iBook G3 500

I just bought an iBook g3 on ebay for 280 dollars. I plan to use this to tote around college purely for internet browsing and doing hw, however i do plan to buy the new powerbooks when they do eventually come out. It has an airport card already installed as well. Was this a bad deal or not?, and how well will the ibook 500 run panther or tiger?

Techrestore is selling refurbished G3/500s for $389.99, so based on that, I'd say you got a decent deal.

http://www.techrestore.com/xcart/product.php?productid=16153&cat=254&page=1

Can't offer any comments regarding panther or tiger on it though.

how well it would run Panther/Tiger depends on the RAM. 256 is the minimum, 512 is good.

surpluscomputers.com has a 500 MHz G3 for $379.99:

http://www.surpluscomputers.com/store/Main.aspx?p=ItemDetail&item=COM10653

I am looking for a cheap iBook to get my 10-year-old daughter started in the Mac world, so I am also wondering about its performance with Panther or Tiger.

Assuming I kick up the memory, can I expect okay performance on this machine for basic web surfing, etc.?

I run 10.3.9 on a 233 iMac w/256MB of RAM and its adequate - some beachballing, but its fairly responsive. My fiancee uses it for mainly surfing/email and using iTunes. It's perfect for her. I'm sure with 512 in the machine it will be fine. Tiger I have not experienced though.

I'd be VERY careful when buying a used iBook since a lot of them have logic board issues. I thought I had gotten a KILLER deal on a 800mhz iBook with maxed out memory and all kind of goodies... well, it was a GREAT deal...for 2 days, then the LB failed. I'd be especially careful when buying an iBook that will be shipped--it seems to me that all of the "shaking" the book is subject to during shipping can speed up the degradation of the LB. If you can get a really good deal, go for it; but otherwise, I'd buy a powerbook or a newer (g4) iBook. I know not ALL iBooks are bad, but it's a serious enough problem that I almost had ENOUGH with Apple since that iBook was my first exposure to Apple's computers. All I have to say is: be wary. If you can find a remanufactured/reconditioned/refurbished iBook, I'd buy it since it probably has a new LB in it--as opposed to used iBooks that are just sitting around waiting to fail. My $.02

JBarbier said:

I'd be VERY careful when buying a used iBook since a lot of them have logic board issues.

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The logic board issues started with the 700 MHz generation of iBooks. the 500s are a bit slow by todays standards, but they are sturdy. I wouldn't run Tiger if I were you. The G3 500 may be up to it, but the VRAM and GPU on the original iBooks is really not up to the challenge. Panther (10.3.9) runs better than Jaguar or Tiger, so I'd say that's the way to go.

I think You'll like your new iBook.

jhelm007 said:

Panther (10.3.9) runs better than Jaguar or Tiger, so I'd say that's the way to go.

I think You'll like your new iBook.

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I agree. Install plenty of RAM and a fresh copy of Panther, and you'll be quite happy with it for basic everyday use.

JBarbier said:

I'd be VERY careful when buying a used iBook since a lot of them have logic board issues. ...

Click to expand...

Good point, which is why I'd rather buy from a dealer like TechRestore who have a 90 day warranty on their products, along with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

I bought a 12" 700 MHz G3 iBook for my daughter from these guys last week and it hasn't arrived yet, but I'm looking forward to putting it through its paces.

Anyone with real life experiences with TechRestore?