Question:
iBook G3?
Hi, I've got $400 to spend on a laptop. I mainly just want to be able to use the internet wirelessly. I found an iBook G3 for 360 with a airport card. Do you think thats good enough for my needs? I also want to be able to at least play starcraft. The iBook for 360 comes with-
12.1-inch TFT XGA display
600MHz PowerPC G3
256MB SDRAM memory
20GB Ultra ATA drive
CD-Rom
20/200BASE-T Ethernet
56K internal modem
RGB video output
Two USB ports
FireWire port
Airport installed
Just wondering your opinion.
Answer:
Re: iBook G3?
That'll be just fine for web browsing and StarCraft (which I believe has the Mac version right on the same CD). Something to consider is using the extra cash from your $400 to upgrade to either 384MB or 512MB of RAM (depending on the existing configuration of RAM - if you have a soldered 128MB stick and another 128MB you're stuck at 384MB probably in your budget) or a larger, faster hard drive (40GB 5400RPM should be in your budget, at least).
Obviously they would need to supply the OS reinstall CD to make a HD upgrade an option.
Answer:
Re: iBook G3?
Yeah I had the hard drive and the extra RAM already in my head when I saw teh specs. If I could find a G4 for 400 thats not on ebay(highly doubt it) I would get it. But the G3's still fine with me just to mess around on the internet and stuff. Hopefully OS X comes preinstalled. If it doesn't i'll just wait until Leopard comes out to upgrade.
Answer:
Re: iBook G3?
Yeah, you're definitely going to want to upgrade the memory at least. Just as a word of warning, OS X will run on that, but it will be kind of sluggish. Should still probably be fine for web browsing and StarCraft, but I wouldn't expect much.
I would definitely check and find out what OS is installed. If it doesn't have OS X, I'm not sure how good a deal it is, since I have to think that a newer iBook could probably be found with OS X on it for not much more than the price of an iBook G3 + the cost of OS X.
I wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't find an iBook G4 at least for not a whole lot more though, and it might perform a little better.
I have to be honest though, at that $400 price level, it seems like you might also want to look at one of the PC notebooks you can buy right now around that price range. You'd be able to surf the web and play StarCraft on that as well, frankly. I only mention this because I'm not sure how good the overall user experience would be with a machine like that.
Answer:
Re: iBook G3?
I am in the aame position as you but I am looking for a g4
Answer:
Re: iBook G3?
I may just wait a lil while and find a 500-600 G4 on ebay. Anyone know some good websites to get iBooks (used or refirbished)