lifespan
- Thread starter hellfried
- Start date
D
DigitalN.
Guest
well that depends on what you do on. what do you do? play games? surf the net? type papers?
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2004
- Messages
- 10,345
- Reaction score
- 597
- Points
- 113
- Location
- Margaritaville
- Your Mac's Specs
- 3.4 Ghz i7 MacBook Pro (2015), iPad Pro (2014), iPhone Xs Max. Apple TV 4K
For that kind of use you could easily get 5 or 6 years out of it. That is assuming that Apple still supports the PPC architecture in 5 or 6 years.
R
radarbob
Guest
I still have my original 300MHz iBook and replaced it only two weeks ago - with a used 900MHz iBook.
I've always kept my Macintoshes about 5 years before replacing them. Each time there was something that finally compelled me to get a new(er) computer; vice upgrading the existing one.
Also by waiting longer, you get more bang for your buck when you do replace it - i.e. you feel better about dropping a thousand dollars! And you can justify it to the little lady much better :mac:
Here's some original specs of my 300MHz iBook (aka "Precious")
* 32MB main memory
* 4MB video memory
* CD player (no CD burning)
* 800x600 screen resolution max
* 3.2 GB hard drive
* 300MHz cpu, w/ 66MHz buss.
* OS 8.6
I think the machine as shown had about a 3 year life span right out of the box. I increased that by getting an airport card and maxing out memory. About 2 years ago I replaced the hard drive and installed OS X. So Precious is 6 years old in Dec 2005.
That was one hot machine when it came out. Things sure have changed alot since then! I can only imagine that this trend will continue.
Just because something newer comes out doesn't mean what I have doesn't work perfectly well. But I must admit I work hard at resisting "MHz envy." One simply must mentally adjust to the limitations (or go broke buying a new computer every 6 months!) For example I simply resigned myself to the fact that as a practical matter I was not going to use an iPod w/ Precious, having only one USB 1.1 port. WAY too slow; and Apple does not officially support iPod on USB 1.
You can see that even an "obsolete" 900Mhz iBook gives me lots of improvements. You can also see that the difference between Precious and a 900MHz iBook is FAR greater than the difference between a 900MHz iBook and the current G4 iBook. So I got a great 'bang for the buck' and I saved hundreds of $$ over a brand new iBook.
Two things pushed me over the edge to get a "new" iBook. First screen resolution. When I log onto my computer at work from my iBook, the bottom of the screen is cutoff because of the lower iBook resolution. Two - internet. Now that OS 9 is no longer supported, the browsers don't render more and more web pages properly. Also web pages are more and more complex and just run slower to the point of being tedious.
Leading edge web sites and new OS releases push the limits of our computers and my trusty "precious" was simply feeling slower and slower over time.
Finally I want to emphasize how much I was able to upgrade the original machine. Memory: max it out - you will eventually. Hard drive: you get alot now-a-days, but you can open an iBook and do it yourself - I did! These two upgrades allowed me to run OS X. OS: More than MS windows IMHO, macintosh OS is forward and backward compatible with hardware and software.
Macintosh OS, more than anything, keeps a macintosh viable longer than PCs. My Precious is running OS 10.3.9. Ask your PC friends if they would (or could!) run Windoze XP on a 6yr old PC laptop. Heck no! AND we're not talking "OS Lite" here - as in Windoze XP home edition. Mac OS is the full blown OS, not a "watered down" Home edition. And I'm running programs I had running in OS 8. Ask your PC friends if they can run Windoze 3.1 programs (or would want to! Windoze 3.1 - what unmitigated crap.) on Windoze XP. I think not.
I've always kept my Macintoshes about 5 years before replacing them. Each time there was something that finally compelled me to get a new(er) computer; vice upgrading the existing one.
Also by waiting longer, you get more bang for your buck when you do replace it - i.e. you feel better about dropping a thousand dollars! And you can justify it to the little lady much better :mac:
Here's some original specs of my 300MHz iBook (aka "Precious")
* 32MB main memory
* 4MB video memory
* CD player (no CD burning)
* 800x600 screen resolution max
* 3.2 GB hard drive
* 300MHz cpu, w/ 66MHz buss.
* OS 8.6
I think the machine as shown had about a 3 year life span right out of the box. I increased that by getting an airport card and maxing out memory. About 2 years ago I replaced the hard drive and installed OS X. So Precious is 6 years old in Dec 2005.
That was one hot machine when it came out. Things sure have changed alot since then! I can only imagine that this trend will continue.
Just because something newer comes out doesn't mean what I have doesn't work perfectly well. But I must admit I work hard at resisting "MHz envy." One simply must mentally adjust to the limitations (or go broke buying a new computer every 6 months!) For example I simply resigned myself to the fact that as a practical matter I was not going to use an iPod w/ Precious, having only one USB 1.1 port. WAY too slow; and Apple does not officially support iPod on USB 1.
You can see that even an "obsolete" 900Mhz iBook gives me lots of improvements. You can also see that the difference between Precious and a 900MHz iBook is FAR greater than the difference between a 900MHz iBook and the current G4 iBook. So I got a great 'bang for the buck' and I saved hundreds of $$ over a brand new iBook.
Two things pushed me over the edge to get a "new" iBook. First screen resolution. When I log onto my computer at work from my iBook, the bottom of the screen is cutoff because of the lower iBook resolution. Two - internet. Now that OS 9 is no longer supported, the browsers don't render more and more web pages properly. Also web pages are more and more complex and just run slower to the point of being tedious.
Leading edge web sites and new OS releases push the limits of our computers and my trusty "precious" was simply feeling slower and slower over time.
Finally I want to emphasize how much I was able to upgrade the original machine. Memory: max it out - you will eventually. Hard drive: you get alot now-a-days, but you can open an iBook and do it yourself - I did! These two upgrades allowed me to run OS X. OS: More than MS windows IMHO, macintosh OS is forward and backward compatible with hardware and software.
Macintosh OS, more than anything, keeps a macintosh viable longer than PCs. My Precious is running OS 10.3.9. Ask your PC friends if they would (or could!) run Windoze XP on a 6yr old PC laptop. Heck no! AND we're not talking "OS Lite" here - as in Windoze XP home edition. Mac OS is the full blown OS, not a "watered down" Home edition. And I'm running programs I had running in OS 8. Ask your PC friends if they can run Windoze 3.1 programs (or would want to! Windoze 3.1 - what unmitigated crap.) on Windoze XP. I think not.
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2005
- Messages
- 320
- Reaction score
- 8
- Points
- 18
- Location
- North Carolina
- Your Mac's Specs
- White 2ghz Core Duo Macbook, 2ghz RAM, 60gb Hard drive, SuperDrive
mynameis said:
The laptop's condition depends on how you treat it. You don't have to worship your iBook, but don't fall asleep on it either :/
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