PowerBook G3 Lombard Upgrades
G3 Lombard Front

This page covers all the upgrades we sell for the PowerBook G3 Lombard. Choose the type of upgrade you are looking for from the tabs below.(Not the right Mac? See here for more PowerBooks, or here for all Macs.)

100% Compatibility Guarantee

If you want specific upgrades for your exact model, choose it from the Model ID links below, or enter your serial number here:


Where is my serial number?
 100% Compatibility Guarantee
G3 Lombard Ports

History

This, the third generation of the PowerBook G3, changed to a different case design and larger screen. It was available in two configurations - a 333MHz unit with a CD-ROM, and a 400 MHz G3 with one of the first commercially available laptop DVD-ROM drives.

The PowerBook Lombard used a 66MHz system bus and accepts up to 384MB of PC66 or PC100 RAM.

The Lombard was the first Mac laptop to use USB - something carried over from the iMac. It was also over 20% thinner and two pounds in weight lighter than it's predecessor. A change in battery type resulted in significantly longer battery life.

The machine shipped with Mac OS 8.6 installed but will support Mac OS 9 to OS 10.3. It will not run 10.4 (Tiger) or later.

How to Identify these Machines

The G3 Lombard can be distinguished from older PowerBooks (such as the G3 Wallstreet) by the colour of its keyboard, which is a translucent bronze colour. The subsequent PowerBook G3 "Pismo" has an almost identical case and keyboard.

The Lombard has an HDI-30 SCSI connection (a square port with 30 pins) and two USB Ports. This differentiates it from the Pismo, which has 2 USB ports and 2 FireWire ports but no SCSI.

The machine has also a 56K modem and a 15 pin VGA port for an external monitor.

If you are still unsure you can contact us on 01223 833 412 or by email for confirmation. If you want to upgrade but aren't happy to install your upgrades then we can help. Simply ask our engineers for further details.

Memory Upgrades

The PowerBook G3 Lombard has two memory sockets. The machines can accept up to 384MB in RAM - a lot for the time, but a sensible amount for today's applications, particularly if you're running OS 10 or later.

The RAM fits in two slots: either of which can take a 256MB module. Once a 256MB stick is installed, the second socket can only take up to 128MB.

There are none available.

Difficulty 3 / 5 - Reasonably easy (top socket only)

Turn off the machine and remove the power cable and battery.

The hard drive and RAM are housed below the keyboard. To remove the keyboard, release the catches at the top of the keyboard (between ESC & F1 and F8 & F9).

This reveals the internal parts. There is a metal protective plate secured with a screw. Remove the plate to reveal the top RAM socket.

The top socket is easily reached, however if you need to install 2 memory chips we advise you to contact us for professional installation, since the second socket is housed beneath the processor card and is difficult to replace.

We do sell RAM for installation in the lower socket, but we cannot provide any instructions or support for the installation.

CD/DVD/Blu-ray Drive Upgrades

The PowerBook G3 Lombard came equipped with a CD ROM drive (333MHz) or a DVD-ROM (400MHz) in its left drive bay. At present we do not supply CD or DVD writers which fit internally into this machine.

Please note, a DVD unit from a 400MHz Lombard or a Pismo will fit into a 333MHz Lombard. However only the 400MHz Lombard has DVD decoding hardware. These machines are not powerful enough to decode in software. This means that a 333MHz unit fitted with an internal DVD-ROM cannot play DVD movies, although it could read data DVDs.

It is possible to use an external CD-RW. You can do this through the USB port, but the drive will only run at around 4x speed due to the speed restrictions of USB 1.1. You can also fit FireWire (requires OS9) or USB 2.0 (requires OSX) as a PCMCIA (Cardbus) card, and then use a fast external CD-RW. See the expansion card section at the end of this page for PCMCIA cards.

Unfortunately the Lombard is underpowered when it comes to burning DVDs, and we do not sell DVD-RWs to work with this machine.

There are no optical drive upgrades available for these Macs

Difficulty 1 / 5 Easy

Install any supplied software, restart your machine and connect the new device.

Internal Hard Drive & SSD Upgrades

This range of hard drives will work in your PowerBook Lombard.

If you don't want to fit a new hard drive yourself, you can take advantage of the MacUpgrades Installation Service. Add the installation service from the list below to your cart along with your chosen hard drive. We can also clone your existing hard drive onto the new one, simply add the Clone Original Hard Drive service below to your cart.

