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The TAM looks like a Sony appliance rather than an Apple computer. And I love it too.

"No boot, only screams" I relate to this far too much

Steves death stare when he is given a TAM on stage is the stuff of legends, I wonder what happened to the poor sap that had to give it to him… You can still find the video from the event on KZfaq!

the scream of pain that powerbook let out was top tier

The TAM was the Mac that even Steve Jobs hated, I remember seeing a remote control for it. The remote looked like my old JVC CD boombox’s CD remote

15:17 - The opening on the right side of the underside of the keyboard normally contained a matching, square leather wrist pad; so if you removed the mouse, you could fill in the space for a full wrist pad.

Your love for PowerPC is astounding. I truly cherish these videos.

You know, those black speakers de-emphasizes the overall profile in a way that really shows off the homage to the mac classic in the middle. The beige made it look like a big block. LOL

I definitely didn't see that coming when he removed the speaker grills to reveal hardly any speaker.

Sean, TAM does not have ATi Rage 128, it has Rage II. Rage 128 isn't available in 1996-1997

You're one of the few KZfaqrs that I actually look forward to seeing notifications for new videos. Really enjoy your stuff.. thanks for putting so much effort into it. Can really tell you enjoy it and it's not just a paycheck / job. Thank you!

I've soldered wires across a broken flex cable before. It's doable. Of course wherever the solder points end up will be stiffer than they should be, so I'm not sure how well that would work on a laser transport cable (my fix was on an LCD cable, and on a portion of the cable that doesn't flex during normal use).

The Rage 128 chipset was damn good for the time. I remember playing the original version of The Sims on a Power Mac G3 233 with that chipset, it ran fine even then, especially once you maxed out the VRAM chip to 8mb. There was a G3 upgrade card for it, unfortunately it's incompatible with OS X.

These machines still look amazing. I also remember being fixated on it as long as it was in Jerry's apartment on Seinfeld. Also, can I see the Aurora borealis in your kitchen?

This machine perfectly exemplifies Apple's lost 90s. They were just out of their minds.

I don't think I'll ever tire of the on-screen "thonk x #" graphics. I love the design of the TAM, it really foreshadows the LCD G5 / Intel iMacs well.

“No boot, only screams” reminds me of a computer that had at the radio station labeled “dead. Fire. Bad.”

Yeah I think the black fabric looks really nice. Keeps bringing my attention back to the middle of the machine making it feel more like a old mac rather than some unfolded laptop with speakers glued onto the sides.

Even I didn't know the TAM's display and keyboard were drop-in replacements with the PB 3400. And I agree, the black speaker fabric is FAR better looking than the stock - I might even upgrade my TAMS with this! Who did you source your speaker fabric from?

been waiting for this episode ever since you showed the computer in the new studio tour!!!!! keep up the good work!

TAM That Apple Migraine

One more minor step for people who are gluing a square grille - mitre your corners. Seems minor, but cutting slits into the corners makes glue-up a little bit easier.

The TAM is a Frankenstein'd PM 6500/250 and PB 3400: the logic board and power supply are out of the 6500, while the display, hard drive, and keyboard/mouse are out of the 3400. The CD drive is based on a standard tray-loading 4x Matsushita unit, heavily modified to be a top-loader, but the electronics are still compatible with the other CR-504 models if you need to hack up a repair. TAMs need special risers (and the "fat back") for the PCI and CSII slots or they're unusable. The hard drive is an old-style 2.5" drive, so it's tricky to mount a new drive that doesn't have universal mount points without using tape. And of course, since they're Gazelle-based, most combo PCI cards (such as USB+FireWire) don't work; you'll need to get a very specific model that's listed as compatible in the 6500/TAM. That speaker fabric looks great though. I may do that to my less-than-perfect TAM.

Jobs hated it so much he wanted it to be part of the Apple II line.

Hey other Sean! Tacky Glue has so many wonderful uses. I've used it a lot in projects on and off my channel. The black fabric looks great on the speaker covers! Nicely done! Actually you did a great job on the entire machine. Signed, the other Sean 🙂

I wouldn't be surprised if a place like jlcpcb or pcbway can make ribbon cables too.

You know, I *do* like the black cloth on the speaker grilles… They now match the palm rest on the keyboard, and make the TAM look slimmer and more like a Classic Mac/a G5 iMac and later, all with the consistent bezel around the top and the side edges of the screen.

To this day my favorite design to ever come out of Apple. I enjoy treading the line between madness and magnificence.

That PowerBook wrote the short story "I Have No Boot, and I Must Scream"

Lovely video. At 2:57 you mention a Rage 128. Thats not possible, the 128 was first built into a Mac with the B&W G3 line. The TAM had a ATI Rage 2.

We had one of these at work sort of as art in our lobby. I loved it. This was circa 2002…

Has anyone noticed how despite this being an Apple channel, he uses an Android for his main phone?

Not sure if they're compatible, but what if you tried swapping out the ribbon or even the laser with the one from the PB3400c?

