What would *NOT* be over kill?

G

Garrett

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Hey All:

Right now I am a PC user, and they work fine, and I don't have a problem with them. I am about to head off for college in a few months, and a lappy needs to go with me. Now, I want something small, that is strong, and has a long battrey life, that brings me down to 2 possible options. A) Sony VAIO crazy expensive or B) iBook G3. I'm going to be lookin at the 12" option. Now, my question....

All I am going to use with this thing is IE, AIM, Word, and WinAMP. Would a 733MHz G3 with 256Mb of RAM do me just fine? I would definatley run X. I just don't wanna spend the money just to find out that it isn't enough power...you know. This will be my first Mac. How easy and expensive would it be to get my house set up wirelessly? Thanks for reading. :)

--Garrett
 
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That system would have enough power for what you are looking to do. My only suggestion would be that if you are going to use OS X, you really should have at least 512MB of RAM. OS X is a real dog with only 256MB.
 
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Your Mac's Specs
14" iBook G3 900/640/40 _ _ Power Macintosh G3 All-In-One 315/768/20 _ _ 20 GB iPod
Garrett said:
Hey All:

Right now I am a PC user, and they work fine, and I don't have a problem with them. I am about to head off for college in a few months, and a lappy needs to go with me. Now, I want something small, that is strong, and has a long battrey life, that brings me down to 2 possible options. A) Sony VAIO crazy expensive or B) iBook G3. I'm going to be lookin at the 12" option. Now, my question....

All I am going to use with this thing is IE, AIM, Word, and WinAMP. Would a 733MHz G3 with 256Mb of RAM do me just fine? I would definatley run X. I just don't wanna spend the money just to find out that it isn't enough power...you know. This will be my first Mac. How easy and expensive would it be to get my house set up wirelessly? Thanks for reading. :)

--Garrett

I'm not sure what iBook you're looking into, but there are no 733 G3's. A 700 or 800 G3 would run all the applications you mentioned without any problems, but I'd suggest going with a minimum of 512 MB of RAM. Setting up a wireless network for the iBook would be a matter of purchasing an AirPort card for it (~$90) and a wireless router (prices can vary, but roughly another $90 is an average price). Getting back to the iBook, perhaps if you provided the price range you can shop in, we can figure out the best Apple notebook for you.
 
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Avid6eek said:
OS X is a real dog with only 256MB.

I concur

How much are you looking to spend on it? I think the new 12in iBooks for only $999 are a great deal, if you want till you are actually a college student you can get them for $949. I could never see myself buying a used laptop, they always sell for too much IMO.
 
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G

Garrett

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Hey Guys-

Thanks for the quick responces. I'm probably looking in the less than $800 range. This would just be for classes, my PC would be for gaming, etc.

PCs I'm used to, I've been running XP Pro since the first day it was released. (I waited in the WalMart parking lot) My current money hole is a home made system

Athy 64 3200
Asus K8VSE Deluxe Mobo
1 GB PC4000 DDR
2x 72 Gc 10k SATA Hdd's
120Gb Hdd for MP3's etc.
RAdeon 9800XT

Yeah...it's okay not as fast as a I wish it could be.

Now, I am looking at a iBook locally, Here are specs:

700Mhz
192Mb of (SDRAM, DDR which one does it have)
20 Gb HDD
10.3.7
12"
CDROM w/external CD burner

$400 ish

Now, my current question, can I swap the CDROM for a combo myself, or do I need to take it to a Apple store? Also, how much would it cost to max out the memory. 768 is Max if I remember correctly. Speed isn't a big concern for a few more weeks, but I def. would want to max it out asap.

Thanks guys!

--Garrett
 
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J

jessica

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Buy your memory aftermarket. Apple charges way too much. Also, if that is your PC setup I think the ibook you have in mind is too slow, even for what you're doing.
 
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Check crucial.com for info on the memory, they will tell you the max, type, and number of slots.
 

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