Once you have booked the service, send your machine to us, we will carry out the work and return it to you. Alternatively, we do offer a Collection Service with our courier, please see here for details.

Installation Services

INSTALL SERVICE - Clone Original Internal DriveStock: Available£25.00 + vat (£30.00)
INSTALL SERVICE - Fit Customer Supplied PartStock: Available£17.50 + vat (£21.00)

Internal SSD Drives to Replace Main Hard Drive

Any fitting information below is intended as a guide before purchase ONLY, when fitting these products you should refer to the original manual for your computer, and any instructions that come with the item. Please see this page for more information, or here for information on our fitting service.

Difficulty 3 / 5 - Reasonably Easy

Turn off the machine and remove the power cable and battery.

The hard drive and RAM are housed below the keyboard. To remove the keyboard, release the catches at the top of the keyboard (between ESC & F1 and F8 & F9). This reveals the internal parts.

There is metal protective plate secured with a screw. Remove the plate to reveal the RAM socket. The hard drive is located to the right, housed in a caddy.

Very gently, take either side of the caddy and lift up and out towards the centre of the PowerBook. Don't move it too far as it is connected with an IDE cable. Gently remove the cable from the end of the drive and, with a TORX screwdriver, remove the 4 black holding screws at either corner of the drive.

Fit the new drive and reassemble the machine in reverse order.

Start your computer from CD, and initialize the drive.

If you are unsure please contact our team who can carry out the installation for you.

Graphics Cards and Displays

This laptop can take a secondary graphics card through it's PCMCIA (Cardbus) slot, to allow it to control a wider range of external displays that it can by default.

There are no graphics card upgrades available for these Macs

Difficulty 1 / 5 - Very Easy.

Install any supplied software, turn off the machine, and insert the PCMCIA card into the socket on the left of the machine.

Connect it to your monitor and your finished.

Expansion Card Upgrades

Your PowerBook G3 Lombard has one available PCMCIA sockets for connectivity expansion. This is located to the left of the machine.

These credit card sized sockets allow users to take advantage of newer connectivity such as USB 2.0, FireWire and wireless networking.

There are no optical drive upgrades available for these Macs

Difficulty 1 / 5 - Very Easy.

Install any supplied software, turn off the machine, and insert the PCMCIA card into the socket on the left of the machine.

Restart the machine and away you go.

Keyboards & Mice

The following keyboards and mice are compatible with this Mac.

Trust 3 button USB Optical MouseStock: Available£6.75 + vat (£8.10)
Cherry Strait 3.0 USB Keyboard - UK Mac LayoutStock: Available£32.00 + vat (£38.40)

Power Supplies & Batteries

Listed below are power supplies, batteries and related products we supply for this Mac.

There are none available.

Cables & Tools

Listed below are power cables, tools and related products we supply for this Mac.

Precision Screwdriver Set, 31 Piece - Phillips/Torx/TR6Stock: Available£12.50 + vat (£15.00)
Anti Static Wrist StrapStock: Available£8.50 + vat (£10.20)

External Drives & Enclosures

It is possible to upgrade this Mac with an external hard drive, however you will need to add a modern connectivity type to your Mac. For this machine we strongly recommend looking at FireWire if you want any external data storage devices. FireWire can be added with an expansion card (see below). You will need to be running at least OS9 to use FireWire.

There are none available.

Complete Machines - Refurbished

Any complete machines of this type or similar that we have for sale are listed here. Please note that these are refurbished models with a 3 month warranty, and that delivery is likely to take 3 - 5 working days. These can be purchased online with the standard website courier delivery charge for the mainland UK only. Please contact us for a quote on shipping to other areas.

Repair Services for this Mac

Here are the various repair services we offer for this Mac. You can have us take the machine in for evaluation, or book a fixed-price repair if you already know what the fault is and the service is listed below (for services without parts, please see the relevant tab on this page for compatible parts that we sell). If you know what the fault is, but we don't have a fixed-price repair listed below, please contact us for a quote.

Evaluation Services

Mac Repair - Evaluation ServiceStock: Available£39.00 + vat (£46.80)

Installation Services (parts not included)

Collection ServiceStock: Available£24.68 + vat (£29.62)
INSTALL SERVICE - Clone Original Internal DriveStock: Available£25.00 + vat (£30.00)