac standards.