The TAM took the chipset from the powermac 6500 not the PowerBook 3400c as the video system was a 1 Meg chips and technology video controller compared to the ati rage ii 2 meg from the powermac.

The TAM is the clear choice for early-adopter standing-desk nutters. The early first wave in the mid 90's "Look how wide my feet got from standing at my scifi computer in giant Birkenstocks. This is how humans were supposed to be in nature"

In 2003, I wanted a TAM to replace my Apple All-in-One 5400 desktop which, had died. However, could never find a used one at what, I felt was a reasonable price. So, many years later, I picked-up an All-in-One 5500 and took from my dead 5400 system the Apple video card system, Apple TV/FM radio card system with its matching black remote control, and my G3 upgrade card. Afterward, It was like my vintage 5400 desktop had been reborn. Today, this system is still working great (smile ... smile).

At first I didn't like the black fabric, but now I really dig it. It makes the whole thing look slimmer.

I never understood the hate for the TAM. It wasn't supposed to be a consumer hit, it's a high-end Bose CD audio system which happens to have a mac installed. It was intended to sit on a bookcase to be operated with a remote control and for 1997 the industrial design was amazing. Jobs hated everything he didn't have a hand in creating. That's why he created NeXT, to build his own ideal computer, and later killed off all of Apple's existing products. There's literally nothing 1997 Apple could have presented him with that wouldn't end up in the trash. If someone else had created the iMac he would have hated it.

It's not even a bad idea. The modern equivalent would be like a 24"ultra HD all in one with peripherals on the bottom. lol. Add the fine design language and high end audio, and it wouldn't even be a bad product.

This is probably the best apple design imo

The black speaker covers really do look amazing. So much better than the original.

Absolutely Jelly. Ive wanted a TAM since my applefritter days. I think the CD drive is a standard desktop apple unit stripped of the top case. I would use that door to hide stuff like an SD card reader or similar.

Pretty sure that speaker cloth glue is like most others of its ilk, and that you're supposed to put it down then let it tack over before applying the cloth to it. Usually to the point that it's no longer a liquid, but more of a semi solid, non transferrable to the skin sort of existence. THEN, you apply the cloth to it... like any fabric glue, floor glue, vct, rubber, etc. This would allow you to actually stretch the fabric a whole lot better... the way you did it, you just laid the fabric into the wet glue puddles. So, even if you did pull it tight, it'd just go back to normal as it took tens of minutes to dry... or longer. Yeah... just looked up a few "how to's", as well as forum posts... and yeah... you for sure are supposed to let it tack over until it's no longer white in color... like any other glues of the sort. Until no longer transferable, nor tacky to the touch. It will THEN be ready to tack to the cloth. Still looks decent though... better than before for sure. If it does have any wrinkles or slop to it though, I'd say just go at it again with this in mind.

I'd like to see the rest of the system done in black, but it'd be difficult to preserve the silkscreen on the buttons. Maybe you could make transparent stickers that look the part...

I actually love that computer, idk why. It just has such an interesting look to it!

It’s about TAM time!

This is the one Mac I would love to have in my collection, simply for use as a CD player and display piece. It's just awesome to me.

Gawd dayum

Once you open it up it is really possible to see how this is the ancestor of the iMac G5. Increase the screen size , move the cd rom drive behind the screen, shrink the “ bezels “. As it’s design was developed from the classic Mac design language, it’s definitely on the main line of one piece Mac desktops.

Looking forward to this! Please, if you can, go for a GPU over SATA drive compatibility - an adapter to what I assume is IDE isn't gonna be that much slower... But a 9200 in a TAM, running Tiger on a G3 processor sounds delicious! I look forward to seeing how far that RAM goes up, especially once that Sonnet CPU is in there. And, also, damn it, now I want a TAM... I'm supposed to be trying to find a G3 Tower to drop my Yikes CPU in. Thanks for once again giving me another distraction. Also, happy to see you have a very successful video after the suck-fest-ful Tandy debacle, LOL.

The TAM would have been incredible if they put a DVD drive in it. It probably would have pushed the already absurd price tag even further, but I think it's set up just so nice for watching movies!

Only issue is had with mine where the explosive capacitors in the power supply aka subwoofer. Just to think that 15 years ago no one wanted this even for free, a bit like the Nexus Cube I got as they had it in a shed as it was a "old black and white" computer....how the world changed. PS: I loved the black speakers so much that I will do the same to mine :)

The screaming Powerbook had me DYING LMAO

When I saw you playing Wolfenstein 3D on the TAM I could see Sandra Bullock from The Net staring in awe.

I remember seeing one of these at my friend's house. His dad was an Apple zealot and always had several new macs on his desk.

That base station connector seems to be a proper aviation connector

the black looks quite good on that machine.

That chonk connector is amazing! Love the TAM.

Not an Apple guy but love the enthusiasm. I definitely like the black speaker grille much better; looks futuristic. The grey just screamed bargain basement.

