Some Duo Dock questions

[livingfortoday]

I recently got ahold of a Powerbook Duo 210 that still works (my mom had hidden it under the stairs for years!) and I wanted to set it up so that I could fiddle around in System 7 a bit. I was thinking, I have an extra monitor I'm not using (VGA connector) - maybe I should get a Duo Dock! We had one back in the day, but it's long since been thrown away, so I have some questions as I seek out a new one.

I know the Duo Dock, the Duo Dock II, and the Duo Dock Plus will all take s the 210. Are there other versions of the Dock out there that will? Also, can I use a VGA monitor (17", 1024x768 resolution) with the Duo Docks? I'm assuming the image will be grayscale, as is the Duo? Finally, I'm pretty sure the original Duo Dock doesn't have ethernet, but that the II does. If I hook it up to my router, will I be able to use the ethernet considering the Duo 210 didn't have ethernet? I won't have any way of moving files to it otherwise (I have the floppy drive, but no other computers with floppy drives).

Ah, and one more thing. Can anyone recommend any good places to get software and whatnot for System 7? All I have on there now is (I believe) and old version of MS Word and Kid Pix.

 

[4JNA]

Ah, and one more thing. Can anyone recommend any good places to get software and whatnot for System 7? All I have on there now is (I believe) and old version of MS Word and Kid Pix.

no idea on the duo. never had one. but elsewhere in the collectors forum, found this and found it very useful;

http://www.system7today.com/

great info, and lots of link and help.

 

[macEfan]

ah yes, the duo docks are awesome! Any duo dock will work with your Duo 210. The duodocks have better video chips inside them, so even if your Powerbook is black and white, you can use color on your monitor from the duo dock.

There are also duo dock mini's, but I belive those don't work with external video.

yes, the duodock II will have the ethernet card in it. Should work with your network fore fileshareing, etc, but going online will be slow.

 

[livingfortoday]

Awesome, thanks for your help! I guess I'll hunt around for a Duo Dock II then!

 

[RacerX]

First, the display color and resolution of a monitor connected to a Dock is based on what the Dock will support... as I recall most came with 512k of VRAM (specs on the Duo Dock, Duo Dock II and Duo Dock Plus).

Second, a Duo supports ethernet if it has the software to support it. I've had ethernet cards in all my Docks for Duo 230 up to my current Duo 2300c.

As for System 7 software... that really depends on what you want/need. I have more than enough software to fill the 80 MB drive a few times over... but what would I want/need on that system? That depends on what I would use it for.

What are you going to use it for? Knowing that would help me point you at software (though this is a good place to start).

For a couple years a Duo 230 was my only system. I had a sound editor (Sound Effects), word processor (Word 5.1a and ClarisWorks 4.0), page layout app (PageMaker 5.0a), an illustration app (MacDraw Pro 1.0) and a mathematics app (Theorist 1.0). I also had a few games (SolitaireTilDawn and Hellcats Over the Pacific). I was able to do a lot with that old system (which was a major step up from my previous SE/30).

 

[dpaanlka]

The big Docks have Nubus expansion slots, some have places for an extra hard drive, and they all have floppy drives.

There are also Mini Docks and Micro Docks. They are smaller and less functional.

You might find a Duo 210 very underpowered, even for later versions of Mac OS 7 (such as 7.6) are going to feel sortof slow on that system. With a 25mhz 68030, it's going to feel about half as fast as a 25mhz Quadra, which is slow to begin with.

However, Mac OS 7.1 should be ok on that system. Good for maybe some really old games and word processing. Sorry, you may not find a lot on my site (www.system7today.com) as most of it is geared towards PowerPC and faster 68040s.

Come to think of it, I don't think that can even run 7.6.

 

[RacerX]

Come to think of it, I don't think that can even run 7.6.

