Powerbook 5300 (1995)
(Source: powerbuch.ch)
What’s hard to accept about the Powerbooks from 1995 is how clunky they look. It’s difficult to believe when they seemed so futuristic at the time. The 5300 is particularly clunky, especially for an Apple product. Although it promised versatility via hot-swappable expansion ports for different drives and such, with a faster processor in a compact design, the 5300 was a mess. Issues with cases cracking and overheating led to recalls. Hinges broke, as did internal ribbon cables, leading to display issues and more. Two early machines caught fire. Reminds us of another brand we won’t mention here [ahem, Samsung]. In ’97, Apple introduced the 3400, which fixed most of the issues found in the 5300.
