" Hi Mike,
Anyone wanting a low-cost solution to adding USB2 ports to a Powerbook may like to consider a Sumvision 4-port USB2 PCMCIA card. It comes with a lead for adding additional power from another USB port (currently connected to a powered hub on my system) for high-powered devices (I'm hoping to use it with an iPod arriving next week).
It has native Panther support despite the specs only mentioning Windows (I was told it had a NEC chip which is why I risked buying it). Only £10 new on Ebay and no problems so far in a Titanium Powerbook G4/867MHz hooked up to a Pioneer DVR-103 (reading at about 22Mb/s)...
Malcolm H. "

" Hi Mike,
We at Macologist have just posted a Doom3 review with benchmarks of G5 systems down to G4. The Macs configurations tested were:
2.0GHz PowerMac x 2 G5 processors. 128MB ATI 9600XT. 2GB ram (Revision B)
1.8GHz PowerMac x 1 G5 processor. 64MB NVIDIA FX5200. 512MB ram (Revision A)
1.5Ghz G4 PowerBook. 128MB ATI 9700. 512MB ram (2004)

Therefore between these numbers, you should be able estimate what your performance will be. We also provide comparison numbers with a Win32 system:
Pentium 4, 3.4Ghz HT (Hyper Threading) processor, 1GB DDR2 ram, and an NVIDIA 6600GT PCIe-x16 video card with 128 Megs of ram

The full review and results are here:
http://www.macologist.org/viewtopic.php?t=1015
--Santaduck "

" Doom 3 loads on-the-fly while doing a normal timedemo, so you should run:
timedemo demo1 1
If you want it to preload before starting the timedemo. When the demo is in cache you can timedemo normally.
Nikolaus W."

" Hello Mike,
Recently, I figured out that some Beige G3 Macs are capable of using an Apple TV Tuner card like a Power Mac 5500 is able to do. After purchasing several Beige G3s at an auction a while back, I realized that one of them had an interesting version of the A/V Personality card. In addition to the 60-pin DAV connector, it has a 10-pin and 26-pin connector, which are the same as an Apple TV Tuner card and infrared receiver board from a Power Mac 5500.
Upon testing I have found that in fact both do work with the Beige G3 Tower in OS 9! It is apparent Apple originally planned for the Beige G3s to have TV capabilities like the Power Mac 5500 and other Performas. I created a page with pictures about this and how I modified my G3 All-In-One's Personality card to use the Apple TV Tuner card. The address of my page is
http://www.geocities.com/pm9600g4/

It is really neat having the Apple TV Tuner card in my G3 All-In-One. Its like using my Power Mac 5500, but faster.
Horst "

DVD-ROM Drives
• IDE Hitachi HD-7500 (12x/40x) in G4/AGP (OS X 10.3)
• IDE Sony DDU-1613 in B&W G3 (OS X 10.3)
  (Illustrated CD drive install guide here covers Beige G3 MT)
  
  CDRW Drives
• Firewire Clubmac (no actual drive info given) used w/Dual G4 (OS X 10.3)
  
  DVD+R/RW + DVD-R/RW Drives
• Exp. Bay Toshiba SD-R6472 in (Pismo) Powerbook G3 2000 (OS X 10.3)
  (Using Patchburn 3 for iApps burn support. Noted some verify problems. Systems page, Powerbook section has articles from 2001 on expansion bay combo drive installs/swaps.)
• IDE LG 4063 in G5 Tower (OS X 10.3)
  (Didn't mention it but I suspect Patchburn 3 is needed for iApps burn support.)
• IDE LG GSA-4163B in Dual G4 (OS X 10.3)
  (Using Patchburn 3 for iApps burn support.)
• IDE LG GSA-4163B in G4/AGP (OS X 10.3)
  (Using Patchburn 3 for iApps burn support. Illustrated CD drive install guide here covers G4 towers up to the Digital Audio Model, Beige G3 MT and B&W G3 Macs)
• IDE Pioneer DVR-108 in (MDD) Single G4 DDR (OS X 10.3)
  (Using Patchburn 3 for iApps burn support. )
• IDE Pioneer DVR-109 in B&W G3 (OS X 10.3)
  (Using Patchburn 3 for iApps burn support. Noted problems w/disc verify (with this drive and an NEC), regardless of burn rates and media used - perhaps related to the rev 1 B&W G3 IDE chip.)
• IDE Pioneer DVR-109 in (MDD) Dual G4 DDR (OS X 10.3)
  (Using Patchburn 3 for iApps burn support.)
  
  DVD-RAM Drives:
• IDE Matshiba PD-2 LF-D110 in Beige G3 (OS X)
  
  Hard Drives:
• IDE Dell (didn't note actual brand) 40GB in (Pismo) Powerbook G3 2000 (OS X 10.3) (listed under "other" brands. PB G3 Pismo illustrated HD install guide here)
• IDE Seagate Momentus 100GB in Powerbook G4 (OS X 10.3)
  (PowerBook G4 Ti 15in. LCD illustrated Hard Drive install guide here
  PB G4 15in (Aluminum) Disassembly guide here.
  Powerbook G4 12in LCD illustrated Hard Drive install guide here)
• IDE Western Digital WD1200JB 120GB in B&W G3 using IDE PCI Card (OS X 10.3)
  (Illustrated guide to adding a 2nd HD here in B&W G3 rev2 and G4 towers up to the QuickSilver models.
  IDE articles page RAID section has an illustrated guide for adding 2 more drives in the side bays.)

You can find full owner reports (latest shown first) by searching the database by drive/brand/interface/mac models (the latest reports are shown first in searches). For guides to installing CD/CDRW/DVD drives or Hard drives in many mac models, see the IDE Articles page. The Firewire articles page also has guides on case kits, installing drives, etc.
If you've added a IDE, SCSI, Firewire or USB hard drive, CDRW, tape drive, etc. make sure you add a report to the database. (If you post an updated entry - make sure you use the same name, etc. as you did before so I can find your past entry. Thanks.)
(Incomplete entries are deleted. Do not post questions in the database, it's for drive reports not questions on what drive to buy - for that try searching the database for reports from owners of your mac model on the drive type/brand/interface, etc. you're interested in.)

• Giga Designs G4 1.8GHz (7447A) in (QS) G4/AGP (rated 10)
• Giga Designs G4 1.2GHz in G4/AGP (rated 4)
• Powerlogix G3 1GHz in B&W G3 (rated 10)
  
  (Full reviews of G4 and G3 upgrades compared to stock CPUs, including real world apps/game tests, install info, etc. are linked at the CPU upgrades page. OC/CPU module articles are on the Systems page.)

(Warning - Overclocking may not be reliable and could lead to hardware failure or corrupted data.) You can find the full reports by searching the database selecting the indicated Mac model and upgrade card brand/type. If you've upgraded the CPU on your Mac, please post an entry in the database. Search the database for entries from most every upgradable Mac model *before* you buy. (Searchable by mac model/upgrade brand).