That was a TAM-tastic video! Thanks for another great upload!

It might be possible to repair the old LCD if it's just the polariser (that's "polarizer" for the US Americans). Tube Time on twitter repaired a Powerbook LCD screen by removing the old polariser and replacing it with new film, although that was a monochrome LCD, not a colour one. I'm not 100% sure you can do the same thing for colour LCDs, but that might be something you want to look into. Anyway, it's good to see you got the TAM working. Can't wait to see more upgrades!

Bruh, if only apple still designed stuff like that keyboard, that design was *amazing*

The Apple that’s still worth more than my car years later.

Dunno why Jobs hated it, it's probably the only retro mac that appeals to me. It does look very un-Apple for the time though, the person below saying it looks like a Sony device is spot on. Looks a lot better with that black fabric on the speakers too!

No boot only screams! Brilliant.

8:00 - The TAM did indeed come with a dual PCI riser as well as a larger back cover that made it look like a hunchback. The larger back cover provided more space for expansion cards, cables, etc. Hopefully you can track one down.

That thing looks like it stepped straight off the page of an "artist's impression of the computer of the 2000s"

The CD rom transport looks a lot like a slim CD rom unit, maybe the PowerBook transport head unit is compatible and has the same flex, taking in account the reuse of so much parts it seems plausible that they used the same optical drive in a slight different form factor. Great video as always, hope to see a follow up soon, love your channel.

I 100% agree the black fabric looks way better than the gray one, keep it like that its awesome

Wow, the innards on that thing show just how bad the design was rushed... Its literally a spiders web of ribbon cables held in with scotch tape! lol

I saw your reddit post on the fabric replacement yesterday. Didn't even look at the username lol. Awesome work, looks great!

16:13 Interesting to see ALPS inside the keyboard assembly. I had one of their quirky ADB trackpads back in the day...

Look like Apple CD 600i CR-504-C share same part for laser I found it on the forum you can try to look it up yourself

Somehow, the TAM was at the same time one of the last Performas (the motherboard was practically the same of 6360) and the first of iMacs (it took the same design concepts).

The TAM's subwoofer really looks like one of those Mac Pro trashcans... I wonder where they took the inspiration for that one?

I love the top to bottom speaker grill covering up a tiny square speaker, very on brand for Bose. This may have been the first audio brand collaboration with a computer brand which is now the norm.

I like the re-cloth-ing of the speakers with black fabric--very elegant choice!

Yeah I was going to say, my 3400 definitely doesn't have a rage 128. Can't wait for up coming videos for this thing!

I'd seen a video awhile back fo someone effectivly gutting and putting a brand new mac in complete with bluray drive. It was a thing of beautey.

Ha! Who would of thought that it used the same powerbook components?! Great video proving it does! 🙂

That's a nice use for the guitar pick, and if you're having lunch afterwards you can use it as a toothpick as well!

This is the first time I've ever seen a tam unbuttoned!

6:20 why was I programmed to feel pain!? 😂

This was really nice. We've not forgotten you had promised to upgrade the TAM with a new processor card, though... 😏

I personally might have tried a dark gray, but the black covers look fantastic!

I’d imagine it should be possible to find a replacement laser assembly for the cd rom drive. Just make sure you remove the solder shorting out the laser after installation. Otherwise it won’t work at all. I’ve seen other people on KZfaq make that mistake.

This is actually a very cool looking Mac back then and it looks ahead of its time. I saw it on TV shows in the background there and here. It's just the price point is beyond eveyone's reach. I think it would've been cheaper to make after the iMac G4 with the first flat screen. This TAM could pass as one of the iMacs after 2001.

I used to have no interest in this thing, but these days it's starting to grow in me. Also, I'd have tried gold fabric on the speakers. That might look ok. Or it might be a disaster.

I would give that house space at the drop of a hat, what a lovely machine...

compared to how other personal computers looked at the time, this thing looked like it was from one hundred years in the future. fourteen year old me wanted it so bad 😆

I respect apple having the balls to create an AIO, with an extra chunk on the desk that's almost as large as a desktop anyway. Only they, even back then, could have been that brazen lmao.

Just a little clarification, neither the 3400 nor the TAM came with the Rage 128 chip. The 3400 sported a generic Cirrus Logic video chip, while the TAM had the ATI Rage II chipset. The first mac to come with a Rage 128 was the Blue and White G3 tower, followed by the slot-loading iMacs.

TAM, TAM, TAM. Wonderful TAM! Yes, I have Monty Python stuck in my head. :)

You: …we're gonna keep this thing bone stock. Me: Like hell you will.

6:24 Lesson : Never let your laptop eat beans

That version of wolfinstine has way different sounds to what I'm use to.

That's pretty funny that they have that big-ass cover for the speakers and when you pulled it off, there was just a tiny BS speaker at the bottom.

i'm going to need a "no boot, only screams" poster now

Awesome ❤ love the enthusiasm, still rocking my iBook G3 12 inch. PPC forever