Graphic designer/ photographer going mac, helpp!

I thought this was the best place to ask this rather than the switcher hang out! I desprately need a well priced mac for my graphic design and photoshop work as i'm a student going into graphic design.

However, the key thing there being student...
I've been looking at the iBook G4 and then i'll be using external hard drives anyway to store all my work, so i don't need alot of file space.
Then again perhaps a macbook 3,1 or 4,1.
What would you all advice?

Thanks in advance!

Get an Intel mac if you can, the G4 will not be able to use the latest Adobe software - and if you use CS4 or CS5 it will run pretty sluggishly

A modern i5 or i7 mac would be ideal but a second hand core 2 duo will be just fine, as long as you put at least 4 gig of ram in, otherwise Adobe CS will run a lot slower

Plus Lion no longer supports PPC (G4) programs and won't instal on a PPC. A second hand macbook with leopard or snow leopard will do you just fine. I'm running my '08 MacBook with 4gb ram and 320gb 7200 rpm HDD and it works great. Many sites have refurbs you can buy for a good price: Apple, Newegg, Tigerdirect, Amazon, eBay.