Mac OS 7.6.1 is supported... but I echo the recommendation of System 7.1 for that system. It just seems like the right fit.


livingfortoday,

Also the Duos can have quite a change of personality once docked...For example, when on it's own my 230 needed to have SoftwareFPU running to use my copy of Theorist, but when docked (my dock had a 68882 FPU) it didn't need that extension. I also quickly got into the habit of not leaving much on the desktop because I had a dual monitor setup on my Dock (an Apple 16" at thousands of colors off the onboard video and a SuperMatch 20" on the video card that came with it). I kept only three folders on my desktop and that was it.

I know that both dpaanlka and I share a love for the Duo series. I highly recommend his site on the Duos, I've had it bookmarked since he first started it. So you'll find no shortage of Duo fans rooting you on in your attempts to make your 210 productive again.

In addition to the Dock specs I posted earlier you may find these useful...

PowerBook Duo 210
PowerBook Duo 230
PowerBook Duo 250
PowerBook Duo 270c
PowerBook Duo 280
PowerBook Duo 280c
PowerBook Duo 2300c​

And this is a pretty good site for parts. I'll try to remember where I bought the memory for my 2300c as I got it for a great price.

For manuals...

PowerBook Duo 200 Series & 2300c Tech/User Manuals
PowerBook Duo 200 Series Service Manual
PowerBook Duo 2300c Service Manual
Duo Dock Series & MiniDock Tech/User Manuals
Duo Dock Series Service Manual
Duo MiniDock Service Manual​

Just in case you get hooked on these systems.

 

[RacerX]

Ah, and one more thing. Can anyone recommend any good places to get software and whatnot for System 7? All I have on there now is (I believe) and old version of MS Word and Kid Pix.

In thinking about software (and what I would want if I was starting out with a Duo 210 and had no software), I came up with this list...

Nisus Writer 4.1.6 and Nisus Compact
WordPerfect 3.5e (may require System 7.5)
PageMill 2.0 (comes with Photoshop LE)
ClarisWorks 4.0 or 2.1
MS Office 4.2.1 (really needs a 68040 or better)
MS Word 5.1 (better choice than Office 4.2.1 which comes with Word 6.0.1)
SpellTools
Aldus PageMaker 4.0, 4.2 or 5.0
Aldus Freehand 2.0, 3.0 or 3.1
Aldus Persuasion 2.0
(Aldus PageMaker 4.2, Freehand 3.11 and Persuasion 2.12 together is nice too, as is Persuasion 2.1 and Freehand 2.0 together)
Adobe Acrobat 3.0 (requires 7.5.3) or 2.1​

These items would provide most of the functionality I would want from a system without overpowering a 68030 at 25 MHz. 12 MB of memory would be helpful with these, 24 MB would be even better (though I used a lot of this on my old SE/30 which only had 8 MB of memory).

The main reason for wanting the full version of Acrobat is the PDFWriter extension that comes with it and Distiller... makes moving documents to another system with a printer much easier.

And as I pointed out earlier, the Info-Mac HyperArchive is a great place to browse for software. When something catches your eye, check out the abstract to see what the software does. It is a great place... specially for those of us with older systems.

Hope that gives you some options.

 

[livingfortoday]

That is really great guys, thanks! We used to have this Duo hooked up to a regular Duo Dock in my mom's office, and we had one of the mini docks at home, so I'm assuming it's still set up to deal with that.

I definitely enjoy using the older Duo, and I'll mainly be using it to putz about in System 7 and try everything I can. It's just been so long since I've used anything other than OS X, so it'll feel good to go back a bit. As for apps, I'll mainly be word processing, maybe drawing (now that I know the Dock supports color), and definitely playing some older games.

I'm gonna get started on those links you gave me, and thanks to both of you for all the extra help.

 

[dpaanlka]

I know that both dpaanlka and I share a love for the Duo series. I highly recommend his site on the Duos, I've had it bookmarked since he first started it.

I really aught to update that page. My Duo 230, 280, and 2300 have been pretty dusty lately I lost ownership of that URL ages ago...

Maybe I'll combine it with System 7 Today. Same with the 3400c site.