Powerbook G3 "Pismo" hinge replacement

2008-03-17 13:03

My laptop’s lid became very floppy after a few years, and it seems to be a common problem with the entire Powerbook G3 family. Luckily, I found a pair of Pismo hinges for $15 shipped on eBay.

Removing the top lid in its entirety is fairly straight-forward, but the hardest part by far is opening the lid to access the panel and hinges. It has screws and those awful breakable plastic snaps.

Our culprits:

A Powerbook G3 Firewire top half with the back of the LCD panel exposed.

The panel itself. Not of interest to us this time.

Close-up of the LCD panel label. It is labeled LP141XA and manufactured by LG-Philips.

But I will take the opportunity to make my Pismo a little more unique.

A six-colour paper insert designed to sit under the transparent cut-out of the Apple logo in the Powerbook lid, giving the illusion of the historic rainbow Apple logo.

All done! Just reassemble and enjoy stiff hinges and a lid that doesn’t fall down.

The lid closed up with rainbow insert in place.