Several Questions

Mac User since I was 6. 28 years old now. Started with a 512kb Mac from 1984.

In my possession I have a 12" iBook (purchased in late 2002), an 80gb eMac purchased in January of 2005, an aluminum Powerbook G4 (inherited from late grandfather (not sure when purchased), and a Mac Mini.

Running on Macs my while but only been getting to understand how they work over the past few months.

iBook and eMac are running Tiger.
Powerbook G4 is running Leopard.
Mac Mini runs Snow Leopard.

I am looking to beef up the Powerbook G4, since it was my grandfathers I don't want it to become obsolete. I want a new MacBook Pro, but can't seem to make myself go out and get one.

What all is there for me to do to the Powerbook G4 to try and get it as close as I can to a MacBook? It has 1gb Ram right now, and I'm planning to double that, and I plan to replace the 80gb HD with a 320gb.

The Ram that I replace in the Powerbook, will I be able to use it in the iBook? Same with the 80gb HD from the Powerbook, can it go in the eMac?

What all can be done to the eMac to get it to run at least Leopard?


Is there any way to replace the Superdrive in the Powerbook G4 to be able to burn dual-layer DVDs?

Is there any way to replace the Powerbook G4's CPU with an Intel Core 2 Duo?



Some of these question may seem ludicrous to those of you who really know computers. Any answers or suggestions to the slew of questions would be amazing!

Thanks in advance.

BAC

Start here to get some of your answers. PowerBook has PPC processor and MacBook Intel so no go on processor swap.

You have a lot of questions, but the problem is, you have not specified the model. I believe there is a total of 24 different configurations for the Powerbook G4 notebooks. Which iBook also has multiple models including different processors (G3 & G4 models). The eMac has two different specifications as well.

In general, to run Leopard the system must be at least: G4 867 MHz, DVD Drive, 512 MB RAM, and at least 9 GB of hard drive space.

Only 3 eMacs are able to upgrade to Leopard according to the eMac page.

The Superdrive already supports DVD burning. The combodrive is CD burning+DVD-ROM. You can upgrade the combodrive to a Superdrive, but this is an extremely hard process (not an user-friendly machine). You can check the web for instructions and ebay for the parts.

Lastly, you can not upgrade the CPU on the Powerbook. I believe on notebooks made by Apple, the CPU is soldered to the logic board.