Mitac 5033

Mitac 5033

Mitac's well marketed 5033 model had many different brand name logos affixed to it. Most companies including Trogon kept the 5033 model name on the main label. This makes for easy identification of these machines. However, the 5033 was also widely sold as the AMS Tech Roadster 15 series of laptops and other than a small label hidden away in the battery bay, there's no other way of knowing that these machines were also Mitac 5033's.

No matter which vender resold the 5033, it is a nice solid machine and should not suffer from early death from a weak case design. It's weight is fairly high when equipped with the NiMH battery and the machine always has a nice solid feel to it.

Mitac updated the 5033 during production to reflect improvements in RAM and CPU technology. Each revision has it's own limitations and so you need to know what revision you own before you attempt to update the RAM or CPU. If you look into the battery bay you should find a small paper label with information regarding the motherboard revision. I'm sorry but I don't know the CPU limits and memory limits unless you can provide the information on this label.

None of the 5033 revisions seem to be able to use the AMD K6-2+ CPU and so the older K6-2 CPU is the fastest/best line of CPU's for these machines. Some early revision 5033's will not run any AMD CPU at all and the Intel 233MMX CPU is the fastest in these machines. The later revisions may use the K6-2/380 MHz laptop CPU, which is the lowest power/longest runtime CPU for these machines. Note that it runs at 366 MHz in a 5033. You could also install a 366 MHz K6-2 desktop CPU in revisions that use AMD CPU's, the desktop CPU has higher performance than the "380".

If your 5033 has an AMD CPU installed then I'd suggest replacing it with an AMD K6-2/380 MHz low-power laptop CPU or a 366 desktop CPU if you wish to upgrade. The only drawback to updating to a K6-2/380 MHz is that it is very hard to find because it has been out of production for some time.

Motherboard CPU Limits - by Revision

Motherboard Revision	AMD
5033	No
5033H	?
5033K	Yes
5033L	Yes
5033T	Yes

Note: The CPU fans changed from a 2 pin (two wire) fan to three pin (three wire) fan at some point in production.

Motherboard Memory Limits - by Revision

Motherboard Revision	Max. Expansion Memory
5033	64 MB EDO
5033H	?
5033K	?
5033L	128 SDRAM
5033T	128 SDRAM

There's only one expansion memory socket and it is located under the CPU heatsink.

The maximum memory in any 5033 is 160 MB (32 onboard plus 128MB) of SD-RAM, but only for later revisions of the 5033's. Some early 5033's appear to be able to only be expanded to 96 MB (32 + 64MB ) and will require EDO expansion memory. The expansion memory slot is cramped and using a low-profile memory module works best. A standard height module will fit sometimes after trimming the 5033's plastic case.

The CMOS backup battery is located under the palmrest, near the hard drive and to change it you need to remove the four screws along the lower front side of the case. This battery needs to be changed ever few years and the laptop may NOT boot if this battery is dead. The battery cost is under $5.00 and so I suggest tat you change it once a year to be safe.

Be careful after you remove the four screws or the LCD lid latch may be damaged if the palmrest comes up with the LCD lid - side pressure is applied to the plastic latch by the palmrest, so hold the palmrest down to prevent damage. Replacement latches are not available.

I've worked quite a few 5033's that have had dead floppy drives. Failure is not always the drive, often is the ribbon cable. The original ribbon cable is a metal shielded cable and seems to fail as often as the drive. The floppy drive itself is a very small Mitsumi model that is the only floppy drive type that can be crammed into the small area inside the 5033.

Removal of the floppy is a nasty job because you need to remove many screws and pry up the motherboard without damaging the electronics. Always remove the main battery and AC adapter before working on the laptop. Open the palmrest - as in CMOS battery removal and disconnect the floppy ribbon cable by pulling it out of the motherboard's connector. There's no release bar - just pull.

Lift the front side of the motherboard after removing all the screws that hold the metal plate, touch pad and other items. Then lift the rear side of the floppy and push back under the motherboard until the floppy's release button clears the lower plastic case. Then lift the floppy up and out. Not fun.

LCDs: Your 5033 may have one of many 12.1" or 13.3" LCD's and again I can't tell you what LCD you have in your 5033 without seeing the laptop. There's no way of knowing unless you open the lid plastics look at the LCD yourself.

However, the AMS Tech Roadster 15 versions of the 5033 used AMS Tech's model naming methodology and so LCD details benefit of sharing AMS Tech's standard product model codes:

CT or CTA = 12.1" TFT LCD

CS or CSA = 12.1" Dual Scan LCD

CX or CXA = 13.3" TFT LCD

Where "A" = an improved (or later version?)

Of some interest to 5033 owners, the Mitac 6033 and 6133 models are improved PII or Celeron laptops that have the same basic case as the 5033. Not all 5033 parts interchange with these later machines.